92 
ALMOST HUMAN 
once made any attempts at friendship with any member of the staff ; he 
has never taken the slightest notice of efforts to attract and gain his 
affection. He remains aloof to-day as he did the first day he went 
there; he is just as self-contained and reserved. He is the only animal 
in the whole gardens that shows no interest in feeding time, or that is 
too dignified to betray what interest he does feel. He takes no notice 
Oft in the stilly night. 
of the keeper when he places the meat inside the cage, and pretends to 
be profoundly indifferent to the food. When the man has passed on 
to the impatient and crying creatures next door, his feline majesty will 
stretch himself, yawn, and go leisurely up to the meat and eat it with 
very little show of relish. 
No other creature in the gardens can make the unearthly noise 
the golden cat does. In the hours of darkness he will cry so piteously 
that new residents of the Royal Park district always get the same 
