218 



Our North Land. 



But the foxes, they are still plentiful. Of these there are many 

 kinds, and the value of their skins range from one dollar to five 

 hundred, so that the fur trader must be well versed in all these 

 varieties in order to know the value of the various skins brought to 

 him for traffic. Foxes have so many names, and there are so many 

 different names for the same fox, that one meets with a difficulty in 

 attempting to describe them. We hear of the black, the blue, the 

 silver, the grey, the cross, the red, and the white fox. 



I suppose the most fashionable fur of to-day is that of the silver 

 fox, which is found plentifully in the Hudson's Bay region. It is a 

 rich, deep, glossy black, with a bluish tinge ; so beautiful are they 



THE BED FOX. 



that $500 have been given for a single skin, and La Houtan states 

 that, in his time, the skin of one of these foxes brought its weight in 

 gold. Skins frequently bring $250. Of the two thousand caught 

 yearly in different parts of North America, about one thousand are 

 used in England ; and they are occasionally seen in the United 

 States upon the streets. The choicest skins are taken on the 

 northern shores of Hudson Strait, and on the rough coast of the 

 extreme north-western portions of Hudson's Bay. Some are caught 

 in Russia, but' the fur is of a poorer quality, and not valued so 

 highly. 



The cross, red, blue, grey and white foxes are all of considerable 

 importance, each having a certain commercial value. The best cross 



