MEETING THE ABYSSINIAN CATS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 12, 13 July 1935, Page 25

MEETING THE ABYSSINIAN CATS

Within three miles of our cottage there lives a lady who owns three Abyssinian cats, writes Arthur Mills in Ihe "Daily Mail." I heard this in the village hostelry, and, of course, it was too much for me. I went over this morning to see the cats. Not many people can have seen an Abyssinian cat. The Abyssinian Cat Club is endeavouring to get out a register of all known living Abyssinian cats in the country; the number at present is computed at twenty. Historically Abyssinian cats are the most interesting in existence. They are the original cats of the Pharaohs; possibly they migrated to Abyssinia from Egypt; possibly they were originally caught wild in Abyssinia by the Egyptians and brought back to Egypt, where they were trained to become domestic pets. They are certainly the origin of what is known today as the house cat In a pretty little house under the Sussex Downs I was introduced to William. As soon as I set eyes on him I knew William was a cat of distinction. He had a beautiful smooth brown coat, each hair ticked at the end like a rabbit's. In colouring and build he rather resembled a miniature puma; but those were his only resemblances Iq-the wil4 cats pi; the jungle.

The expression on William's lace was the gentlest, sweetest expression I have ever seen on the face of any animal. I visualised a picture of William's forefather lying at the feet of some Pharaoh at a banquet, getting up when the fish came, and rubbing himself against the legs of his master.' In those days cats had their own temple. This was at Bubaslis, after whom the-goddess was called; or may be the town was called after the goddess; I do not know. Anyway, Bubastis, the goddess, was extremely fond of cats. She used to have their bodies embalmed and sent to her from all over the world. The goddess herself was also credited by the Egyptians with some mystic association with the moon; and her passion for cats had undoubtedly something to do with this. For the moon has always been the sponsor of gaiety and no one enjoys a good time so much as a cat. This William enjoys a party as much as anybody. Owing to his colouring resembling a rabbit's it is dangerous for him to wander in the fields. But he has caught thirty mice in one day in a potato patch, and he likes an ordinary cat's diet. He had won the championship for all the short-haired cats of England, £ was J.old, . ,