2/0 The Book of Cats. 



annually incurred, sufficient, in fact, to form a 

 special item in the national expenditure. Of 

 these animals a somewhat interesting anecdote is 

 related. It appears that near to the Imperial 

 Printing Office is situated the office of the Director 

 of the Archives, and the gardens of the two estab- 

 lishments are adjacent. In that belonging to the 

 latter gentleman, were kept a number of choice 

 aquatic birds, for whose convenience a small artifi- 

 cial river had been constructed. Their owner 

 suddenly discovered, one day, that his favourites 

 were diminishing in a mysterious manner, and set 

 a watch to ascertain the reason. Soon it was dis- 

 covered who were the marauders — the Cats ! The 

 enraged director, acting in the spirit of the law, 

 thought he had a perfect right to shoot and other- 

 wise destroy these feline burglars, whenever he 

 found them on his grounds, and accordingly did so. 

 Traps were set, and soon half-a-dozen Cats paid 

 the penalty of their crimes. The keeper of the 

 Cats, also, by this time, found that the muster at 

 meal-times was much scantier than usual, and 

 reported to his superior, the director of the 

 printing office. At first the workmen were sus- 

 pected of killing them ; but the appearance, one 

 day, of a Cat with a broken snare round its neck. 



