296 FATE OF THE YOUNG BEARS. 



sympathise with the feelings of the young 

 bears, who appeared ready to melt into oil at 

 this unwonted temperature. 



With the view of disposing of these interest- 

 ing animals, I entered into correspondence 

 with nearly every wild-h east-keeper and 

 secretary of Zoological Gardens in the 

 United Kingdom, hut as usual the " British 

 market was quite overstocked." There was a 

 " glut " of hears in fact. It then occurred to 

 me that I could not put them to better 

 account than by turning them out in a large 

 wood at home, and inviting my friends 

 and neighbours to enjoy the Scandinavian 

 diversion of a " ska II; " but the probable diffi- 

 culty of obtaining beaters occurred to me as 

 one objection, and the possibility of being 

 brought in for heavy game damages as miotker ; 

 so eventually I disposed of them to M. le 

 Directeur of the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, 

 and I wish his Imperial Majesty joy of his 

 purchase. I had the satisfaction of seeing 

 them in that establishment some months later, 

 considerably grown, but their naturally ami- 

 able dispositions not improved by their being 

 confined in one of the warm, dry dens used for 

 the tropical Carnivorae. 



