46 THE SABLE, 
inserted his hand into the narrow entrance. This adventure occurred in 
Belvoir Park, County Down, in Ireland. 
The length of the Pine Marten is about eighteen inches, exclusive of the 
tail, which measures about ten inches. The tail is covered with long and 
rather bushy hair, and is slightly darker than the rest of the body, which is 
covered with brown hair. The tint, however, is variable in different speci- 
mens, and even in the same individual undergoes considerable modifications, 
according to the time of year and the part of the world in which it is found. 
It has rather a wide range of locality, being a native of the northern parts of 
Europe and of a very large portion of Northern America. 
ONE of the most highly valued of the Weasels is the celebrated SABLE, 
which produces the richly tinted fur that is in such great request. Several 
species of this animal are sought for the sake of their fur. They are very 
closely allied to the Martens that have already been described, and are 
supposed by some zoologists to belong to the same species. Besides the 
well known Martes Zibellina a North American species is known, together 
with another which is an inhabitant of Japan. These two creatures, although 
they are very similar to each other in 
general aspect, can be distinguished 
from each other by the different hue 
‘of their legs and feet : the American 
Sable, being tinged with white upon 
those portions of its person, and the 
corresponding members of the Japa- 
nese Sable being marked with black. 
The Sable is spread over a large ex- 
tent of country, being found in Siberia, 
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 fearful 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 
ounds. 
. 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 
snowstorm 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. 
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 holes 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 subtcrranean burrows, and assert that 
its nest is always made in a hollowtree. Their nests are soft and warm, 
being composed chiefly of moss, dried leaves, and grass. 
The Sables are taken in various modes. Sometimes they are captured in 
traps, which are formed in order to secure the animal without damaging its 
fur, Sometimes they are fairly hunted down by means of the tracks which 
SABLE.—(ALartes Zibellina.) 
