82 
gl. Friener. 
Fig Ti ¢S) Bi ane aR. 
Thefe, from their great expence, muft have been foreign furs, ob- 
tained from the Italian commercial ftates, whofe traffic was at this 
period boundlefs. How ftrange is the revolution in the fur trade! 
The north of 4fa, at that time, fupplied us with every valuable kind ; 
at prefent we fend, by means of the poffeffion of Hudfon’s Bay, furs, 
to immenfe amount, even to Turkey and the diftant China, 
Hift. Quad. N° 202—Smellie, v. 297-—Lev. Mus. 
EESEL. With ears broad, round, and dufky, edged with 
white: head and fides of the neck pale brown mixed with 
afh-color and black: hairs on the back, belly, legs, and tail, brown 
at the bafe, and black at their ends: fides of the body brown. 
The feet very large and broad, covered above and below thickly 
with hair: on each foot are five toes, with white claws, fharp, ftrong, 
and crooked: the fore legs fhorter than thofe behind : the tail is full 
and bufhy, fmalleft at the end. Length, from nofe to tail, is twenty- 
eight inches ; of the tail feventeen. 
This animal inhabits Hud/on’s Bay, and is found in New England, 
and as low as Penfylvania. About Hudfon’s Bay they are called We- 
jacks, and Woodfbocks. They harbour about creeks, feed upon fifh, and 
probably birds. They breed once a year, and have from two to four 
at a birth. The natives catch them, and difpofe of the fkins, which 
are fold in England for four or fix fhillings apiece. Such is the ac- 
count I received from Mr. Graham. 
The late worthy Mr. Peter Collinfon tranfmitted to me the fol- 
lowing relation, which he received from Mr. Bartram :—“ They are 
<< found in Penfylvania ; and, notwithftanding they are not amphibi- 
<< ous, are called Fihers, and live on all kinds of leffer quadrupeds.” 
I do not know how to reconcile thefe accounts of the fame animal 
(for fuch it is) unlefs it preys indifferently on fifh and land animals, 
as is often the cafe with rapacious beafts, and that both Mr, Graham 
and Bartram may have overlooked that circumftance. 
Hift. 
