“Under the Patronage of HIS MAJESTY.
G. [Illustration] R.
“Wonderful Phenomenon in Nature! The singular and hitherto deemed
impossible occurrence of a LION and TIGRESS cohabiting and producing
young, has actually taken place in this menagerie, at Windsor. The
tigress, on Wednesday, the 27th of October last, produced _three fine
cubs_; one of them strongly resembles the tigress; the other two are of
a lighter colour, but striped. Mr. Atkins had the honour (through the
kind intervention of the marquis of Conyngham,) of exhibiting the
_lion-tigers_ to his majesty, on the first of November, 1824, at the
Royal Lodge, Windsor Great Park, when his majesty was pleased to
observe, they were the greatest curiosity of the beast creation he ever
witnessed.
“The royal striped _Bengal Tigress_ has again whelped three fine cubs,
(April 22,) two males and one female: the males are white, but striped;
the female resembles the tigress, and singular to observe, she fondles
them with all the care of an attentive mother. The sire of the young
cubs is the noble male lion. This remarkable instance of subdued temper
and association of animals to permit the keeper to enter their den, and
introduce their young to the spectators, is the greatest phenomenon in
natural philosophy.
“That truly singular and wonderful animal, the AUROCHOS. Words can only
convey but a very confused idea of this animal’s shape, for there are
few so remarkably formed. Its head is furnished with two large horns,
growing from the forehead, in a form peculiar to no other animal; from
the nostrils to the forehead, is a stiff tuft of hair, and underneath
the jaw to the neck is a similar brush of hair, and between the fore
legs is hair growing about a foot and a half long. The mane is like that
of a horse, white, tinged with black, with a beautiful long flowing
white tail; the eye remarkably keen, and as large as the eye of the
elephant: colour of the animal, dark chesnut; the appearance of the
head, in some degree similar to the buffalo, and in some part formed
like the goat, the hoof being divided; such is the general outline of
this quadruped, which seems to partake of several species. This
beautiful animal was brought over by captain White, from the south of
Africa, and landed in England, September 20, 1823, and is the same
animal so frequently mistaken by travellers for the unicorn: further to
describe its peculiarities would occupy too much space in a handbill.
The only one in England.
“That colossal animal, the wonderful performing
~Elephant,~
Upwards of ten feet high!!--Five tons weight!! His consumption of hay,
corn, straw, carrots, water, &c., exceeds 800lbs. daily. The elephant,
the human race excepted, is the most respectable of animals. In size, he
surpasses all other terrestrial creatures, and by far exceeds any other
travelling animal in England. He has ivory tusks, four feet long, one
standing out on each side of his trunk. His trunk serves him instead of
hands and arms, with which he can lift up and seize the smallest as well
as the largest objects. He alone drags machines which six horses cannot
move. To his prodigious strength, he adds courage, prudence, and an
exact obedience. He remembers favours as long as injuries: in short, the
sagacity and knowledge of this extraordinary animal are beyond any thing
human imagination can possibly suggest. He will lie down and get up at
the word of command, notwithstanding the many fabulous tales of their
having no joints in their legs. He will take a sixpence from the floor,
and place it in a box he has in the caravan; bolt and unbolt a door;
take his keeper’s hat off, and replace it; and by the command of his
keeper will perform so many wonderful tricks, that he will not only
astonish and entertain the audience, but justly prove himself the
half-reasoning beast. He is the only elephant now travelling.
“A full grown LION and LIONESS, with four cubs, produced December 12,
1824, at Cheltenham.
“_Male Bengal Tiger._ Next to the lion, the tiger is the most tremendous
of the carnivorous class; and whilst he possesses all the bad qualities
of the former, seems to be a stranger to the good ones: to pride, to
strength, to courage, the lion adds greatness, and sometimes, perhaps,
clemency; while the tiger, without provocation, is fierce--without
necessity, is cruel. Instead of instinct, he hath nothing but a uniform
rage, a blind fury, so blind, indeed, so undistinguishing, that he
frequently devours his own progeny; and if the tigress offers to defend
them, he tears in pieces the dam herself.
“The _Onagra_, a native of the Levant, the eastern parts of Asia, and
the northern parts of Africa. This race differs from the zebra by the
size of the body, (which is larger,) slenderness of the legs, and lustre
of the hair. The only one now alive in England.
“_Two Zebras_, one full grown, the other in its infant state, in which
it seems as if the works of art had been combined with those of nature
in this wonderful production. In symmetry of shape, and beauty of
colour, it is the most elegant of all quadrupeds ever presented; uniting
the graceful figure of a horse, with the fleetness of a stag:
beautifully striped with regular lines, black and white.
“A Nepaul _Bison_, only twenty-four inches high.
“_Panther_, or spotted tiger of Buenos Ayres, the only one travelling.
“A pair of _rattle-tail Porcupines_.
“Striped untameable _Hyæna_, or tiger wolf.
“An elegant _Leopard_, the handsomest marked animal ever seen.
“Spotted _Laughing Hyæna_, the same kind of animal described never to be
tamed; but singular to observe, it is perfectly tame, and its attachment
to a dog in the same den is very remarkable.
“The spotted _Cavy_.
“Pair of _Jackalls_.
“Pair of interesting _Sledge Dogs_, brought over by captain Parry from
one of the northern expeditions: they are used by the Esquimaux to draw
the sledges on the ice, which they accomplish with great velocity.
“A pair of _Rackoons_, from North America.
“The _Oggouta_, from Java.
“A pair of _Jennetts_, or wild cats.
“The _Coatimondi_, or ant-eater.
“A pair of those extraordinary and rare birds, PELICANS of the
wilderness. The only two alive in the three kingdoms.--These birds have
been represented on all crests and coats of arms, to cut their breasts
open with the points of their bills, and feed their young with their own
blood, and are justly allowed by all authors to be the greatest
curiosity of the feathered tribe.
“_Ardea Dubia_, or adjutant of Bengal, gigantic emew, or Linnæus’s
southern ostrich. The peculiar characteristics that distinguish this
bird from the rest of the feathered tribe;--it comes from Brazil, in the
new continent; it stands from eight to nine feet high when full grown;
it is too large to fly, but is capable of out-running the fleetest
horses of Arabia; what is still more singular, every quill produces two
feathers. The only one travelling.
“A pair of rapacious _Condor-Minors_, from the interior of South
America, the largest birds of flight in the world when full grown; it is
the same kind of bird the Indians have asserted to carry off a deer or
young calf in their talons, and two of them are sufficient to destroy a
buffalo, and the wings are as much as eighteen feet across.
“The great _Horned Owl_ of Bohemia. Several species of gold and silver
pheasants, of the most splendid plumage, from China and Peru.
Yellow-crested cockatoo. Scarlet and buff macaws.--Admittance to see the
whole menagerie, 1_s._--Children, 6_d._--Open from ten in the forenoon
till feeding-time, half-past-nine, 2_s._”
Here ends Atkins’s bill; which was plentifully stuck against the
outside, and the people “tumbled up” in crowds, to the sound of
clarionets, trombones, and a long drum, played by eight performers in
scarlet beef-eater coats, with wild-skin caps, who sat fronting the
crowd, while a stentorian showman called out “don’t be deceived; the
great performing elephant--the only lion and tigress in one den that are
to be seen in the Fair, or the proprietor will forfeit a thousand
guineas! Walk in! walk in!” I paid my sixpence, and certainly the idea
of the exhibition raised by the invitation and the programme, was in no
respect overcharged. The “menagerie” was thoroughly clean, and the
condition of the assembled animals, told that they were well taken care
of. The elephant, with his head through the bars of his cage, whisked
his proboscis diligently in search of eatables from the spectators, who
supplied him with fruit or biscuits, or handed him halfpence, which he
uniformly conveyed by his trunk to a retailer of gingerbread, and got
the money’s-worth in return. Then he unbolted the door to let in his
keeper, and bolted it after him; took up a sixpence with his trunk,
lifted the lid of a little box fixed against the wall and deposited it
within it, and some time afterwards relifted the lid, and taking out the
sixpence with a single motion, returned it to the keeper; he knelt down
when told, fired off a blunderbuss, took off the keeper’s hat, and
afterwards replaced it on his head with as fitting propriety as the
man’s own hand could have done; in short, he was perfectly docile, and
performed various feats that justified the reputation of his species for
high understanding. The keeper showed every animal in an intelligent
manner, and answered the questions of the company readily and with
civility. His conduct was rewarded by a good parcel of halfpence, when
his hat went round with a hope, that “the ladies and gentlemen would not
forget the keeper before he showed the lion and the tigress.” The latter
was a beautiful young animal, with two playful cubs about the size of
bull-dogs, but without the least fierceness. When the man entered the
den, they frolicked and climbed about him like kittens; he took them up
in his arms, bolted them in a back apartment, and after playing with the
tigress a little, threw back a partition which separated her den from
the lion’s, and then took the lion by the beard. This was a noble
animal; he was couching, and being inclined to take his rest, only
answered the keeper’s command to rise, by extending his whole length,
and playfully putting up one of his magnificent paws, as a cat does when
in a good humour. The man then took a short whip, and after a smart lash
or two upon his back, the lion rose with a yawn, and fixed his eye on
his keeper with a look that seemed to say--“Well, I suppose I must
humour you.” The man then sat down at the back of the den, with his back
against the partition, and after some ordering and coaxing, the tigress
sat on his right hand, and the lion on his left, and, all three being
thus seated, he threw his arms round their necks, played with their
noses, and laid their heads in his lap. He arose and the animals with
him; the lion stood in a fine majestic position, but the tigress reared,
and putting one foot over his shoulder, and patting him with the other,
as if she had been frolicking with one of her cubs, he was obliged to
check her playfulness. Then by coaxing, and pushing him about, he caused
the lion to sit down, and while in that position opened the animal’s
ponderous jaws with his hands, and thrust his face down into the lion’s
throat, wherein he shouted, and there held his head nearly a minute.
After this he held up a common hoop for the tigress to leap through, and
she did it frequently. The lion seemed more difficult to move to this
sport. He did not appear to be excited by command or entreaty; at last,
however, he went through the hoop, and having been once roused, repeated
the action several times; the hoop was scarcely two feet in diameter.
The exhibition of these two animals concluded by the lion lying down on
his side, when the keeper stretched himself to his whole length upon
him, and then calling to the tigress she jumped upon the man, extended
herself with her paws upon his shoulders, placed her face sideways upon
his, and the whole three lay quiescent till the keeper suddenly slipped
himself off the lion’s side, with the tigress on him, and the trio
gambolled and rolled about on the floor of the den, like playful
children on the floor of a nursery.
Of the beasts there is not room to say more, than that their number was
surprising, considering that they formed a better selected collection,
and showed in higher condition from cleanliness and good feeding, than
any assemblage I ever saw. Their variety and beauty, with the usual
accessory of monkeys, made a splendid picture. The birds were equally
admirable, especially the pelicans, and the emew. This sixpenny “show”
would have furnished a dozen sixpenny “shows,” at least, to a “Bartlemy
Fair” twenty years ago.