98 THE SABLE. 



the world in which it is found. It has rather a wide range of locality, 

 being a native of the northern parts of Europe and of a very large 

 portion of Northern America. 



One of the most highly valued of the Weasels is the celebrated 

 Sable, which produces the richly-tinted fur that is in such great 

 request. Several species of this animal are sought for the sake of 

 their fur. They are very closely allied to the Martens that have 

 already been described, and are supposed by some zoologists to belong 

 to the same species. Besides the well-known Maries Zibellina, a North 



American species is known, to- 

 gether with another, which is an 

 inhabitant of Japan. These two 

 creatures, although they are very 

 similar to each other in general 

 aspect, can be distinguished from 

 each other by the different hue of 



T^Sable {Maries ZihdUna). J^f ^ J^^^ ^°^ ^^f ' the American 



Sable being tinged with white upon 

 those portions of its person, and the corresponding members of the 

 Japanese Sable being marked with black. 



The Sable is spread over a large extent of country, being found in 

 Siberia, Kamtschatka, and Asiatic Russia. Its fur is in the greatest 

 perfection during the coldest months of the year, and offers an induce- 

 ment to the hunter to brave the fearful inclemency of a northern 

 winter in order to obtain a higher price for his small but valuable com- 

 modities. A really perfect Sable-skin is but seldom obtained, and will 

 command an exceedingly high price. An ordinary skin is considered to 

 be worth from five to thirty or thirty-five dollars, but, if it should be of 

 the very best quality, is valued at sixty or seventy-five dollars. 



In order to obtain these much-prized skins, the Sable-hunters are 

 forced to undergo the most terrible privations, and often lose their lives' 

 in the snow-covered wastes in which the Sable loves to dwell. A 

 sudden and heavy snowstorm will obliterate in a single half hour every 

 trace by which the hunter had marked out his path, and, if it should 

 be of long continuance, may overwhelm him in the mountain " drifts " 

 which are heaped so strangely by the fierce tempests that sweep over 

 those fearful regions. 



The Sables take up their abode chiefly near the banks of rivers and 

 in the thickest parts of the forests that cover so vast an extent of 

 territory in those uncultivated regions. Their homes are usually made 

 in holes which the creatures burrow in the earth, and are generally 

 made more secure by being dug among the roots of trees. Sometimes, 

 however, they prefer to make their nests in the hollows of trees, and 

 there they rear their young. Some authors, however, deny that the 



