In the _Jardin du Roi_, at Paris, the Elephant has long
enjoyed advantages proportionate to his importance in the scale of
creation. Six years since we remember seeing a fine young specimen in
the enjoyment of an ample enclosure of greensward, and a spacious bath
has since been added to the accommodations. This example has been
rightly followed in our Zoologicai Gardens.
The Elephant Stable is at the extremity of the northern garden in the
Regent's Park. It is of capacious dimensions, but is built in a style of
unappropriate rusticity. Adjoining the stable is a small enclosure,
which the Elephant may measure in two or three turns. Opposite is an
enclosure of much greater extent, so as to be almost worthy of the name
of a little park or paddock. The fence is of iron, and light but
substantial. Within the area are a few lime-trees, the lower branches of
which are thinned by the Elephant repeatedly twisting off their foliage
with his trunk, as adroitly as a gardener would gather fruit. His main
luxury is, however, in his bath, which is a large pool or tank of water,
of depth nearly equal to his height. In hot weather he enjoys his
ablutions here with great gusto, exhibiting the liveliest tokens of
satisfaction and delight.
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