THE CAT TRIBE 



73 



Phot, by F.. Landor] [Eating 



LONG-HAIRED CHINCHILLA 



Note the beautiful "fluffiness" of thii cat's fur 



specimens that it attaches itself to the indi- 

 vidual, 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. 



The SAND-COLOURED CAT, with a whole- 

 coloured coat like the rabbit, which we know 

 as the ABYSSINIAN or BUNNY 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 Devon- 

 shire and Cornwall have both established a new 



and distinct tribe out of its parentage. The MANX CAT is 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 aminal in the SIAMESE 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 the LONG-HAIRED or PERSIAN CATS, but I cannot 



find that they were known to antiquity, and even the records of later times only mention the 



SHORT-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 



contribution 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. 



One variety is quite new and 



distinctive the SMOKE LONG- 

 HAIRED, whose dark brown or black 



surface-coat, blown aside, shows an 



under coat of blue and silver, with 



a light brown frill round its neck. 



All the other long-haired cats 



can pair with the short-haired ' *'" h " Tr "" r 7 ""> 



for colouring and marking, but I E "BUN" OR -TICKED" SHORT-HAIRED CAT 



Ian n one of the rarest of cats. It belong* to Miss K. Maud Bennett who has kindly 



have not yet seen a BUNNY LONG- had it photographed for this -work 



HAIRED. 



