WELLINGTON ZOO

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2147, 13 May 1914, Page 8

WELLINGTON ZOO

NATURAL NOTES ABOUT NATURE - AN .AQUARIUM CONDITION OF THE YOUNG LION' "WHERE IS THAT DOG?" (By John Crowes, * President of tho Wellington- Zoological Society.) My. Zoo notes arc* not direct products of hard work; they' are natural notes about Nature. Without effort I write them, and without much effort they are read.by a steadily-increasing'number of friends. A bonny girl, just in the dawn <>f her lifetime,' to whom the great universe of-2s T atiire wasjbeginiiing to open out, read theni, and with friends younger than "herself, wont up to see in the Zoo what they could not have discovered without tile aid of "Zoo notes." An aged veteran road them, and went up to see what, without them, his attention would not have boon directed to.' He was .Hearing tho end of his temporal life. He thanked me, praised -.my, notes, turned away, went lU'ino, and died. The young -just 'beginning, to live praised Zoo notes; the old who had mofo than begun' to die praised' them.. A few days ago a middle-aged man in the full maturity of manhood had .just come down from Palmersten when I .met him in a tramcar. ';0h! Mr. C-re'wos," ho exclaimed, "how is the Zoo? 1..d0 read yoilr #00 notes," and lie deeply emphasised the "c]n."' The young,'tho middle-aged, tlw> aged,, all find recreation in reading what I in recreation write. Iliey cait all easily read ami enjoy what I "write when I want rest from other work. Lions and Eagles. "Blood is thicker than-water," That is art'old saying. lam not sure that 1 could satisfactorily interpret it. But we feci tho meaning ai it. When tho American marines landed at Vera Cruz British bluejackets cheered badly. When the British: see tho Americans going into war they feel that they want to go with them. And--when, at a large public meeting at,Newtown a'few. even* Mags'ago., 1 ventured Ho say that just when tiio Britishers ■ were cheering tho Americans in, the Gulf of Mexifij' my friend,' Mr. Castle, tho indefatigable secretary,, of tho - Wellington Zoological Society, was putiinft'up. hir American i'.? s ™ }?■ salute - th > '.British- -lions -in the tt ellington Zoo, njy -hearers forgot that, they were waiting for scrutineers to count votes in an adjoining room, and warmly and loudly •'cheered the the name-of Castle, and the meet inn of the eagles and the lions, there is a great deal of British Wood in tho veins of the Americans,- and Now Zealanclers nro sound on-my proposal to establish' the most- cordial relations between the itoighsJi-speafcuig nations. America is well represented hi the Wellington Zoo Jjet flew Zealand be well- represented in tuo great exhibition that is to bo li'tfcl m connection with tho opening of the Panama Canal.. Because it is natural. JJritishei's cheer Americans,; and doing it is more easy than refraining from it would be •' " 5 p blouse it is" natural to praisa tlw 'conduct of my friend Castle and the progress or tho Wellington Zoo t write ~00 ivotes, «mi the aged, and the young, and.the middle-aged, tho living, and the dying, tlw. growing, tlw. matured, and the declining read'them. . Shalt'We Have an Aattarlum? Y f> as tile" city 'can' Afford it. A small, select, interesting , aquarium is wanted in /Wellington; I must not introwico part? politics, nor.-extol' thft' virtrie* of political leaders, but I must say that 1 a» glad to see tho Hon. IV J *;. l ?;.. F !sher,M,P., and member or the we-Urngtou Zoological Society, favouring the proposal to form an aquarium in the. Wellington Zoo. h\ England, and in America, and in Germany collections of marine animals hive heeii great attractions, and some of them have yielded much valuable information Who that, has'read the life of J' rank Buckland does not remember reading of the "supreme felicity" that B'ueklttnd felt when lie saw that the "sniolt" had become a "grikir," at tho Brighton Aquarium? Any person that would allow .political party considerations to touch our Zoo ottaht to bo deported from' New" Zealand. Ijbnncillor Frost, the deservedly-popular chairman of the Reserves Committee of the Wellington City Council, with his committee, His Worship the. Mayor, with his sensible and practical council. and tho Hon'. F. M. B. Fishery M.P., Minister for Marine, have now, when the material from illo Auckland Exhibition is available, and an. expert- with a dredge is testing all the fishing grounds ■ of the Dominion, an opportunity to render, at'a very small cost,'an inestimable- service to New Zealand. Let thom remembfii' that- wo want not an afinarium of great eaters or expensive feeders, but that we want an exhibition of interesting marine animals that shall he kept at a small cost, and ho educa-' tional, as well as. attractive- to tho. general public. ..If-salt .Water .be .needed a tramway now connects the- Newtown Park gate with the I/yall' Bay beach.', and if tho people of Berlin thought it worth while to bring a cargo of sea water _ from the North Sea to their aquarium, surely o*ir ; city engineer,'tins Wellington Xity Council, the Goverii-roe-nt of our Detnitoioii, and the fisheries expert whoso, valuable services ate-, temporarily with our Qoteiiiineilt -PislteVica Department, ought,to rise.to the great opportunity now open in our. pari of the world, and' make tho best, that is possible of it— young salmon, and. young lobsters are wonderfully interesting subjects, aiid surely t-he'drtdges are.bringing to light some extremely-interesting things that could be kept at-wry stnallcast in our aquarium. Sunday Afternoon at tda Zoo. 1 do not run Hi opposition to the churches, nor do I want to place the. Zoo in competition with them; bat I, say, "If you -do not- go to church on Sunday afternoons go'to the, Zoo, or to-the Botanical Gardens." Life is fascinating, and the study of life is interesting and profitable. Oonorally the plants, tho birds, the beasts, the men, tho women, and tho ehildreii.ihat wo see in the -public . gardens of Wellington on, Sim-day afternoons are well worthy of observation, and study. "1 sit on a' sent and Nature naturally, calls up memories. What a wonderful thing, or power, memory is, I see tho peacock in the -Lou. That'reminds me ot a lecture in which was a reference to tho wisdom of Soh> iti-oii spending -some of his money in collecting apes-and peacocks, or, if lie gob them for nothhig, increasing his riches by so doing. -I see again and hear in memory a -friend who got lip and spoke on my reference to Solomon. It was not long ago that my. good friend spoke; b»t later ho died. WJiero/is that friend? Has ke met Solomon? I feel the pull of air arms that- used to cling to rame as 1 pulled ti}> the banks of tins Jioo grounds, "Oh for tlw .touch of, a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still,",'ls my friend in a "T'aradiptj"? She \v®» a quiet Methodist. ller faith was simple, and her hopo sublime. Where is she? I sceni to see and hear again an aged man .telling me of his visit to an Australian Ztw, and of his experience when ho tried to enter a pnddflok of ostriches somewhere. We agreed that moil must ho careful when they get. among ostriches, An ostrich easily breaks his leg, but lucks with tremendous force. My old friend was a Roman Cstholir' . Some. of. my Catholic friends tliiiik that I may yet bo saved. ,1 like to believe thai fflauy. qfifcem are os tho

■) way to Heaven. But I sit, and review, and wonder whero my departed friends are. A few months ago thev were in the grounds of the Wellington Zoe. Where are they hot-? -Aye, and my old Catholic frioud has no sooner left than 1 seo and hear-again a Presbyterian—Mot very oid, but white-headed, not boisterous — rather quiet—but cheerful. Why was he allowed to die while I am kept alive herep Where is fee? Then I seo a man of wilder mind. His faith,' if faith lie had, vra* not well defined. He was, 1 think, a free-thinker. Whore is he? What has he discovered? A few weeks ago ho was in the park. Whero is he now? I sit and meditate. What 1 have seen and heard in the park yields food for profitable meditation on Sunday afternoons. But I cannot stay loa'g., I move forward to the small birds' aviary. Then a gentleman, standing with a. lady, asks: "what.is this beautiful little bird ...over hero? Mr. Crowes.. Is it a now addition, or has it changed its plumage? We never noticed it here before." A beautiful'(.HUß Bird. • The beautiful iittlo bird abewt wliiclf the- question was asked is a Madagascar weaver. It is a very beautiful bird, and must be watched closely to be recognised generally, for it I think, changes its colours frequently. If 1 have not been misinformed, and I feel sure that I have not been, tho plumage of the Madagascar weaver cham/os strikingly twica a year. Once the bird moults and changes its ifeathers. At the other time the feathers remain : but the '■ colours are changed. How is George! ; I am glad to be able to report a gMat improvement in tho condition of. the . young lion. George is much brighter and more playful 'than ho was, and his ribs and pin-bones arc less conspicuous. Mr." Langridgo speaks very hopefully of his patient, and I congratulate all concerned on the improved appearances. Congratulations. I .heartily congratulate His Worship tho Mayor on his.re-election to tho Mayoral office. Two of the candidates for tho Wellington Mayoralty at the lato election were, and are, members of tho Wellington Zoological Society.-They carried on a clean" contest, and finished in a maimer that made me feel proud of both of. them. I cordially congratulate also Messrs. Browa and Castle, two, other members of tiro Wellington Sjoolo-' gicai Society. By tho,largest meeting ever hold-to elect <i School Committee for the Newtown Public School,' Mv. ■Brown, an ex-secretary of tho society, was elected to the head of tho pall, and by ft unanimous voto of the newly-elect-ed cotnmitt.ee, Mr. Castle', tW present secretary and treasurer of our society, was ■ i-e'-e!ected..chair.maii- of the School Committee. They both see the value of gardens as educational institutions-, and the people of Newtown delight, to llehour the efforts that are made-to interest their children-'in the study of Nature. Messrs. Reed and Crosby, also two good workers for the school mid the Zoological Society, were elected o-u> the Newtown School Committee, and are hereby heartily congratulated. A Forecast Verifies. Some months ago I inferred from the Zoo that an. early winter was-probable! Now, I am satisfied with tho verification that Nature has yielded. But when I am asked to predict an early spring I. am not'on. I have not.yet seeri enough data to' infer from.' What I have bcVn asked abouti 'seems v«ry inadequate. And here I must empliasise the. pointthat one of the objects of my notes is to impress deeply 'the importance of studying nature closely, thoroughly, cautious'ly,' surely? Much of whjtf has been, written about zoological -.indications e-f weather conditions is utterly ■unreliable, and-some of>it.absurd. But when .Frank Bucklawd suggested that ■if Napoleon had observed tlio flight of the storks'and cranes, passing over his fated battalions, Wrusiv he- Was on the road to Moscow, and had drawn a fair inference from them, a result mijiht have been a very great difference in tho polities of Europe. Auckland wrote seicntifienliy. The child oi nature that naturally studies nature- receives her ccmimunicat-ioiis that less sympathetic and -ja.refill students cannot gatlier. Amundsen and Scott. "Where, is that dog?'' my venerable friend, Mr. David Robertson, lias several times asked when he has met me in tho streets. "I must go to meet him when he arrives," says tho oft-elc'ctal school committee chairman, _ But the dog that Amundsen was witling to present to us has not arrived. 1 am afraid that.it never will arrive. Why? Well, Amundsen selected one of the dags that be took with him to the Smith Pole, and he offered it to my friend 3fr. Castle mid myself for the Wellington Zoolo» gieal Society and the Wellington Koo. But- Amundsen., who could accomplish wonders in the world of nitiirc, was baffled when he got into tlw world of Ijoiitics. Tasmamiin Government regulations, a change of Government in New Zealand soon after Aaiu'iidscii lefthero, and other political matters baffled a man and a dog' that could cross the equatoi",-bravo the blizzards of the Antarctic'regions, and enjoy a picnic on the end of the South Polo.' But the value of--the do* lias been greatly enhanced,'in my judgment, since-J have read about what has 'been written- about the expeditions of Amundsen and Captain- Scott, Ami' from a I naturalist's point of view, I submit that the results of tho two expeditions confirm what I teed.in lay-iast paragrajA to- show.- ■ Wf must deplore the, lass of the valuable lives of Captaii)- Scott, and his devoted followers,. tJja-b died . ivit-h him; wo must sympathise -sincerely arid deftply wj,th their relatives ;• w.e must share the greM sorrow that has he'ci.i uri> vefsaily, and especially uatbiiftliy, fdlt at the disaster to- tho Ssott expedition; hut as students we must fairly dfaiV lessons, and I submit that what has been written praves tho importance- of. close, careful, cautious study of Nature, and tho natural application of it iu pursuing Nature. Arauudsen, as a child <if Nature, in touch with Nature, naturally pursued a natural object. ' Ho selected the right,, -point from which to start; ekoso the'best means-of loeo.niot.ioii; started at .tho right moment: took tho right course; and achieved what he de* sired. lit my judgment Scott- did neither. Pront the disasters from whioh great nieit have suffered, we should try to loam lessons. Bnekland thought that Napoleon might have learned ranch from wanes and storks. I think that- in the light- of 'recent espedit-iens. we should learn much from dugs and, ponies. I am sorry that 'Amundsen's' dog is not iii the Zoo to. impress 'valuable lessons on tlio mind's of students. An fixoTanation. A friend.to whom I generally, submit my ■ notes before I. offet them for publication, suggests that there is a tinge of ■sadness about this batch. Well, Sunday notes I think ought to connect the unseen with the seen, and there, is naturally sadness as well .Is brightness when we study tlio two together. And some of my Zo« -notes must ho Written on Sundays, if at all, just now.