CHAP. XIV. ABUNDANCE OF CATS IN EGYPT. lC)5 



is perceptibly felt by the present inhabitants of 

 Cairo ; who are frequently obliged to profit by 

 the privilege of sending their surplus Cat popu- 

 lation to the house of the Kadi, where a fund is 

 charitably provided for their maintenance. When 

 they are found to have increased, as is often the 

 case, to a troublesome extent in a house, the in- 

 mates send a basket full of cats to be set loose 

 in the Kadi's court- yard ; without much regard to 

 the feelings of the neighbours, who happen to live 

 in so disagreeable a vicinity. Daily at the asser*y 

 a person, employed for this purpose, brings a 

 certain quantity of meat, cut into small pieces, 

 which is thrown into the middle of the court-yard, 

 and a prodigious number of cats is seen about 

 that hour, coming down from the walls on all 

 sides, to partake of their expected repast. The 

 weak and the newly arrived fare but badly, the 

 whole being speedily carried oft' by the veterans, 

 and the most pugnacious of the party, — the for- 

 mer excelling in rapidity of swallowing, the latter 

 in appropriating ; and many only obtain a small 

 portion, while the claws and teeth of their stronger 

 competitors are occupied. 



A similar feeling in favour of this animal pro- 

 vides food for other communities of cats, in various 

 parts of the city; and though they no longer enjoy 

 the same honours as their predecessors, they are 

 invariably well treated by the modern Egyptians, 

 from their utility in freeing the houses from the 



* In the afternoon, between midday and sunset. 



M 3 



