132 THE SABLE. 



on. This is the employment of soldiers sent thither from Russia 

 for that purpose, as well as of criminals sent into exile. Both 

 are obliged to furnish annually a certain quantity of furs, and 

 for their encouragement they are allowed to share among them all 

 the skins they can procure above the specified number, which, 

 in a fortunate hunting season, amount to a very considerable 

 value. 



The hunters generally form themselves into small troops, each 

 being directed by a leader of their own choosing. They shoot 

 with a single ball, in order to injure the skin as little as possible ; 

 and frequently take them in traps, or kill them with blunt arrows. 



The sable-hunters frequently endure the utmost extremity of 

 cold, hunger, and fatigue. They penetrate into the inmost re- 

 cesses of those immense woods and wildernesses, with which the 

 extensive and desolate regions of Siberia abound, without any 

 other means of tracing back their way. than by marking the 

 trees as they advance. Should they neglect this precaution, or 

 through any inattention deviate from their track, they must in- 

 evitably be lost. Sometimes they trace the sables on the new- 

 fallen snow, place their nets at the entrance of their holes, and 

 wait two or three days for their coming out, during which time 

 they often suffer extremely from the inclemency of the weather, 

 or the too early consumption of theif provisions. In short, the 

 hunting of sables is a serious and perilous employment, cairicd 

 on in a rigorous climate, at an inclement season, and in the most 

 desolate regions of the earth, amidst an aggregate of hardships, 

 of which we can scarcely form any idea. 



The season of hunting begins in November, and ends in Feb- 

 ruary ; during that period, the furs are in their highest perfec- 

 tion. At other times of the year, they are full of short hair, and 

 of an inferior value. The best furs are such as have only long 

 hair, black, and of a glossy brightness. The Russians and the 

 Chinese have a method of dying them, but the deception is easily 

 discovered, as the dyed furs have neither the smoothness nor the 

 brightness of the natural hair. 



We have already observed the cross fox, and the corsac fox, 

 the skins of which constitute an important article of trade, and 

 especially the black fox, the skin of which is esteemed the most 

 valuable of all the furs in use. There are also other animals in 

 the northern regions which contribute to the supply of the fur 

 trade, among which may be reckoned the fisher, a native of 

 North America, which very much resembles the sable, and 

 abounds so much on that continent, that sixteen hundred skins 

 have been imported from thence in one season. Several others 

 might be mentioned, but we shall content ourselves with having 

 brought forward to notice the principal ones ; for in exploring a 



