THE SABLE. 



349 



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

 coldest months of the year, and offers an inducement to the hunter to brave the fear- 

 ful inclemency of a northern winter in order to obtain a higher price for his small but 

 valuable commodities. 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 

 one to six or seven pounds, but if it should be of the very best quality, is valued at 

 twelve or fifteen pounds. 



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 snow-storm 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. Should 

 he not be an exceedingly experienced hunter, possessed of a spirit which is undaunted 

 in the midst of dangers, and of a mind which is stored with the multitudinous precepts 

 of hunters' lore, he is certain to sink under the accumulated terrors of his situation, and 



SABLE.- Maries Zlbelllaa. 



to perish by cold and hunger in the midst of the snow-sea that rolls in huge white bil- 

 lows over the face of the country. 



At the best, and when he meets with the greatest success, the privations which he is 

 called upon to undergo are of the most fearful character, and he rarely escapes without 

 bearing on his person the marks of the terrible labor which he has performed. 



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 Sable inhabits subterranean bur- 

 rows, and assert that its nest is always made in a hollow tree. Their nests are soft and 

 warm, being composed chiefly of moss, dried leaves, and grass. 



Their food is said to partake partially of a vegetable and partially of an animal 

 character, according to the season of the year. In the summer time, when the hares 

 and other animals are rambling about the plains and forests, the Sable takes advantage 

 of their presence, and kills and eats them. But when the severity of the winter frost 

 has compelled these creatures to remain within their domiciles, the Sable is said to feed 



