216 THE BLOTCHED GENET 



has frequently attracted the admiring attention 

 of friends, and is made of some sixty skins of the 

 Blotched Genet, another small and very pretty 

 cat found throughout the Mozambique Province. 

 It is said to be nearly related to the civets, but 

 has no glandular pouch for the perfume borne by 

 the latter, which was at one time a not unimportant 

 article of commerce. The genets, or rather the 

 representatives of that attractive family found in 

 the district of Zambezia, are handsome little 

 beasts of a whitey-grey colour, their soft thick 

 coat covered with spots — or perhaps more cor- 

 rectly blotches — of a bright umber brown. They 

 grow very tame and make charming pets, al- 

 though, curiously enough, one rarely sees them in a 

 state of domestication. 



As a rule blotched genets are wood-dwellers, 

 making their squirrel-like homes in holes in the 

 trunks and branches of great forest trees. They 

 follow a mode of life, however, which bears no 

 resemblance to that of the harmless squirrel, 

 being, I believe, exclusively carnivorous, and 

 causing considerable havoc among game birds, 

 to say nothing of the poultry and eggs of the 

 remotely established farmer. 



There are several other small cats scattered 

 about the Province, whose skins are usually 

 obtained by trapping. I have, therefore, found 

 it advantageous and most interesting to provide 

 when travelling in the interior two or three strong 

 steel traps. These, set with a little meat and laid 

 at the sides of the native paths, a couple of 

 hundred yards or so from the camp, have not 



