A Visit To A Zoo

I was going to Faizabad with my father. I expressed my desire to see the

zoo at Lucknow on the way. He agreed and we got down at Lucknow. He
deposited our luggage in clock- room.

After taking our bath and heavy refreshment we hired a tonga and reached
the zoo. We bought our tickets and entered the zoo. As we entered the
compound, we saw a small house surrounded by a wire net. Inside it, we
saw a number of snakes of all sizes and colours. For the first time in my
life, I saw a grey snake a as thin  as the small finger. There were snakes
called pythons. They seemed to be two or three quintals heavy.

Then we saw a tank full of all kind of coloured fish. They were leaping
about and swimming beautifully in the clear water. In another tank we saw
small hills and rocks on which a crocodile was basking. It got down and
disappeared in the water. There were many crocodiles on the land. Some
were dozing. Some were taking rest under the tree.

We also saw many kinds of birds of all kinds and colours. The ostrich was
as large as the camel. There was a large number of bright red little robins.
They were singing. It was all a beautiful scene. I saw many kinds of
monkeys also the were black, white and red, big and small. The peacocks
were dancing merrily. There were white peacocks. It belongs to Japan. It
was my first chance to see a white peacock. There were many kinds of
monkeys and parrots – very small and very big like kite.

Then   I saw the deer and rhinoceros. The rhinoceros was a big animal with
a heavy thick skin. He was surrounded by the iron bars. In fact all the
animals in a cage were surrounded by a bar fence.

The most interesting thing was the wonderful sight of tigers moving about
freely in the open behind the enclosures. Their place was surrounded by a
broad ditch of water. So we had nothing to fear. We also saw the King of
the forest, the lion. I had never seen a lion before. So I was wondered and
frightened. The lion had a brown colour. His body was bare but he had long
hair on his neck. His head was large and the eyes were bright and shining.
Sometimes he yawned and showed his large teeth and big mouth. I saw
many other wild beasts like the panther, the leopard, and other whose
names I could not know. I read the labels on every door and knew what
animals there were.