ee degrees south
latitude, in 1818, added surprisingly to the trade in fur seals. The
number taken from the South Shetlands in 1821 and 1822 amounted to three
hundred and twenty thousand. This valuable animal is now almost extinct
in all these islands, owing to the exterminating system adopted by the
hunters. They are still taken on the Lobos Islands, where the provident
government of Montevideo restrict the fishery, or hunting, within
certain limits, which insures an annual return of the seals. At certain
seasons, these amphibia, for the purpose of renewing their coat, come up
on the dark frowning rocks and precipices, where there is not a trace of
vegetation. In the middle of January, the islands are partially cleared
of snow, where a few patches of short straggling grass spring up in
favorable situations; but the seals do not resort to it for food. They
remain on the rocks not less than two months, without any sustenance,
when they return much emaciated to the sea.

Bears of various species and colors, many varieties of the fox, the
wolf, the beaver, the otter, the marten, the raccoon, the badger, the
wolverine, the mink, the lynx, the muskrat, the woodchuck, the rabbit,
the hare, and the squirrel, are natives of North America.

The beaver, otter, lynx fisher, hare, and raccoon, are used principally
for hats; while the bears of several varieties furnish an excellent
material for sleigh linings, for cavalry caps, and other military
equipments. The fur of the black fox is the most valuable of any of the
American varieties; and next to that the red, which is exported to China
and Smyrna. In China, the red is employed for trimmings, linings, and
robes; the latter being variegated by adding the black fur of the paws,
in spots or waves. There are many other varieties of American fox, such
as the gray, the white, the cross, the silver, and the dun-colored. The
silver fox is a rare animal, a native of the woody country below the
falls of the Columbia River. It has a long, thick, deep lead-colored
fur, intermingled with long hairs, invariably white at the top, forming
a bright lustrous silver gray, esteemed by some more beautiful than any
other kind of fox.

The skins of the buffalo, of the Rocky Mountain sheep, of various deer
and of the antelope, are included in the fur trade with the Indians and
trappers of the north and west.

Fox and seal skins are sent from Greenland to Denmark. The white fur of
the arctic fox and p