150 LETTER XXVI. 



The cat of Angora is larger than the common \\ilrf 

 cat. Some of these creatures are white, and others 

 of a dun colour ; and all of them have a ruff of long 

 hair round the neck, which gives them the appear- 

 ance of small lions. 



Wild, as well as tame cats, are found with very 

 little variety in almost every climate, and in almost 

 every country of the old and the new continent. 

 This animal is indeed extensively diffused, and ex- 

 isted in America before its discovery by the Eu- 

 ropeans. 



In England the wild cat is not rery common, al- 

 though some of an enormous size have been taken : 

 one was killed in the county of Cumberland which 

 measured above five feet in length from the nose to 

 the end of the tail. 



Wild cats always' inhabit mountainous and woody- 

 tracts; where they live in' trees, and hunt for birds 

 and small animals. They sometimes sally from their 

 retreats and make great havoc among poultry : they 

 will kill young lambs, kids and fawns, and are 

 exceedingly destructive, among rabbits in the war- 

 rens. 



A tradition is extant of a serious conflict which 

 once took place at the village of Bamborough, in 

 Yorkshire, between a man and a wild cat. It is said 

 that the fight commenced in an adjacent wood, and 

 was continued from thence into the porch of the 

 church, where it ended fatally to both combatants, 

 for each died of their wounds. A rude painting in 

 the church commemorates the event, and some of the 

 stones are said to be tinged with bloody stains, which 

 the properties, of soap and water have never been 

 able to obliterate. In all probability, however, these 

 .stains are merely imaginary, as. the natural tinge o.}' 

 the stones may be of a red colour. 



This short fetter on the habits and propensities as 

 well as the utility of an animal that is so common as 

 to be universally known, and every day seen, will, 1 

 flatter myself, afford you some amusement, and per- 

 haps inform you of some particulars with which you 



