Chap. I. THEIR VARIATION. 47 



animal was left for only eight weeks at Mombas, but during that 

 short period it " underwent a complete metamorphosis, having 

 parted with its sandy-coloured fur." A cat from the Cape of 

 Good Hope has been described by Desmarest as remarkable from 

 a red stripe extending along the whole length of its back. 

 Throughout an immense area, namely, the Malayan archipelago, 

 Siam, Pegu, and Burmah, all the cats have truncated tails 

 about half the proper length, 92 often with a sort of knot at the 

 end. In the Caroline archipelago the cats have very long 

 legs, and are of a reddish-yellow colour. 93 In China a breed 

 has drooping ears. At Tobolsk, according to Cmelin, there is a 

 red-coloured breed. In Asia, also, we find the well-known 

 Angora or Persian breed. 



The domestic cat has run wild in several countries, and every- 

 where assumes, as far as can be judged by the short recorded 

 descriptions, a uniform character. Near Maldonado, in La Plata, 

 I shot one which seemed perfectly wild; it was carefully 

 examined by Mr. Waterhouse, 94 who found nothing remarkable 

 in it, excepting its great size. In New Zealand, according to 

 Dieffenbach, the feral cats assume a streaky grey colour like that 

 of wild cats ; and this is the case with the half- wild cats of the 

 Scotch Highlands. 



We have seen that distant countries possess distinct domestic 

 races of the cat. The differences may be in part due to descent 

 from several aboriginal species, or at least to crosses with them. 

 In some cases, as in Paraguay, Mombas, and Antigua, the 

 differences seem due to the direct action of different conditions 

 of life. In other cases some slight effect may possibly be attri- 

 buted to natural selection, as cats in many cases have largely to 

 support themselves and to escape diverse dangers. But man, 

 owing to the difficulty of pairing cats, has done nothing by 

 methodical selection; and probably very little by unintentional 

 selection; though in each litter he generally saves the prettiest, 



92 J. Crawfurd, ' Descript. Diet, of the p. 308. 



Indian Islands,' p. 255. The Mada- w < Zoolocnr nf ih a v * ^ 



gascar cat is said to have a twisted Beagl XiSnal a Z JT^ k * 



tail ; see Desmarest, in ■ Eneyclop. Nat. • Travels in New £ i°' , Dlefl f bach ' 



Mamm.,' 1820, p. 233, for some of the m On St i7 ^S V ° ' I'l 



other breeds. K \ i a ^ o^ *' Wlld Sp0rtS ° f the 



93 a a • i t xi « v , Highlands,' 1846, p. 40. 

 93 Admiral Lutke's Voyage, vol. hi. y 



