220 



Out North Land. 



The best specimens are caught in Jschia and Siberia, but a few are 

 taken in the extreme northern parts of North America. In the 

 summer they are useless, their colour being a dingy yellowish-brown, 

 changing in the winter to a pure white, except at the tip of the tail, 

 which is jet-black. The change is undoubtedly a protective measure, 

 rendering the animal invisible as it creeps along, with its peculiar 

 snake-like motion, upon the snow. The change is not effected by 

 the loss of the summer coat, as many would suppose, but by the 

 actual change of colour in the fur. The skins are now rated at about 

 $150 apiece, and the coat of Louis IX., made of these skins, was 

 probably worth at the time $2,500. 



The skin of the marten is in gfood demand. There are two or 



THE MARTEN. 



three varieties obtained in the north, the best on the east main coast 

 of Hudson's Bay. They are found all over the north, and many 

 thousands are taken annually. Ordinaidly they are worth about 

 five dollars a skin, but the price varies according to size and quality. 

 Some are valued at twenty dollars. The mink and the squirrel are 

 also valuable. 



The otter produces most valuable fur, and is very plentiful in our 

 north land. It is an amphibious animal, living both on the land and 

 in the water. Its feet are webbed, its nostrils are provided with 

 valves for diving, and its lungs, being large, it is able to remain under 

 water for a considerable time. The otter is very destructive to fish, 

 which it brings to land to eat. It is very wasteful. Catching a 



