ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS OF THE WORLD. 167 



The main menagerie building was a great hall 150 " feet " 

 long, by 50 wide. Oviedo, in his contemporary account (op. cit. 

 p. 679), writes : — "En entrando por la sala, el hedor era mucho 

 e aborrecible e asqueroso " (on entering the hall the stench was 

 detestable and loathsome), a detail which Prescott does not men- 

 tion, but that we can well imagine to have been true. 



Prescott tells us that " The serpents were confined in long 

 cages lined with down or feathers, or in troughs of mud and 

 water. The beasts and birds of prey were provided with apart- 

 ments large enough to allow of their moving about, and secured 

 by a strong lattice- work, through which light and air were freely 

 admitted." " Ten large tanks, well stocked with fish, afforded a 

 retreat on their margins to various tribes of water-fowl, whose 

 habits were so carefully consulted that some of these ponds 

 were of salt water, as that which they most loved to frequent." 

 There was also " a strange collection of human monsters" and 

 dwarfs. 



The destruction, by fire, of the House of Birds, in 1521, is 

 graphically told by Prescott (p. 515). 



III. Modern Zoological Gardens (arranged alphabetically 

 under Continents, and in Europe under Countries). 



Africa. 



1. Alexandria, Egypt. — Since 1907 a small menagerie has 

 been maintained by the Municipality in the Nouzha Garden, a 

 beautiful park just outside the city. Entrance is free. The 

 collection is under the care of Monsieur Louis Monfront, Direc- 

 teur des Pares et Plantations de la Ville. 



2. Durban, Natal. — Municipal menagerie in Mitchell Park. 



3. Gezira, Cairo, Egypt. — His Highness the Khedive Ismail 

 Pasha established a collection of live animals in the gardens of 

 his palace at Gezira. The late Sir William Flower records in 

 his diary of the 2nd of April 1874 seeing there : — " Two African 

 Elephants, seven Giraffes, sixteen Lions (of all ages), three Leo- 

 pards, two Servals, one Spotted Hyaena, three Nylghaies, four 

 Hartebeests, two Leucoryx, smaller Antelopes, Deer, Kangaroos, 

 Secretary Birds, Flamingos, good collection of Pheasants and 

 fowls, Emu, &c." All that now remains is the Aquarium, built 

 by Ismail Pasha, adjoining his menagerie, which, after having 



