Year: 1874

though the girl was not then courted,
she became wife on the day foretold.


Some Bears who Kept House.


In the beautiful gardens in the Re-
gents Park, the Royal Geological So
ciety entertains crowd of distinguish
ed guests, trying, with true hospitality
to make them all feel at their ease, and
to give each one, as nearly as possible,
what he has been used to at home.


All the world is represented here.
Hot countries and cold; the arctic re-
gions and the tropics; African deserts.
and polar SHOWS; Indian jungles and
South American forests, and our own
Temperate Zone, all send their strange
inhabitants to the gardens of the Royal
Geological Society.


A flight Of steps at the end Of the
broad walk leads up to wide stone
terrace, and at the top of the steps you
look down on your right into square,
paved court, with high pole in the
middle and little sleeping rooms on
each side. Three or four fat, clumsy
bears arc tumb)ing about on the pave
ment in rough, good natured play keep
ing each an eye on the parapet above
to see if there is any chance for buns;~
and the minute they spy visitor, it is
a race which shall get to the pole first,
and then the lucky one climbs up, and,
drawing his four feet together, plants
himself on the ball at the top, and
stretches his head out as far as possible:
with wide open mouth, ready
to catch the bun or cake, which
somebody on the parapet holds out,
temptingiy over the railing. 1t looks
as if he could jump off the pole into
the midst of the visitors and gobble
them up, buns and all, if he chose; but
this kind of bear can't jump he can
only climb, so it is really quite safe,
and he is obliged to wait till the bun is
thrown to him, and if the aim isn't,
good the coveted morsel falls down and
is eagerly snatched up by the bears
who sit on their hind legs round the
foot of the pole, casting comical, i'm
ploring glance at the people
above. And then how disappointed
the poor fellow on the top looks; but
he waits patiently for better luck, and.
presently somebody y puts cake on the
end of a long stick, which is always at
hand, and pokes it safely across into
his great red cavern of a mouth. Bears
are excessively fond of sweets of all
sorts, and in their native woods like to
steal the honey the wild bees have
stored up in hollow trees, though some-
times they get we'll stung for their
pains.


A pretty, winding path through the
shrubbery at the end of the terrace
brings US down a slope where the
white bears live. They have a beauti-
full stone house, covered with Towering
vines, and in front pond with a
tagged path around. it, on which, as
we approach, the huge creatures are
pacing up and down, waiting for din
ner, growing savagely every now
and then at the visitors who
stand in tantalizing nearness, just
out Of their reach. Their whole do
main-house, garden and ponds not
only fenced in, but rooted over with the
thickest iron bars. Once, they say, it
was only fenced; but though the top of
the fence was made Of pointed spikes
turned inward, one Of the bears got out
early one morning and nearly killed
blacksmith who happened to cross his
psth; and after they were rooted in.
The white bear and his wife once had
two little ones-soft, pinky creatures
but the unnatural mother actually
killed her own children, much to every
body's disappointment. The mother
bear S fur is purer, softer white than
the father S, whose hair looks rather
yellowish when he stands close to his
great snow ball of wife, and she seems
to be generally in q fit of the sulks,
while he tramps about in chronic state
of active fury. They suffer terribly
from the heat of an English summer, and
great blocks of ice are constantly kept
in the pond, to make the water cool
enough for their bath.-From "A Gar
den Party of Wild Animals,'' by
Elizabeth Lawrence, in St. Nicholas for
August. -
II thought you were born on the