8 OUT OF DOORS. 



without sending their charge into the outer air during 

 the operation. 



The giraffes are nearly, if not quite, as delicate as 

 the hippopotamus; and are obliged to content them- 

 selves with gratifying their very inquisitive natures by 

 inspecting the visitors who occasionally pass through 

 their warm house, and would like to feed the graceful 

 and gentle creatures, were not all such attempts sternly 

 prohibited by the watchful guardians. It is rather 

 remarkable that within a yard or two of each other are 

 located specimens of animals which inhabit the same 

 land, and yet are as strongly contrasted in shape and 

 habit as if they came from opposite portions of the 

 globe. 



The elands are well and comfortable, and appear to 

 be tamer than was the case a few months ago. They 

 are able to withstand the weather better than the 

 hippopotamus and the giraffe, being, indeed, mighty 

 mountain climbers in their native land, and therefore 

 accustomed to a low temperature. I may here mention 

 that the healthy condition of these magnificent ante- 

 lopes, and the comparative ease with which they are 

 bred in this country, afford most gratifying encourage- 

 ment to the efforts now being made in many quarters 

 to acclimatize in our own land the useful and orna- 

 mental inhabitants of other parts of the world, and 

 show in a striking manner the national value of a 

 collection upon which so much time is spent, and to 

 which such stores of knowledge are cheerfully dedicated. 



