Year: 1873




Mr. BARTLETT, superintendent of the
Geological Gardens, Regents Park, Lon
don, gave recently an interesting lecture
on his experience of wild animals in
the Gardens, dwelling especially on the
effort to raise the young of the hippopota-
mus. He said that, for number of
years they had possessed pair of hippo
potami at the Gardens, but no
result had been produced On the
Continent, both in Holland and
France, they had been more for
tunate, and he paid great attention to
what had occurred there. The first young
one the mother carried about in her mouth
till she killed it; the second one was
drowned in a pond; the third one the
people killed themselves, for they took it
away as soon as it was born to rear it, and
| it died in their hands; so the French
people reared none. The Dutch people
in Amsterdam had eleven young hippo
potami born, and out of them, one nine
months old was sold for one thousand
pounds to go to America; but the Yankee
who bought it exhibited it at the Crystal
Palace for siXpence head land while there
the end Of the Crystal Palace caught fire,
and the animal was roasted; that was the
only hippopotamus ever reared in Eu-





mus was likely to become a mother, he
was anxious and on thorns to know what
to do. He first thought the young one
should not go into the water, for one in
Paris was drowned. Such was the mass
of assistance he had offered to him by
people all over the kingdom as to how to
manage and rear it, that he thought he
/ could make book of the recommends
tions of parties as to what he should do
ON the subject.


He thought it must not be let go about
the water, or it would be drowned so a
barrier was put up in order that it could
not get into the water. When the young
one was born the mother seemed very
fond of it, but it failed to get food. The
mother was so exceedingly ill-tempered
that, before the third day, they took it
away from her, and it died. The second
one was born about nine months after.
ward. He was in great difficulty, and de-
termined to take it away. When doing
so, the mother rushed into the
water and broke down the case. The lit
tie one went in after her, and swan
about, and came out as well as herself
But she was angry, and trampled on
and knocked it about Well, the second
one died; but his experience then was
that the little one would not get drowned
in the water, so he determined to have his
own way next time, despite the Dutch
man, who said that, when hippopota
mus was got to rear young one, he
would go to England to be hanged. From
the time of the first symptom that he saw
of what was going to take place, he shut
up the house and kept everybody away
so that not a soul could go near, not ever
himself, although he was in position tC
see what was going on without interfering
with her-a lesson he had got from hi
friend Mr.. Frank auckland, who said one
of the greatest secrets of success was to
let everything alone that was going OF
right. When the young one was born
not half an hour after, 1t retired into the
pond, and the mother went with it, They
disappeared altogether, and, after being
in about three-quarters of an hour, thel
came out of the pond and went 10 sleep
He was almost worried to death to lie
people see it, but he insisted that 1t wal
not TO be seen, nor was the hippopotamul
to be seen. In that way he kept it quiet
and the female reared her young one, HI
ascertained that not only did she rear he
young one, but that, for the first thre
months, the young hippopotamus tool
nourishment from the mother unde
water. 1t was most extraordinary dis
covery, known for the first time, that an,