FURS AND THEIR WEARERS. 



149 



original color of the fur varies from black, through brownish red to 

 ash-colored ; and the dyer gives it whatever tint the market requires. 

 The skins have long hairs, black, brown, or gray, which are taken out 

 before the fur is in a condition to use. The number of seals of all 

 kinds, now taken yearly, is not far from 1,000,000. 



Fig. 8. 



Otteb. (Tenney.) 



A few years ago, a large number of skins, of what was then called 

 in Britain the common fur-seal of commerce, was obtained from the 

 islands of the Southern Ocean. Instead of taking a moderate number, 

 and allowing the supply to be kept up, those engaged in the business 

 made an indiscriminate slaughter of the animals, and in a few years 



Fig. 9. 



Beaver. (Tenney.) 



nearly exterminated them. In South Shetland, it was estimated that 

 they killed 320,000 ; in the Island of Desolation, or Kerguelen, more 

 than 1,000,000 ; and in South Georgia 1,200,000. The fur of this seal is 



