The Old Showmen and the Old London FairsFrost, Thomas
History
The Old Showmen and the Old London Fairs
Frost, Thomas
Fairs -- England -- London; London (England) -- Social life and customs
"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 velocitv.
"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 outrunning 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._"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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