SERVAL.Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.][North Finchley.SERVAL.This is a spotted cat, with long ears, but no tufts on them, as in the true lynxes.
Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.][North Finchley.SERVAL.This is a spotted cat, with long ears, but no tufts on them, as in the true lynxes.
Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.][North Finchley.
SERVAL.
This is a spotted cat, with long ears, but no tufts on them, as in the true lynxes.
In Africa the chaus haunts the thick cover bordering the rivers. There it catches not only water-fowl, but also fish. According to Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington, "its spoor may constantly be seen imprinted on the mud surrounding such pools in the periodical watercourses as are constantly being dried up, and in which fish may probably be imprisoned without chance of escape." The chaus has for neighbour in Africa the beautifulServal, a larger wild cat. This species is reddish in colour, spotted on the body, and striped on the legs. The ears are long, but not tufted, like those of the lynx. The serval is more common in North and Central Africa than in the South. But it is also found south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington say of it: "Northward through South Central Africa it is fairly common. It frequents the thick bush in the vicinity of rivers. Thekarosses, or mantles, made from its skins are only worn by the chiefs and very high dignitaries amongst the native tribes, and are in consequence eagerly sought after, on which account the species runs a risk of rapid extermination. Its usual prey consists of the young of the smaller antelopes, francolins, and wild guinea-fowls, to the latter of which it is a most destructive enemy in the breeding-season. When obtained young, the serval can be tamed with little trouble; but it is difficult to rear, and always shows a singular and almost unaccountable aversion to black men. Its otherwise even temper is always aroused at the sight of a native. When in anger, it is by no means a despicable antagonist, and very few dogs would like to engage in a combat with one single-handed."
MALE SERVAL.Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.MALE SERVAL.The serval is a link between the leopards and tiger-cats, quite large enough to kill the young of the smaller antelopes.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.MALE SERVAL.The serval is a link between the leopards and tiger-cats, quite large enough to kill the young of the smaller antelopes.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.
MALE SERVAL.
The serval is a link between the leopards and tiger-cats, quite large enough to kill the young of the smaller antelopes.
The Common Wild Cat.
TheWild Catwas once fairly common all over England. A curious story, obviously exaggerated, shows that traditions of its ferocity were common at a very early date. The tale is told of the church of Barnborough, in Yorkshire, between Doncaster and Barnsley. It is said that a man and a wild cat met in a wood near and began to fight; that the cat drove the man out of the wood as far as the church, where he took refuge in the porch; and that both the man and cat were so injured that they died. According to Dr. Pearce, the event was formerly commemorated by a rude painting in the church.
SERVAL CLIMBING.Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.SERVAL CLIMBING.Note the active, cat-like method of climbing.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.SERVAL CLIMBING.Note the active, cat-like method of climbing.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.
SERVAL CLIMBING.
Note the active, cat-like method of climbing.
Mr. Charles St. John had an experience with a Scotch wild cat very like that which General Douglas Hamilton tells of the jungle-cat. He heard many stories of their attacking and wounding men when trapped or when their escape was cut off, and before long found out that these were true. "I was fishing in a river in Sutherland," he wrote, "and in passing from one pool to another had to climb over some rocky ground. In doing so, I sank almost up to my knees in some rotten heather and moss, almost upon a wild cat which was concealed under it. I was quite as much startled as the cat itself could be, when I saw the wild-looking beast rush so unexpectedly from between my feet, with every hair on her body on end, making her look twice as large as she really was. I had three small Skye terriers with me, which immediately gave chase, and pursued her till she took refuge in a corner of the rocks, where, perched in a kind of recess out of reach of her enemies, she stood with her hair bristled out, spitting and growling like a common cat. Having no weapon with me, I laid down my rod, cut a good-sized stick, and proceeded to dislodge her. As soon as I was within six or seven feet of the place, she sprang straight at my face over the dogs' heads. Had I not struck her in mid-air as she leaped at me, I should probably have received a severe wound. As it was, she fell with her back half broken among the dogs, who with my assistance dispatched her. I never saw an animal fight so desperately, or one which was so difficult to kill. If a tame cat has nine lives, a wild cat must have a dozen. Sometimes one of these animals will take up its residence at no great distance from a house, and, entering the hen-roosts and outbuildings, will carry off fowls in the most audacious manner, or even lambs. Like othervermin, the wild cat haunts the shores of lakes and rivers, and it is therefore easy to know where to set a trap for them. Having caught and killed one of the colony, the rest of them are sure to be taken if the body of their slain relative is left in the same place not far from their usual hunting-ground and surrounded with traps, as every wild cat passing that way will to a certainty come to it."
The wild cat ranges from the far north of Scotland, across Europe and Northern Asia, to the northern slopes of the Himalaya. It has always been known as one of the fiercest and wildest of the cats, large or small. The continual ill-temper of these creatures is remarkable. In the experience of the keepers of menageries there is no other so intractably savage. One presented to the Zoological Gardens by Lord Lilford some eight years ago still snarls and spits at any one who comes near it, even the keeper.
EUROPEAN WILD CAT.By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.EUROPEAN WILD CAT.The British representative of this species is rapidly becoming extinct. The specimen whose portrait is given here was caught in Argyllshire.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.EUROPEAN WILD CAT.The British representative of this species is rapidly becoming extinct. The specimen whose portrait is given here was caught in Argyllshire.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.
EUROPEAN WILD CAT.
The British representative of this species is rapidly becoming extinct. The specimen whose portrait is given here was caught in Argyllshire.
The food of the wild cat is grouse, mountain-hares, rabbits, small birds, and probably fish caught in the shallow waters when chance offers. It is wholly nocturnal; consequently no one ever sees it hunting for prey. Though it has long been confined to the north and north-west of Scotland, it is by no means on the verge of extinction. The deer-forests are saving it to some extent, as they did the golden eagle. Grouse and hares are rather in the way when deer are being stalked; consequently the wild cat and the eagle are not trapped or shot. The limits of its present fastnesses were recently fixed by careful Scotch naturalists at the line of the Caledonian Canal. Mr. Harvie Brown, in 1880, said that it only survived in Scotland north of a line running from Oban to the junction of the three counties of Perth, Forfar, and Aberdeen, and thence through Banffshire to Inverness. But the conclusion of a writer in theEdinburgh Reviewof July, 1898, in a very interesting article on the survival of British mammals, has been happily contradicted. He believed that it only survived in the deer-forests of Inverness and Sutherlandshire. The wild cats shown in the illustrations of these pages were caught a year later as far south as Argyllshire. The father and two kittens were all secured, practically unhurt, and purchased by Mr. Percy Leigh Pemberton for his collection of British mammals at Ashford, in Kent. This gentleman has had great success in preserving his wild cats. They, as well as others—martens, polecats, and other small carnivora—are fed on fresh wild rabbits killed in a warren near; consequently they are in splendid condition. The old "tom" wild cat, snarling with characteristic ill-humour, was well supported by the wild and savage little kittens, which exhibited all the family temper. Shortlybefore the capture of these wild cats another family were trapped in Aberdeenshire and brought to the Zoological Gardens. Four kittens, beautiful little savages, with bright green eyes, and uninjured, were safely taken to Regent's Park. But the quarters given them were very small and cold, and they all died. Two other full-grown wild cats brought there a few years earlier were so dreadfully injured by the abominable steel traps in which they were caught that they both died of blood-poisoning.
SCOTCH WILD CATS.By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.SCOTCH WILD CATS.These wild cats, the property of Mr. P. Leigh Pemberton, though regularly fed and well treated, show their natural bad-temper in their faces.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.SCOTCH WILD CATS.These wild cats, the property of Mr. P. Leigh Pemberton, though regularly fed and well treated, show their natural bad-temper in their faces.
By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.
SCOTCH WILD CATS.
These wild cats, the property of Mr. P. Leigh Pemberton, though regularly fed and well treated, show their natural bad-temper in their faces.
The real wild cats differ in their markings on the body, some being more clearly striped, while others are only brindled. But they are all alike in the squareness and thickness of head and body, and in the short tail, ringed with black, and growing larger at the tip, which ends off like a shaving-brush.
It may well be asked, Which of the many species of wild cats mentioned above is the ancestor of our domestic cats? Probably different species in different countries. The African Kaffir cat, the Indian leopard-cat, the rusty-spotted cat of India, and the European wild cat all breed with tame cats. It is therefore probable that the spotted, striped, and brindled varieties of tame cats are descended from wild species which had those markings. The so-called red tame cats are doubtless descended from the tiger-coloured wild cats. But it is a curious fact that, though the spotted grey-tabby wild varieties are the least common, that colour is most frequent in the tame species.
THE LYNXES.
In theLynxeswe seem to have a less specially cat-like form. They are short-tailed, high in the leg, and broad-faced. Less active than the leopards and tiger-cats, and able to live either in very hot or very cold countries, they are found from the Persian deserts to the far north of Siberia and Canada.
TheCaracalis a southern, hot-country lynx. It has a longer tail than the others, but the same tufted ears. It seems a link between the lynxes and the jungle-cats. It is found in India, Palestine, Persia, and Mesopotamia. In India it was trained, like the cheeta, tocatch birds, gazelles, and hares. TheCommon Lynxis probably the same animal, whether found in Norway, Russia, the Carpathians, Turkestan, China, or Tibet. TheCanadian Lynxis also very probably the same, with local differences of colour. TheNorthern Lynxis the largest feline animal left in Europe, and kills sheep and goats equally with hares and squirrels. The beautiful fur, of pale cinnamon and light grey, is much admired. In some southern districts of America we have theRed Lynx, or so-called "wild cat," which is distinct from the lynx of Canada. TheMediterraneanorSpanish Lynxseems likewise entitled to rank as a distinct species.
Of the lynxes theCaracalsare perhaps the most interesting, from their capacity for domestication. They are found in Africa in the open desert country, whereas theServalis found in the thick bush. In Africa it is believed to be the most savage and untamable of the Cats. That is probably because the Negro and the Kaffir never possessed the art of training animals, from the elephant downwards. In India the caracal's natural prey are the fawns of deer and antelope, pea-fowl, hares, and floricans. The caracal is the quickest with its feet of any of the Cats. One of its best-known feats is to spring up and catch birds passing over on the wing at a height of six or eight feet from the ground. A writer, in the Naturalist's Library, notes that, besides being tamed to catch deer, pea-fowl, and cranes, the caracal was used in "pigeon matches." Two caracals were backed one against the other to kill pigeons. The birds were fed on the ground, and the caracals suddenly let loose among them, to strike down as many as each could before the birds escaped. Each would sometimes strike down with its fore paws ten or a dozen pigeons. "Caracal" means in Turkish "Black Ear," in allusion to the colour of the animal's organ of hearing.
LYNX.Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.LYNX.This animal is a uniformly coloured specie common to India and Africa.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.LYNX.This animal is a uniformly coloured specie common to India and Africa.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.
LYNX.
This animal is a uniformly coloured specie common to India and Africa.
TheCommon Lynxis a thick-set animal, high in the leg, with a square head and very strong paws and forearms. It is found across the whole northern region of Europe and Asia. Although never known in Britain in historic times, it is still occasionally seen in parts of the Alps and in the Carpathians; it is also common in the Caucasus. It is mainly a forest animal, and very largely nocturnal; therefore it is seldom seen, and not often hunted. If any enemy approaches, the lynx lies perfectly still on some branch or rock, and generally succeeds in avoiding notice. The lynx is extremely active; it can leap great distances, and makes itsattack usually in that way. When travelling, it trots or gallops in a very dog-like fashion. Where sheep graze at large on mountains, as in the Balkans and in Greece, the lynx is a great enemy of the flocks. In Norway, where the animal is now very rare, there is a tradition that it is more mischievous than the wolf, and a high price is set on its head.
EUROPEAN LYNX.Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.EUROPEAN LYNX.The largest of the cat tribe left in Europe.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.EUROPEAN LYNX.The largest of the cat tribe left in Europe.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
EUROPEAN LYNX.
The largest of the cat tribe left in Europe.
In Siberia and North Russia most of the lynx-skins taken are sold to the Chinese. The lynx-skins brought to London are mainly those of the Canadian species. The fur is dyed, and used for the busbies of the officers in our hussar regiments. These skins vary much in colour, and in length and quality of fur. The price varies correspondingly. The Canadian lynx lives mainly on the wood-hares and on the wood-grouse of the North American forests. The flesh of the lynx is said to be good and tender.
Brehm says of the Siberian lynx: "It is a forest animal in the strictest sense of the word. But in Siberia it occurs only singly, and is rarely captured. Its true home is in the thickest parts in the interior of the woods, and these it probably never leaves except when scarcity of food or the calls of love tempt it to wander to the outskirts. Both immigrants and natives hold the hunting of the lynx in high esteem. This proud cat's activity, caution and agility, and powers of defence arouse the enthusiasm of every sportsman, and both skin and flesh are valued, the latter not only by the Mongolian tribes, but also by the Russian hunters. The lynx is seldom captured in fall-traps; he often renders them useless by walking along the beam and stepping on the lever, and he usually leaps over the spring-traps in his path. So only the rifle and dogs are left."
CANADIAN LYNX.By permission of Mr. S. B. Gundy][Toronto.CANADIAN LYNX.Great numbers of these are trapped every year for the sake of their fur.
By permission of Mr. S. B. Gundy][Toronto.CANADIAN LYNX.Great numbers of these are trapped every year for the sake of their fur.
By permission of Mr. S. B. Gundy][Toronto.
CANADIAN LYNX.
Great numbers of these are trapped every year for the sake of their fur.
TheRed Lynxis a small American variety, the coat of which turns tawny in summer, when it much resembles a large cat. It is called in some parts of the United States the Mountain-cat. This lynx is 30 inches long in the body, with a tail 6 inches long. It is found on the eastern or Atlantic side of the continent, and by no means shuns the neighbourhood of settlements.
WOLF FROM CENTRAL EUROPE.Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin.WOLF FROM CENTRAL EUROPE.The last persons recorded as killed by these animals were an artist and his wife travelling in Hungary.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin.WOLF FROM CENTRAL EUROPE.The last persons recorded as killed by these animals were an artist and his wife travelling in Hungary.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin.
WOLF FROM CENTRAL EUROPE.
The last persons recorded as killed by these animals were an artist and his wife travelling in Hungary.
CHEETAS.Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.CHEETAS.Cheetas can be distinguished at a glance from ordinary leopards by the solid black spots on the back instead of the "rosettes."
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.CHEETAS.Cheetas can be distinguished at a glance from ordinary leopards by the solid black spots on the back instead of the "rosettes."
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.
CHEETAS.
Cheetas can be distinguished at a glance from ordinary leopards by the solid black spots on the back instead of the "rosettes."
THE CHEETA.
THE NON-RETRACTILE-CLAWED CAT.
TheCheeta, or Hunting-leopard, is the only example of this particular group, though there was an extinct form, whose remains are found in the Siwalik Hills, in the north of India. It is a very widely dispersed animal, found in Persia, Turkestan, and the countries east of the Caspian, and in India so far as the lower part of the centre of the peninsula. It is also common in Africa, where until recent years it was found in Cape Colony and Natal. Now it is banished to the Kalahari Desert, the Northern Transvaal, and Bechuanaland.
A CHEETA HOODED.Photo by York & Son][Notting Hill.A CHEETA HOODED.The cheeta is not unhooded until fairly near his quarry, when he is given a sight of the game, and a splendid race ensues.
Photo by York & Son][Notting Hill.A CHEETA HOODED.The cheeta is not unhooded until fairly near his quarry, when he is given a sight of the game, and a splendid race ensues.
Photo by York & Son][Notting Hill.
A CHEETA HOODED.
The cheeta is not unhooded until fairly near his quarry, when he is given a sight of the game, and a splendid race ensues.
The cheeta is more dog-like than any other cat. It stands high on the leg, and has a short, rounded head. Its fur is short and rather woolly, its feet rounded, and its claws, instead of slipping back into sheaths like a lion's, are only partly retractile.
Mr. Lockwood Kipling gives the following account of the cheeta and its keepers: "The only point where real skill comes into play in dealing with the hunting-leopard is in catching the adult animal when it has already learnt the swift, bounding onset, its one accomplishment. The young cheeta is not worth catching, for it has not yet learnt its trade, nor can it be taught in captivity.... There are certain trees where these great dog-cats (for they have some oddly canine characteristics) come to play and whet their claws. The hunters find such a tree, and arrange nooses of deer-sinew round it, and wait the event. The animal comes and is caught by the leg, and it is at this point that the trouble begins. It is no small achievement for two or three naked, ill-fed men to secure so fierce a capture and carry it home tied on a cart. Then his training begins. He is tied in all directions, principally from a thick rope round his loins, while a hood fitted over his head effectually blinds him. He is fastened on a strong cot-bedstead, and the keepers and their wives and families reduce him to submission by starving him and keeping him awake. His head is made to face the village street, and for an hour at a time, several times a day, his keepers make pretended rushes at him, and wave clothes, staves, and other articles in his face. He is talked to continually, and the women's tongues are believed to be the most effective of things to keep him awake. No created being could withstand the effects of hunger, want of sleep, and feminine scolding; and the poor cheeta becomes piteously, abjectly tame. He is taken out for a walk occasionally—if a slow crawl between four attendants, all holding hard, can be called a walk—and his promenades are always through the crowded streets and bazaars, where the keepers' friends are to be found; but the people are rather pleased than otherwise to see the raja's cheetas amongst them." Later, when the creature is tamed, "the cheeta's bedstead is like that of the keeper, and leopard and man are often curled up under the same blanket! When his bedfellow is restless, the keeper lazily stretches out an arm from his end of the cot and dangles a tassel over the animal's head, which seems to soothe him. In the early morning I have seen a cheeta sitting up on his couch, a red blanket half covering him, and his tasselled red hood awry, looking exactly like an elderly gentleman in a nightcap, as he yawns with the irresolute air of one who is in doubt whether to rise or to turn in for another nap."
This charming and accurate description shows the cheeta at home. In the field he is quite another creature. He is driven as near as possible to the game, and then unhooded and given a sight of them. Sir Samuel Baker thus describes a hunt in which a cheeta was used: "The chase began after the right-hand buck, which had a start of about 110 yards. It was a magnificent sight to see the extraordinary speed of pursuer and pursued. The buck flew over the level surface, followed by the cheeta, which was laying out at full stretch, with its long, thick tail brandishing in the air. They had run 200 yards, when the keeper gave the word, and away we went as fast as our horses could carry us. The horses could go over this clear ground, where no danger of a fall seemed possible. I never saw anything to equal the speed of the buck and the cheeta; we were literally nowhere, although we were going as hard as horseflesh could carry us; but we had a glorious view. The cheeta was gaining in the course, while the buck was exerting every muscle for life or death in its last race. Presently, after a course of about a quarter of a mile, the buck doubled like a hare, and the cheeta lost ground as it shot ahead, instead of turning quickly, being only about thirty yards in rear of the buck. Recovering itself, it turned on extra steam, and the race appeared to recommence at increased speed. The cheeta was determined to win, and at this moment the buck made another double in the hope of shaking off its terrible pursuer; but this time the cheeta ran cunning, and was aware of the former game. It turned as sharply as the buck. Gathering itself together for a final effort, it shot forward like an arrow, picked up the distance which remained between them, and in a cloud of dust we could for one moment distinguish two forms. The next instant the buck was on its back, and the cheeta's fangs were fixed like an iron vice in its throat. The course run was about 600 yards, and it was worth a special voyage to India to see that hunt."
A CHEETA ON THE LOOK-OUT.Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.A CHEETA ON THE LOOK-OUT.Cheetas are common to Africa and India. By the native princes of the latter country they are much used for taking antelope and other game.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.A CHEETA ON THE LOOK-OUT.Cheetas are common to Africa and India. By the native princes of the latter country they are much used for taking antelope and other game.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz][Berlin.
A CHEETA ON THE LOOK-OUT.
Cheetas are common to Africa and India. By the native princes of the latter country they are much used for taking antelope and other game.
THE DOMESTIC CAT.
BY LOUIS WAIN.
Of the domestication of the cat we know very little, but it is recorded that a tribe of cats was trained to retrieve—i.e.to fetch and carry game. In our own time I have seen many cats fetch and carry corks and newspapers, and on one occasion pounce upon a small roach at the end of a line and place it at its owner's feet. Gamekeepers whom I have known agree that, for cunning, craftiness, and tenacity in attaining an object, the semi-wild cat of the woods shows far superior intelligence to the rest of the woodland denizens. It is quite a usual thing to hear of farm cats entering upon a snake-hunting expedition with the greatest glee, and showing remarkable readiness in pitching upon their quarry and pinning it down until secured. These farm cats are quite a race by themselves. Of decided sporting proclivities, they roam the countryside with considerable fierceness, and yet revert to the domesticity of the farmhouse fireside as though innocent of roving instincts. They are spasmodic to a degree in their mode of life, and apparently work out one mood before entering upon another. It will be remembered that this spasmodic tendency—the true feline independence, by-the-bye—is and has been characteristic of the cat throughout its history, and any one who has tried to overcome it has met with failure.
WHITE SHORT-HAIRED.Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.WHITE SHORT-HAIRED.Most white cats are not albinoes—that is to say, they have ordinarily coloured and not red eyes.
Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.WHITE SHORT-HAIRED.Most white cats are not albinoes—that is to say, they have ordinarily coloured and not red eyes.
Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.
WHITE SHORT-HAIRED.
Most white cats are not albinoes—that is to say, they have ordinarily coloured and not red eyes.
LONG-HAIRED WHITE.Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.LONG-HAIRED WHITE.White cats with blue eyes are generally deaf, or at all events hard of hearing.
Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.LONG-HAIRED WHITE.White cats with blue eyes are generally deaf, or at all events hard of hearing.
Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.
LONG-HAIRED WHITE.
White cats with blue eyes are generally deaf, or at all events hard of hearing.
Watch your own cat, and you will see that he will change his sleeping-quarters periodically; and if he can find a newspaper conveniently placed, he will prefer it to lie upon, before anything perhaps, except a cane-bottomed chair, to which all cats are very partial. If you keep a number of cats, as I do, you will find that they are very imitative, and what one gets in the habit of doing they will all do in time: for instance, one of my cats took to sitting with his front paws inside my tall hat and his body outside, and this has become a catty fashion in the family, whether the object be a hat, cap, bonnet, small basket, box, or tin. If by chance one of the cats is attacked by a dog, a peculiar cry from the aggrieved animal will immediately awaken the others out of their lethargy or sleep, and bring them fiercely to the rescue. They are, too, particularly kind and nice to the old cat, and are tolerant only of strange baby kittens and very old cats in the garden as long as they do not interfere with the "catty" subject. The same quality obtains in Spain or Portugal, where a race of scavenging cats exists, which go about in droves or families, and are equal to climbing straight walls, big trees, chimneys, and mountain-sides. Long, lanky, and thin, they are built more on the lines of a greyhound than the ordinary cat, and are more easily trained in tricks than home cats.
MACKEREL-MARKED TABBY.Photo by Fratelli Alinari, Florence.MACKEREL-MARKED TABBY.Tabbies are probably the best known and the commonest cats in England.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari, Florence.MACKEREL-MARKED TABBY.Tabbies are probably the best known and the commonest cats in England.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari, Florence.
MACKEREL-MARKED TABBY.
Tabbies are probably the best known and the commonest cats in England.
CAT CARRYING KITTEN.Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S., North Finchley.CAT CARRYING KITTEN.A unique photograph, showing the way in which the cat carries its young.
Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S., North Finchley.CAT CARRYING KITTEN.A unique photograph, showing the way in which the cat carries its young.
Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S., North Finchley.
CAT CARRYING KITTEN.
A unique photograph, showing the way in which the cat carries its young.
BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.Persian or long-haired cats are of various colours; this is one of the least common.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.Persian or long-haired cats are of various colours; this is one of the least common.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.
BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.
Persian or long-haired cats are of various colours; this is one of the least common.
SMOKE AND BLUE LONG-HAIRED.Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.SMOKE AND BLUE LONG-HAIRED.Two pretty and valuable Persian kittens.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.SMOKE AND BLUE LONG-HAIRED.Two pretty and valuable Persian kittens.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.
SMOKE AND BLUE LONG-HAIRED.
Two pretty and valuable Persian kittens.
ORANGE TABBY.By permission of Lady Alexander.ORANGE TABBY.A champion winner of 90 first prizes.
By permission of Lady Alexander.ORANGE TABBY.A champion winner of 90 first prizes.
By permission of Lady Alexander.
ORANGE TABBY.
A champion winner of 90 first prizes.
LONG-HAIRED TABBY.Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.LONG-HAIRED TABBY.A pretty pose.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.LONG-HAIRED TABBY.A pretty pose.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.
LONG-HAIRED TABBY.
A pretty pose.
SILVER PERSIAN.Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.SILVER PERSIAN.A handsome specimen.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.SILVER PERSIAN.A handsome specimen.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.
SILVER PERSIAN.
A handsome specimen.
SMOKE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.SMOKE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.A new breed.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.SMOKE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.A new breed.
Photo by E. Landor, Ealing.
SMOKE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.
A new breed.
TheTortoiseshellhas long been looked upon as the national cat of Spain, and in fact that country is overrun with the breed, ranging from a dense black and brown to lighter shades of orange-brown and white. The pure tortoiseshell might be called a black and tan, with no white, streaked like a tortoiseshell comb if possible, and with wonderful amber eyes. It is characteristic of their intelligence that they will invariably find their way home, and will even bring that mysterious instinct to bear which guides them back long distances to the place of their birth; and, with regard to this cat, the stories of almost impossible journeys made are not one bit exaggerated. The tom-cats of this breed are very rare in England; I myself have only known of the existence of six in fifteen years, and of these but three are recorded in the catalogues of our cat shows.
SHORT-HAIRED BLUE.SHORT-HAIRED BLUE.This champion cat belongs to Lady Alexander, by whose kind permission it is here reproduced.
SHORT-HAIRED BLUE.This champion cat belongs to Lady Alexander, by whose kind permission it is here reproduced.
SHORT-HAIRED BLUE.
This champion cat belongs to Lady Alexander, by whose kind permission it is here reproduced.
TheBlack Cathas many of the characteristics of the tortoiseshell, but is essentially a town cat, and is wont to dream his life away in shady corners, in underground cellars, in theatres, and in all places where he can, in fact, retire to monastic quiet. The black cat of St. Clement Danes Church was one of the remarkable cats of London. It was his wont to climb on to the top of the organ-pipes and enjoy an occasional musical concert alone. A christening or a wedding was his pride; and many people can vouch for a lucky wedding who had the good-fortune to be patronised by the black cat of St. Clement Danes, which walked solemnly down the aisle of the church in front of the happy couples.
My old pet Peter was a black-and-white cat, and, like most of his kind, was one of the most remarkable cats for intelligence I have ever known. A recital of his accomplishments would, however, have very few believers—a fact I find existing in regard to all really intelligent cats. There are so many cats of an opposite character, and people will rarely take more than a momentary trouble to win the finer nature of an animal into existence. Suffice it to say, that Peter would lie and die, sit up with spectacles on his nose and with a post-card between his paws—a trick I have taught many people's cats to do. He would also mew silent meows when bid, and wait at the door for my home-coming. For a long time, too, it was customary to hear weird footfalls at night outside the bedroom doors, and visitors to the house were a little more superstitious as to their cause than we were ourselves. We set a watch upon the supposed ghost, but sudden opening of the doors discovered only the mystic form of Peter sitting purring on the stairs. He was, however, ultimately caught in the act of lifting the corner of the door-rug and letting it fall back in its place, and he had grown quite expert in his method of raising and dropping it at regular intervals until he heard that his signals had produced the required effect, and the door was opened to admit him.
SILVER TABBY.Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.SILVER TABBY.A beautiful variety of the typical British cat.
Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.SILVER TABBY.A beautiful variety of the typical British cat.
Photo by T. Fall][Baker Street.
SILVER TABBY.
A beautiful variety of the typical British cat.
White CatsI might call musical cats, for it is quite characteristic of the albinoes that noises rarely startle them out of their simpering, loving moods. The scraping of a violin, which will scare an ordinary cat out of its senses, or the thumping of a piano, which would terrorise even strong-nerved cats, would only incite a white cat to a happier mood. Certainly all white cats are somewhatdeaf, or lack acute quality of senses; but this failing rather softens the feline nature than becomes dominant as a weakness.
SHORT-HAIRED TABBY.Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.SHORT-HAIRED TABBY.This is perhaps the most famous cat now living. It has won no less than 200 prizes. Lady Decies is its owner.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.SHORT-HAIRED TABBY.This is perhaps the most famous cat now living. It has won no less than 200 prizes. Lady Decies is its owner.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.
SHORT-HAIRED TABBY.
This is perhaps the most famous cat now living. It has won no less than 200 prizes. Lady Decies is its owner.
The nearest to perfection perhaps, and yet at the same time extremely soft and finely made, is theBlue Cat, rare in England as an English cat, but common in most other countries, and called in America the Maltese Cat—for fashion's sake probably, since it is too widely distributed there to be localised as of foreign origin. It is out in the mining districts and agricultural quarters, right away from the beaten tracks of humanity, where the most wonderful breeds of cats develop in America; and caravan showmen have told me that at one time it was quite a business for them to carry cats into these wildernesses, and sell them to rough, hardy miners, who dealt out death to each other without hesitation in a quarrel, but who softened to the appeal of an animal which reminded them of homelier times.
One man told me that upon one occasion he sold eight cats at an isolated mining township in Colorado, and some six days' journey farther on he was caught up by a man on horseback from the township, who had ridden hard to overtake the menagerie caravan, with the news that one of the cats had climbed a monster pine-tree, and that all the other cats had followed in his wake; food and drink had been placed in plenty at the foot of the tree, but that the cats had been starving, frightened out of their senses, for three days, and despite all attempts to reach them they had only climbed higher and higher out of reach into the uppermost and most dangerous branches of the pine. The showman hastened with his guide across country to the township, only to find that in the interval one bright specimen of a man belonging to the village had suggested felling the tree, and so rescuing the cats from the pangs of absolute starvation, should they survive the ordeal. A dynamite cartridge had been used to blast the roots of the pine, and a rope attached to its trunk had done the rest and brought the monster tree to earth, only, however, at the expense of all the cats, for not one survived the tremendous fall and shaking. A sad and tearful procession followed the remains of the cats to their hastily dug grave, and thereafter a bull mastiff took the place of the cats in the township, an animal more in character with the lives of its inhabitants.
LONG-HAIRED ORANGE.Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.LONG-HAIRED ORANGE.A good specimen of this variety is always large and finely furred.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.LONG-HAIRED ORANGE.A good specimen of this variety is always large and finely furred.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.
LONG-HAIRED ORANGE.
A good specimen of this variety is always large and finely furred.
Analogous to this case of the travelling menageries, we have the great variety of blues, silvers, and whites which are characteristic of Russia. There is a vast tableland of many thousands of miles in extent, intersected by caravan routes to all the old countriesof the ancients, and it is not astonishing to hear of attempts being made to steal the wonderful cats of Persia, China, and Northern India, as well as those of the many dependent and independent tribes which bound the Russian kingdom. But it is a remarkable fact that none but the blues can live in the attenuated atmosphere of the higher mountainous districts through which they are taken before arriving in Russian territory. It is no uncommon thing to find a wonderful complexity of blue cats shading to silver and white in most Russian villages, or blue cats of remarkable beauty, but with a dash of tabby-marking running through their coats. Their life, too, is lived at the two extremes. In the short Russian summer they roam the woodlands, pestered by a hundred poisonous insects; in the winter they are imprisoned within the four walls of a snow-covered cottage, and are bound down prisoners to domesticity till the thaw sets in again. Many of the beautiful furs which come to us from Russia are really the skins of these cats, the preparation of which for market has grown into a large and thriving industry. The country about Kronstadt, in the Southern Carpathian Mountains of Austria, is famous for its finely developed animals; and here, too, has grown up a colony of sable-coloured cats, said to be of Turkish origin, where the pariahs take the place of cats.
MANX.Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.MANX.These tailless cats are well known; they were formerly called "Cornwall cats." Note the length of the hind legs, which is one of the characteristics of this variety of the domestic cat.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.MANX.These tailless cats are well known; they were formerly called "Cornwall cats." Note the length of the hind legs, which is one of the characteristics of this variety of the domestic cat.
Photo by C. Reid][Wishaw, N.B.
MANX.
These tailless cats are well known; they were formerly called "Cornwall cats." Note the length of the hind legs, which is one of the characteristics of this variety of the domestic cat.
SIAMESE.Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.SIAMESE.These strikingly coloured cats are now fairly numerous in England, but command high prices. They have white kittens, which subsequently become coloured.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.SIAMESE.These strikingly coloured cats are now fairly numerous in England, but command high prices. They have white kittens, which subsequently become coloured.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.
SIAMESE.
These strikingly coloured cats are now fairly numerous in England, but command high prices. They have white kittens, which subsequently become coloured.
BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.This cat belonged to Queen Victoria.
BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.This cat belonged to Queen Victoria.
BLUE LONG-HAIRED, OR PERSIAN.
This cat belonged to Queen Victoria.
SILVER PERSIANS.SILVER PERSIANS.Three of Mrs. Champion's celebrated cats.
SILVER PERSIANS.Three of Mrs. Champion's celebrated cats.
SILVER PERSIANS.
Three of Mrs. Champion's celebrated cats.
TheTabbyis remarkable to us in that it is characteristic of our own country, and no other colour seems to have been popular until our own times. If you ask any one which breed of cat is the real domestic cat, you will be told the tabby, probably because it is so well known to all. The complexity of the tabby is really remarkable, andfor shape and variety of colouring it has no equal in any other tribe of cat. It has comprised in its nature all the really great qualities of the feline, and all its worst attributes. You can truthfully say of one of its specimens that it attaches itself to the individual, while of another in the same litter you will get an element of wildness. A third of the same parents will sober down to the house, but take only a passing notice of people. You can teach it anything if it is tractable, make it follow like a dog, come to whistle, but it will have its independence.
LONG-HAIRED CHINCHILLA.Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.LONG-HAIRED CHINCHILLA.Note the beautiful "fluffiness" of this cat's fur.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.LONG-HAIRED CHINCHILLA.Note the beautiful "fluffiness" of this cat's fur.
Photo by E. Landor][Ealing.
LONG-HAIRED CHINCHILLA.
Note the beautiful "fluffiness" of this cat's fur.
TheSand-coloured Cat, with a whole-coloured coat like the rabbit, which we know as theAbyssinianorBunny Cat, is a strong African type. On the Gold Coast it comes down from the inland country with its ears all bitten and torn away in its fights with rivals. It has been acclimatised in England, and Devonshire and Cornwall have both established a new and distinct tribe out of its parentage. TheManx Catis nearly allied to it, and a hundred years ago the tailless cat was called the Cornwall Cat, not the Manx.
Siam sends us a regal animal in theSiamese Royal Cat; it has a brown face, legs, and tail, a cream-coloured body, and mauve or blue eyes. The Siamese take great care of their cats, for it is believed that the souls of the departed are transmitted into the bodies of animals, and the cat is a favourite of their creed; consequently the cats are highly cultivated and intelligent, and can think out ways and means to attain an end.
I have tried for years to trace the origin of theLong-hairedorPersian Cats, but I cannot find that they were known to antiquity, and even the records of later times only mention theShort-haired. European literature does not give us an insight into the subject; and unless Chinese history holds some hidden lights in its records, we are thrown back upon the myths of Persia to account for the wonderful modern distribution of the long-haired cat, which is gradually breeding out into as many varieties as the short-haired, with this difference—that greater care and trouble are taken over the long-haired, and they will, as a breed, probably soon surpass the short-haired for intelligence and culture.