THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 203 



of the Regent's Canal, and the Council for the past fifty years, 

 was satisfactorily settled without litigation. The new sewer 

 was brought up to the Gardens by the parish authorities, and 

 the drainage was diverted into it by the Society at a cost 

 of £1,100. 



Next year preparations were made for the new ostrich 

 house by clearing away the sheds and enclosures south 

 of the monkey house. The row of cages put up by the 

 Garden staff outside the small cats' house for the more 

 hardy small carnivora became notorious a few years later. 



This house was stocked and opened in 1897 ; the total 

 cost of the structure was about £3,400. In the southern half 

 of the building are twelve compartments, the centre four being 

 assigned to the ostriches, and those on each side to the 

 rheas, cassowaries, and emeus. The northern half, with six- 

 teen compartments, is used for cranes and storks, and on each 

 side the compartments open into grassed enclosures. Formerly 

 the more delicate of these birds were removed from their usual 

 quarters during the winter, but in the new house they may be 

 viewed all the year round. 



The tortoise house, appropriately erected near the large 

 reptile house, is of the same date. To the cost of the building 

 the Hon. Walter Rothschild contributed £150. It was a work 

 of some difficulty to transfer the large tortoises from the 

 Middle Garden to their new house. The gigantic Daudin's 

 tortoise was put into a sling that had been originally made 

 for lifting a sick elephant. The margins were attached to 

 poles, and it took a dozen men to effect the removal. 



In 1898 the Fellows' Tea Pavilion was erected, facing the 

 Lawn, and the llama house reconstructed on the site of the 

 original cattle sheds; and at that time the old owls' cages of 

 the same date at the back were done away with. The removal 

 of the birds from the sheds at the west end of the Middle 

 Garden allowed these to be taken down. It was then deter- 

 mined to utilise the ground for a new zebra house. For some 

 years the old well sunk on the canal bank in 1834 had been 

 useless owing to the penetration of sand into the bore, the 

 clearing of which was found to be impracticable. This obliged 

 the Society to obtain the whole of the water-supply from the 



