48 A DESCRIPTION OF 
THE SABLE. (Mustela, or Martes Zibellina. ) 
THIS animal is a native of North America, Siberia, 
Kamtschatka, and Asiatic Russia; it frequents the banks 
of rivers, and the thickest parts of the woods. It lives in 
holes under the ground, and especially under the roots of 
trees ; but it sometimes makes its nests, like the squirrel, 
in the hollows of trees. The skin of the Sable is more 
valuable than that of any other animal of equal size. One 
of these skins, not more than four inches broad, has 
sometimes been valued at as high a rate as fifteen pounds; 
but the general price is from one to ten pounds, according 
to the quality. The Sable's fur is different from all others, 
in the hair turning with equal ease either way ; and it is 
on this account that fur dealers sometimes blow the fur of 
any article they may be selling, to show that it is really 
the fur of the Sable. The tails are sold by the hundred, 
at from four to eight pounds. 
The common, or Beech Marten, (Mustela Martes,) like 
the Sable, boasts the honour of adorning with his fur the 
rich and the beautiful ; as princes, ladies, and opulent 
people of all nations pride themselves in wearing his 
spoils. He is about as big as a cat, but the body is much 
longer proportionally, and the legs shorter. His skin is 
of a light brown, with white under the throat, and yellow- 
on the back. The fur of the Marten fetches a good price, 
