ich Astoria was the key, has operated to turn the main
current of this opulent trade into the coffers of Great Britain, and
to render London the emporium instead of New York, as Mr. Astor had
intended.

We will subjoin a few observations on the animals sought after in this
traffic, extracted from the same intelligent source with the preceding
remarks.

Of the fur-bearing animals, "the precious ermine," so called by way of
preeminence, is found, of the best quality, only in the cold regions of
Europe and Asia. * Its fur is of the most perfect whiteness, except the
tip of its tail, which is of a brilliant shining black. With these back
tips tacked on the skins, they are beautifully spotted, producing an
effect often imitated, but never equalled in other furs. The ermine is
of the genus mustela (weasel), and resembles the common weasel in its
form, is from fourteen to sixteen inches from the tip of the nose to the
end of the tail. The body is from ten to twelve inches long. It lives
in hollow trees, river banks, and especially in beech forests; preys
on small birds, is very shy, sleeping during the day, and employing the
night in search of food. The fur of the older animals is preferred to
the younger. It is taken by snares and traps, and sometimes shot with
blunt arrows. Attempts have been made to domesticate it; but it is
extremely wild and has been found untameable.

The sable can scarcely be called second to the ermine. It is a native
of Northern Europe and Siberia, and is also of the genus mustela. In
Samoieda, Yakutsk, Kamtschatka, and Russian Lapland, it is found of
the richest quality, and darkest color. In its habits, it resembles the
ermine. It preys on small squirrels and birds, sleeps by day, and prowls
for food during the night. It is so like the marten in every particular
except its size, and the dark shade of its color, that naturalists have
not decided whether it is the richest and finest of the marten tribe,
or a variety of that species: It varies in dimensions from eighteen to
twenty inches.

The rich dark shades of the sable, and the snowy whiteness of the
ermine, the great depth, and the peculiar, almost flowing softness of
their skins and fur, have combined to gain them a preference in all
countries, and in all ages of the world. In this age, they maintain the
same relative estimate in regard to other furs, as when they marked the
rank of the proud crusader, and were emblazoned in heraldry: but in