4 OUT OF DOORS. 



lest at some unguarded moment the golden opportunity 

 might be lost, perhaps never to recur. Any one who 

 wishes to form an idea of the accuracy, perseverance, 

 and watchfulness that are exercised on such occasions, 

 need but refer to the celebrated experiments conducted 

 by Professor Owen, in order to settle certain difficulties 

 in the development of the kangaroo. 



In spite of all the care lavished upon this institu- 

 tion, winter is always an anxious period. Bearing, 

 therefore, all these and many other considerations in 

 my mind, it was with no small interest that I entered 

 tbe Zoological Gardens on Old Twelfth Day, Saturday 

 January 18th, 1862, the thermometer then indicating a 

 temperature of 24 Fahr., and a tolerably sharp breeze 

 blowing. 



On casting a comprehensive glance at the various 

 enclosures, the first object that caught my eye was a 

 creature something like a grenadier's cap, or a lady's 

 muff set on end, reared against the bars of the enclosure, 

 and gently swaying its body backwards and forwards. 

 Presently it began to sidle along the bars, still standing 

 or sitting upright, and being rendered so indefinite in 

 shape, by intervening twigs, wires, and posts, that I 

 could not make it out at all. However, it soon turned 

 its odd, wise-visaged head, and all the Beaver sat con- 

 fessed. As the beaver is a North- American animal, 

 accustomed to brave the terrible winters of that climate, 

 and quite familiar with ice, I should not have troubled 

 myself about it, but for its movements and general de- 



