The Book of Cats. 279 



cabin, and In a passion flung the Cat into the sea, 

 although this cruel act was protested against by the 

 man at the wheel and other men at work on the 

 poop, who said that we should have an unlucky 

 passage of it. This proved to be the case. We 

 lost three men and a boy, besides our jibboom and 

 fore-top-gallant mast, and we also ran short of 

 water. All this the sailors — (they were North 

 country men) — ascribed to the Cat's murder. 



" As a rule, sailors treat Cats well, as they are 

 sources of great amusement on board. One of the 

 boys once took a Cat to the fore royal mast-head, 

 and left it there. In about half-an-hour it was on 

 deck again. It came down backwards, crying 

 pitifully all the time. It never allowed the boy to 

 touch it afterwards." 



The same gentleman tells me that in Coburg, 

 Canada West, he knew a widow lady who had a 

 Cat two feet in height, and beautifully marked. 

 It was supposed to be a cross-breed between a wild 

 and a domestic Cat, His youngest brother has 

 often ridden on it when eight years old. It was 

 very docile. It had been fed highly when young, 

 and never showed the least desire to hunt mice or 

 birds, or to leave the house. 



With regard to the origin of the name " Cat-o'- 



