THE SEA-OTTER. 175 



instance of the power of habit, in the modification of animal 

 instinct. 



Otters are, with some variations, found in most countries. In 

 the marshes of Guiana, they are very numerous ; they herd to- 

 gether near the banks of the rivers, and are so fierce, that it is 

 not safe to approach them. Those of Cayenne are very large, 

 weighing from ninety to a hundred pounds : they are of a dark 

 brown colour, and their fur is fine, soft, and short. This animal 

 is also found in North America, where it is called the minx, and 

 is generally of a less size than in those countries, being only about 

 twenty inches in length ; but its fur is glossy and beautiful, and 

 <*f a dark brown colour. 



The small otter of Poland, and the north of Europe, is much 

 ^ss than the common kind. Its colour is a dusky brown ; its fur, 

 however, is very valuable; being, in beauty, esteemed next to that 

 of the sable. Indeed, the fur of all this little tribe of animals, is 

 more or less valuable, so that, although Nature has assigned tHeir 

 abode in the solitary recesses of deep rivers, and extensive mo- 

 -asses, they are still subservient to the use of man. In none of 

 4ie species, however, is this utility so conspicuous as in that of 



THE SEA-OTTER. 



This is an animal of extraordinary importance in the com- 

 mercial system of two of the greatest and most powerful empires 

 on the face of the globe ; for their skins are sold by the Russians 

 to the Chinese, at the rate of eighty, and even sometimes a hun- 

 dred rubles a-piece. In return for this particular article of ex- 

 port, the Russians receive some of the most valuable commodi- 

 ties of China, and thus the skins of these animals, together with 

 a variety of others, which furnish to the fur trade an inexhausti- 

 ble supply, constitute, as already observed, a lucrative branch of 

 commerce. 



The fur of the sea-otter is long and thick-set, generally of a 

 beautiful glossy black, but in some of a fine shining silver colour. 

 Its legs are thick and short, and the toes joined by a web. Its 

 length from nose to tail, is about four feet or something more. 

 The largest of these animals weigh eighty pounds. 



The sea-otter is perfectly inoffensive, and affectionately fond 

 of its young. For the loss of them, it will pine to death on the 

 spot from whence they are taken away. Before its offspring can 

 swim, it carries them in its paws, and, lying on its back, supports 

 them in the water. When in this element, the sea-otter is ex- 

 ceedingly sportive, and as full of gambols as a monkey is on the 

 land ; for it swims in every position, on its back, sides, and even 

 in an erect posture. It breeds once a year, and produces but 

 one young at a time, which it suckles and carefully attends until 



