26o 



THE BOOK OF THE CAT. 



who had lived there fifteen years, had during 

 that time seen only three. A few years ago 

 there was a pair of these cats in the Zoological 

 Gardens at Bangkok, but they were very poor 

 specimens. 



" They have occasionally been given by the 

 King as presents of great value, and several 

 pairs have come to England in this way ; also 

 kittens have undoubtedly been stolen from 

 the palace from time to time. 



' There is a legend that these cats were kept 

 exclusively and with great care in the King's 

 palace, as resting places for royal souls. The 

 Siamese are Buddhists, and consequently 

 believe in the transmigration of souls ; but 



has sent me some charming photographs of 

 her pets. She writes : 



" I have very few cats at present ; I lost so 

 many beautiful Siamese last year, and I think 

 I made rather a mistake in having their skins 

 made into mats ! ' Cora,' the mother of my 

 Siamese cats and kits, is still a beauty, and I 

 really think she improves with age ; and 

 though her eyes are not all I could wish for in 

 colour, yet her kittens have always had the 

 desired tone of blue. I have now a lovely 

 daughter of ' Cora ' and ' Champion Wankee,' 

 aged nine months. When she was a few hours 

 old I put her to be fostered by our old English 

 garden tabby, who makes her headquarters in 





LADY MARCUS BERESFORD S " URSULA. 

 {Photo : E. Landor, Ealing.) 



with the growth of Western ideas and Western 

 scepticism I doubt this being admitted. 



" They are very intelligent, almost doggy in 

 their ways, and very affectionate, but not 

 universally friendly. The males are great 

 fighters, and freely use their terrible voices ; ' 

 but they are well suited for house pets, as they 

 seem happiest with their human friends. 



" The first specimens were brought to 

 England about twenty-five or thirty years ago, 

 and Mr. Harrison Weir says that among those 

 who possessed them were Lady Dorothy Nevill, 

 whose cats were ' imported and presented by 

 Sir R. Herbert of the Colonial Office. The late 

 Duke of Wellington imported the breed, also 

 Mr. Scott of Rotherfield.' " 



Miss Armitage, of Chaseleyfield, Pendleton, 



the greenhouse. This kitten has never had a 

 day's illness. She leads a wild life, catching 

 birds and mice, and nibbling the tips oft the 

 ferns much to the gardener's annoyance. I 

 am hoping to send her to our next National 

 Cat Club show, if I can catch her that day, 

 but she is generally up a tree when wanted ! 



" I find the way to succeed in breeding and 

 rearing Siamese kittens is to only keep a few. 

 I strongly believe in putting them forth into 

 cottage homes. Distemper spreads like wild- 

 fire amongst this breed, and it is heartrending 

 to lose whole litters at once. It is strange how 

 much stronger the females are than the males. 

 I have never lost a female kitten yet ; but, 

 alas ! many a promising male." 



I remember a beautiful male bred by Miss 



