ill 



FURKIF.RY: FUR-DRE88INO. 



FURS AND THE FUR-TRADE. 



114 



this u said to be owing to the circumstance tht the bearer-pelt U 

 Terr regular in thickness and uniform in surface; whereas, moat of 

 the other pelta are irregular or unrt|iLiblc. If the blade of the 

 machine by rn**tng over an irregular part of the pelt ahould cut off a 

 mall bit of the latter, it would be the mean* of spoiling the man of 

 fur unless removed. Attempt" bare been made to detach the fur 

 from the pelt by "frnl'l instead of mechanical means. In tanning 

 and leather-dressing, the hair and wool of the animal are often 

 logtfT"l by being exposed for some hours to the action of some acid 

 or other chemical agent : and it has been supposed that the same 

 result would be obtained with the furs used by hatters ; but it is found 

 that, though separable by such means, the fur is injured in its felting 

 properties an objection fatal to the adoption of the plan. 



Bearer skins have recently been brought to an excellent state for 

 robes and other garments, by processes devised by Mr. Roberts, a 

 London furrier. Other kinds of fur besides the four above-named are 

 employed in hat-making, but are not so generally serviceable. Mule fur 

 U fine and regular, but is almost too short to be available. Mtuqutuk 

 or mutt-rat fur in employed to some considerable extent. Seal-fur 

 presents a dull appearance when worked up as a covering to a hat, 

 being deficient in the delicate glossiness which dist.inguian bearer. 

 Oiler fur is finer than that of the seal, and is BO far more service- 

 able, but it does not take a good black-dye. According to the price at 

 which a hat is intended to be sold, so is the selection of the fur em- 

 ployed. A good beaver hat contains in the foundation or body a 

 mixture of fine wool with rabbit's fur, and in the covering beaver-fur 

 alone ; this u the standard, from which a departure takes place accord- 

 ing to the price. The use of this last-named fur, however, has much 

 loosened in recent years. 



Some kinds of fur which are rather deficient in the felting property 

 are made to undergo a process termed " carrotting," so called from the 

 colour imparted thereby to the fur. This consists in wetting the skin 

 (before the fur has been yet cropped from the pelt) with dilute sul- 

 phuric acid, and quickly drying it cither near a strong fire or by means 

 of a heated iron passed over it. The fur of the same species of animal 

 often differs very much in felting quality, according to the district 

 where the nimal is found. Thus, the fur of the rabbit is said to 

 possess a stronger felting quality when obtained from au animal 

 reared near the sea-coast than from an inland animal ; those of the 

 eastern coast of England, from Lincolnshire to the Tweed, are con- 

 sidered the finest. The fur of the English hare, as a second example, 

 is found to be both finer in quality and stronger in felting power than 

 that of any other variety of the hare. 



Drated Pun. By this term may be designated those furs which are 

 retained on the original pelt, and in that state worn as garments or 

 trimmings of garments, in the forms of cloaks, tippets, cuffs, collars, c. 

 Such an employment of furs was very much a matter of necessity 

 among the rude tribes where the custom was first followed. At first 

 the skins were worn almost in the state in which they were taken from 

 the niml ; but as the use of luxuries advanced, the art of dressing 

 the skins became established, and fur took rank 03 an adornment as 

 well as a covering. 



The dressing of furs for this purpose, or furriery, is much more 

 simple than the preparation of felting-f ur for the hatter, since it does 

 not involve the separation of the filaments from the pelt beneath. 



The fur-hunters of America, when they have captured a beaver or 

 other fur-bearing animal, strip off the skin, and hang it up to dry, 

 either in the open air, or in a dry and cool room where there is no 

 fire. Great importance is attached both to the dry ing and to the careful 

 (lacking of the skins ; for if the slightest degree of putrefaction ensues, 

 the fur loses its firm hold of the pelt, and is not fit for furriers' pur- 

 pose*. When the skins are brought to England, and placed in the 

 hands of the furrier, he examine* them minutely, to see that the 

 drying has been properly effected, and the pelt in a firm state. He 

 then proceeds to the two processes which constitute the main part of 

 his business, namely, extracting the greaciness from the pelt, and also 

 a kind of oil which is in the fur itself. The skin is put into a liquid 

 containing bran, alum, and salt; and after sufficient steeping it is 

 worked about and scoured, so a* to remove the grease. The fur is 

 cleansed from its oiline** bran application of soda and fine soap. The 

 cleansed akin is finally washed thoroughly hi cold water, and hung up 

 to dry. The alum and other ingredients employed in scouring the 

 pelt effect a kind of tanning or tawing process, by which the pelt is 

 converted into a sort of thin leather, and thereby rendered more 

 durable. 



When thus far prepared, the skins are ready to be worked up into 

 the form of garments, or materials for garments. In order to give 

 the surface of the fur a uniform length and colour of fibre, it is often 

 necessary to cut up a great many skins, and sew certain pieces of each 

 edge to edge ; for it is rarely if ever the case that every part of the 

 me akin is of one uniform colour. The cutting up of a skin thus 

 becomes an important affair ; for unless considerable tact be exhibited, 

 many of the smaller pieces would become waste. The furs which are 

 used for these purposes are in general different from those selected for 

 felting ; they comprise usually the gray, the silver, and the black fox, 

 the sable, the bear, the lynx, the ermine, the mink, the chinchilla, the 

 marten, the wolf, the fitchet, and a few others of less common 

 character. 



The preservation of furs, when kept in stock for manufacturing pur- 

 poses, is a |>oint of considerable importance, from the several sources 

 of injury t.. which they are exposed. If kept too damp, they rot ; if 

 too dry, they diminish in weight. " The great enemy to all furs," says 

 a practical writer on this subject in the Encyclopedia Britannic*,/ 

 " is the common moth. This destroys the felting principle. When- 

 ever the slightest appearance in the fur indicates the secure lodg- 

 ment of this little creature, it ought immediately to be used ; or, if 

 this cannot l>e done, it should be taken out of the paper-bags, and 

 broken all over with a small switch rod, or, what will answer the pur- 

 pose still better, a hatter's bow. The same rules apply to the keeping 

 of skins in good condition as to fur. The situation ought to be cool, 

 dry, and well aired. They will seldom keep longer than twelve or 

 eighteen months, without running great risk of suffering injury from 

 the moth or black beetle. Too many ought not to be heaped together, 

 and particularly if they be rabbit skins, because the fat or grease about 

 these skins will get heated, run amongst the fur, and become of such 

 an acrid nature as to corrode the very pelt itself. Many persons are 

 inclined to keep hare and rabbit skins a long time, from a n-: i-n that 

 the fur upon them will increase in length from the moisture left in 

 the pelt. This is an entirely erroneous opinion. Any one who will 

 make the experiment will find that the amount of fur obtained oil' any 

 given quantity of skins is much greater in weight when manufn. 

 immediately after they are taken off the nnimalj than after having 

 been kept for six or twelve months." 



FUKS and the FUR-TRADE. The use of furs appears to have been 

 introduced into civilised Europe by the northern conquerors. In the 

 6th century the skins of sables were brought for sale from the confines 

 of the Arctic Ocean to Rome, through the intervention of many 

 different hands, so that the ultimate cost to the consumer was very 

 great. For several centuries after that time furs could not have 

 become at all common in Western Europe. Marco Polo mentions as a 

 matter of curiosity in 1252, that he found the tents of the Cham of 

 Tartary lined with the skins of ermines and sables, which were brought 

 from countries far north, from the land of tlarkatt*. But in leas than 

 a century from that time the fashion of wearing furs must have 

 become prevalent in England ; for in 1337 Edward III. ordered that 

 all persons among his subjects should be prohibited their use unless 

 their free incomes amounted to one hundred pounds a year. The furs 

 then brought to England were furnished by the traders of Italy, who 

 procured them from the north of Asia. 



The fur trade was taken up by the French colonists of Canada very 

 soon after their first settlement on the St. Lawrence ; and through the 

 ignorance of the Indians as to the value of the skins which they sold, 

 and of the trinkets and other articles which they took in payment, the 

 traders at first made very great profits. The animals soon becoming 

 scarce in the neighbourhood of the European settlements, the Indians 

 were obliged to extend the range of their hunting expeditions, in which 

 they were frequently accompanied by one or other of the French dealers, 

 whose object it was to encourage a greater number of Indians to engage 

 in the pursuit, and to bring then- peltries, as the unprepared skins are 

 called, to the European settlements. When the hunting season was 

 over, the Indians came down the Ottawa in their canoes with the pro- 

 duce of the chase, and encamped outside the town of Montreal, where 

 a kind of fair was held until the furs were all exchanged for trinkets, 

 knives, hatchets, kettles, blankets, coarse cloths, and other 

 suited to native wants, including arms and ammunition. A large part 

 of the value was usually paid to the Indians in the form of ardent 

 spirits, and scenes of riot and confusion were consequently of frequent 

 occurrence. 



The next stage in the Canadian fur-trade was when some of the 

 European settlers, under the name of Cuureurt da Boil, or wood- 

 rangers, set out at the proper season from Montreal in canoes laden 

 with various articles considered desirable by the Indians, and pro- 

 ceeded up the river to the hunting-grounds. Here they remained for 

 an indefinite time, sometimes longer than a year, carrying on tl ; . u 

 traffic with the Indian hunters ; and when their outward investments 

 were exhausted, they returned, their canoes in general loaded with 

 packs of bearer-skins and other valuable peltries. While engaged in 

 these expeditions, some of them adopted the habits of the tribe with 

 whom they were associated, and formed connections with the Indian 

 women. The half-caste children make excellent voyayeurt, and are 

 readily employed by the company in that capacity. 



This trade was for some time extremely profitable. The men by 

 whom it was conducted were usually without capital : and their invest- 

 ments of European goods were furnished by the storekeepers of 

 Montreal, who drew at least their full proportion of profit from the 

 adventure. The return cargo was generally more valuable than the 

 investments, in the pr|x>rtion of six to one, in the tariff of the 

 Canadian markets. Thus, where the investment amounted to 1000 

 dollars, and the peltries returned sold for 6000, the storekeeper first 

 repaid himself the original outlay, and usually secured for himself an 

 equal amount for interest and commission, after which the remaining 

 41100 dollars were divided between himself and the Cmireur des Bois. 



The Hudson's Bay Company, established with tin- express object of 

 procuring furs, was chartered by Charles If. in 1670, with the privilege 

 of exclusively trading with the Indians in the vast ami not well defined 

 region lying to the north and west of the great inlet from which the 



