RUSSIA. 



the glutton, the ferret, the pole-cat, &c. which, generally 

 fpeaking, are fpread over the whole of North Ruffia ; and 

 vaft quantities of their fkins are either confumed at home or 

 fent abroad. But we have not room to enumerate all the ani- 

 mals that are profitable objects of chace to the Ruffians. 

 We fhall obferve in general, that peltry of all kinds may 

 be confidered as a remarkable and lucrative product of the 

 Ruffian empire. The principal fpecies are : fables, beavers, 

 blue and white foxes, wolves, hyxnas, lynxes, ermines, peftzui 

 or mufcovite dogs, fquirrels, martens, hares, (heep, wild cats, 

 panthers, tigers, and bears. The Ruffians have the art of 

 dyeing the furs fo ingenioufly, that the Chinefe, and there- 

 fore others who are not good judges, are eafily cheated. 



Beavers are chiefly found in Kamtfchatka ; they are prin- 

 cipally ufed in trimming the caps and pelifTes of women of 

 quality. 



Foxes are every where met with in Ruffia proper, in the 

 conquered provinces, and in Siberia. Thole of Siberia are 

 the beft. Befides the common crofs-blue fox, they have 

 very dark, called black, and even white foxes, which laft, 

 however, are extremely rare, and, like the black, fetch a 

 higher price than fables. The ermine is a fort of rat, and 

 is employed for trimming peliffes. All minever is fquirrel- 

 fkin. The Siberian is incomparably darker, thicker, and 

 more lading, and accordingly much dearer than the ordinary 

 Ruffian. The Ruffian hare-fkin is of the hare peculiar to this 

 country, which in winter becomes white. The ruflaki 

 cannot be ufed as fur, as they never change their colour. 

 Common coarfe fheep-fkin affords a warm and durable peliffe 

 for the lower order of people ; the finer is worn even by 

 perfons of diftin&ion. The Kalmuck and Bucharian fheep- 

 furs are rather fcarce and dear, Hill more fo are the Kalmuck 

 furs of unborn lambs. The genuine Bucharian fheep-fkins 

 are watered, and the Kalmuckian by nature crifp and curly. 

 But here likewife great frauds'are prattifed, as the Ruffians 

 frequently curl the fine fkins of the common fort, in order to 

 impofe upon the unwary. 



Bear-fkins and tiger-fkins are ufed only for covers to 

 fledges, and trappings for horfes, or, initead of beds, for 

 fervants to lie on. Boots are lined with the ordinary 

 Ruffian cat-fkin ; but the blue Siberian cats yield a very 

 beautiful fur. 



All thefe fkins are fold either by the piece or fackwife. 

 Two hundred fkins of Ruffian, and a hundred fkins of 

 Siberian minever, compofe a fack, and two hundred hare- 

 fkins are alfo reckoned a fack. The Ruffians are Angularly 

 induftrious and ingenious in affbrting their furs. Of one 

 fort of (kin they make feveral defcriptions of furs ; as, for 

 example, a particular fur is prepared of the fmall dark 

 ftripe on the backs of fquirrels, another of the fides, again 

 another of the bellies ; and in like manner with the fkins of 

 other animals. 



Befides the chace, which has always been the exclufive oc- 

 cupation of particular nations of the Ruffian empire, there are 

 alfo tribes who maintain themlelves principally or whollv by 

 the Jijbery, and with whom even the ettablifhment of this trade 

 forrnsapartof theircivil conltitution. Some follow it fortheir 

 own fupport, while others, as the Coffacks of the Don and 

 the Ural, and the tribes on the fliores of the Volga, carry 

 on a lucrative traffic with the products of their fifhery. The 

 Frozen ocean, together with its bays and rivers, affords va- 

 rious lpecies of fea-animals, that are fought after by feveral 

 nations. To the inhabitants of the governments of Arch- 

 angel and Olonetz the iffands of Spitzbergen and Novaya 

 Zemlia afford the chief fcene of fifhery at the proper feafon. 

 The animals that principally engage their attention are 

 whales and modes. Accordingly, every year a fhip goes 



from Archangel to winter at Spitzbergen, and at leaft one, 

 frequently more, to Novaya Zemlia. The inhabitants of 

 Mefen navigate thefe coafts only in fummer. From the 

 morfe fifhery the chief commercial products are the blabber 

 and the fkin ; the blubber for its oil, and the fkins, when 

 dried, for horfe traces, and when cut, as fize for the paper - 

 manufadtories. The teeth of the morfe likewife are tranf- 

 ported to Peterfburg, Mefen, and Archangel, and are 

 wrought up into the various works for which ivory can be 

 ufed. The Frozen ocean alfo teems with the narwhal, the 

 pott-fifh, from whofe brain fpermaceti is prepared, the fea- 

 dog, dolphin, fea-hog (delphinus phocasna), hay-fiih (fqua- 

 lus carcharias), fea-cow (trichecus manatus), the lea-bear 

 (phoca urfina), the fe2-lion (phoca leonina jubata), the fea- 

 otter (lutra marina), and many others, which are caught 

 either for their fkin or their blubber. Amoftg the principal 

 objects of the fifhery on the coafts of the White fea, which 

 fkirt the government of Archangel, are the cod, the navaga 

 (gadus callarias), plaife, foals, ttock-filh, and herrings. 

 The Dvina and the Petlhora abound in that excellent fifh 

 called by the Ruffians fighi and falmons, the latter being 

 reckoned the fattelt and bell flavoured of ail Northern 

 Ruffia, and they are therefore frozen or faked, in order to 

 be tranfported to a great diftance round the country. The 

 Oby alfo affords an ample lupply of fturgeons, fterlet, 

 white falmon, pikes, mursena, quobbe or quappe (gadus 

 lota), and a multitude uf other fifh. The Oby fifhery is 

 chiefly carried on by Oftmks and Samoyedes. The Irtiich 

 alfo contains almolt all the fifh that are found in the Oby ; 

 and here the fifhery is very considerable. The Yeniffei and 

 Lena, and moil of the rivers that fall into them, furnifh 

 great variety and abundance of fifh. The whale fifhery we 

 fhall have occafion to mention under another article. The 

 Eaftern ocean furnifhes, befides the whale, the fea-bear, fea- 

 lion, fea-cow, and fea-otter, which we fhall elfewhere de- 

 fcribe. In a commercial view, there is not any of thefe 

 marine animals fo important as the fea-otter, the beautiful 

 fur of which is in high eftimation. See Fur. 



The fifhery on the Cafpian, as Pallas obferves, is in fome 

 refpectu as important to Ruffia, as the herring, the cod, and 

 the whale fifhery to other maritime powers of Europe. Of 

 the tifh of the Volga, the feveral kinds of fturgeon and the 

 white falmon are the beft. The Kamma, which falls into the 

 Volga, alfo abounds with fifh, which is held to be the belt 

 . flavoured of any in Ruffia, at leaft its fturgeon, fterlet, and 

 white falmon, are preferable to thole of the Volga. Befides 

 thefe three kinds, a principal fifh of the Kamma is a fmall 

 falmon called in Rufs krafnaya reba, red or beautiful fifh 

 (faimo eriox, or falmo alpinus). For an account of the 

 means for catching fifh on the Volga, and on the confines of 

 Aftrachan, fee Utschixg. The fiihery on the Ural is not 

 lefs confiderable than that of the Volga ; and being under 

 good regulation, it forms the principal fupport and occupa- 

 tion of the Ur2han Coffacks. See Ural. 



The fifhery of the Euxine and the fea of Azof, though 

 neither fo important nor extenfive as that of the Catpian, af- 

 fords numerous forts of fturgeon. The whole northern coaft 

 of the fea of Azof, from the Don to Ferekop, is laid out 

 in fifheries, for which thefe diftricts ate extremely favourable. 

 The moft confiderable filheries on the pcninfula of Taurida 

 are at Kertlh and Yenicaly, where the capture ufually begins 

 in May, and continues till fome time in October. On the 

 coafts of the Baltic, alfo, a confiderable fifhery is carried 

 on. The gulfs of Riga and of Finland contain generally 

 the fame kinds of fifh. In the waters of Livonia, fays a 

 naturalilt of that country, are forty-nine different tpec: 

 fifh, among which the falmon, ftreamlings, pike, and lam- 

 preys 



