lord american furs

8/7/2019 Lord American Furs

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y:(.(>1S06.]th^ Roman question, espccialli', all theaHSftîilts of eloquence and sa/casin, allthe Vclght of well-groundecl /testimonyare brought to bear. Among 'noticeableeontriHutions of this class, I may mentionThe A Mictions of the liotnath States andthe Ftituxe of the Court ofJlmie, the Let-ters of Jria Holiness aiid of the TuscanJiishops,mth Notes and Observations byone oftheir ^rethren, the COiirt ofHomeand the Gomel, Napoleon III. an i theClergy, etc. sThe Clenjy find their Mo-rality in relation to the Ciiil Power, bythe Abbate FioVenza, isa pf^tnphlet ofgra-ver character, airected to the establish-ment of the wriVer's proposition that theteaching of the Cktholic clergy, as expres-sed by their best\accredited representa-tives has always bien in accordance withtrue political liberalism. Tjje first-namedin the above list, m Geimarelli, consistsof contributions byUhat writer foundedupon documents tha\ f?ll into the handsof 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, inhumanitywas a distinguishing featui'e of its proce-dure in that unfortunate country.Contemporaneously witn the great

revolution in Italy, her Literature hasbeen evolving into vitality, and has cor-responded to the great realities of thepresent in a spirit of earnesti^ss that de-serves thoughtful ajttention. It has keptpace with the rapid march ofWents, bydiscussing, commenting upon,W record-ing them in all thîr aspects and tenden-cies. It may fall 'short of expektation inrespect of some /high requirements; ithas not yet conveyed in univensally in-telligible accent^ the announcement offixed purpose, on nationally adopljed con-viction in the fephere of some of thegrandest interesis. But Avhat shoald weexpect from an^ literature more than thereflex of existing temper, impulsA^ orbelief? The j&eficiency observabll^ inItalian literature may be explained bythe very fact| that its heart and con-science have l/een stirred so profoundly,that the questions at issue are of suchvast bearings^ that the fruits must bewaited for, the produce left to matureitself for years yet to come. A certainvagueness and hesitation is perhaps the

AMERICAN FURa. 44fttruest 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 tofind vent in Italian 8ont>6t8 or canzonihas now its positive anil more rationalutterance. Next amoi^ prominent feat-ures of this literary /4novement is theabsolutely startling Impetus of the hos-lility against an ^clesiastical systemwhich, still potent |pid sincerely acceptedas it is by milli(ijfis^ on this side of theAlps, no longer/corresponds to the de-velopments of Xsivil lifti, or intelligenceamong the reêctive or ctive-minded.And yet thiij/' literature, c^jnsidered asa whole, caiftnot be called irreligious ;rather indet^ is it imbued with'an under-curi'cnt of/reverence, in the spirit ofindignant protestation for the hoôr otDivine Trifth. Inlmaginative literaturewe perceive a purer moral than everannounced itselfm ihcnovelle or ronianziof earlier time ; in the historic, a widersympathy for the human ; in the .aggre-gate we find sufficient in its attributesto claim a heartfelt welcome for ItalianLiterature 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 todevelop man's energy, courage, and pa-tient endurance of every hardship andprivation than has the fur trade. To theexplorations ofsturdy trappers, pioneers,and adventui-ers of all classes, and fromall countries, in pursuit of fur, we maytrace the sources from Avhich the knowl-edge of three fourths ofthe continent ofNorth America has been derived.The use of furs, as of other skins, maybe s>id to have existed since the dayswut^ man first wore garments ; but notuntil the early part of the sixth cen-tury was there any direct trade in fursbrought from remote districts. At thisearly period we find the wealthier Ro-mans used sables from the shores of thoArctic Ocean. In the twelfth centurywearing furs had become very general


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446 AMERICAN FURS. [April,in England, and we learn that EdwardIII., in< ISd?, raudo an order that none ofhis subjeotH should wear fur unless ableto command an income of 100 per an-num. About the seventeenth centurythe idea of establishing a settlement forthe purpose of procuring the rich furssaid to abound on the shores of the frozenseas was suggested by one Grosscliez

to the French government, but beingcoldly received he left France and cameto England, and obtained an interviewwith Prince Rupert. This negotiationended in the fitting out of a ship, whichin 1638 reached the land which has sinceborne the name of Rupert's Land. Theship returned after a sojourn of threeyears, with a report so favorable in allIts details that several noblemen andgentlemen of wealth, headed by PrinceRupert, formed themselves into a com-pany, and subscribed a capital of 10,-600.

In 1670 a charter was granted byCharles II., giving the new company,calling themselves " The Hudson's BayCompany," the entire possession " of allthe 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 thestraits called Hudson's Straits." Itwould be of little interest to ti-ace thegradual rise of this Company, or to relatethe terrible jealousy, forays, and deadlyfeuds that for many years, to the dis-grace of civilization, raged betwixt theHudson's Bay and a rival Company, thatsubsequently grew into existence, knownas the Northwest Company. Thesefeuds happily ended about the year1838, when the two companies, to usean Indian expression, " buried the hatch-et," and became one, still retaining theold title, "The Hudson's Bay Com-pany."The territories of this Company aretruly enormous, extending from the Ca-nadian frontier to the shores of the Pa-cific and Arctic oceans, including landsthat on the one hand own allegiance toRussia, and on the other to the UnitedStates. The area of the country under itsimmediate influence is about 4,600,000square miles in extent, divided into fourdepartments, fifty-three districts, and one

vast extent of hunting country is every-where sprinkled over with lakes, and inall directions intersected by rivers andlesser streams, abounding wilh ediblefish. East of the Rocky Mou ;tain8 arevast prairies over which roams tiie bison,lord of the plains ; while west of thesemountains the land is densely timbered.The most northerly station, east of theRocky Mountains, is on the Mackenzieriver, within the Arctic circle ; so terri-bly intense is the cold at this post thataxes tempered specially can alone boused for splitting and cutting wood,ordinary hatchets breasting aa thotighmade of glass. West of the Rockies,the most northerly station is Fort Simp-son, situated near the Silka river, theboundary betwixt Russian America andBritish Columbia.The systcnfof trading at all the postsof the Company is entirely one of barter.In early days, when first I wanderedover 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, andthe all-potent dollar is rapidly assertingits supremacy in savagedom.The standard of value throughout allthe territories of the Company is still,however, the skin of the beaver, bywhich the price of all other furs is regu-lated. Any service rendered, or laborexecuted, by the Indians, is paid for inskins ; the beaver skin being the unit ofcomputation. To explain this systemmore clearly, let us assume that fourleavers are equivalent in value to a sil-ver-fox skin, two martins to a beaver,twenty muskrats to a martin, and soon. As an example, let us suppose anIndian wishes to purchase a blanket ora gun from the Hudson's Bay Company :he would have to give, say, three silverfoxes, or twenty beaver skins, or twohundred muskrats, or other furs, in ac-cordance with their proper relative posi-tions of worth in the tariff. For a veryevident reason, the price paid for furs isnot fixed in strict accordance with theirintrinsic value ; if this were so, all thevaluable fur bearing animals would soonbecome extinct J" as no Indian wouldbother himself to trap a cheap fur whilea high - priced one remained uncaught.He may very possibly have to pay five


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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 inrauskrat, yellow fox, or other furs of in-ferior worth. The Company very gen-erally issue to the Indians such goods asthey need up to a certain amount, whenthe summer supplies arrive at the posts^these advances to be paid for at theconclusion of the hunting season. Inhiring Indians east of the CascadeMountains, while occupied in markingthe boundary line, our agreement wasalways to pay them in beaver skins, say,two or three per day, in accordance withthe duty required ; but this agreementdid not mean actual payment in realskinsa matter that to us would havebeen impossiblebut that we were togive the Indian an order on the nearesttrading post of the Hudson's Bay Com-pany, to supply him with any goods hemight select up to the value of the beaverskins specified on the order.The trading posts of the Company arestrange, quaint - looking places, built ac-cording to a general type. A trading

^fort is invariably a square inclosed byimmense trees or pickets, one end sunkdeeply in the ground, and placed closetogether ; a platform, about the heightof an ordinary man, is carried along thesides of the square, so as to enable anyone to peep over without being in dangerfrom arrow or bullet; the entrance isclosed by two massive gates, an innerand an outer ; and all the houses of thechief traders and employes, %\\q tradinghouse, fur room, and stores, are withinthe square. In many of the posts thetrade room is cleverly contrived, so as toprevent a sudden rush of Indians ; theapproach from outside the pickets beingthrough a long narrow passage, only ofsufficient width to admit one Indian ata time, and bent at an acute angle nearthe window, where the trader stands.This precaution is rendered necessary,inasmuch as were the passage straightthey might easily shoot him. At thefour angles are bastions, octagonal inshape, pierced with embrasures, to leadthe Indians to believe il^the existence ofcannon, and intended to strike terror inany red skinned rebel daring to disputethe supremacy of the Company.The total worth of the furs that have

at a rough estimate, represents a moneyvalue ecpial to 20,000,000 sterling. Itwill be interesting to give a brief historyof the various furs traded by the Hud-son's Bay and other companies, how andwhere caught, together with a statementof the average number of each speciesannually imported from the Company'sterritories and other fur-yielding coun-tries.

Foremost in the list is the Hudson'sBay Sable {Mustela Amerieana). Thepine martin, or sable of NorthwestAmerica, is not esteemed so valuableas the sable from Russia, known to natu-ralists as MuHtda Zibillina ; but thereis no doubt that the two species are inreality one and the same, the differenceof temperature, and other local modify-ing causes, readily accounting for thebetter quality of the Russian fur. Aboutone hundred and twenty thousand skinsare brought on an average into thiscountry every year by the Iludson's BayCompany, and to these we may addquite as many, if not more, from Russiaand Tartary. The ligliter-colored skinsare usually dyed, and frequently sold asRussian sable. Martin trapping requiresgreat skill and experience. The favoritehaunts of the little robber are the pineforests, especially where dead or burnttimber abounds. Its food consists ofanything 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 falltrap (although sometimes steel traps areemployed ; in other words, the ordinaryrat gin). The fall trap is of Indian in-vention, and a very ingenious contriv-ance. A half circle is first built of largestones 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 thefigure - of - four trap, nsed by boys forcatching small birds ; a dainty bit ofrabbit, or a ruffed grouse skinned, is hungon a projecting stick, built into the backof the semicircle of stones. The littlepoacher can only get at the bait bycreeping under the tree ; then seizingit, and finding himself unable to pull itdown, he backs out, tugging the stringto which the bait is .attached along thestick, on which rests the figure of four,


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T44% AMERICAN FURa [April,of hlfl back comes under the fall or tree,he loowH the support by tugging themeat otl" the Htick, when down it falls onhim, killing him instantly, but doing noinjury to the fur. The winter fur is byfiir tiio most valuable, and the Indianssay the first shower of rain after thesnow disappears spoils the martin. Theanimal is skinned somewhat like a rab-bit, the skin being inverted as it is re-moved, then placed on a flat board, andso dried in the sun. A good martinskin is worth in the trade from two anda lialf to three dollars ; about ten ortwelve shillings. Very fine martins comefrom the western slopes of the Cascadeand coast ranges of mountains ; the fur-ther north, the darker and better arethe skins.The Russian Sable inhabits the forest^clad mountains of Siberia, a desolate,cold, inhospitable region. The animalis hunted during winter, and gener-ally by exiles. There are various meth-ods of taking the sable. Great numbersare shot with small-bore rifles; othersare trapped in steel and fall traps, andmany taken in nets placed over theirplaces of retreat, into which they aretracked on the snow. Who can pictureto himself, without shuddering, the caseof the condemned sable - hunter ? Heleaves, with heavy heart, the last thinly-scattered habitations which border thepathless wilds ; a sky of clouds anddarkness is above, bleak mountains andgloomy forests before him ; the recessesof the forests, the defiles of the moun-tains must be traversed : these are thehaunts of the sable. The cold is belowzero, but the fur will prove the finer!Nerved by necessity, and stimulated bythe hope of sharing the gains, on hepresses. 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 whopromised, to his expecting and anxiousfriends, a speedy return, is seen no more.Such is sable - hunting in Siberia, andsuch the hapless fate of many an exile,who perishes in the pursuit of whatonly adds to the luxuries and superflui-ties of the great.The Fisher {Mustela Penanntii) is verysimilar to the pine martin in all his

it is not known to catch fish or go in thewater, except to wash, or swim a stream.It climbs readily, and lives on birds androdents. A very fine pair are in theUcgent's I*ark Zoological Gardens. Itis trapped much in the satne way as themartin. The tail is very long and bushy,tapering to a fine brush-like point, andquite black. At one time a large tradewas carried on with tails, only the tailbeing worn by Jpwish merchants as anornament in Poland. About twelvethousand fisher skins aio annually im-ported. I obtained some remarkablyfine specimens of the fisher in the pinewoods of the Na-hoi-lc-pit-ke valley, onthe Columbia river. The valu*?, or tradeprice, in liritish Columbia, is from twodollars fifty cents to three dollars perskin. The fisher in full winter fur makesa far handsomer mutf than the sable.The fur of the Mink {Ifustela vison)is vastly inferior to either the fisher ormartin, being harsh, short, and glossy.The habits of the animal, too, are entire-ly different. The mink closely resemblesthe otter in its mode of life, i'requentingstreams inland, and rocks, small islands,and sheltered bays on the sea-coast. Itswims with great ease and swiftness,captures fish, eats moUusks, crabs, andany marine animal that falls in its way.Should a wounded duck or sea-bird hap-pen to be discovered by this animal, it isat once pounced upon and greedily de-voured. On the inland rivers it divesfor and catches great numbers of cray-fish, that abound in almost every streameast and west of the Cascades. Alongthe river banks, the little heaps of cray-fish shells direct the Indian to the where-abouts of the mink, which is generallycaught with a steel trap baited withfish. The trade price is about fifty cents,or two shillings, per skin. Very little ofthe fur is used in England, the greaterpart being again exported to the Conti-nent. About two hundred and fiftythousand skins are annually imported.I procured some very fine specimens ofthe mink at Vancouver Island, that arenow stuff^ed and set up in the BritishMuseum.The Ermine {Mustela longicauda) ofNorthwest America is hardly worth im-porting. The fur never grows long, or

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1866.] AMERICAN FURS. 440and often wear the skin as a charm, ornu'dU'ine, us they term it. In suinnu'rtill' ermine - weasel is reddish brown.Tiie best eriniiie comes from Siberia,Norway, and Hiissia. The bhu^k of thetail was, in the time of Edward III., for-bidden to Ik! worn by any but meml>errtof t lie royid family.ThcKViceoon {Procyon lotor) is wide-

ly distriliuted throughout North andNoitliwest America. Crafty and artful,to an American proverb, his life is en-tirely one of brigandage! ; plundering onevery available opportunity, and wagingdestructive war on any bird, beast, orreptile inferior to himsoU in strength,courage, or cunning. The fur is notvery valuable, being principally used inni'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 theHudson's Hay Company's territories.Tlu^y are generally shot ; those that aretrapped are taken in steel traps.The three species of foxes traded bythe Hudson's Bay Company are tlu; UedFox ( yii/pcs niacronruti), the CrossFox { V(tr ilecnssatus), and the SilverFox ( ['^iir arf/eiitatiiH). I (piite concurwith Professor Baird in making the redfox of IJritish Columbia and (Oregon adistinct s[)ecies, .ind in considering thecross and silver foxes as varieties of th.ered. I have again and again carefullyexamined large numbers of fox skms atthe dillerent trading posts of tlij Com-{)any, and have invariably found everyntermediate tint of color, mcging byi"egular gradations, from the red intothe cross, and from the cross into theiiher and black, rendering it often aOifficidt question even for the traderhimself to decide which of the varietiesi skin really belonged to. The Indianstfso positively assert that ctths of theWiree varieties are constantly seen inio same litter. The black and silverkx skins are very valuable, a good skinItching 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, areaiinually imported.iThe Silver Fox fur is almost entirelyMrchased by the Chinese and Russian

ped in fall traps, very similar in con-struction to those used for the martin.The famed Beaver ( C


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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 twelveor fourteen inches below the surface ; thisis accomplished by cither rolling in a log,or building in large stones. Immediate-ly over tho trap is the bait, made fromthe castor^ or medicine -gland of thebeaver, suspended from a stick, so asjust to clear the water ; with a long cordand log of cedar wood as a buoy (tomark the position of tho trap when thebeaver swims away with it), tho trap iscomplete. Tho poor little builder, per-haps returning to his home and family,scents tho tempting castor purposelyplaced in his road ; ho cannot reach itas he swims, so he feels about with hishind-legs for something to stand on

;

this, too, has been craftily placed forhim. Putting down his feet to stretchup for the coveted morsel, he finds themsuddenly clasped in an iron embrace

:

there is no hope of escape. The log,revealing his hiding place, is seized bythe trapper, and the imprisoned beaverdispatched by a single blow on thehead, and the trap set again. A trapperwill sometimes spend many weeks camp-ed near a good beaver village. Aboutsixty thousand skins are now broughtfrom the Hudson's Bay Company's ter-ritories, but a great many skins are alsoprocured from various places in Europeand the north of Asia. Just to illustratethe 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 fiftyskins, and over one hundred and twenty-seven thousand were imported into Ro-chelle. In 1788 Canada supplied nnohundred and seventy thousand, and in1808 one hundred and twenty-six thou-sand, nine hundred and twenty-sevenskins.The principal use made of the fur nowis ip the manufacture of bonnets inFrance, and in making cloaks. Thelong hair is pulled out, and the underfur shaved down close and even by amachine ; some of it is still felted into akind of cloth. The castor, too, is, or

in these days of progross it has becomenearly obsolete, although it is still pur-chased from the Indians.Tho Musk liat {Fiber ZibetictiH) isvery like the beaver in many of its hab-its. A species that I brought from thoOsoyoos 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 inmuddy banks. Tho Indiiitis genefallyspear them through the walls and roofs ofliifcir dwellings. Their fur is of very littlevalue, although many hundred thousandskins are annually imported. Large bun-dles of tho tails of the muskrat are con-stantly exposed for sale in tho bazaarsat Stamboul as articles for perfumingclothes.

Tlie Lynx, or wild bat (Lynx cona-demis), is common east ana west of thoRocky Mountains. Tho fur, though softand prettily marked, is not of muchvalue. It is either trapped in a steeltrap or shot in tho trees. I need onlymention casually (as the systems of tak-ing the anrtuals are pretty much thesame) tho Otter {JJntra canadensis), ofwhicn about seventeen thousand skinsare often procured, and the wolf {Lupusgriseus), 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 enemyto the martin trapper, following his steps,and eating the martins after .they arecaught. It is almost impossible tocache (hide) anything that these robbersdo not find and destroy ; their strengthis prodigious, and they do not hesitateto attack a wounded deer. The furis 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 israther larger than our English badger

;

in color dark brown ; tails, legs, and un-der parts black ; a light yellowish bandextends over the flanks, reaching to thetail. A grizzly patch, almost whit inold animals, covers the temples. Thehead is much like that of the bear ; th:eyes are remarkably small, a& are theears, which are nearly concealed in thefur. The feet, large and powerful, arcarmed with sharp, curved claws. The


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1866.] AMERICAN FURS. 451America it is almost entirely confinedto boreal regions ; its farthest southernrange being the valley of the Salt Lakein Utah territory. The glutton is vora-cious and bloodthirsty, but fortunatelyits sizi. by no means e


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