three hundred bears."

Farther on we read of a spectacle by the younger Gordian of
"twenty zebras, ten elks, ten giraffes, thirty African hyenas, ten
Indian tigers, a rhinoceros, an hippopotamus, and thirty-two
elephants."

[Mexico.]--Gomara, the friend and executor of Herman Cortes, states:
--

"There were here also many cages made of stout beams, in some of
which there were lions (pumas); in others, tigers (jaguars); in
others, ounces; in others, wolves; nor was there any animal on four
legs that was not there. They had for their rations deer and other
animals of the chase. There were also kept in large jars or tanks,
snakes, alligators, and lizards. In another court there were cages
containing every kind of birds of prey, such as vultures, a dozen
sorts of falcons and hawks, eagles, and owls. The large eagles
received turkeys for their food. Our Spaniards were astonished at
seeing such a diversity of birds and beasts; nor did they find it
pleasant to hear the hissing of the poisonous snakes, the roaring of
the lions, the shrill cries of the wolves, nor the groans of the
other animals given to them for food."

[Peru.]--Garcilasso de la Vega (_Commentaries Reales_, v. 10), the
son of a Spanish conqueror by an Indian princess, born and bred in
Peru, writes:--

"All the strange birds and beasts which the chiefs presented to the
Inca were kept at court, both for grandeur and also to please the
Indians who presented them. When I came to Cuzco, I remember there
were some remains of places where they kept these creatures. One was
the serpent conservatory, and another where they kept the pumas,
jaguars, and bears."

[Syria and Greece.]--I could have said something on Solomon's apes
and peacocks, and could have quoted at length the magnificent order
given by Alexander the Great (Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, viii. 16) towards
supplying material for Aristotle's studies in natural history; but
enough has been said to prove what I maintained, namely, that
numerous cases occur, year after year, and age after age, in which
every animal of note is captured and its capabilities of
domestication unconsciously tested.

I would accept in a more stringent sense than it was probably
intended to bear, the text of St. James, who wrote at a time when a
vast variety and multitude of animals were constantly being
forwarded to Rome and to Antioch for amphitheatrical shows. He says
(James iii. 7), "Every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of s