HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



279 



" It runs," says Dr. Richardson, " for about a 

 hundred yards with a great swiftness, but its strength 

 is exhausted in the first burst, and it is soon overtaken 

 by a wolf or a mounted huntsman." Foxes of various 

 gradations of color, termed Cross Foxes, are common 

 in the fur countries of North America. These are 

 considered by Dr. Richardson, and most naturalists, 

 to be varieties of the Red Fox, and such is the opinion 

 of the native hunters, than whom none are more like 

 ly to possess accurate knowledge on such points. The 

 ordinary Cross Fox is distinguished by a gray far 

 mingled with black, which latter color prevails over 

 the shoulders. A rarer and more valuable variety is 

 the Black or Silver Fox (Oanis Fulvus, var. argen- 

 tatus). Dr. Richardson states that seldom more than 

 four or five of this variety are taken in a season at 

 one post, though the hunters no sooner find out the 

 haunts of one than they use every art to catch it, 

 because its fur fetches six times the price of any other 

 fur produced in North America. This fox is some 

 times found of a rich, deep, glossy black, the tip of 

 the tail alone being white ; in general, however, it is 

 silvered over (" sable silvered "), the end of each of 

 the long hairs of the fur being white, producing a 

 beautiful appearance. 



The Racoon (Procyon Lotor) is found in California. 

 As this animal, though often mentioned, is not often 

 seen, we will describe its habits. In size, and in the 

 colors of its fur, it bears some resemblance to the 

 foxes, but this resemblance does not extend far ; the 

 hairs are white in the middle, and black at the roots 

 and the points, which produces a kind of gray re 

 sembling that which covers what are called the black 

 and silver foxes ; the tail is deep russet, surrounded 



