The Book of Cats. 99 



who worshipped Hecate had always a favourite 

 Cat. 



A very great number of Cats' mummies, dis- 

 covered in Egypt, afford ample proof of the esteem 

 in which Pussy was held in " Thebes' Streets Three 

 Thousand Years Ago." If one died a natural death, 

 it was mourned for with many ceremonies ; among 

 others the entire household, where the death took 

 place, shaved off their eyebrows. If killed, the 

 murderer was given up to the mob to buffet him to 

 death. Cats were held sacred when alive, and 

 when they died were embalmed and deposited in 

 the niches of the catacombs. An insult offered by 

 a Roman to a Cat caused an insurrection among 

 the Egyptians when nothing else could excite them. 

 Cambyses gained Pelusis, which had previously 

 successfully resisted all attacks, by the following 

 stratagem : — He gave to each of his soldiers em- 

 ployed in the attack a live Cat, instead of a buckler, 

 and tlie Egyptians, rather than hurt the objects 

 of their veneration, suffered themselves to be van- 

 quished without striking a blow. 



Herodotus tells us that " on every occasion of a 

 fire in Egypt, the strangest prodigy occurs with the 

 Cats. The inhabitants allow the fire to rage as 

 long as it pleases, while they stand about, at inter- 



