CAT KIND. 433 



and a half long, and that on the belly two inches 

 and a half, which is much longer than that of 

 the panther. Its spots are disposed pretty much 

 in the same manner as the large panther, except 

 that on the haunches it is rather marked with 

 stripes than with spots. 



Descending to animals of this kind that are still 

 smaller, we find the Catamountain, which is the 

 Ocelot of M. Buffon, or the Tiger Cat of most 

 of those who exhibit it as a show. It is less than 

 the ounce, but its robe more beautifully variegat- 

 ed. It is an American animal, and is about two 

 feet and a half in length from the nose to the in- 

 sertion of the tail. It is extremely like a cat, ex- 

 cept that it is larger and slenderer, that its colours 

 are more beautiful, and its tail rather shorter. The 

 fur is of a reddish colour, the whole beautified 

 with black spots and streaks of different figures. 

 They are long on the back, and round on the 

 belly and paws. On the ears are black stripes, 

 which run across ; but in other respects they en- 

 tirely resemble those of a cat. These colours, 

 however, which naturalists have taken great pains 

 minutely to describe, are by no means permanent, 

 being differently disposed in different animals of 

 the same species. I remember to have seen an 

 animal of this size, but whether of this species I 

 w r ill not pretend to say, some years ago, that was 

 entirely brown, and was said also to have come 

 from America. 



From this tribe of the cat kind, with spotted 

 skins and a long tail, we come to another with 

 skins diversified in like manner, but with a shorter 



VOL. ii. E e 



