CHAPTER II. ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. BEARS IN BRITAIN.-OUR ANCESTORS AND THEIR BEARS.-BEAR THOSE who ramble amidst the beautiful scenery of Torquay, who gaze with admiration on the bold outlines of the Cheddar Cliffs, or survey the fertile fen district of Cambridgeshire, will find it difficult to believe that in former ages these spots were ravaged by bears surpassing in size the grizzly bear of the Rocky Mountains, or the polar bear of the arctic regions; yet the abundant remains found in Kent Hole, Tor BEARS IN BRITAIN. 41 quay, and the Banwell Caves, together with those preserved in the Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge, incontestably prove that such was the case. Grand indeed was the Fauna of the British Isles in those early days! Lions-the true old British lions—as large again as the biggest African species, lurked in the ancient thickets; elephants, of nearly twice the bulk of the largest individuals that now exist in Africa or Ceylon, roamed here in herds; at least two species of rhinoceros forced their way through the primæval forests; the lakes and rivers were tenanted by hippopotami as bulky and with as great tusks as those of Africa. These statements are not the offspring of imagination, but are founded on the countless remains of these creatures which are continually being brought to light, proving from their numbers and variety of size that generation after generation had been born, and lived, and died in Great Britain.* It is matter of history, that the brown bear was plentiful here in the time of the Romans, and was conveyed in considerable numbers to Rome to make sport in the arena. In Wales they were common beasts of chase; and in the history of the Gordons it is stated that one of that clan, so late as 1057, was directed by his sovereign to carry three bears' heads * See A History of British Fossil Mammals,' by our great zoologist, Professor Owen. on his banner, as a reward for his valour in killing a fierce bear in Scotland. In 1252, the sheriffs of London were commanded by the king to pay fourpence a day for "our white bear in the Tower of London and his keeper;" and in the following year they were directed to provide 66 unum musellum et unam cathenam ferream "—Anglicè, a muzzle and an iron chain, to hold him when out of the water, and a long and strong rope to hold him when fishing in the Thames. This piscatorial bear must have had a pleasant time of it, as compared to many of his species, for the barbarous amusement of baiting was most popular with our ancestors. The household book of the Earl of Northumberland contains the following characteristic entry:-"Item, my Lorde usith and accustomith to gyfe yearly when hys Lordshipe is atte home to his barward, when hee comyth to my Lorde at Cristmas with his Lordshippes beests, for making his Lordschip pastyme the said xij days xxs." In Bridgeward Without there was a district called Paris Garden; this, and the celebrated Hockley in the Hole, were in the sixteenth century the great resorts of the amateurs in bear-baiting and other cruel sports, which cast a stain upon the society of that period,—a society in a transition state but recently emerged from barbarism, and with all the tastes of a semi-barbarous people. Sunday was the grand day for these displays, until a frightful occurrence which took place in 1582. A more than usually exciting bait had been announced, and a prodigious concourse of people assembled. When the sport was at its highest, and the air rung with blasphemy, the whole of the scaffolding on which the people stood gave way, crushing many to death, and wounding many more. This was considered as a judgment of the Almighty on these Sabbath-breakers, and gave rise to a general prohibition of profane pastime on the Sabbath. Soon after the accession of Elizabeth to the throne, she gave a splendid banquet to the French ambassadors, who were afterwards entertained with the baiting of bulls and bears (May 25, 1559). The day following, the ambassadors went by water to Paris Garden, where they patronized another performance of the same kind. Hentzer, after describing from observation a very spirited and bloody baiting, adds, "To this entertainment there often follows that of whipping a blinded bear, which is performed by five or six men, standing circularly with whips, which they exercise upon him without any mercy, as he cannot escape because of his chain. He defends himself with all his strength and skill, throwing down all that come within his reach, and are not active enough to get out of it, and tearing their whips out of their hands and 44 ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. breaking them." Laneham, in his account of the reception of Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth, in 1575, gives a very graphic account of the "righte royalle pastimes." "It was a sport very pleasant to see the bear, with his pink eyes leering after his enemies' approach; the nimbleness and wait of the dog to take his advantage, and the force and experience of the bear again to avoid his assaults. If he were bitten in one place, how he would pinch in another to get free; that if he were taken once, then by what shift with biting, with clawing, with roaring, with tossing and tumbling he would work and wind himself from them, and when he was loose, to shake his ears twice or thrice with the blood and the slaver hanging about his physiognomy." These barbarities continued until a comparatively recent period, but are now, it is to be hoped, exploded for ever. Instead of ministering to the worst passions of mankind, the animal creation now contribute in no inconsiderable degree to the expansion of the mind and the development of the nobler feelings. Zoological collections have taken the place of the Southwark Gardens and other brutal haunts of vice, and, we are glad to say, often prove a stronger focus of attraction than the skittle-ground and its debasing society. By them laudable curiosity is awakened, and the impression, especially on the fervent and plastic |