SIBERIA FUR-TRADE AND GOLD-DIGGINGS. 



209 



plain slanting to the north ; moreover, it is situated at such a distance from the 

 Atlantic, that beyond the Ural the western sea-winds, which bring warmth to 

 our winters, assume the character 'of 

 cold land-winds ; and, finally, it merges 

 in the south into the high Mongoli- 

 an plateau, which, situated 4000 feet 

 above the level of the sea, has of 

 course but little warmth to impart 

 to it in winter ; so that, from what- 

 ever side the wind may blow at that 

 season, it constantly conveys cold. 

 But in summer the scene undergoes 

 a total change. Under the influence 

 of the sun circling for months round 

 the North Pole, floods of warmth are 

 poured into Central Siberia, and rap- . 

 idly cause the thermometer to rise; 

 no neighboring sea refreshes the air 

 with a cooling breeze; whether the 

 wind come from the heated Mongolian 

 deserts, or sweep over the Siberian 

 plains, it imbibes warmth on every 

 side. Thus the terrible winter of Ja- 

 kutsk is followed by an equally im- 

 moderate summer (58 3'), so that rye 

 and barley are able to ripen on a soil 

 which a few feet below the surface is 

 perpetually frozen. 



The boundless woods of Siberia 

 harbor a number of fur-bearing an- 

 imals whose skins form one of the 

 chief products of the country. Among 

 these persecuted denizens of the for- 

 est, the sable (Mattes zibellina), which 

 closely resembles the pine -marten 

 (Martes abietum) in shape and size, 

 deserves to be particularly noticed, 

 both for the beauty of its pelt, and its 

 importance in the fur-trade. Sleeping 

 by day, the sable hunts his prey by 

 night ; but though he chiefly relish- 

 es animal food, such as hares, young 

 birds, mice, and eggs, he also feeds on 

 berries, and the tasteful seeds of the Pinus cembra. His favorite abode is near 

 the banks of some river, in holes of the earth, or beneath the roots of trees. In- 

 cessant persecution has gradually driven him into the most inaccessible forests ; 



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