THE WILD RABBET. 317 



general grey; and those which inhabit the hills be- 

 come hoary in winter. With respect to the dif- 

 ferent kinds of the animals sought after by the 

 warreners of different parts of Great Britain, the 

 grey Rabbet was, till late years, the only kind at- 

 tended to ; but at present the silver-haired Rabbet 

 is in much request. The fur of the former is cut 

 from the skin, as a material for the manufacture of 

 hats; whereas the skins of the silver-haired kind 

 are dressed as furs, which, it is said, are exported 

 for sale, principally to the East Indies. The colour 

 is a black ground, thickly interspersed with white 

 hairs. The skins of the latter sell for about five 

 shillings a dozen higher than those of the common 

 sort; a sufficient inducement for the preference. 

 Sometimes the skins and carcasses of the common 

 sort are sold together, at the average price, for the 

 season, of about two shillings a couple: the car- 

 casses only, in the neighbourhood of warrens, sell 

 at eight-pence or ten-pence a couple*. 



Rabbets were not originally natives of Great 

 Britain ; though they have now, for many centu- 

 ries, been known in this country, both in a wild 

 and a domestic state. They are found in nearly all 

 the southern parts of the continent of Europe, 

 in Asia, and in many countries of Africa. It is 



* Daniel's Rural Sports, i. p. 347. 



supposed 



