These were native productions, and, although abnormal, could not compete with rarities from foreign lands--especially with the whale, _Vide Daily Courant_, September 15, 1712: 'There being last Week a Royal Parmacitty Whale taken in the Thames, which is the noblest Fish ever seen in England, the same will for the curiosity of Gentlemen, &c., be exposed to view in a Barge near the Faulcon over against Black Fryers at 2_d._ a piece.' It got rather odoriferous by keeping, so we read in the _Daily Courant_ of September 22, that, 'the Royal Whale, supposed to be the Spermacete so much admired, will be exposed to Sale by Auction to-morrow at 4 o'clock.' Its purchaser is unknown, but we hear of it again: 'We called at the Isle of Dogs to see the Skeleton of a whale, forty-eight yards long, and thirty-five round.'[350] [Footnote 350: Diary of Ralph Thoresby, July 14, 1714.] Of course there was no Zoological Society at that time, and the only way of seeing foreign animals was by small private collections, which, for want of capital, never contained any very rare specimens. Still, it was something even to get this, and we must not forget that our own Zoological collection is the work of the present century, and is an example followed by scarcely any other town in England, where still, as in the villages, people are dependent upon the travelling menageries for any practical knowledge they may possess of the natural history of any land other than their own. In London a permanent collection of wild beasts, or at all events lions and tigers, had existed at the Tower, where once was a white bear, which used, duly fastened by a cord, to fish in the Thames; and we have seen that these animals were one of the principal sights of the City. 'At the White Horse Inn in Fleet Street, any time of the Day or Evening,' were to be seen '1. A little Black Hairy Pigmey, bred in the Desarts of Arabia, a Natural Ruff of Hair about his Face, two Foot high, walks upright, drinks a Glass of Ale or Wine, and does several other things to admiration. 2. A Hyenna. 3. A Murino dear, one of the seven Sleepers. 4. The Remark from the East Indies. 5. The Noble Histix from the West Indies. 6. The little Whifler, admired for his extraordinary Scent. 7. The Mock call, the Bird of Paradise.' [Illustration: A Leopard.]