steller's account of the sea otter. 211 



as if they knew that because of the inferiority of their hides tliey were not very 

 seriously exposed to death. Many of them, however, have most beautiful tails, covered 

 with long, black fur. From these considerations I have come to two conclusions. 

 (1) That the skins of sluggish animals are overgrown with only short hair, for the 

 simple reason that in summer time, while they roll about in the sand, the longer liairs 

 are worn off by the constant friction, and in the winter, while they lie upon the dami> 

 ice, the longer hairs stick fast to the ice, and are pulled off when the animal moves. 

 This I have seen with my own eyes. (2) That black hair, through the influence of 

 air and sunlight, grows lighter and feebler, and so the tail, as it is curled under the 

 lying animal, is less exposed to friction and to the rays of the sun, and so preserves 

 the original blackness and length of hair. The more active and cunning and fleet the 

 animals are, th(i more beautiful is the fur with which they are covered, and again, 

 unlike the others, they are captured but rarely, and that only by well-laid snares. 

 Such animals are so careful about their own safety that if they come out on dry land 

 alone to sleep, they look around very carefully, and, inasmuch as their eyes are not 

 very strong when on land, they turn their noses in every direction before they go to 

 sleep, to make sure that no man is in the neighborhood — and then, even though they 

 perceive no sign whatever of danger, they do not get far away from the sea. They 

 often wake up with a start, look around, and never sleep very soundly. But if whole 

 herds sleep together on the land, the finest looking leaders [of the herd] stand on 

 sentinel duty, and arouse the rest if any danger threatens. 



The skins of females can be distinguished from those of males at the very first 

 sight, because they have shorter, finer, more beautiful hairs on their backs and longer 

 ones on the belly; the flesh of the females is more tender, more savory, and more 

 delicious because of the distribution of the fat. In the former respect they are differ- 

 ent from quadrupeds and birds, for in these classes it is the males that are covered 

 with the more beautiful hair and feathers aiid the brighter colors. 



They do change their hair, however, like land animals and birds, but with this 

 two-fold difference : some lose their hair in the months of July and August, but they 

 lose very little of it; the others change their color somewhat and come out a darker 

 gray, and are for that reason called by the Russians and merchants '■'■Letnie Bohry,^^ 

 and are sold at a smaller price. The most prized skins are those which are taken 

 from animals in March, April, and May. 



The adult males are called '■'■Bobry,^''- the females, '■'■ Matka,^'' and the one-year-olds, 

 which have taken on the soft, short fur, '■'■ KoschloTiV ; the cubs are called '■'■MedviedM,^'' 

 or " little bears," because they have very long, thin, tawny hair like bears; their skins 

 can scarcely be distinguished from the skins of the young bear, but after five months 

 they lose their hair, and then they are called " KoscMoM,^^ as intermediating between 

 the cubs and the one-year-olds, and are then covered only with soft, downy fur. 



Upward of fifteen years ago, the finest skins were exchanged by the natives in 

 the land of Kamchatka for knives and firearms, and were sold by Eussian merchants 

 for 5 or G rubles; those of medium quality sold for 4 rubles; those from the Yakut sold 

 for 8 or 10 rubles. But ever since the Chinese began to appreciate and earnestly to 

 covet these wares the finest skins of the adult animal were sold even in the land of 

 Kamchatka for 25 and 30 rubles; those of medium quality for 17, while 1-year-olds 

 (those called ^'EoschlolcV) brought 8 rubles, and cubs 1 ruble. Tails were held at a 

 particularly high price, and were purchased for 1^- or even 2 rubles, and were much 

 sought after for caps and mittens. 



