202 THE MANX AND ANGOLA CATS. 



Minnie knew perfectly well that her kitten was going away from her, and, after it had 

 been placed in a little basket, she licked it affectionately, and seemed to take a formal 

 farewell of her child. When next I visited the house, Minnie would have nothing to 

 do with me, and when her mistress brought her to me, she hid her face in her mistress' 

 arms. So I remonstrated with her, telling her that her little one would be better off 

 with me than if it had gone to a stranger, but all to no purpose. At last I said : 



" Minnie, I apologize, and I will not so offend again." 



Whereupon, Minnie lifted up her head, looked me straight in the face, and volun- 

 tarily came on my knee. Anything more humanly appreciative could not be imagined. 

 For many days after the abstraction of her offspring, Minnie would not approach the 

 various spots which had been sanctified by the presence of her lost child, and would 

 not even repose on a certain shawl, knitted from scarlet wool, which was the favorite 

 resting-place. 



She is a compassionate pussy, and is mightily distressed at any illness that falls on 

 any of the household. When her mistress has been suffering from a severe cough, I 

 have seen Minnie jump on the sofa, and put her paw sympathetically on the lips of the 

 sufferer. Sneezing seems to excite Minnie's compassion even more than coughing, 

 and causes her to display even a greater amount of sympathy. 



There are many varieties of the Domestic Cat, of which the most conspicuous are 

 the MANX CAT and the ANGOLA. In the accompanying engraving, the upper figure 

 represents the former animal, and the lower the latter. These two Cats present the 

 strongest contrast to each other that can be imagined, the Angola Cat being gorgeous 

 in its superb clothing of long silky hair and bushy tail, and the Manx Cat being covered 

 with close-set fur, and possessing hardly a vestige of a tail. 



A fine Angola Cat is as handsome an animal as can be imagined, and seems quite 

 conscious of its own magnificence. It is a very dignified animal, and moves about 

 with a grave solemnity that bears a great resemblance to the stately march of a full- 

 plumed peacock conscious of admiring spectators. It is one of the largest of domestic 

 Cats, and in its own superb manner will consume a considerable amount of food. One 

 of these animals, nearly the finest that I ever saw, made friends with me in a cafe at 

 Paris, and used to sit on the table and eat my biscuits. In order.to test the creature's 

 appetite, I once ordered two successive plates of almond biscuits, every crumb of 

 which " Minette " consumed with a deliberate and refined air, and would probably 

 have eaten as much more if it had been offered to her. It must be considered, that she 

 had plenty of friends who visited the same cafe, and that she was quietly levying con- 

 tributions during the whole day and a considerable portion of the night, so that these 

 two plates of biscuits were only taken in the usual course of events. 



The Manx Cat is a curious variety, on account of the entire absence of tail, the 

 place of which member is only indicated by a rather wide protuberance. This want 

 of the usual caudal appendage is most conspicuous when the animal, after the manner 

 of domestic Cats, clambers on the tops of houses, and walks along the parapets. How 

 this singular variation of form came to be perpetuated is extremely doubtful, and at 

 present is an enigma to which a correct answer has yet to be given. It is by no means 

 a pretty animal, for it has an unpleasant weird-like aspect about it, and by reason of 

 its tailless condition is wanting in that undulating grace of movement which is so fas- 

 cinating in the feline race. A black Manx Cat, with its glaring eyes and its stump of a 

 tail, is a most unearthly looking beast, which would find a more appropriate resting 

 place at Kirk Alloway or the Blocksberg, than at the fireside of a respectable house- 

 hold. Or it might fitly be the quadrupedal form in which the ancient sorcerers were 

 wont to clothe themselves on their nocturnal excursions. 



The prescience with which all animals seem to be in some measure gifted, has often 

 excited the admiration of those who have witnessed its effects. The Cat appears to pos- 

 sess an extremely large share of this gift, as has been frequently shown. An instance 

 of this previsional capacity occurred just before the burning of Peebles mill, in 1853. 

 A long account of this occurrence has been kindly sent to me, authenticated by the 

 names of the various persons concerned in the matter, as well as by that of the writer. 



