BOLIVIAN OR ENGLISH CAVIES 303 



there are the better the specimen will be, at anyrate in 

 colour, and some breeders assert that a downright good 

 Tortoiseshell is as hard to produce as any kind of cavy of 

 the Bolivian tribe. 



I cannot say that the breeders of Tortoiseshells have 

 had much encouragement in their hobby, as when with 

 infinite pains they have produced a fair specimen it has 

 often been thrown out, on the ground that it did not 

 come up to the ideal fixed by the National Cavy Club, by 

 having slight tints of colours other than the three named. 



I do not mean white, for that of course must be 

 tabooed for the sake of the Tortoiseshell and Whites, which 

 have an extensive following, and are often very beautiful 

 little creatures. But such shades as brown or brindle, 

 which sufficiently harmonise, if present in a slight degree 

 only, with the other colours, so as not to spoil the general 

 effect of the whole. 



No doubt perfectly-marked Tortoiseshells are rare, and 

 when seen should be made a note of ; but with the vast 

 army of breeders at work in this and other countries I 

 am not at all in despair about them, indeed I have had 

 some more than fair specimens before me to judge in 

 1902, and hope their owners were satisfied that, their 

 merits - received due recognition, as only those who have 

 attempted to breed them can appreciate the difficulties to 

 be overcome and the number of litters which have to be 

 produced before one appears which is likely to fill the 

 eye of the judge. Knowing what has been accomplished 

 in the last fifteen years, I am not despondent of seeing 

 the Tortoiseshell problem solved. 



