6o LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



Wood, the keeper of the cormorants, ospreys, and otters, 

 " in building a place to keep the said cormorants in 

 and making nine fish-ponds on land within the vine 

 garden at Westminster." Fish were put in for these 

 creatures, and a sluice was made to bring water from 

 the Thames to fill the ponds. These strange beasts 

 and birds and their attendants must have been a 

 quaint and unusual sight. The keepers were dressed 

 in red cloth (which cost nine shillings a yard), em- 

 broidered with " I.R." in Venice gold, and must have 

 added to the picturesque appearance of this early 

 Zoological Garden. 



Gradually the Park became more and more a favourite 

 place in which to stroll. Others were admitted besides 

 the Court circle, the privilege being first accorded to the 

 tenants of the houses at Westminster. Milton, who lived 

 at one time in Petty France, near where Queen Anne's 

 Gate now stands, planted a tree in the garden over- 

 looking the Park, which survived until recent times, 

 would be one of those to enjoy the advantage. Charles 

 I. passed this way on his last journey to Whitehall on 

 the fatal 30th of January, and tradition says he paused 

 to notice a tree planted by his brother Henry. During 

 the Commonwealth, the Park still was resorted to. In 

 the sprightly letters of Dorothy Osborne to Sir William 

 Temple are some vivid little touches in reference to 

 it. She writes from the country in March 1654: "And 

 hark you, can you tell me whether the gentleman that 

 lost a crystal box the ist of February in St. James's 

 Park or Old Spring Gardens has found it again or not ? 

 I have a strong curiosity to know." Again, in June 

 of the same year, she writes from London, where she 

 was paying a visit: "I'll swear they will not allow me 



