NORTHERN OCEAN. 
r; but late in the Spring (though long before 
they fhed their coat) they turn toa dull rufty 
brown ; fo that a perfon who is acquainted with 
thofe changes can tell to a great nicety, by look- 
ing at the fkins, (when offered for fale,) the very 
time they were killed, and pay for them according 
to their value. The number of their young is 
various, from three to five or fix. They unite 
in copulation the fame as a dog, and fo do every 
other animal that has a bone in the penis. I will 
here enumerate all of that defcription that I 
know of in thofe parts, viz. bears of all forts, 
wolves, wolvereens, foxes, martins, otters we- 
jacks, jackafhes, fkunks, and ermines*. 
377 
JacxasH. This animal is certainly no other The ¢ Jack: 
than the lefler Otter of Canada, as its colour, 
fize, and manner of life entirely correfpond with 
the defcription of that animal in Mr. Pennant’s 
Arctic Zoology. They, like the larger Otter, 
are frequently found in Winter feveral miles from 
any water, and are often caught in traps built for 
martins. ‘They are fuppofed to prey on mice and 
partridges, the fame as the martin; but when by 
the fide of rivers or creeks, they generally feed on 
fifh. They vary fo much in fize and colour, 
that it was very eafy for Mr. Pennant to have 
miftaken the {pecimen fent home for another ani- 
mal. They are the eafieft to tame and domefti- 
cate 
* The Otter is very fond of play; and one of their favourite paftimes 
is, to get on a high ridge of fnow, bend their fore-feet backward, and flide 
down the fide of it, fometimes to the diftance of twenty yards, 
