I70 



THE CAT TRIBE. 



greatly fearing him, and the most experienced 

 hunter may pass by in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of a crouching panther without 

 suspecting his presence, while the panther, on 

 the other hand, is observing with watchful 

 eye his slightest movements. When wounded 

 or tormented by the pangs of hunger the 

 panther becomes terrible. He darts out un- 

 expectedly on his antagonist, and the hunting 

 screens in the trees, which afford entire pro- 

 tection against the lion, are of no avail against 

 this expert climber. The French have suc- 

 ceeded in banishing the lion from Algeria, 

 but all the efforts of Bourbonnel and his bold 

 companions of the chase have not resulted in 

 the extirpation of the panther. The ravages 

 which these beasts commit among flocks and 

 herds are considerable, and their boldness 

 is so great that even yet they venture near 

 towns. These ravages are all the more 

 serious because the panther, like others of the 

 beasts of prey of which we have spoken, kills 

 more than enough to satisfy his hunger, 

 when he has once managed to break into an 

 inclosure or a stall. The fires which keep 

 off the lions seem rather to attract the panther. 

 On the other hand large dogs, which tremble 

 at the sight of the lion, attack the panther 

 with courage, and the latter, in spite of his 

 desperate defence, cannot escape, where there 

 are no trees, from a numerous pack of good 

 dogs. 



In the forest the panther easily eludes his 

 assailants by climbing a tree. The hatred 

 shown by dogs he repays with interest, and 

 isolated watch-dogs easily become his prey. 

 Among wild animals wild boars, antelopes, 

 monkeys, and the hyrax appear to be his 

 favourite victims. Even porcupines, however, 

 are not protected by their spines. Among 

 domesticated animals the panther prefers, 

 when he has the choice, goats to sheep, which 

 are somewhat protected by their wool ; but he 

 also attacks asses and mules, and in the farm- 

 yards and villages does not despise either 

 dogs or cats nor even poultry. When tamed 



he is delightful on account of his mild and 

 affectionate disposition and caressing ways, 

 but always dangerous from the liability of his 

 bloodthirsty instincts to return. 



The Clouded Tiger (/^ niacroscelis), fig. 75, 

 a native of Siam, Borneo, and Sumatra, is 

 an animal with a longer body than the 

 previous species, and with a different colour- 

 ing of the coat, which shows a tendency in 

 the spots to assume a striped arrangement. 

 The ground colour is a dull gray inclining 

 to yellow or red. The paws and tail are 

 covered with small black complete spots, 

 while on the sides there are large spots 

 arranged in series, and the head and neck are 

 marked with longitudinal parallel stripes. 



The character of this feline, which may 

 attain the length of three feet or more, 

 appears to be the opposite of that of the 

 panther. The natives, indeed, detest the 

 clouded tiger as the ravager of their poultry 

 yards, but do not fear it at all. It lives 

 in the woods, where it chiefly hunts after 

 small mammals and birds. The few speci- 

 mens which have been brought to Europe 

 exhibited a gentle disposition. They easily 

 became familiar with man and even with dogs, 

 were fond of being caressed, and behaved 

 altogether like domestic cats. 



In the Marbled Cat (/^ marmoraia), fig. 76, 

 which likewise comes from the Sunda Islands, 

 and reaches about the size of a large domestic 

 cat, the arrangement of the spots in stripes 

 becomes still plainer. The paws and the tail 

 are still marked with small black spots, while 

 broad brown and black stripes extend over 

 the sides and neck. The animal lives in the 

 forests of Borneo and Sumatra in the same 

 manner as our wild cat, and in captivity be- 

 haves like the domestic cat. 



There was long a controversy as to the 

 origin of the latter. At the present day 

 doubt is no longer possible. Our cat still 

 lives in a wild or half-wild state throughout 

 the interior of Africa, in the Soudan, in 

 Abyssinia, and even in Palestine, and has 



