426 



THE CARNIVORES 



the British Museum, representing a fowling scene. Commenting upon this picture, 

 Mr. P. H. Gosse observes that it appears to have been the custom for the fowler to 

 nter upon such expeditions accompanied by some of the female members of his 

 family. ' ' Embarking on board a boat, with a few decoy-birds and a trained cat, 

 they proceeded to such parts of the river as were fringed with dense masses of the 

 tall papyrus-reed. Waterfowl of various species swarmed in these rushy covers ; 

 and, by the number of nests with eggs and young usually represented, we are doubt- 

 less to infer that the possession of this sort of stock was no less desired than that of 

 the birds themselves. The cat, strange as it appears, was certainly taught to seize 

 upon the birds ; in the picture before us she has just caught one in her mouth, 

 while she holds another with her two fore-paws, and a third between her hind-paws. 

 It is probable also that the repugnance of this animal to wet her feet having been 



THE CAFFRE CAT. 

 (One-fifth natural size.) 



overcome by training, she was accustomed to fetch such birds as fell into the water." 

 In a footnote Mr. Gosse adds that it is " interesting to find the cat domesticated at 

 so early a period. In the ochreous tints of the brindled fur, the two dark spots 

 near the extremity of the tail, and a trace of the curved line upon the cheek, we 

 think we recognize the F. maniculata [=/ r . caffrd\, to which modern naturalists 

 have referred our domestic cat ; though the Egyptian figure disagrees with Riippel's 

 in its more robust form and stouter legs. ' ' Professor Mivart speaks of the cat rep- 

 resented in the same painting as a " tabby cat," and would appear to regard it as 

 belonging to a domesticated species or variety. The evidence of the mummified 

 cats, which are indistinguishable from the wild caffre cat, points, however, strongly 

 to the correctness of Professor Virchow's conclusion that the ordinary tamed cat of 



