2i6 PERFORMING CATS. 



produced, upon which was placed a row of wine-bottles at 

 intervals ; and the cats ran along the plank, winding in 

 and out between the bottles, first to the right, then to the 

 left, without making a mistake. This part of the perform- 

 ance was varied by placing on the top of each bottle a flat 

 disc of thick wood ; one of the cats strode then from disc 

 to disc, without displacing or upsetting a bottle, while the 

 other animal repeated its serpentine walk on the plank below. 

 The plank being removed, a number of trestles were brought 

 in, and placed at intervals in a row between the two sets of 

 houses, when the cats, on being called, jumped from trestle 

 to trestle, varying the feat by leaping through a hoop, which 

 was held up by the trainer between the trestles. To this suc- 

 ceeded a performance on the tight rope, which was not the 

 least curious part of the exhibition. A rope being stretched 

 across the arena from house to house, the cats walked across 

 in turn, without making a mistake. Some white rats were 

 then brought and placed at intervals along the rope, when 

 the cats, re-crossing from one end to the other, strode over 

 the rats without injuring them. A repetition of this feat was 

 rendered a little more difficult by substituting for rats, 

 w^hich sat pretty quietly in one place, several white mice and 

 small birds, which were more restless, and kept changing 

 their positions. The cats re-crossed the rope, and passed over 

 all these obstacles without even noticing the impediments 

 placed in their way, wath one or two exceptions, w^hen they 

 stopped, and cosseted one or more of the white rats, 

 two of which rode triumphantly on the back of a large 

 black cat. 



Perhaps the most odd performance was that of "Cat 

 Harris," an imitator of the voice of cats in 1747. 



"When Foote first opened the Haymarket Theatre, 

 amongst other projects he proposed to entertain the public 

 with imitation of cat-music. For this purpose he engaged a 

 man famous for his skill in mimicking the mewing of the 

 cat. This person was called *Cat Harris.' As he did not 

 attend the rehearsal of this odd concert, Foote desired 

 Shuter would endeavour to find him out and bring him with 



