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CARNIVORA. 
THE SABLE. LA MARTE ZIBELLINE. 
Mustela Ztbellina. 
^ This animal is universally known by its rich fur. 
It is brown, with white spots about the head ; and 
gray on the neck. It differs from the preceding 
martens in having fur to the extremities of the toes, 
a natural indication, that it is an inhabitant of the 
cold and frozen regions of the Earth. The pursuit 
of this animal in a Siberian winter, and in the thick 
forests of that inhospitable country, covered not with 
verdure but with snow, is one of the most hardy and 
painful we can conceive. It was this adventurous 
chase, that led to the discovery of the eastern parts 
of Siberia. The persecuted animals are said to have 
retired more to the eastward ; but human avarice 
has followed them, and the trade in sable skins is 
now carried on principally with the Kamtschatkans. 
The sable, which is so remarkable for the beauty 
of its skin, is also inferior to none of its kind in what 
we call instinct. It is capable of being rendered 
very docile ; a remarkable instance of which is re- 
lated by Steller, in one that was domesticated in 
the palace of the archbishop of Tobolsk, which used 
to wander about the city, and visit the neighbours. 
It will attack and destroy a hare, though larger in 
