314 On the Fur Trade, and Fur-bearing Animals. 
phrates, and Tigris, between the Euxine and Caspian seas; and 
large quantities of small furs came through the Greek merchants of 
the Crimea, or by the commerce of Cappadocia. ' 
Of these, there were probably many varieties. The writers 
of that age term them, “Pontic, Babylonian, and Armenian mice.” 
The only kind which can now be identified is the Ermine, which 
takes its names from Armenia, the place where it was then oe 
and is thence called Armenian or Ermine.* 
It is obvious that the fashion, and the high value sleet upon itt 
in the milder climates of Europe and Asia, were derived from the 
savages of the northern regions, who inundated the plains and vallies _ 
of the south; and when no longer needing their customary de-_ 
fences against the severity of seasons, still retained their attachment 
to their primitive customs so far, as to ornament the lighter products 
of the loom with the richest and most beautiful, while or dis- 
carded the shaggy and coarser kinds of fur. 
Charlemagne wore’ a cloak’ of otter skins, and ‘a surcoat with 
sleeves furred with vair and fox.” Octher, a Norwegian chief, states, 
that “the tribute paid to the Swedes, by the Fynnes, was skins of 
Marternes, reindeers, and bears.” The Anglo Saxons cherished an 
attachment to furs in common with the other nations of German and 
Scandinavian origin; but they were confined to the products of their 
own country, except as they could by illicit traffic, obtain some of 
the rarer kinds from the northern, and other piratical traders. 
In the middle ages the value of furs was at its zenith, and when 
they became of the highest fashion in the European courts, the ex- 
pense of procuring the finest and richest, required a regal revenue. 
The precious quality of the ermine, the small size of the animal, and 
the supply required for the princes and nobles of Europe, rendered 
its cost enormous. Stephen de la Fontaine, master of the robes to 
Louis IX of France, charges “ for three pieces and a half of velvet to 
make a surcoat, a dress mantle, and a hat lined with ermines, for the 
king against the feast of the star. For the said surcoat, a fur lining: 
of three hundred and forty six ermines. For the sleeves and wrist- 
bands sixty. For the frock three hundred and thirty six ; in all, seven 
hundred and forty six ermines for a single dress. = 
* eenactons Soc. Arts, Com. &c. Aikin on furs. 
+ Aikin, Trans. &c. &c. 
