152 The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver. 



beetles, toads, and lizards. It is also an eater of 

 certain nuts and berries, and resembles the bear in 

 a fondness for honey. It derives its name from the 

 pine forests in the northern part of America, to 

 which it shows a decided preference, but is known 

 amongst furriers as the American Sable. The darker 

 the skins the more valuable they become, and the 

 rocky and mountainous but woody district of the 

 Nipigon, on the north side of Lake Superior, has 

 long been noted for its black and valuable marten- 

 skins. Though it does not frequent human habita- 

 tions, the marten finds out the hoards of meat and 

 fish laid up by the natives, and if they have in- 

 advertently left a crevice open, it squeezes its lithe 

 body through, and destroys right and left. When 

 its retreat is cut off, this little animal displays the 

 greatest courage, showing its keen teeth, setting up 

 its hair, arching its back, and making a hissing 

 noise, like a cat. If attacked by a dog it will 

 fearlessly seize the aggressor by its nose, and gives 

 him so shrewd a nip, that unless trained to the 

 combat, it is usually very glad to let its would-be 

 captive escape. It is easily tamed, when it loses 

 much of its snappish disposition, and manifests an 

 attachment for its master. The Indians frequently 

 eat its flesh, but to European tastes it is rank, coarse, 

 and pervaded with the musky odour peculiar to all 



