A JANUARY DAY AT REGENTS PARK. 17 



ture of the water, but sat on a heap of wet straw, eating 

 his dinner, with the end of his tail in the water, and 

 the freezing drops glittering around him. To the 

 shivering observer, whose chilled fingers could scarcely 

 hold the pencil, and whose heart yearned for a seat in 

 a warm room and a large cup of hot tea, the choice of 

 locality seemed singularly unfortunate. There, how- 

 ever, sat the animal, thoroughly contented with his 

 position, holding his flounder tightly between his paws, 

 and crunching and tugging with hearty goodwill. 



The lions, tigers, and other large carnivora, are 

 carefully defended from the outer cold by means of 

 thick screens rigged from the eaves of the projecting 

 roofs to the bars beyond which visitors are requested 

 not to pass. As, however, the greater number of 

 visitors would be sadly disappointed if they had to go 

 away without seeing these beautiful animals, they are 

 admitted for the nonce into the space between the bars 

 and the cages ; and in order to prevent the fierce beasts 

 from thrusting out a paw and inflicting a wound, 

 either in sport or anger, a strong wire grating is affixed 

 to 'the front of the cage, which effectually prevents any 

 such mishap. Notwithstanding all these precautions, 

 and an assured conviction of the absolute security at- 

 tained, I could not help instinctively starting back 

 when the lion took it into his illogical head that I was 

 going to steal his meat, and flew at me with flaming 

 eyes and a roar that shook the place. I had much 

 respect afterwards for the steady nerve of those who 



c 



