CAPE CAT. 
thickly with hair. It is also encircled with ten 
black rings ; the three next the tip almost touch 
one another ; the rest are more remote. 
Cafe cat. 
This is an elegant animal, and is found in & 
wild state,, in the mountains at the Cape of Good 
Hope. It is considerably larger than the domestic 
cat. The colour is a bright tawny ; marked on 
the back with oblong black streaks, and in the 
other parts with blotches of the same. A skin, 
measured by Mr. Pennant, was found to be three 
feet from the nose to the tail. 
In their native mountains, these animals are 
very destructive to rabbits, young antelopes, lambs, 
and even to all the different species of birds. In 
disposition, however, they are not so fierce as the 
generality of their tribe ; and when taken, they are 
easily rendered tame. Labat says, (as it seems 
though without sufficient foundation,) that their 
appearance bespeaks cruelty, and their eyes a great 
degree of ferocity. 
When Dr. Forster and his son touched at the 
Cape, in the year 1795, one of these animals was 
offered to him for sale. But from its having a 
broken leg, he refused it, under the apprehension 
that it would not be able to bear a passage to 
Europe. It was brought in a basket to his apart- 
ment, where be kept it above four-and-twenty 
hours; which gave him an opportunity, not only 
of describing it, but, in some measure, of observ- 
ing its manners and economy. These seemed per- 
fectly analogous to those of our domestic cats. 
It ate raw fresh meat, and appeared to attach it- 
self very much to its feeders and benefactors. In 
its disposition it was gentle, and had- been ren- 
dered perfectly tame. After Dr. Forster had fed 
