MAMMALS OF NOETHEEN CANADA 209 



wards. Although ermines no doubt destroy some food them- 

 selves, yet when one manages to get inside a Hudson's Bay 

 inland store, it soon makes a clean sweep of field or other 

 niice, which frequently do a considerable amount of damage 

 by devouring and concealing meat and other eatables, and 

 in cutting up cloth and goods. A domestic cat seldom evades 

 death from native dogs. In May, 1885, a skin of this species 

 was forwarded from Fort Chipewyan, Athabasca, to Dr. 

 Eobert Bell, of Ottawa; and in July, 1889, three trade speci- 

 mens from Babine Lake, British Columbia, wei-e sent to 

 Washington. It is fairly abundant in !N"ew Cale-donia Dis- 

 trict. The Hudson's Bay Company now annually trades and 

 exports to England many thousand ermine skins; but for 

 several decades previous to 188Y the prices obtained for them 

 were not remunerative, and their hunting was not therefore 

 encouraged. Jubilee and coronation functions have, however, 

 brought them once more to the front, to the advantage of the 

 hunter, the trader, and the seller. From 1853 to 1877, 

 inclusive, the Company's average London sales of ermines 

 amounted to 2,476 skins a year. The five best years were 

 1873 with 4,012, 1874 with 4,447, 1875 with 4,732, 1876 

 with 6,360, and 1877 with 5,338 ; and the five lowest, 1858 

 with 1,034, 1859 with 809, 1862 with 912, 1863 with 1,178, 

 and 1864 with 899. As against all this, the sale of 1902 

 reached 16,374, and that of 1.903, 33,883 skins. 



Mink — Lutreola vison lacustris Preble. 



The mink is one of the Company's staple pelts, and 

 although it is but very slightly dependent on the American 

 hare for food, yet it somehow seems to periodically augment 

 and decrease in numlbers much in the same way, not perhaps 

 as precise, but still in a remarkably interesting manner. If 

 we adopt a minimum of 50,000 and under as a " lean " unit, 

 and sales above that figiire as " good," as was done in the 

 case of the marten sales, we may better imderstand this. 

 The sales of the years 1853 and 1854 were 25,152 and 



