B.] PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 411 



former writing, without which money he said he could not go, for that as 

 he was undone utterly when he was in the ship Santa Anna, which came 

 from China, and was robbed at California. And yet again, afterward, I 

 wrote him another letter from Venice, \v hereunto he wrote me answer by 

 a letter written in his Greek language, dated the 20th of October, 1598, 

 the which I have still by me, wherein he promiseth still to go with me 

 into England, and perform the said voyage of discovery of the north-west 

 passage into the South Sea by the said straits, which he calleth the Strait 

 of Nova Spania, which he saith is but thirty days' voyage in the straits, if 

 I will send him the money formerly written for his charges; the which 

 money I could not yet send him, for that I had not yet recovered my pen- 

 sion owing me. by the Company of Turkey aforesaid; and so, of long time, 

 I stayed any further proceeding with him in this matter. 



And yet, lastly, when I myself was at Zante, in the month of June, 

 1602, minding to pass from thence for England by sea, for that I had then 

 recovered a little money from the Company of Turkey, by an order of the 

 lords of the Privy Council of England, I wrote another letter to this Greek 

 pilot, to Cephalonia, and required him to come to me to Zante, and go 

 with me into England, but I had no answer thereof from him ; for that, 

 as I heard afterward at Zante, he was then dead, or very likely to die of 

 great sickness. Whereupon, I returned myself, by sea, from Zante to 

 Venice, and from thence I went, by land, through France, into England, 

 where I arrived at Christmas, anno 1602, safely, I thank God, after my 

 absence from thence ten years' time, with great troubles had for the Com- 

 pany of Turkey's business, which hath cost me a great sum of money, 

 for the which I am not yet satisfied of them. 



B. 



Furs 



AND THE TUR J.RADE. 



Fur, strictly speaking, is the soft, fine hair which forms the natural 

 clothing of certain animals, particularly of those inhabiting cold countries. 

 In commerce, however, the word is understood to mean the skin of the 

 animal, with the hair attached, either before or after, but generally after, 

 it has been rendered soft and pliable, by a peculiar process, called dress- 

 ing. The undressed skins are commonly called peltry : but fur and 

 •peltry are employed as synonymous terms ; and the word fur, in com- 

 merce, is generally to be understood as peltry. The skins of seals, bears, 

 wolves, lions, leopards, buffaloes, &c, are also placed under the denomi- 

 nation of furs, in commerce. 



Skins must have formed the first clothing of man in cold countries ; 

 and, at the present day, they constitute the whole or the greater part of 

 the dress of many millions of individuals. For this purpose, the skin, 

 with or without the fur, is employed as cloth would be ; or the fur alone 

 is converted by art into the peculiar substance called felt, of which hats 

 are made. 



