Note 29 — Chapter V · THE BLACK ART.
Reading edition
The cat, say the jungle people, is aunt of the tiger, and taught him everything but how to climb a tree. The Orâons of Chota Nâgpur say that Chordeva, the birth fiend, comes in the form of a cat and worries the mother.29 The Thags used to call the caterwauling of cats Kâlî ki Mauj, or the roaring wave of Kâlî, and it was of evil omen. The omen could be obviated only by gargling the mouth in the morning with sour milk and spitting it out. We have already seen the danger of killing a cat. Zâlim Sinh, the famous regent of Kota, thought that cats were associated with witches, and on one occasion when he believed himself exposed to enchantment, ordered that every cat should be expelled from his cantonment.30