THE MANX AND ANGOLA GATS. 
163 
She is generally contrasted with the dog, much to her disfavor. His docility, affectionate 
disposition, and forgiveness of injuries ; his reliability of character, and his wonderful 
intellectual powers are spoken of, as truly they deserve, with great enthusiasm and respect. 
But these amiable traits of character are brought into violent contrast with sundry ill- 
conditioned qualities which are attributed to the Cat, and wrongly so. The Cat is held up to 
reprobation as a selfish animal, seeking her own comfort and disregardful of others ; attached 
only to localities, and bearing no real affection for her owners. She is said to be sly and 
treacherous, hiding her talons in her velvety paws as long as she is in a good temper, but ready 
to use them upon her best friends 
if she is crossed in her humors. 
Whatever may have been the 
experience of those who gave so 
slanderous a character to the Cat, 
my own rather wide acquaintance 
with this animal has led me to 
rery different conclusions. The 
Cats with which I have been most 
familiar have been as docile, tract- 
able, and good-tempered as any 
dog could be, and displayed an 
amount of intellectual power which 
would be equalled by very few 
dogs, and surpassed by none. 
With regard to the compara- 
tively good and bad temper of the 
Cat and dog, there is as much to 
be said in favor of the former as 
of the latter animal, while, as to 
their mental capacities, the scale 
certainly does not preponderate so 
decidedly on the side of the dog 
as is generally imagined. Nor is 
my own experience a solitary one, 
for in almost every instance where 
my friends have possessed favorite 
Cats the result has been the same. 
Thebe are many varieties of mans cat. angola cat. 
the Domestic Cat, of which the 
most conspicuous are the Manx Cat and the Angola. In the accompanying engraving, 
the upper figure represents the former animal, and the lower the latter. These two Cats 
present the strongest contrast to each other that can be imagined, the Angola Cat being 
gorgeous in its superb clothing of long silky hair and bushy tail, and the Manx Cat being 
covered with close-set fur, and possessing hardly a vestige of a tail. 
A fine Angola Cat is as handsome an animal as can be imagined, and seems quite con- 
scious of its own magnificence. It is a very dignified animal, and moves about with a grave 
solemnity that bears a great resemblance to the stately march of a full-plumed peacock 
conscious of admiring spectators. It is one of the largest of domestic Cats, and in its own 
superb manner will consume a considerable amount of food. One of these animals, nearly the 
finest that I ever saw, made friends with me in a cafe, at Paris, and used to sit on the table and 
eat my biscuits. In order to test the creature’s appetite, I once ordered two successive plates 
of almond biscuits, every crumb of which “Minette” consumed with a deliberate and refined 
air, and would probably have eaten as much more if it had been offered to her. It must 
be considered, that she had plenty of friends who visited the same cafe, and that she was 
