2i8 CAT-RACING IN BELGIUM. 



CAT-RACING IN BELGIUM. 



" On festival days,, parties of young men assemble in various 

 places to shoot with cross-bows and muskets, and prizes of 

 considerable value are often distributed to the winners. 

 Then there are pigeon- clubs and canary-clubs, for granting 

 rewards to the trainers of the fleetest carrier-pigeons and 

 best warbling canaries. Of these clubs many individuals of 

 high rank are the honorary presidents, and even royal 

 princes deign to present them banners, without which no 

 Belgian club can lay claim to any degree of importance." 

 But the most curious thing is cat-racing, which takes place, 

 according to an engraving, in the public thoroughfare, the 

 cats being turned loose at a given time. It is thus de- 

 scribed : '' Cat-racing is a sport which stands high in 

 popular favour. In one of the suburbs of Liege it is an 

 affair of annual observance during carnival time. Numerous 

 individuals of the feline tribe are collected, each having 

 round his neck a collar with a seal attached to it, precisely 

 Hke those of the carrier-pigeons. The cats are tied up in 

 sacks, and as soon as the clock strikes the solemn hour of 

 midnight the sacks are unfastened, the cats let loose, and 

 the race begins. The winner is the cat which first reaches 

 home, and the prize awarded to its owner is sometimes a 

 ham, sometimes a silver spoon. On the occasion of the 

 last competition the prize was won by a blind cat." — 

 Pictorial Ti?nes, June i6th, i860. 



