as quick as a flash of light.
Once in the water they seem to be everywhere at once, their movements
are so fast and graceful. Diving at one end of the pond, they are up at
the other before you have had time to take breath.

The best time to see them is when they are fed, which is after the real
lions. The keeper goes into the enclosure with a basket of fish, and in
their excitement the sea-lions writhe and wind and chase each other till
the pond seems full of gigantic eels. He throws the fish one by one in
all directions, and the great beasts simply dance after them. Even after
the last fish has gone, still the happy commotion continues for several
minutes.

A great change was made in the Zoo when the Mappin terraces were built.
These were presented by a Mr. Mappin who wanted the animals to be seen
in a more natural state than is possible when they are in cages. The
great idea is that the animals are not separated from the sight-seers by
bars, but by a very deep and wide ditch, ditch isn't the right word,
fosse would be better, but fosse is not a very common word.

Across this, people can look at the bears in safety, and see them far
better than under the old conditions; while the bears themselves are in
the open air, and have a good space to roam over and a fine pond to
bathe in. They are some beautiful shaggy brown bears here, just the very
model on which Teddy bears are made; and, if you are kind to them, and
throw them bits of biscuits across the fosse, some of them will sit up
in the most engaging way and hug their hind feet, rocking themselves
backwards and forwards in their excitement about the promised dainty.

High over the bears' open places, rise rocks on which various sorts of
chamois and goats live happily. They can climb far above our heads and
look down on us, or leap from rock to rock as if they were in their
native haunts. I often wonder what they think of the bears running about
below them! Sometimes they must watch in surprise as they see the bears
chasing each other. There are one or two together in most of the big
spaces, and they go through the most absurd antics, plunging in and out
of their ponds, and eyeing one another cautiously as they stand with the
water running off their fur.

There are a great many other bears too, for whom there is not room on
the Mappin terraces. These are in the old bear-quarters, which look
rather like two rows of open fronted shops standing back to back. Here
are