3 o2 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



sides, and the Wolf lived happily for some years — fed by the people 

 — at the end of which he died of old age, mourned by all the 

 inhabitants." 



We have already in an earlier section — Cats, Great and Small — 

 made acquaintance with a goodly array of members of the Cat tribe, 

 but before concluding our task attention may be directed to a few 

 rare and unfamiliar kinds deserving notice. 



BLACK-FOOTED CAT. — The" Black-Footed Cat (Fig. 242) is one 

 of the smallest Cats and is a very rare African beast, the specimen 

 depicted hailing from the Zambesi. 



CIVET CAT. — The Civet Cat (Fig. 243) is also an African species, 

 possessing a strongly marked and long body; a narrow elongated 

 head; short legs; small, rounded feet, and a large tail. Strictly 

 speaking, neither the African Civet nor its Indian cousin should be 

 designated Cats, as the Civets (both real and so called), the Genets, 

 the Linsangs, the Palm Civets, and other genera, which need not be 

 specifically referred to, are in themselves not altogether easy to 

 define in a popular way. The African and the Indian Civets belong 

 to the true Civet genus, the Fossa of Madagascar being the culprit 

 which has caused zoologists a good deal of trouble as to the exact 

 position it should occupy in the classification of animals. 



MALACCAN CIVET, OR BASSE.— There are six different kinds of 

 true Civets, and of these we have a further representative in the 

 Malaccan Civet, or Rasse, depicted in Fig 244. This is quite a 

 small beast — indeed the smallest of the six species included in this 

 genus — and may soon be identified from its relatives "by the absence 

 of erectile hairs along the middle of the back." The Rasse has a 

 sharply-pointed head, and measures some thirty-six to forty inches, 

 including the long, ringed tail. 



PALLAS'S CAT. — Pallas's Cat (Fig. 245), it is interesting to note, 

 is closely related to the Wild Cat already treated of in Chapter VIII 

 (see also Fig. 114), but is a resident of Siberia, Mongolia and Tibet, 

 the specimen in the photograph having been procured from the last- 

 named country. It is further known as the Manul Cat, or, in Latin, 

 Felis manul, but is more frequently called Pallas's Cat, after Pallas 

 who first described it ; but this handsome creature has disappeared 

 from many of the haunts in which its discoverer found it. 



It may be compared in size to our own familiar Pussy, but, as an 

 examination of Fig. 245 will reveal, it possesses a long, thick, furry 

 coat and a prominent tail. The breadth of the head is also worth 



