100 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



rat. The beaver was formerly found in great numbers, 

 and its peltry highly prized ; but from the assiduity 

 with w^hich it was hunted, it has now become com- 

 paratively scarce ; and from the substitution of silk for 

 beaver skin in the manufacture of hats, the latter has 

 become almost worthless. Of all furs, with the single 

 exception of the sea-otter, which is found only on 

 the Pacific coast, the silver fox commands the highest 

 price. The fur of the silver fox is of a beautiful grey ; 

 the white hairs, W'hich predominate, being tipped 

 with black, and mixed with others of pure black. A 

 well-matched pair of silver fox skins are worth from 

 £80 to £100. The cross foxes, so called from the dark 

 stripe down the back, with a cross over the shoulders 

 like that on a donkey, vary in every degree between 

 the silver and the common red fox ; and the value of 

 their skins varies in the same ratio. After the best 

 cross foxes come the fisher, the marten, and the mink. 

 These three are all animals of the pole-cat tribe, and 

 both in size and value may be classed in the order in 

 which they have been mentioned. The skin of a fisher 

 fetches from sixteen shillings to thii^ty shillings ; a 

 marten, fifteen shillings to twenty -three shillings ; and 

 a mink, from ten shillings to fifteen shillings. The 

 otter, which is less common than the two last named, 

 commands a price of one shilling an inch, measured 

 from the head to the tip of the tail. The ermine is 

 exceedingly common in the forests of the North-West, 

 and is a nuisance to the trapper, destroying the baits 

 set for the marten and fisher. It is generally con- 

 sidered of too little value to be the object of the 



