The Zoologist — September, 1868. 1349 



London, where they had probably been thinned. In 1035, and 

 probably earlier and later, the city of Norwich was compelled to 

 supply annually to Edward the Confessor, " one bear, together with 

 six dogs to bait the bear;" a record from which three inferences may 

 be fairly drawn ; Jirst, that bears were procurable at Norwich in 1035 ; 

 secondly, that the eminently sainted monarch, Edward the Confessor, 

 possessed and indulged a regal taste for bear-baiting ; and thirdly^, that 

 but for the indulgence ^of this taste we should have been left unin- 

 formed on this interesting subject. The Norwich bear was furnished 

 to the pious monarch in 1041, but I know of no subsequent record. 



2. The Beaver as a British species died in 1188. The beaver was 

 formerly an inhabitant of Wales and Scotland, and its skin was 

 always valuable as an article of commerce. The last record of its 

 existence will be found iu the Itinerary of Giraldus Cambrensis, who 

 travelled in Wales in 1 188 : he states that the river Teivy, in Caernar- 

 vonshire, was the only river it then inhabited. The beaver may have 

 existed here for another century, but we have no later records ; a few 

 colonies of this curious creature are still found on the banks of the 

 Weser, the Rhone and the Danube. 



3. The Pig as a British species died before 1625. Formerly the 

 lordly pig was the favourite object of chase with our British monarchs, 

 and was protected by the most sanguinary laws, the last of which, 1 

 believe, is that dated 1087, during the reign of the Conqueror. 

 Amongst other provisions, this law decrees that "any man killing a 

 wild boar should have his eyes put out." Notwithstanding this truly 

 regal provision for the preservation of pigs, they had become extinct 

 before the accession of Charles I., and we find that canonized monarch 

 turning out domestic grunters in the New Forest, iu the hope they 

 would turn into wild boars. Vain are the ambitious aspirations even 

 of princes : when the royal cavalcade arrived, the swine could not be 

 persuaded to run, but continued munching acorns under the forest 

 oaks, and would not deign to notice the august company associated 

 to compass their destruction. 



4. The Wolf as a British species died about 1678, as an Irish 

 species about 1710. The wolf in the earlier period of English 

 history was a terrific scourge. The struggle for existence be- 

 tween the wolf and Kelt was constant, and soon after the in- 

 vasion of the island by continental legions both wolf and Kelt 

 were driven to its extremities, Cornwall, Wales and Scotland. In 

 Scotland the wolf obtained the ascendancy, and indeed became 



