THE SHORT-HAIRED CAT 215 



a wild life there, and even breeding with the native 

 Wild Cats, I think it is a mistake to suppose they are 

 the same animal only in a civilised form. I believe 

 the ancestors of our short-haired cats came from 

 Northern Africa, probably Egypt, where we know 

 the cat Felis Maniculata was held in high reverence, 

 and scores of the mummies of embalmed cats have 

 been brought over here from that interesting country, 

 and evidently of very great age. 



The European variety of Wild Cat, Felis Catus, is 

 said to have never been found there, and it is unreason- 

 able to suppose that it would have produced the Egyptian 

 Cat of such an early period of the world's history. 



In the early times of British history domestic cats 

 were certainly extremely rare and highly valued. 



In the tenth century, about A.D. 948, Hoel or 

 Howel, the great King of Wales, fixed the price of a 

 blind kitten at one penny ; and when it could see, 

 and proof be given of its having caught a mouse, 

 the price was doubled to twopence, and after it 

 had established its reputation as a mouser the value 

 was again doubled to fourpence, which represented a 

 good deal in those times. 



We are told, too, that anyone who destroyed or 

 stole the cat which guarded the Prince's granary or 

 store-house for grain, was liable by law to a fine of a 

 milch ewe, her fleece and lamb ; or to deliver to the 

 aggrieved owner as much corn as would reach to 

 the tip of a cat's tail when held up by that organ, 

 with the point of the nose touching the ground. 



