THE DOMESTIC CAT. 183 



Conflict between a man and a wild cat. 



Wild cats are sometimes taken in traps, and 

 sometimes by shooting: in the latter mode it is 

 dangerous to merely wound them; as they are 

 frequently known to turn upon their assailant, 

 and their strength is so great as to render them 

 no despicable enemy. At the village of Barn- 

 boro', in Yorkshire, there is a tradition extant of 

 a serious conflict that once took place between a 

 man and a wild cat. The inhabitants assert, that 

 the fight commenced in an adjacent wood, and 

 that it waffcontinued from thence to the porch 

 of the church, where it ended fatally to both 

 combatants, for ?ach died of the wounds re- 

 ceived. A rude painting in the church comme- 

 morates the event; and the red tinge of some of 

 the stones, (though probably natural) has been 

 construed into bloody stains which all the soap and 

 water hitherto used have been unable to efface. 



In Jamaica, the domestic cat is very apt to 

 become wild ; from the quantify of food, at all 

 seasons to be found in the woods and mountains: 

 to remedy this inconvenience, the country peo- 

 ple frequently split or cut off the animal's ears, 

 the more to expose those tender organs to the 

 rain or dews; and this is said to be generally 

 effectual. In England also domestic cats will 

 sometimes become wild ; and when this occurs, 

 they prove themselves mortal foes to pheasants 

 at roost, and become more injurious to the diver- 

 sion of the sportsman than most species of natu- 

 rally wild vermin. In a large cover belonging 



VOL.11. NO. XII. 2 A' 



