48 SABLE. 



upper parts of the body ; and the hair of the tail is very 

 long, particularly towards the end. 



Sable. The skins of these animals are more valuable 

 than those of, perhaps, any other known quadruped ; 

 selling at the average price of from one to ten pounds 

 each, according to their blackness and their quality in 

 other respects. Sables are found in several of the north- 

 ern parts both of Asia and America, but particularly in] 

 Siberia ; and the labour of hunting them is said to fall] 

 chiefly to the lot of criminals, who are banished from! 

 Russia into that dreaiy and inhospitable region. Thus it 

 is, in this instance, as in many other, that the luxuries 

 and ornaments of the vain are wrought out of the perils i 

 and miseries of the wretched. These are nocturnal ani-i 

 mals, sleeping in their holes underground during the! 

 day, and issuing from thence at the close of evening in] 

 pursuit of prey. Their habitations are generally in the 

 banks of rivers and in woods. Few creatures are more 

 agile than these, climbing into and leaping about among j 

 the branches of trees with great ease and lightness. 

 During the summer they feed on hares, weesels, birds, 

 and other small animals ; and in winter, when these are 

 not so accessible, on different kinds of berries. Their 

 smell is fetid and offensive. They produce from three to 

 five young ones at a litter. 



In many respects the Sable has a near resemblance to 

 the martin. Its ears and head, however, are longer, and 

 the former are surrounded with a yellow margin. The 

 fur is long, and usually of a tawny-brown or blackish! 

 colour. The tail is shorter than the hind legs, whilst that 

 of the martin is much longer. The forehead is white, and 

 the throat cinereous. These animals are sometimes found 

 of an entire snowy white colour. 





