WAPISTAN THE MARTEN 257 



deeper; (2) there is the soft under fur of the ordinary 

 marten, usually fawn, in this fellow deep brown; (3) 

 there is the skin fur resembling chicken-down, of which 

 this little marten has such a wealth to use a technical 

 expression you cannot find his scalp. Without going 

 into the old quarrel about species, when a marten has 

 these peculiarities, he is known to the trapper as sable. 

 Whether he is the American counterpart to the 

 Russia sable is a disputed point. Whether his superior 

 qualities are owing to age, climate, species, it is enough 

 for the trapper to know that short, dark marten yields 

 the trade sable. 



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