244 



CHAPTER XXII. 



MANX CATS. 



THESE quaint cats are rapidly and surely 

 coming into notice in the fancy. As a 

 breed they are intelligent and affection- 

 ate, and, I believe, splendid sporting cats. 

 They are undoubtedly great favourites amongst 

 the sterner sex, perhaps because they are such 

 keen and plucky ratters. As a breeder of 

 Persian cats, and having become used to the 

 beautiful wide-spreading tails of these cats, I 

 confess there is something grotesque and un- 

 finished, to my eyes, in the Manx, and from 

 choice I should not care to keep these tail- 

 less pussies as pets. They do not appeal to 

 me and to my sense of the beautiful. Having, 

 therefore, never kept or bred Manx cats, I feel 

 diffident in writing about them ; but I have 

 carefully studied those exhibited, and have 

 also had opportunities of judging of their 

 points whilst visiting friends who have fallen 

 victims to the fascinations of these curious 

 felines. I know a good Manx when I see one, 



TYPE OF MANX KITTEN. 

 (Photo: Russell & Sons, Windsor.) 



and to prove this assertion I will tell an inci- 

 dent in connection with a prize-winning Manx 

 of to-day. A friend of mine living in London 

 took compassion on a little stray black kitten 

 who came crying for food. She fed him, and 

 repeatedly tried to find poor pussy's owner, 

 but in vain. I was appealed to to know what 

 had better be done, and when I saw the little 

 black fellow I strongly recommended my 

 friend to keep it and exhibit it at the next 

 large show, as I considered he would go in and 

 win easily. She followed my advice in the 

 latter respect, but placed too low a figure on 

 " Nig," as she declared sne did not wish to go 

 in for Manx. I warned her he would be sold, 

 and sure enough that clever and astute judge 

 of cats of uncommon breeds, Mrs. H. C. 

 Brooke, snapped him up at catalogue price ; 

 and since then he has blossomed forth into a 

 champion, and as " King Clinkie " has taken 

 highest honours whenever shown. It is only 

 just to state that Mrs. Brooke most generously 

 handed over some of her winnings to " King 

 Clinkie's " former owner. 



I will therefore proceed to give my opinion 

 of Manx cats, but with all due deference to 

 my fellow fanciers who have had personal 

 experience with the breed. I think I have 

 judged every species of cat, long- and short- 

 haired, except Manx ; but if I were given a 

 class of this breed upon which to adjudicate, I 

 should first closely examine their tails, or, to 

 be more correct, the place where the tails 

 ought not to be ! I remember in former times 

 stump-tailed cats, called Manx, used to win 

 comfortably at shows, but in our up-to-date 

 times I should make a black mark in my 

 judging book against those cats with a stump 

 or an appendage, or even a mere excrescence. 

 I do not fear contradiction when I state that 



