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91 — 
XXL— NOTES AT TRIVANDRUM. 
The Trivandrum Museum and Public Gardens, of which 
the menagerie forms part, were founded in 1859. They are 
a Government institution, included in the Department of 
Science and Art of the Travancore Government. A sketch 
of the origin and progress of these combined institutions 
has been written by Mr. H. S. Ferguson, the Director under 
whose care they became famous throughout the zoological 
world, and published in the Report on the Trivandrum 
Museum for M.E. 1075 (1899-1900 a. d.). After Mr. Fer- 
guson’s retirement the duties of Director were for some 
years (1904 to about 1910) undertaken by Colonel F. W. 
Dawson, then commanding the ISTayer Brigade, whose head- 
quarters are at Trivandrum. The Di wan Sahib P. R ajagopala 
Chari, C.I.E.,the present Prime Minister, takes great interest 
in this Department, and Mr. A. J. Vieyra, Chief Secretary of 
the Travancore Government, now combines with his other 
duties that of Director of the Museum and Gardens. 
This most interesting institution is open free to the public 
daily. I visited it on April 23, 24, 25, and 26, 1913, 
and Mr. V ieyra and his staff were most kind in giving me all 
the information I required. Mr. Thomas Alveyn is Chief 
Clerk, R. Shunkaranarayana Pillay is Chief Taxidermist, 
C. Subraya Mudaliar is Draftsman and Modellei*, and K.G. 
Kesava Pillay is Head keeper. 
The total area of the grounds is about 50^ acres (20*43 
hectares). The garden is a remarkabh' prett}' one, all 
up and downhill, with deep valleys and sleep slopes. The 
highest spot is occupied by the Museum, from which Eights 
of brick steps lead down from tier to tier to a pretty lake. 
The botanical collection is a very rich one ; my attention was 
specially called to the Sealing Wax Palm, Cercostacis arunda^ 
and to the large series of beautiful orchids. The houses and 
paddocks for the zoological collection are scattered about the 
grounds in such a Avay as to add interest to the gardens as 
Cjardens^ and yet not to spoil the effects of green lawns and 
rich tropical vegetation. 
