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 polar bear is sometimes found in the
packs brought to the traders by the most northern tribes of
Indians, but is not particularly valuable. The silver-tipped
rabbit is peculiar to England, and is sent thence to Russia and
China.
Other furs are employed and valued according to the caprices of
fashion, as well in those countries where they are needed for
defenses against the severity of the seasons, as among the
inhabitants of milder climates, who, severely of Tartar or
Sclavonian descent, are said to inherit an attachment to furred
clothing. Such are the inhabitants of Poland, of Southern Russia,
of China, of Persia, of Turkey, and all the nations of Gothic
origin in the middle and western parts of Europe. Under the
burning suns of Syria and Egypt, and the mild climes of Bucharia
and Independent Tartary, there is also a constant demand, and a
great consumption, where there exists no physical necessity. In
our own temperate latitudes, besides their use in the arts, they
are in request for ornament and warmth during the winter, and
large quantities are annually consumed for both purposes in the
United States.
From the foregoing statements, it appears that the fur trade must
henceforward decline. The advanced state of geographical science
shows that no new countries remain to be explored. In North
America the animals are slowly decreasing, from the persevering
efforts and the indiscriminate slaughter practiced by the
hunters, and by the appropriation to the uses of man of those
forests and rivers which have afforded them food and protection.
They recede with the aborigines, before the tide of civilization;
but a diminished supply will remain in the mountains and
uncultivated tracts of this and other countries, if the avidity
of the hunter can be restrained within proper limitations.
* An animal called the stoat, a kind of ermine, is said to be
found in North America, but very inferior to the European and
Asiatic.
* * The finest fur and the darkest color are most esteemed; and
whether the difference arises from the age of the animal, or from
some peculiarity of location, is not known.
