SABLE. 413 



varies from one to ten pounds sterling and above. 

 The blackest and those which have the finest 

 bloom or gloss are reputed the best. The very 

 best are said to come from the environs of Neftch- 

 isk and Yakutsk, and in this latter district, the 

 country about the river Ud sometimes affords Sa- 

 bles of which a single fur is sold at the rate of 

 sixty or seventy rubles, or twelve or fourteen 

 pounds sterling. Sometimes the furs of Sables are 

 fraudulently dyed, and otherwise prepared, in or- 

 der to give them a more intense colour, but these 

 are very inferior to the fine natural ones, and are 

 distinguishable by a kind of withered or dull ap- 

 pearance of the hair itself when accurately in- 

 spected. 



The Sable occurs in North America, as Avell as 

 in Asia ; the American Sables are said to be chiefly 

 of a chesnut-colour, and more glossy, but coarser 

 than the Siberian Sables. It is necessary to ob- 

 serve, that the Sable varies in its cast of colour at 

 different seasons and in different districts: in- 

 stances have been known, though rarely, of its 

 being found perfectly white. 



