The Battles of Cats. 43 
from the table; or, jumping on the wall, steal quietly along and 
drop suddenly on his victim from that advantageous height, 
always with disastrous consequences for the intruder. During 
a year or so, he waged continual war on all comers, with uniform 
success. Not content with defending his own castle, this Don 
Quixote went abroad, redressing wrongs in knightly fashion for 
all one can tell; but, certainly, when things were dull at home, 
he invaded the dominions of the old woman with the seventeen 
cats—of whom all that were males must surely have experienced 
his prowess. It needs scarcely be said that all this told upon 
the hero. White patches began to appear on that once velvet 
black coat; honourable scars, no doubt, betokening the severity 
of many a battle, and his ears were in ribbons. In the spring 
of the year, a hectic cough could be heard from the rustic table 
in the garden—the beginning of the end. Still, I saw no abate- 
ment of fighting power, though by this time he had become as 
thin as a hurdle. For a day or two, the garden table had no 
occupant. Then I called and inquired whether “the Don” was 
ill. He had come in after a prolonged fight with a large tabby, 
drunk some water, and died in the night, before the kitchen fire. 
The owner told me that this cat came to be fed pretty regularly, 
very seldom slept in the house, even in winter, attached him- 
self to nobody, and accepted,as a matter of course, whatever 
was done for him. 
I have dwelt somewhat at length, and perhaps tediously, on 
this phase of feline life, because it well illustrates the savage 
nature and the really untamed character of these animals, which, 
by a mere euphemism, we call “domesticated.” Grievously 
offended, possibly, some readers may feel, and may be ready 
to overwhelm me with examples of docility and attachment 
among their favourites. Neither to myself are the virtues of 
the cat unknown or unappreciated. I do not forget that it has 
been an associate of man for more than 2000 years; that it has 
been venerated in an extraordinary degree by the people of one 
of the oldest known civilisations, who shaved their eyebrows 
and went into mourning at its death, embalmed its carcase with 
