THE CAT. 75 



disappeared again. In a short time she returned with the 

 other kitten, laid it down by the first, stretched herself 

 beside them, and instantly expired! The poor creature could 

 have carried but one at a time, and, consequently, must have 

 travelled three times over the whole line of her journey, and 

 performed forty- eight miles in less than twelve hours. 

 The Cat as "The favourite food of the cat is fish, which 

 Sportsman, curiously enough inhabits an element to which the 

 cat has a great aversion. There are, however, numerous instances 

 on record of cats which have overcome their natural anti- 

 pathy to water in order to gratify their natural taste for fish. 

 An extraordinary case of this kind is recorded in the Plymouth 

 Journal, June, 1828: "There is now at the battery on the 

 Devil's Point, a cat, which is an expert catcher of the finny 

 tribe, being in the constant habit of diving into the sea, and 

 bringing up the fish alive in her mouth, and depositing them 

 in the guard-room, for the use of the soldiers. She is now 

 seven years old, and has long been a useful caterer. It is 

 supposed that her pursuit of the water-rats first taught her to 

 venture into the water, to which it is well known puss has a 

 natural aversion. She is as fond of the water as a New- 

 foundland dog, and takes her regular peregrinations along the 

 rocks at its edge, looking out for her prey, ready to dive for 

 them at a moment's notice." 



Mr. Beverley R. Morris says: "When living in Worcester 

 many years ago, I remember frequently seeing the cat of 

 a near neighbour of ours bring fish, mostly eels, into the 

 house, which it used to catch in a pond not far off. This 

 was an almost everyday occurrence." 



The Cat's Many remarkable illustrations might be given 

 Intelligence. of the ^g^ity and intelligence of the cat. A 

 lady had for many years been the possessor of a cat and a 

 canary bird, who became the closest friends, never bearing 

 any lengthy separation from each other, and spending their 

 whole time in each other's society. One summer day the 



