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Tl to Tt P« of fil Oi bi th Si4 ot fir si< or Th sh Til wl M< dif en be rig re< 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X V 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X Th« copy fllm«d hmf hat b««n r«produo«d thankt to th« ganaroalty of: Library Division Provincial Archival of British Columbia I'oxomploiro film* f ut roprodult grAco A la OAnAroaltA da: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia Tha Imagea appaaring hara ara tha baat quality poaaibia oonaldaring tha condition and laglblllty of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract apacifieationa. Original copiaa in printad papar covara ara f ilmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha iaat paga with a printad or llluatratad impraa- ■ion. or tha bacli covar whan appropriata. All othar original copiaa ara fiimad baginning on tha firat paga with a printad or llluatratad impras- •ion, and anding on tha Iaat paga with a printad or llluatratad impraaaion. Tha Iaat racordad frama on aach microficha ■hail contain tha aymbol — ^> (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha aymboi V (moaning "END"). whichavar applias. Laa imagaa auivantaa ont AtA raproduitas avac la plua grand aoin, compto tonu da la condition at da la nattatv da I'axamplalra filmA. at mn conformitA avac laa conditions du contrat da fiimaga. Laa axamplairaa originaux dont la couvartura an papiar aat imprimAa aont f ilmA^ an commandant par la pramlar plat at un tarminant soit par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'iiiuatration, soit par la aacond plat, aalon la caa. Tout laa autraa axamplairaa originaux aont filmAa an commanpant par l« pramiAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'impraaaion ou d'iilustration at •n tarminant par la darnlAra paga qui comporta una talla amprainta. Un das symbolas ^uivants apparaltra sur la darnlAra imaga da chaqua microficha. saioii la cas: la symbols ^»> signifia "A SUIVRE". la symbols ^ signifia "FIN". Mapa. piataa. charts, ate. may ba fiimad at diffarant raduction ratios. Thoaa too iarga to ba antiraly includad in ona axposurs ara fiimad baginning in tha uppar lavt hand cornar. laft to right and top to bottom, as many framas as raquirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha mathod: Las cartas, planchas. tablaaux. ate. pauvant Atra fiimAs A das taux da rAduction diffArants. Lorsqua la documant ast trop grand pour Atra roproduit •!% un saul clichA. il ast filmA A partir da I'angia supAriaur gaucha. da gaucha A droito. at da haut an baa. an pranant la nombra d'imagas nAcassaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 y:(.(> 1S06.] th^ Roman question, espccialli', all the aHSft^iilts of eloquence and sa/casin, all the Vclght of well-groundecl /testimony are brought to bear. Among 'noticeable eontriHutions of this class, I may mention The A Mictions of the liotnath States and the Ftituxe of the Court ofJlmie, the Let- ters of Jria Holiness aiid of the Tuscan Jiishops, mth Notes and Observations by one of their ^rethren, the COiirt of Home and the Gomel, Napoleon III. an i the Clergy, etc. sThe Clenjy find their Mo- rality in relation to the Ciiil Power, by the Abbate FioVenza, isa pf^tnphlet of gra- ver character, airected to the establish- ment of the wriVer's proposition that the teaching of the Cktholic clergy, as expres- sed by their best\accredited representa- tives has always bien in accordance with true political liberalism. Tjje first-named in the above list, m Geimarelli, consists of contributions byUhat writer founded upon documents tha\ f»?ll into the hands of the new governniAit after the down- fall of the old in the Uiegations : an ap- preciation of ecclesiastical rule fully jus- tified by official evidence, logical in se- verity, and backed by m-oofs that what- ever else its characteristtes, inhumanity was a distinguishing featui'e of its proce- dure in that unfortunate country. Contemporaneously witn the great revolution in Italy, her Literature has been evolving into vitality, and has cor- responded to the great realities of the present in a spirit of earnesti^ss that de- serves thoughtful ajttention. It has kept pace with the rapid march ofWents, by discussing, commenting upon, W record- ing them in all th^ir aspects and tenden- cies. It may fall 'short of expektation in respect of some /high requirements; it has not yet conveyed in univensally in- telligible accent^ the announcement of fixed purpose, on nationally adopljed con- viction in the fephere of some of the grandest interesis. But Avhat shoald we expect from an^ literature more than the reflex of existing temper, impulsA^ or belief? The j&eficiency observabll^ in Italian literature may be explained by the very fact| that its heart and con- science have l/een stirred so profoundly, that the questions at issue are of such vast bearings^ that the fruits must be waited for, the produce left to mature itself for years yet to come. A certain vagueness and hesitation is perhaps the AMERICAN FURa. 44ft truest testimony to a state of /hind con- sequent upon such transitional^ such mo- mentous conditions of the Ration's life. The enthusiastic natriotisny that used to find vent in Italian 8ont>6t8 or canzoni has now its positive anil more rational utterance. Next amoi^ prominent feat- ures of this literary /4novement is the absolutely startling Impetus of the hos- lility against an ^clesiastical system which, still potent |pid sincerely accepted as it is by milli(ijfis^ on this side of the Alps, no longer /corresponds to the de- velopments of Xsivil lifti, or intelligence among the re^ective or »ctive-minded. And yet thiij/' literature, c^jnsidered as a whole, caiftnot be called irreligious ; rather indet^ is it imbued with'an under- curi'cnt of /reverence, in the spirit of indignant protestation for the ho^or ot Divine Trifth. Inlmaginative literature we perceive a purer moral than ever announced itself m ihcnovelle or ronianzi of earlier time ; in the historic, a wider sympathy for the human ; in the .aggre- gate we find sufficient in its attributes to claim a heartfelt welcome for Italian Literature as preeminently that of Hope. Kj. X'. 11. Tlie Leisure Hour. AMERICAN FURS: now TRAPPED AND TRADED. BY J. K. LORD, F.Z.S. It would be difficult to name any branch of commerce that has tended more to develop man's energy, courage, and pa- tient endurance of every hardship and privation than has the fur trade. To the explorations of sturdy trappers, pioneers, and adventui-ers of all classes, and from all countries, in pursuit of fur, we may trace the sources from Avhich the knowl- edge of three fourths of the continent of North America has been derived. The use of furs, as of other skins, may be s«>id to have existed since the days wut^ man first wore garments ; but not until the early part of the sixth cen- tury was there any direct trade in furs brought from remote districts. At this early period we find the wealthier Ro- mans used sables from the shores of tho Arctic Ocean. In the twelfth century wearing furs had become very general %-**-i*-«tt <(». >• 446 AMERICAN FURS. [April, in England, and we learn that Edward III., in< ISd?, raudo an order that none of his subjeotH should wear fur unless able to command an income of £100 per an- num. About the seventeenth century the idea of establishing a settlement for the purpose of procuring the rich furs said to abound on the shores of the frozen seas was suggested by one Grosscliez • to the French government, but being coldly received he left France and came to England, and obtained an interview with Prince Rupert. This negotiation ended in the fitting out of a ship, which in 1638 reached the land which has since borne the name of Rupert's Land. The ship returned after a sojourn of three years, with a report so favorable in all Its details that several noblemen and gentlemen of wealth, headed by Prince Rupert, formed themselves into a com- pany, and subscribed a capital of £10,- 600. ■ In 1670 a charter was granted by Charles II., giving the new company, calling themselves " The Hudson's Bay Company," the entire possession " of all the lands and territories upon the coun- tries, coasts, and confines of the seas, lakes, bays, rivers, creeks, and sounds, in whatsoever latitude they shall be, that lie between the entrance of the straits called Hudson's Straits." It would be of little interest to ti-ace the gradual rise of this Company, or to relate the terrible jealousy, forays, and deadly feuds that for many years, to the dis- grace of civilization, raged betwixt the Hudson's Bay and a rival Company, that subsequently grew into existence, known as the Northwest Company. These feuds happily ended about the year 1838, when the two companies, to use an Indian expression, " buried the hatch- et," and became one, still retaining the old title, "The Hudson's Bay Com- pany." The territories of this Company are truly enormous, extending from the Ca- nadian frontier to the shores of the Pa- cific and Arctic oceans, including lands that on the one hand own allegiance to Russia, and on the other to the United States. The area of the country under its immediate influence is about 4,600,000 square miles in extent, divided into four departments, fifty-three districts, and one hundred and fifty-two trading posts. This vast extent of hunting country is every- where sprinkled over with lakes, and in all directions intersected by rivers and lesser streams, abounding wilh edible fish. East of the Rocky Mou ;tain8 are vast prairies over which roams tiie bison, lord of the plains ; while west of these mountains the land is densely timbered. The most northerly station, east of the Rocky Mountains, is on the Mackenzie river, within the Arctic circle ; so terri- bly intense is the cold at this post that axes tempered specially can alone bo used for splitting and cutting wood, ordinary hatchets breasting aa thotigh made of glass. West of the Rockies, the most northerly station is Fort Simp- son, situated near the Silka river, the boundary betwixt Russian America and British Columbia. The systcnf of trading at all the posts of the Company is entirely one of barter. In early days, when first I wandered over the fur countries east of the Rock- ies, money was unknown ; but this me- dium of exchange has since then gradu- ally become familiar to the Indians, and the all-potent dollar is rapidly asserting its supremacy in savagedom. The standard of value throughout all the territories of the Company is still, however, the skin of the beaver, by which the price of all other furs is regu- lated. Any service rendered, or labor executed, by the Indians, is paid for in skins ; the beaver skin being the unit of computation. To explain this system more clearly, let us assume that four leavers are equivalent in value to a sil- ver-fox skin, two martins to a beaver, twenty muskrats to a martin, and so on. As an example, let us suppose an Indian wishes to purchase a blanket or a gun from the Hudson's Bay Company : he would have to give, say, three silver foxes, or twenty beaver skins, or two hundred muskrats, or other furs, in ac- cordance with their proper relative posi- tions of worth in the tariff. For a very evident reason, the price paid for furs is not fixed in strict accordance with their intrinsic value ; if this were so, all the valuable fur bearing animals would soon become extinct J" as no Indian would bother himself to trap a cheap fur while a high - priced one remained uncaught. He may very possibly have to pay five silver-fox skins for blankets (worth about [April, 1866.1 AMERICAN FURS. U1 1 evcry- and in jrs find edible lins are e bison, )f tlicse inbered. i of the ickenzio so teri'i- o8t that lono be r wood, though Rockies, rt Simp- ver, the irica and ;he posts »f barter. ,'andered lie Tlock- this me- !n gradu- ians, and asserting ghout all y is still, aver, by 8 is rega- or labor lid for in )e xinit of 8 system that four e to a sil- a beaver, I, and so ippose an lanket or onipany : ree silver 3, or two irs, in ac- itive posi- or a very for furs is with their so, all the ^ould soon I an would fur while un caught, o pay five orth about £3), the value of the skins paid repre- senting i;40 ; still he can, if ho chooses, buy the same article by paying for it in rauskrat, yellow fox, or other furs of in- ferior worth. The Company very gen- erally issue to the Indians such goods as they need up to a certain amount, when the summer supplies arrive at the posts — ^these advances to be paid for at the conclusion of the hunting season. In hiring Indians east of the Cascade Mountains, while occupied in marking the boundary line, our agreement was always to pay them in beaver skins, say, two or three per day, in accordance with the duty required ; but this agreement did not mean actual payment in real skins — a matter that to us would have been impossible — but that we were to give the Indian an order on the nearest trading post of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, to supply him with any goods he might select up to the value of the beaver skins specified on the order. The trading posts of the Company are strange, quaint - looking places, built ac- cording to a general type. A trading ^fort is invariably a square inclosed by immense trees or pickets, one end sunk deeply in the ground, and placed close together ; a platform, about the height of an ordinary man, is carried along the sides of the square, so as to enable any one to peep over without being in danger from arrow or bullet; the entrance is closed by two massive gates, an inner and an outer ; and all the houses of the chief traders and employes, %\\q trading house, fur room, and stores, are within the square. In many of the posts the trade room is cleverly contrived, so as to prevent a sudden rush of Indians ; the approach from outside the pickets being through a long narrow passage, only of sufficient width to admit one Indian at a time, and bent at an acute angle near the window, where the trader stands. This precaution is rendered necessary, inasmuch as were the passage straight they might easily shoot him. At the four angles are bastions, octagonal in shape, pierced with embrasures, to lead the Indians to believe il^the existence of cannon, and intended to strike terror in any red skinned rebel daring to dispute the supremacy of the Company. The total worth of the furs that have been collected by this Company alone. at a rough estimate, represents a money value ecpial to £20,000,000 sterling. It will be interesting to give a brief history of the various furs traded by the Hud- son's Bay and other companies, how and where caught, together with a statement of the average number of each species annually imported from the Company's territories and other fur-yielding coun- tries. Foremost in the list is the Hudson's Bay Sable {Mustela Amerieana). The pine martin, or sable of Northwest America, is not esteemed so valuable as the sable from Russia, known to natu- ralists as MuHtda Zibillina ; but there is no doubt that the two species are in reality one and the same, the difference of temperature, and other local modify- ing causes, readily accounting for the better quality of the Russian fur. About one hundred and twenty thousand skins are brought on an average into this country every year by the Iludson's Bay Company, and to these we may add quite as many, if not more, from Russia and Tartary. The ligliter-colored skins are usually dyed, and frequently sold as Russian sable. Martin trapping requires great skill and experience. The favorite haunts of the little robber are the pine forests, especially where dead or burnt timber abounds. Its food consists of anything it can catch by craft or cun- ning, young birds and eggs, squirrels, the lesser rodents, marmots, and rabbits. The trap most frequently used is a fall trap (although sometimes steel traps are employed ; in other words, the ordinary rat gin). The fall trap is of Indian in- vention, and a very ingenious contriv- ance. A half circle is first built of large stones to the height of about three feet ; then a heavy tree is laid across the en- trance, one end being raised and sup- ported on a contrivance very like the figure - of - four trap, nsed by boys for catching small birds ; a dainty bit of rabbit, or a ruffed grouse skinned, is hung on a projecting stick, built into the back of the semicircle of stones. The little poacher can only get at the bait by creeping under the tree ; then seizing it, and finding himself unable to pull it down, he backs out, tugging the string to which the bait is .attached along the stick, on which rests the figure of four, supporting the tree. Just as the centre L4Vjio T 44% AMERICAN FURa [April, of hlfl back comes under the fall or tree, he loowH the support by tugging the meat otl" the Htick, when down it falls on him, killing him instantly, but doing no injury to the fur. The winter fur is by fiir tiio most valuable, and the Indians say the first shower of rain after the snow disappears spoils the martin. The animal is skinned somewhat like a rab- bit, the skin being inverted as it is re- moved, then placed on a flat board, and so dried in the sun. A good martin skin is worth in the trade from two and a lialf to three dollars ; about ten or twelve shillings. Very fine martins come from the western slopes of the Cascade and coast ranges of mountains ; the fur- ther north, the darker and better are the skins. The Russian Sable inhabits the forest^ clad mountains of Siberia, a desolate, cold, inhospitable region. The animal is hunted during winter, and gener- ally by exiles. There are various meth- ods of taking the sable. Great numbers are shot with small-bore rifles; others are trapped in steel and fall traps, and many taken in nets placed over their places of retreat, into which they are tracked on the snow. Who can picture to himself, without shuddering, the case of the condemned sable - hunter ? He leaves, with heavy heart, the last thinly- scattered habitations which border the pathless wilds ; a sky of clouds and darkness is above, bleak mountains and gloomy forests before him ; the recesses of the forests, the defiles of the moun- tains must be traversed : these are the haunts of the sable. The cold is below zero, but the fur will prove the finer! Nerved by necessity, and stimulated by the hope of sharing the gains, on he presses. Fatigue and cold exhaust him, a snow storm overtakes him, the bear- ings or way-marks are lost or forgotten. Provisions tail, and too often he who promised, to his expecting and anxious friends, a speedy return, is seen no more. Such is sable - hunting in Siberia, and such the hapless fate of many an exile, who perishes in the pursuit of what only adds to the luxuries and superflui- ties of the great. The Fisher {Mustela Penanntii) is very similar to the pine martin in all his habits, but mych larger. Why it was Darned a fisher I could never imagine, as it is not known to catch fish or go in the water, except to wash, or swim a stream. It climbs readily, and lives on birds and rodents. A very fine pair are in the Ucgent's I*ark Zoological Gardens. It is trapped much in the satne way as the martin. The tail is very long and bushy, tapering to a fine brush-like point, and quite black. At one time a large trade was carried on with tails, only the tail being worn by Jpwish merchants as an ornament in Poland. About twelve thousand fisher skins aio annually im- ported. I obtained some remarkably fine specimens of the fisher in the pine woods of the Na-hoi-lc-pit-ke valley, on the Columbia river. The valu*?, or trade price, in liritish Columbia, is from two dollars fifty cents to three dollars per skin. The fisher in full winter fur makes a far handsomer mutf than the sable. The fur of the Mink {Ifustela vison) is vastly inferior to either the fisher or martin, being harsh, short, and glossy. The habits of the animal, too, are entire- ly different. The mink closely resembles the otter in its mode of life, i'requenting streams inland, and rocks, small islands, and sheltered bays on the sea-coast. It swims ■ with great ease and swiftness, captures fish, eats moUusks, crabs, and any marine animal that falls in its way. Should a wounded duck or sea-bird hap- pen to be discovered by this animal, it is at once pounced upon and greedily de- voured. On the inland rivers it dives for and catches great numbers of cray- fish, that abound in almost every stream east and west of the Cascades. Along the river banks, the little heaps of cray- fish shells direct the Indian to the where- abouts of the mink, which is generally caught with a steel trap baited with fish. The trade price is about fifty cents, or two shillings, per skin. Very little of the fur is used in England, the greater part being again exported to the Conti- nent. About two hundred and fifty thousand skins are annually imported. I procured some very fine specimens of the mink at Vancouver Island, that are now stuff^ed and set up in the British Museum. The Ermine {Mustela longicauda) of Northwest America is hardly worth im- porting. The fur never grows long, or becomes white enough in winter. The Indians use it for ornamental purposes^ (iifHciiltl liimself [ i Kkiii II Iso poJ ree v[ ao sanj ►x skill |tchinr liortii #y th( #ed en a|nualh iThe ' MrchasJ CHfalers. [ [April, ;o in the , stream, irtlrt aiul ) ia the lenfl. It ly as llio (I bushy, Dint, mid •re trade the tail nts as an twelve nally im- narkably the i>ino ralley, on «, or trade from two )lhir8 per fur makes sable. ila vison) I fisher or id glossy, are entire- resembles •equenting iill islands, -coast. It swiftness, crabs, and n its Avay. a-bird hap- niroal, it is ;reedily de- rs it dives rs of cray- rery stream es. Along ips of cray- \ the where- 8 generally waited with t fifty cents, ery little of the greater ) the Conti- . and fifty y imported, pecimens of ,nd, that are the British gicauda) of ly worth im- ows long, or winter. The tal purposes, 1866.] AMERICAN FURS. 440 and often wear the skin as a charm, or nu'dU'ine, us they term it. In suinnu'r till' ermine - weasel is reddish brown. Tiie best eriniiie comes from Siberia, Norway, and Hiissia. The bhu^k of the tail was, in the time of Edward III., for- bidden to Ik! worn by any but meml>errt of t lie royid family. ThcKViceoon {Procyon lotor) is wide- ly distriliuted throughout North and Noitliwest America. Crafty and artful, to an American proverb, his life is en- tirely one of brigandage! ; plundering on every available opportunity, and waging destructive war on any bird, beast, or reptile inferior to himsoU in strength, courage, or cunning. The fur is not very valuable, being principally used in ni'ikiiig carriage rugs, and lining infe- rior cloaks and coats on the OontiiiMit. About five hundred and twenty tliou- saiid skins are sent annually from the Hudson's Hay Company's territories. Tlu^y are generally shot ; those that are trapped are taken in steel traps. The three species of foxes traded by the Hudson's Bay Company are tlu; Ued Fox ( yii/pcs niacronruti), the Cross Fox { V(tr ilecnssatus), and the Silver Fox ( ['^iir arf/eiitatiiH). I (piite concur with Professor Baird in making the red fox of IJritish Columbia and (Oregon a distinct s[)ecies, .ind in considering the cross and silver foxes as varieties of th.e red. I have again and again carefully examined large numbers of fox skms at the dillerent trading posts of tlij Com- {)any, and have invariably found every ntermediate tint of color, mcging by i"egular gradations, from the red into the cross, and from the cross into the iiher and black, rendering it often a Oifficidt question even for the trader himself to decide which of the varieties i skin really belonged to. The Indians tfso positively assert that ctths of the Wiree varieties are constantly seen in io same litter. The black and silver kx skins are very valuable, a good skin Itching readily from forty to fifty dol- %s, £10 to £12; the red fox is only igortli about as many shillings. About ^y thousand red foxes, forty -five hun- ted cross, and one thousand silver, are aiinually imported. iThe Silver Fox fur is almost entirely Mrchased by the Chinese and Russian 2|falers. The animals are nearly all trap- ped in fall traps, very similar in con- struction to those used for the martin. The famed Beaver ( C<^'^/or /rVicr), in both structure and habits, is by far the most interesting animal killed and hunt- ed for the sake of its skin. So much was its fur in demand, prior to the in- troduction of silk and rabbits' fur, in the manufacture of hats, that the poor little rodent had in some districts become nearly exterminated. IX'scriptions of their houuM and damn have been so fre- quently given by various writers that it would be waste of space to repeat them here. On the streams in Southern Ore- gon th(! beaver is most abundant, and one shallow lake I accidentally came upon was literally filled M'ith beaver- houses ; there must have been many hundred habitations, as the lake was quite a mile in width, and round it the trees were felled in all directions, as if the land was being cleared for farming. I do not believe the curiously fiattened scaly Uril is ever used, save as a j)ower- fid 0(ir, or rather nidder, aiding the ani- mal to dive and swim, but particularly in towing heavy sticks in rapid streams or across pools to its dams and houses. (Juite as many trees are cut by the beaver's sharp teeth to procure fi)od as to construct dams ; the bark of the top- most branches of the Poptdus trcnm- loldes, or aspen, being its favorite diet. The beaver trapper, be he white man or Indian, must, of necessity, lead a soli- tary, desolate, and dangerous life. To be alone in the wildest solitudes of un- known wastes demands a courage and endurance of no ordinary kind. The lone trapper knows not the emxdation, the wild hurrah and crash of music that cheers the soldier as he marches steadi- ly up to the deadly breach ; he cannot feel that powerful incentive to be brave arising from the knoAvledge that a gal- lant deed will be handed down with his name in the pages of history ; he has no opportunity for display before his fellow- man ; alone with nature and his Creator, he is self-dependent, and his indomitable courage can only spring from a firm re- liance on his own strength, ever support- ed by an unseen hand. A beaver is a very difficult animal to trap. The trap- per knows at a glance the various marks of the animal, called signs ; these dis- covered, the next operation is to find 460 AMERICAN FURS. [April. out how tho beaver gets to ]m lionso, \^hicli is pcnernlly in Bliallow water. Then a Hteel trap is sunk in the water, euro being taken to regulate tho deptli, BO that it may not be more tlian twelve or fourteen inches below the surface ; this is accomplished by cither rolling in a log, or building in large stones. Immediate- ly over tho trap is the bait, made from the castor^ or medicine -gland of the beaver, suspended from a stick, so as just to clear the water ; with a long cord and log of cedar wood as a buoy (to mark the position of tho trap when the beaver swims away with it), tho trap is complete. Tho poor little builder, per- haps returning to his home and family, scents tho tempting castor purposely placed in his road ; ho cannot reach it as he swims, so he feels about with his hind-legs for something to stand on ; this, too, has been craftily placed for him. Putting down his feet to stretch up for the coveted morsel, he finds them suddenly clasped in an iron embrace : there is no hope of escape. The log, revealing his hiding place, is seized by the trapper, and the imprisoned beaver dispatched by a single blow on the head, and the trap set again. A trapper will sometimes spend many weeks camp- ed near a good beaver village. About sixty thousand skins are now brought from the Hudson's Bay Company's ter- ritories, but a great many skins are also procured from various places in Europe and the north of Asia. Just to illustrate the difference between the trade in bea- ver now as compared with what it was, we may mention that in 1T43 the Hud- son's Bay Company alone sold twenty- six thousand seven hundred and fifty skins, and over one hundred and twenty- seven thousand were imported into Ro- chelle. In 1788 Canada supplied nno hundred and seventy thousand, and in 1808 one hundred and twenty-six thou- sand, nine hundred and twenty-seven skins. The principal use made of the fur now is ip the manufacture of bonnets in France, and in making cloaks. The long hair is pulled out, and the under fur shaved down close and even by a machine ; some of it is still felted into a kind of cloth. The castor, too, is, or rather used to be, an article of consider- able trade for medicinal purposes j but in these days of progross it has become nearly obsolete, although it is still pur- chased from the Indians. Tho Musk liat {Fiber ZibetictiH) is very like the beaver in many of its hab- its. A species that I brought from tho Osoyoos lakes, east of the Cascades, which proved to bo new, now called M- her Osoyooaenaia^ makes a house precise- ly like a beaver ; others live in holes in muddy banks. Tho Indiiitis genefally spear them through the walls and roofs of liifcir dwellings. Their fur is of very little value, although many hundred thousand skins are annually imported. Large bun- dles of tho tails of the muskrat are con- stantly exposed for sale in tho bazaars at Stamboul as articles for perfuming clothes. Tlie Lynx, or wild bat (Lynx cona- demis), is common east ana west of tho Rocky Mountains. Tho fur, though soft and prettily marked, is not of much value. It is either trapped in a steel trap or shot in tho trees. I need only mention casually (as the systems of tak- ing the anrtuals are pretty much the same) tho Otter {JJntra canadensis), of whicn about seventeen thousand skins are often procured, and the wolf {Lupus griseus), which supplies fifteen thousand. The Wolverine, or Glutton ( Gulo lua- cus), is a curious beast, like a tiny bear, but tho most dire and untiring enemy to the martin trapper, following his steps, and eating the martins after .they are caught. It is almost impossible to cache (hide) anything that these robbers do not find and destroy ; their strength is prodigious, and they do not hesitate to attack a wounded deer. The fur is coarse, but used for muffs and linings. Those from Siberia are deemed the best. About twelve hundred are general- ly Importf^d. In size tho v.vlverine is rather larger than our English badger ; in color dark brown ; tails, legs, and un- der parts black ; a light yellowish band extends over the flanks, reaching to the tail. A grizzly patch, almost whit© in old animals, covers the temples. The head is much like that of the bear ; th: eyes are remarkably small, a& are the ears, which are nearly concealed in the fur. The feet, large and powerful, arc armed with sharp, curved claws. The hair is quite as long as that of the blacl; bear, but of coarser staple. In NortL [April, as become Btill pur- beticxis) iH of its nnb- b from tho Cascatles, r called /*?• use precise- in holes in genotiiHy and roofs of )f very little )d thousand Large bun- Tat are con- tho bazaars perfuming Lynx carta- west of the though soft ot of much in a steel need only stems of tak- much the nadensis), of loueand skins wolf (Lupii^ een thousand, on ( Oulo lu8- :q a tiny bear, atiring enemy wing his steps, after .they are impossible to i these robbers their strength o not hesitate ■er. The fur ifis and linings, emed the best, are general- e Y.vlverine is nglish badger; Is, legs, and un- yellowish band reaching to the ilmost white in temples. The f the bear ; th: lall, a6 are the oncealed in the d powerful, are ed claws. The hat of the blaci aple. In Nortb 1866.] AMERICAN FURS. 451 America it is almost entirely confined to boreal regions ; its farthest southern range being the valley of the Salt Lake in Utah territory. The glutton is vora- cious and bloodthirsty, but fortunately its sizi. by no means ena of our existence. What is done and thought in the e\ery-day woik- ing world, where the ordinary business ol life is carried on, no living creature has ever fully revealed to anotlier. Tliere are reti(!ences in the confessions of the most fraid;, things which cannot, and therefore wliich never will be spoken — thoughts which transcend the limits of language — hopes which the power of no lairy could satisfy. — fears wliich even Lucil(.'r himself would fail to exaggerate. If this jtortion of our life, which is .at least subjected to our own observ.ation, cannot be faithfully and fully described, still less can that other portion which defies even our own scrutiny, converts us into mere spectators of ourselves, sets free our .actions from the control of our will, and transforms us into so many j>as- sivo spfikes in the great Avheel of des- 1 tiny. Whatever may bo the laws by which it is regulated, sleep presents th.c counterpart of the waking world — dis- torted, mutilated, thrown into irremedi- able confusion by the force of the imag- ination. How sleep comes over liiin, every nianl may observe, if ho will be at the i)ainsj — and it requires pains — since thedrow-l sy state which precedes the complete abT [Apiil, */• re nlii|i|i('( .val. I that jloll'M f'lOtll |mI, iiml aru iti ill I.tiM- iiir li s lia^ tnido and A'.KV \H () f(l I't'ams lines III ll WVVr lioK- ,!;l'lly SIO( p w oil l