REMINISCENCES FROM THE MELBOURNE ZOO. 
69 
But the letter-writers grew so insistent that never a mail came to 
the gardens without some hotly-worded protest, and in sheer weariness 
the director decided that the strange partnership must come to an end. 
The terrier was again removed, but only for a short time. She was 
allowed to come and go, and the lioness gradually got used to her 
absences. These grew longer and longer, until there came merely a 
daily visit at feeding time. Then, as soon as the bars were dropped, 
Whizzy would bound into the cage, and there would be a loving greeting 
between the friends, and so they continued. Then came a time when a 
second cub was given to the terrier to rear, and the older one became a 
mere nodding acquaintance. 
THE CUB AND THE KEEPER. 
A fine lioness cub was born at the Gardens one day, and one of the 
keepers, an old bachelor who had quarters in the grounds, decided to 
try the experiment of rearing it on the bottle like a human baby. It 
is very difficult to rear cubs born in confinement into strong, healthy lions, 
and, in order to give this one the best possible chances of vigorous lion- 
hood the keeper was willing to take all the trouble involved in hand- 
feeding the big, but delicate, baby. The two became inseparables. 
Wherever the keeper went, there was his shadow, and it would have been 
very unhealthy for anyone to have tried conclusions with that keeper 
as the cub grew up. You may be sure that if anyone contradicted him 
it was done with the best of tact, and that no one wished to come to 
blows while he had such a powerful second by his side. The baby 
developed into a very handsome beast, as harmless as a great dog. She 
took particular pride in going the rounds of the gardens every morning 
at cleaning time. Quite possibly the close confinement of all the 
other lions made her feel how greatly she was privileged; even more 
possibly, the fact that she was free when they were not made her believe 
she was a most superior creature. 
At night she took up a position at the foot of her friend’s bed, and 
if anyone even passed along the gravel path outside there was an 
ominous growl from a tireless watcher inside. It would have been 
sudden death for anyone, friend or foe, to have attempted to enter that 
house during the hours of darkness, for the creature would have sprung 
first and listened to explanations afterwards. 
One day, when the cub was grown into a fine lioness of about 
eighteen months old, she v^ent on her usual round of visits at cleaning 
time, but when they reached the lions’ cages, she turned her attention 
to the emus’ enclosure next door. Here three emus had lived a peaceful, 
