328 On the Fur TradQ, and Fur-bearing Animals. 



The discovery of the South Shetlands, S. lat. 63°, in 1818, ad- 

 ded surprisingly to the trade in fur seals. The number taken from 

 the South Shetlands in 1821 and 1822, amounted to three hundred 

 and twenty thousand. This valuable animal, is now almost extinct 

 in all these islands, owing to the exterminating system adopted by the 

 hunters. They are still taken on the Lobos islands, where the prov- 

 ident government of Monte Video restrict the fishery, or hunting, 

 within certain limits, which insures an annual return of the seals. 

 At certain seasons these amphibia, for the purpose of renewing their 

 coat, come up on the dark frowning rocks and precipices, where 

 there is not a trace of vegetation. In the middle of January, the 

 islands are partially cleared of snow, where a few patches of short 

 straggling grass spring up in favorable situations ; but the seals do 

 not resort to it for food. They remain on the rocks not less than 

 two months, without any sustenance, when they return much emaci- 

 ated to the sea.* 



Bears of various species and colors, many varieties of the fox, the 

 wolf, the beaver, the otter, the marten, the racoon, the badger, the 

 wolverine, the mink, the lynx, the musk-rat, the wood-chuck, the 

 rabbit, the hare and the squirrel, are natives of North America. 



The beaver, otter, lynx, fisher, hare, and raccoon, are used princi- 

 pally for hats, while the bears of several varieties, furnish an excel- 

 lent material for sleigh linings, for cavalry caps, and other military 

 equipments. The fur of the black fox, is the most valuable of any 

 of the American varieties, and next to that the red, which is expor- 

 ted to China and Smyrna. In China the red is employed for trim- 

 mings, linings, and robes, the latter being variegated, by adding the 

 black fur of the paws, in spots or waves. There are many other varie- 

 ties of American fox, such as the grey, the white, the cross, the silver, 

 and the dun colored. The silver fox is a rare animal, a native of 

 the woody country below the falls of the Columbia river. It has a 

 long, thick, deep lead-colored fur, intermingled with long hairs, inva- 

 riably white at the top, forming a bright lustrous silver grey, esteemed 

 by some more beautiful than any other kind of fox.f 



The skins of the buffalo, of the Rocky mountain sheep, of vari- 

 ous deer, and of the Antelope, are included in the fur trade with the 

 Indians, and trappers of the north and west. 



* See Weddell's Voyage towards the South Pole. 



\ Lewis & Clark's Travels to the Rocky mountains, &c. 



