132 ANIMALS OF THE 



they make into the best and greenest hay by the 

 judicious manner in which they dry it. These 

 ricks are the origin of fertility amidst the rocks ; 

 for the reliques, mixed with the dung of the ani- 

 mals, rot in the barren chasms, and create a soil 

 productive of vegetables. These ricks are also 

 of great service to those people who devote them- 

 selves to the laborious employment of sable-hunt- 

 ing ; for being obliged to go far from home, their 

 horses would often perish for want if they had 

 not the provision of these little industrious ani- 

 mals to support them ; which is easily to be dis- 

 covered by their height and form, even when 

 covered with snow. It is for this reason that this 

 little creature has a name among every Siberian 

 and Tartarian nation, which otherwise would 

 have been overlooked and despised. The people 

 of Jakutz are said to feed both their horses and 

 cattle with the reliques of the winter stock of 

 these hares. These animals are neglected as a 

 food by mankind, but are the prey of sables and 

 the Siberian weasel, which are joint inhabitants 

 of the mountains. They are likewise greatly in- 

 fested by a sort of gadfly, which lodges its egg in 

 their skin in August and September, and often 

 proves destructive to them. 



The Calling Hare has a long head, thickly 

 covered with fur, even to the tip of the nose ; 

 numerous hairs in the whiskers ; ears large and 

 rounded; legs very short, and the soles furred 

 beneath : its whole coat is very soft, long, and 

 smooth, with a thick, long, fine down beneath, of 

 a brownish lead-colour ; the hairs are of the same 



