52 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY, 
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The fur of the Martin is fine, and it is used for trimmings, and also dyed so as 
to imitate sables and other expensive furs. Hence it has always been an 
important article of commerce. Upwards of one hundred thousand skins have 
long been collected annually in the fur countries. 
DESCRIPTION. 
The form of the Martin is well known. It has a pleasing aspect. Its fur is about an 
inch and a quarter long, of a pale, dull, grayish-brown, or hair-brown colour, from the roots 
upwards, dull yellowish-brown near the summit, and tipped with dark brown or black. ‘The 
lustre of the surface of the fur is considerable. The hair of the tail is longer, coarser, and 
darker, than that of the body. At the tip of the tail its length is three inches, and it has 
a blackish colour, The yellowish-white markings on the throat vary in different individuals. 
The darkest skins are most prized. The fur is in the highest order in the winter time; in 
the beginning of summer, the dark tips of the hairs drop off, and the general colour of the 
fur is a pale orange-brown, with little lustre. The tips of the ears, at all times lighter than 
the rest of the fur, become very pale in the summer time. The natives remark that the fur 
of the Martin loses all its lustre, and consequently much of its value, upon the falling of the 
first shower of rain for the season. Length of the head and body from eighteen to twenty 
inches. 
[18.] 5. Musrera Canapensis. (Lin.) The Pekan, or Fisher. 
Le Pekan. Burron, vol. xiii. p. 304, t. xlii. Opt. 
Mustela Canadensis. Linn. GMELIN, vol. i. p. 95. 
Fisher. PENNaANT’s Arct. Zool., vol i. p. 82. Hist. Quadr., vol. ii. p. 238. 
Mustela Pennanti. ERxLEBEIN, Syst., p. 470. 
Wejack. Hrarne’s Journ. Grauam’s MSS. 
Fisher or Black-fox. Lewrs and Crank, vol. iii. p. 25. 
Fisher-weasel, or Pekan. WanrbDENn’s United States. 
Mustela Pennanti. Sasine, Frankilin’s First Journ., p. 651. 
Mustela Canadensis. Harian’s Fauna, p. 65. 
Pennant’s Martin. Gopman’s Nat. Hist., vol.i. p. 203. 
Otchek. CrerInp1ans. Woodshock. Hupson’s Bay Company’s SALE Lists. 
Wejack, or Fisher. Fur Traprers. Pekan. CanapIaAn VoYaAGERs. 
' This animal has been described by authors under many appellations. A con- 
siderable number of its skins are annually imported into England by the Hudson’s 
Bay Company, and exposed in their sales under the names of Woodshocks or 
