WEASEL KIND. 89 



these two animals, being shaped like the one, 

 and furnished with teeth like the other. It is 

 also furnished with very large whiskers about the 

 mouth ; its feet are broad, and, as in the rest of 

 its kind, furnished with five claws on each foot. 

 These are its constant marks; but its fur, for 

 which it is so much valued, is not always the 

 same. Some of this species, are of a dark brown 

 over all the body, except the ears and the throat, 

 where the hair is rather yellow ; others are more 

 of a yellowish tincture, their ears and throat being 

 also much paler. These in both are the colours 

 they have in winter, and which they are seen to 

 change in the beginning of the spring ; the former 

 becoming of a yellow-brown, and the latter of a 

 pale yellow. In other respects they resemble 

 their kind, in vivacity, agility, and inquietude ; 

 in sleeping by day and seeking their prey by 

 night ; in living upon smaller animals ; and in the 

 disagreeable odour that chiefly characterizes their 

 race. 



They generally inhabit along the banks of 

 rivers, in shady places, and in the thickest woods. 

 They leap with great ease from tree to tree, 

 and are said to be afraid of the sun, which tar- 

 nishes the lustre of their robes. They are chiefly 

 hunted in winter for their skins, during which 

 part of the year only they are in season. They 

 are mostly found in Siberia, and but very few in 

 any other country of the world ; and this scarcity 

 it is which enhances their value. The hunting 

 of the sable chiefly falls to the lot of the con- 

 demned criminals, who are sent from Russia into 



