FLORIDA AND THE WEST INDIES 35 



for admission within its gates. As regards space, 

 New York has obviously the advantage of having 

 expropriated territory for so admirable a purpose 

 before vested interests and the tyranny of real 

 estate had set their mark on every rod of land. 

 Similar expansion in the north - west suburb 

 of London, save, perhaps, along the sloping, 

 sodden banks of the canal, would be out of the 

 question. 



Like the Bronx Zoological Park, the New York 

 Aquarium owes much of its success to the en- 

 thusiasm of its Director and the depth of its 

 pocket. A popular aquarium, unaided by side-shows 

 and the evanescent attractions of ladies best appre- 

 ciated in the dim, religious light reflected from the 

 tanks, has never proved a success in England. One 

 of the largest has passed into the hands of a 

 religious body which relies for some of its popularity 

 on dramatic display ; one of the most historic, 

 acquired by a municipal council, has long been in- 

 solvent and is a serious burden on the ratepayers. 

 I am by no means sure that the experiment would 

 succeed any better in America. Fortunately, the 

 aquarium located in the old fort, not far from the 

 Cunard wharf, has other sources of income and can 

 afford to throw open its doors to all free of charge. 

 No logical comparison can be instituted therefore 

 between it and those at home, which makes it easy 

 to praise the one without disparaging the rest. To 

 myself, familiar with the establishments at Plymouth, 

 Naples, Melbourne and other towns, the wonderful 

 collections in the New York tanks came as an 

 unexpected treat. I had been adjured before 

 leaving home to think great things of Bronx, and 



