_May 7th._[14]--Soon after breakfast we set out in a carriage to go
to the Jardin des Plantes. We crossed the Seine by the Pont Royal;
the river is dirty and muddy, the water is so green that it cannot
be drunk without being filtered. On the bridge were several women
clipping poodles, and the limonadiers, both men and women, were
passing backwards and forwards with their castles full of lemonade
or sorbets on their backs, their cocks by their sides, and their tin
cups over their shoulders, crying as they went along, 'Voulez-vous
boire, voulez-vous boire?' Some of them had larger things, a great deal
ornamented. When we alighted at the entrance of the botanic garden
several women crowded round us, begging us to buy a description of the
menagerie. It was a very fine day. This charming garden was founded
by Jean de la Brasse, physician to Louis XIII. At the entrance of the
garden are several square enclosures. The first contains different
kinds of soil and manure; in the second are specimens of hedges,
fences, and ditches; there are likewise every different method of
training fruit-trees, some like a cup, some like a pyramid, and two
trees fastened together with a gate between them. In another enclosure
are vegetables, and in another different kinds of fruit-trees and
bowers. We then walked to the menagerie, near which are some very
fine Judas trees which were covered with lilac flowers. The wild
beasts' dens were very large and kept remarkably clean. There were
several lions, tigers, panthers, hyenas, wolves and bears; but what
pleased me most was a dog in the den with one of the lions. One very
fierce-looking black bear was rearing up against the bars. The bears
were formerly kept in sunken enclosures, but since an accident happened
they have been confined with the other wild beasts.[15] At the end
of the menagerie is the aviary, the bars of which were so close that
we could hardly see into it; there did not seem many rare birds, but
plenty of monkeys were skipping about. Some distance off this is the
house for the elephant: it is a large-looking building near a pond,
the whole enclosed by a railing. The elephant was plunging about and
enjoying the water while its keeper was rubbing it with a wet broom.
In several enclosures were antelopes, deer, elks, and different kinds
of sheep. They were so tame as to come up to the railings and take
pieces of bread out of the people's hands. In one enclosure were
different kinds of fowls, storks, and an ostrich, and a Botany Bay
bird of immense height. There were also two old camels, and two young
ones. There were some curious long-eared goats, which were very tame.
In the pit, where the bears were formerly, are now some wild boars,
and several young ones. The botanic garden consists of more than seven
thousand plants, every one of which is labelled, and the beds are
divided by little hedges of box. A piece of water, supplied from the
Seine, is appropriated to the aquatic plants. We did not look into the
greenhouses or hothouses: several of the plants were ranged out of
doors. After we had passed these we ascended by a path an artificial
hill at the top of which is a kind of temple: from this we had a view
of the greater part of Paris. The Museum of Natural History is at the
end of the garden opposite the entrance; it is open on Tuesday and
Friday. We could not see it the day we were at the garden.
[Illustration: LIMONADIÈRE]