royed by the subsidence of
foundations probably insufficient when placed upon a footing of wet and
treacherous London clay so near the shifting foreshore of the river. The
great quay, or wharf, "Kaia Regis," "O," is first mentioned in 1228.
The distinction of having been (albeit unconsciously) the founder of the
present Zoological Society might well be claimed for Henry III., as,
although Henry I. had a collection of wild beasts at Woodstock
Palace,[37] yet in this reign the menagerie at the Tower is first
mentioned.

In 1252 a white bear from Norway is recorded as kept at the Tower, and
the sheriffs of London are directed to pay 4d. a day for his sustenance
and that of his keeper, with a muzzle, and a strong chain to hold him
when out of the water, also "unam longam, et fortem cordam ad tenendum
eundem ursum piscantem in aquae Thamesis," or, in other words, a long
strong cord to hold the said bear when fishing in the water of
Thames![38]

Already in 1235 the Emperor Frederick had sent the King three leopards,
in allusion to the royal armorial bearings of England.

In 1255 Louis of France presented Henry with an _elephant_, which was
landed at Sandwich, and brought to the Tower,[39] where a house or shed
forty feet by twenty feet was built to contain him, again at the expense
of the sheriffs of London, on whose Corporation the King seems to have
had a playful habit of throwing the expense of these and all other such
little matters as he could thus avoid paying for himself.

During the reigns of the three Edwards the collection of wild beasts
was largely increased from time to time, and lions were kept in the
great Barbican, "C," long known as the Lions' tower, which probably
gave rise to the expression, "Seeing the Lions at the Tower."

The menagerie remained there until, in 1834, the various houses were
found to impede the restoration of the entrance towers and gates, so
they were removed to their present quarters in the Regent's Park; but,
most unfortunately, the necessity for the conservation of the Barbican
as an important feature of the mediaeval fortress was but imperfectly
understood, and it was entirely demolished, its ditch filled up, the
present unsightly ticket office and engine house being erected on its
site.[40]

Besides the towers already named, the outer ward was additionally
secured against any attempts at surprise by several cross-walls, "G,"
with gates, which subdivided it into several independ