Chapter 2

THE JACKAL, AND THE ADIL.

We are not certain whether these two names denote animals of different species; we only know that the jackal (fig. 181.) is larger, more ferocious, and more difficult to be tamed, than the adil; but in other respects they bear a perfect resemblance. The adil, therefore, may possibly be the jackal become smaller, weaker, and more gentle, than the wild race,from being tamed and rendered domestic; for the adil is nearly the same, with respect to the jackal, as the lap-dog, or the little water spaniel, is to the shepherd’s dog. However, as this fact is only exemplified in a few particular instances; as the jackal is not, in general, domestic like the dog, and, as such great differences are seldom found in a free species, we are inclined to believe that the jackal and the adil are really two distinct species. The wolf, the fox, the jackal, and the dog, though they approach very nigh each other, form four distinct species. The varieties in the dog species are very numerous; the greatest part of which seems to proceed from their domestic state, to which they have been so long subjected. Man has multiplied the race in this species by mixing the great with the small, the handsome with the ugly, the long haired with the short, &c. But there are many varieties in the dog species, independently of those races produced by the care of man, which seem to derive their origin from the climate. The English bull-dog, the Danish dog, the spaniel, the Turkish dog, the Siberian dog, and others, derive their names from the countries of which they are natives; and there seems to be greater differences between them than between thejackal and the adil. The jackals, therefore, may have undergone several changes from the influence of different climates; and which supposition corresponds with the facts we have collected. From the writings of travellers it appears, that there are different sized jackals in all parts, that in Armenia, Silesia, Persia, and in all that part of Asia, called the Levant, where this species is very numerous, troublesome, and very hurtful; they are generally about the size of our foxes; but their legs are shorter, and the colour of their hair is of a glossy and bright yellow; and this is the reason why they have been called theyellow, orgolden wolf. This species seem to have undergone many varieties in Barbary, the East Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, and in other provinces of Africa and Asia. In these hot countries they are large, and their hair is rather of a reddish brown than of a beautiful yellow; and some of them are of different colours. The species of the jackal is spread all over Asia, from Armenia to Malabar; and is found also in Arabia, Barbary, Mauritania, Guinea, and at the Cape of Good Hope. It seems to supply the place of the wolf, which is wanting, or at least, is very scarce in all these hot countries.

However, as both the jackal and the adil are found in the same countries; as the species cannot have been altered by a long continuance in a domestic state, and as there is always a considerable difference in the size, and even in the dispositions of these animals, we shall look on them as distinct species, until it be proved that they intermix and produce together. Our presumption on the difference of these two species is the better founded, as it seems to agree with the opinion of the ancients. Aristotle, after having spoken of the wolf, the fox, and the hyæna, gives some obscure intimations of two other animals of the same genus, one by the name of thepanther, and the other by that of thethos. The translators of Aristotle have interpretedpantherbylupus canarius, andthosbylupus cervarius; that is, the dog-wolf and the stag-wolf. This interpretation sufficiently indicates, that they considered the panther and thos to belong to the same species. But I observed, under the articlelynx, that the lupus cervarius of the Latins is not the thos of the Greeks. This lupus cervarius is the same as the chaus of Pliny, which is our lynx, and which has not a single character that agrees with the thos. Homer, when painting the valour of Ajax, who singly rushes among aband of Trojans, in the midst of whom Ulysses, wounded, was engaged; compares him to a lion that suddenly springs on a troop of the thos, surrounding a stag at bay, disperses and drives them away as mean and contemptible animals. This word, thos, the commentator of Homer interprets by that of panther, which he says is a kind of weak and timid wolf: thus, the thos and panther have been considered as the same animal by some of the ancient Greeks. But Aristotle seems to make a distinction between them, without, however, giving them any distinct characters. “The thos (says he) have their internal parts like those of the wolf; they copulate like dogs, and bring forth two, three, or four young ones at a time, which are born with their eyes shut. The body and tail of the thos are longer than those of the dog; his legs are shorter, but that does not prevent him from being as swift, and he can spring much further. The lion and the thos are enemies, because they both live upon flesh, and seek their food from the same source; hence disputes arise between them. The thos never attacks, and is but little afraid of the human species. He fights with the dog and the lion, whence the lion and the thos are never seen in the same places. The smallest thos is esteemedthe best. There are two species of them, and some authors even make three.[A]” This is all Aristotle says concerning the thos, and he speaks still less about the panther; for he mentions it but in one single passage in the 35th chapter of the sixth book of his History of Animals, and there says, “the panther produces four young ones at a time, which are born with their eyes shut like young wolves.” By comparing these passages with that of Homer, and other Greek authors, it seems almost certain, that the thos of Aristotle is the great jackal, and that the panther is the little jackal, or the adil. We find, that he admits the existence of two species of thos, and that he speaks of the panther but once, and that when treating of the thos. It is therefore very probable, that this panther is the small thos; and this probability seems to become almost a certainty by the testimony of Oppian, who places the panther among the number of small animals, such as the cat and dormice.”

[A]Arist. Hist. Anim.

Thus, then, the thos is the jackal, and the panther the adil, and whether they make two different species, or but one, it is certain that every thing which the ancients have said of the thos, or panther, applies to thejackal and the adil, and to no other animal. If, therefore, the true signification of these names have not been known till now, or, if they have been misinterpreted, it is because the translators were unacquainted with these animals, and that our modern naturalists were not better informed.

Though the species of the wolf approaches very near to that of the dog, yet the jackal finds a place between them both. Thejackal, oradil, as Belon remarks,is an animal between the wolf and the dog. With the ferocity of the wolf he joins a little of the familiarity of the dog; his voice is a kind of howl mixed with barking and groaning. He is more noisy than the dog, and more voracious than the wolf. He never stirs out alone, but always in flocks of twenty, thirty, or forty. They collect together every day to go in search of their prey. They live principally on small animals, and make themselves formidable to the most powerful by their number. They attack every kind of cattle or poultry almost in the presence of men. They boldly enter stables, sheep-folds, and cow-houses, without any signs of fear, and when they cannot meet with any thing better, they will devour boots, shoes, harnesses, &c. and what they have not time to consume they take away with them. When they cannotmeet with any live prey they dig up the carcasses of men and animals. The inhabitants are obliged to cover the graves of the dead with large thorns, to prevent these animals from scratching and digging up the bodies, for their being buried very deep in the earth is not sufficient, to prevent them from accomplishing their purpose. Numbers of them work together in this, and they accompany their labour with a doleful cry; when they are once accustomed to human bodies they search out burial places, follow armies, and keep close to the caravans. They may be stiled the ravens among quadrupeds, for they will eat the most infectious flesh. Their appetite is so constant, and so vehement, that the driest leather, skins, flesh, excrements, or the most putrified animal, is alike welcome to them. The hyæna has the same taste for putrid flesh, and also digs bodies out of their graves, on which account, though very different from each other, they have often been confounded. The hyæna is a solitary, silent, savage animal, which, though stronger and more powerful than the jackal, is not so obnoxious, and is contented with devouring the dead, without troubling the living, while all travellers complain of the cries, thefts, and gluttony of the jackal, who unites the impudenceof the dog with the cowardice of the wolf, and participating of the nature of each, seems to be an odious animal composed of all the bad qualities of both.[B]

[B]There is one remarkable circumstance respecting the skin of the jackal, which Buffon has omitted; it is a great spot of a dark grey colour, formed like a lancet, the point of which is turned towards the tail of the animal; this spot is of a darker brown when the jackal is young. Sparman saw the fœtus of a jackal which was of a beautiful colour; but the spot on the back was of a deep brown.

THE ISATIS.

IF a number of general resemblances, and a perfect conformity of internal parts, were sufficient to constitute unity of species, the wolf, the fox, and the dog, would form but one, for the resemblances are more numerous than their differences, and their internal parts are entirely similar. These three animals, however, form three species, not only distinct but sufficiently distant to admit intermediate ones. The jackal is an intermediate species between the dog and the wolf; and the isatis finds room between the fox and the dog. This animal has till now been regarded as a variety in the fox species, but the description given by Gmelin clearly proves them to be two different species.

The isatis is very common in all the northern countries adjacent to the frozen sea, and but rarely found on this side the 69th degree of latitude. He perfectly resembles the fox in the form of his body, and the length of his tail; but his head is more like that of a dog. His hair is softer than that of the common fox, and is sometimes white, and sometimes of a bluish ash. His head is short in proportion to his body; it is broad towards the neck, and terminates in a sharp-pointed snout. His ears are almost round. He has five toes and five claws on the fore-feet, and only four on the hind ones. The penis of the male is scarcely thicker than a quill; the testicles are as big as almonds, and so thickly covered with hair that it is difficult to perceive them. The hair on every part of the body is about two inches long, smooth and soft as wool. The nostrils, and under lip, have no hair on them, and the skin is black.

The stomach, intestines, viscera, and spermatic vessels of both male and female, are like those of the dog, and the whole skeleton entirely resembles that of a fox.

The voice of the isatis partakes of the barking of a dog and the yelping of a fox. Those who deal in furs distinguish two animals ofthis kind, the one white, and the other of a bluish ash-colour; the last are the most valuable. This difference in the colour is not sufficient to constitute two different species, for experienced hunters assured M. Gmelin that they have found in the same litter some of the young ones white and others ash coloured.

The isatis inhabits the northern climates, and prefers those countries which border on the frozen sea and the banks of the rivers which fall into it. They are found in the coldest, most mountainous, and most barren parts of Norway, Lapland, Siberia, and even Iceland. These animals copulate in the month of March, and being formed like the dog they do not separate for some time. The females continue in heat from fifteen days to three weeks, and after that time they retire into the holes, or burrows, which they have previously prepared. They make several passages to these burrows, which they keep very clean, and furnish with moss for their greater convenience. The time of gestation, like that of the bitch, is about nine weeks. They litter about the latter end of May, or beginning of June, and commonly produce from six to eight at a time. Those which are yellow when first littered become white as they grow up,and those which are blackish change to an ash. When young their hair is very short. The mother suckles them five or six weeks, after which time she drives them out of the burrow, and teaches them to seek for their own nutriment. By September their hair attains the length of half an inch, and it is then entirely white, excepting a longitudinal brown streak upon the back, and another across the shoulders; it is then calledvulpis crucigera, or thecrost fox; but this brown cross disappears before the winter, when the whole body of the animal is white, and the hair about two inches long. In May their hair begins to fall off, and continues to do so until July, by which time they have entirely shed their coats, so that their fur is only valuable in winter.

The isatis lives upon rats, hares, and birds, which he catches with as much subtlety as the fox. He plunges in the water, and traverses the lakes in search of water-fowl and their eggs: and the only enemy he has to dread in the desart and cold countries, is the glutton. As the wolf, the fox, the glutton, and other animals which inhabit the northern parts of Europe and Asia, have passed from one continent to the other, and are to be found in America; we must therefore conclude the isatis is to be met with in the New Continent, and I am inclined to believe that the grey fox of North America, which Catesby has given the figure of, may possibly be the isatis, instead of a simple variety in the species of the fox.

Engraved for Barr’s Buffon.

FIG. 182.Glutton.

FIG. 184.Kmeajou.FIG. 183.Carcajou.

THE GLUTTON.

THE body of the Glutton (fig. 182.) is thick, and his legs short. He is somewhat of the form of a badger, but nearly as thick again. His head is short, his eyes small, his teeth very sharp and strong, his tail rather short, and covered with hairs to its extremity. He is black along the back, and of a reddish brown on the sides and flanks. His fur is exceedingly beautiful, and much valued. This animal is very common in Lapland, and in all neighbouring countries of the Northern Seas, both in Europe and Asia. He is calledcarcajouin Canada, and in the northernmost parts of America. It is also highly probable that the animal of Hudson’s Bay, which Edwards has called thequick hatch, orwolverin, is the same as the carcajou of Canada, or the glutton of thenorthern part of Europe. That also which Fernandes has mentioned, by the name oftepeytzcuitli, or themountain dog, is, probably, of the glutton species, and which may possibly be dispersed as far as the desart mountains of New Spain.

Olaus Magnus seems to be the first who has mentioned this animal. He says, that it is of the size of a large dog, that his ears and face are like those of the cat; the feet and claws very strong; the hair brown, long, and tough; and the tail bushy, like that of a fox, but much shorter. According to Scheffer, the head is round; the teeth strong and sharp, like those of the wolf; the hair black, the body very broad, and the feet short like those of the otter. La Hontain, who is the first that speaks of the carcajou of North America, says, “Figure to yourself an animal of double the size and thickness of a badger, and you have a perfect resemblance of this animal.” According to Sarrazin, who possibly only saw a young carcajou, its body is only two feet long, and its tail eight inches. “It has (says he) a very short and very thick head; its eyes are small; its jaws very strong and furnished with thirty-two sharp teeth.” The young bear, or young wolf, of Edwards, which seemsto be the same animal, was, according to him, as thick again as a fox; its back was crooked; its legs short; its belly almost trailing on the ground; and its tail of a middling length tufted towards the end. All agree that this animal is a native of the most northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America. Gmelin is the only one who affirms, that it travels even into hot countries. But this assertion appears very dubious, if not absolutely false. Gmelin, like many other naturalists, has perhaps confounded the hyæna of the South, with the glutton of the North, which bear some resemblance in their natural habits, especially that of voracity; but in every other respect they are entirely different.

The legs of the glutton are not formed for running; he cannot even walk except slowly; but cunning supplies the deficiency of swiftness. He conceals himself to watch for his prey; and to seize it with greater security he climbs up trees, from which he darts even on the elk and rein-deer, and fastens himself so strongly with his claws and teeth on their backs that all their efforts cannot remove him. The poor animal thus attacked, in vain flies with its utmost speed, in vain rubs himself against trees, to obtain deliverance from thiscruel enemy; all is useless; fastened on his back or loins the glutton persists in digging into his flesh, and sucking his blood, till the animal, fainting with loss of blood, sinks a victim to his tormentor, when the glutton devours his flesh with the utmost avidity and cruelty; and several authors affirm, that it is almost inconceivable the length of time he will continue eating, or the quantity of flesh he will devour.

The accounts of travellers are doubtless exaggerated; but if we even retrench a great part of their recitals, there will still remain sufficient to convince us that the glutton is much more voracious than any other beast of prey; and from this circumstance he has, not unjustly been denominated thequadruped vulture. He is more insatiable, and commits greater depredations than the wolf; and would destroy every animal, if he had sufficient agility, but he is reduced to drag himself heavily along; and the only animal he is capable of overtaking is the beaver, whom he easily destroys. He even attacks that animal in his hole and devours both him and his young, unless they get to the water, in which case the beaver escapes his enemy by swimming, for the glutton stops his pursuit to feed on thefish he can find. When deprived of living food, he goes in search of carcases, scratches up the graves, and devours the flesh of dead bodies.

Although this animal is subtle and uses every art to conquer others, he does not seem to have the least instinct for his own preservation. This indifference, which seems to shew imbecility, is perhaps occasioned by a different cause; for it is certain the glutton is not a stupid animal, since he readily finds means to satisfy his perpetual appetite; he does not want for courage, since he attacks every animal indifferently that comes in his way, and does not fly at the sight of man, nor even shew the least mark of fear. But this negligence for his own safety does not arise from an indifference for his preservation, but from a habit of security. He is almost a stranger to men, for being a native and resident of desart countries where they seldom come, when he does meet them, he has no reason to take them for enemies; besides, in every contest with other animals he is certain of conquest; and therefore he moves with confidence, and has not the least idea of fear, which supposes some foreproved misfortune, or some experience of weakness and inability. We have an exampleof this intrepidity in the lion, who never turns his back on man, at least till he has tried his strength; so the glutton traverses the snow, in his own desart climate, in perfect security. In those regions he reigns supreme, as does the lion in the forests and burning sands; and if not like him, from superior prowess, he is no less so from the weakness and timidity of those with whom he has to contend.

The isatis is not so strong, but much swifter than the glutton; he serves the latter as a purveyor, for the glutton follows him in his pursuit of animals, and often deprives him of his prey; for as soon as he approaches, the isatis, to avoid his own destruction, takes to flight, and leaves to his pursuer what he has not had time to devour. Both these animals burrow under ground; but in every other habit they differ. The isatis will associate and often go in company; while the glutton always moves alone, or at most only with his female; indeed the male and female are frequently found together in their burrows. The most fierce dogs are averse from attacking the glutton, as he defends himself with his teeth and feet, and often mortally wounds them; but as he cannot escape by flight, when once beset it is not long before he is subdued.

The flesh of the glutton, like that of every other voracious animal, is very bad food. He is only hunted for his skin, which makes beautiful fur, not inferior to the sable and black fox. Some of them, when well-dressed, has a more beautiful gloss than any other skin, and is by no means inferior in appearance to a rich damask.

Engraved for Barr’s Buffon.

FIG. 185.Potot.FIG. 186.Chinch.

FIG. 187.Conepate.FIG. 188.Zorille.

THE STINKARDS.

THESE animals are found in every part of South America; but they have been very indistinctly described by travellers, and not only confounded with each other, but also placed with animals of a very distinct species. Hernandes has very clearly indicated three of these animals; the first he calls by its Mexican nameysquiepatl, and which is the same animal that Seba has given a figure of in his works, and is calledsquashin New Spain. The second Hernandes also denominates by the same name, (ysquiepatl) and which in South America is called theskink. The third he stylesconepate, and which has been mentioned by Catesby, underthe appellation of theAmerican pole-cat, and by M. Brisson, by that of thestriped pole-cat. Besides those mentioned by Hernandes, there is a fourth kind of these animals calledzorille, in Peru, and in some parts of the Spanish settlements in India.

We are indebted to M. Aubry for the knowledge of thesquash, theskink, and thezorille; the two last may be regarded as originals, as we do not meet with their figures in any other author.

The first of these animals came to M. Aubry under the name ofpekan, theDevil’s child, or thewild catof Virginia. I perceived it was not the real pekan, but the same animal that Hernandes has described by the name ofysquiepatl, and which has been indicated by travellers by the name ofsquash, orpotot. (fig. 185.) It is about sixteen inches long; its legs are short, its muzzle rather pointed, its ears small, its hair of a deep brown, and its claws black and sharp. It chiefly dwells in the hollows and clefts of rocks, where it brings forth its young. It lives upon small animals, birds, &c. and often steals into a farm yard, where it kills the poultry, but eats only their brains. When it is pursued or offended, it calls up the most diabolical scents to its defence,and sends forth such a horrid stench, that it is dangerous for men or dogs to approach it. Its urine is apparently infected with this nauseous vapour, but which does not seem habitual to it. “I had one of these animals sent me from Surinam, (says Seba) which I kept alive in my garden during the summer; I fastened it with a small chain; it never attempted to injure any person; and when properly fed it might be managed like a little dog. It burrowed in the earth with its snout, assisted by its two fore-paws, the claws of which were long, and turned backwards: in the day-time it concealed itself in the hole it had dug; at night it came out, and after having cleaned itself it continued constantly running backwards and forwards, as far as its chain would permit. It only eat as much food as would satisfy its hunger; it never touched flesh nor bread, but seemed principally fond of caterpillars, spiders, worms, &c. One morning, towards the end of autumn, it was found dead, unquestionably from not being able to endure the cold. The hair along its back was of a deep chesnut; its ears were short, the fore-part of its head round, and of a lighter colour than that on the back; on the belly it was yellow. Its tail was of a middling length, covered with a brown and short hair, annulatedwith small rings.” Although the description and figure given by Seba agrees with that of Hernandes, we must, however, doubt their both being the same animal, since Seba does not make any mention of its detestable scent; and it is difficult to conceive it possible for him to have kept such a stinking animal a whole summer in his garden, without speaking of the inconvenience that would arise from such a circumstance; and we might suppose that the animal described by Seba was a different one from that mentioned by Hernandes; this suspicion, which at first sight seems to be well founded, must be entirely obviated, when it is known that this animal only sends forth this infectious scent when pursued or offended; and it has likewise been caught and tamed by many people in America.

Among the above four kinds ofstinkards, which we distinguish by the names of thesquash, orpotot,conepate,chinch, orskink, andzorille: the two last belong to the warmest parts of South America, and may possibly be no more than two varieties, and not different species. The two first are of the temperate climate of New Spain, Louisiana, Carolina, &c. and seem to be distinct and different species from the others; particularly the squash, which has the peculiar character of havingonly four claws on the fore-feet, whereas all the rest have five. But in other respects these animals are all nearly alike, they have the same instinct, the same offensive scent, and only differ in size, and in the colour and length of the hair. The squash is of a pretty uniform brown colour, and its tail is not tufted like the rest. The conepate (fig. 187.) has five white stripes on a black ground, running longitudinally from the head to the tail. The skink, or chinch, (fig. 186.) is white on the back, and black on the sides, but quite black on the head, excepting a white streak from the nape of the neck to the forehead; its tail is tufted and cloathed with very long white hairs, mixed with some of a black colour.

The zorille, (fig. 188.) which is also called mauripita, is still smaller, and has a beautiful tail, as bushy as that of the chinch, from which he differs however in the disposition of the colours on his coat. He has several long white streaks, which run longitudinally from the head to the middle of the back, on a black ground, and others which pass transversely over the loins, the crupper, and the insertion of the tail, one half of which is black and the other white, whereas the back of the chinch is nearly all the same colour.

Kalm, speaking of this animal, says, “oneof them came near the farm where I lived. It was in winter, and during the night; the dogs that were upon the watch pursued him until he discharged his urine against them. Although I was in bed, and he at that time had got to some distance, I thought I should have been suffocated, and the cows and oxen, by their lowings, shewed how much they were affected by the stench. About the end of the same year another of these animals crept into our cellar, but did not exhale the smallest scent. A foolish woman, however, perceiving him one night by the shining of his eyes, disturbed and killed him; from that moment the stench began to spread, the whole cellar was instantly filled with it to such a degree that the woman kept her bed for several days, and all the meat, bread, and other provisions in the place, were so infected that they were obliged to be thrown out of doors.”

These animals are somewhat like the European pole-cats; they also resemble them in their natural habits, and the physical results of their generation are the same. The pole-cat is the most offensive animal for its scent in this continent; it is only stronger in the stinkards, whose species are very numerous in America, whereas there is only one of the pole-cat race in all the old continent; for I do not believe, with Kolbe, that the animal he calls the stinking otter, and which seems to be a real stinkard, exists as a native at the Cape of Good Hope; and possibly Kolbe, who is not very exact, has borrowed his description from P. Zuchel, whom he has quoted as having seen that animal in Brasil. The animal of New Spain, called by Fernandes theortohua, seems to be the same animal as the Peruvian zorille; and thetepemaxtle, mentioned by the same author, may probably be the conapate, which is found in New Spain, as well as in Louisiana and Carolina.

Engraved for Barr’s Buffon.

FIG. 190.Vison.FIG. 189.Pekan.

FIG. 191.Canadian Otter.

THE PEKAN, AND THE VISON.

THE fur merchants of Canada have long been acquainted with the name ofpekan, without any knowledge of the animal to which it belongs. Naturalists have not even mentioned its name; and travellers have employed it to denote different animals, particularly stinkards, so that it was impossible to derive any precise knowledge of it from their erroneousremarks. The origin of the name of thevisonis no less difficult to be traced than that of thepekan, and it is only said that they belong to two different animals of America. M. Aubry, in his cabinet, has two animals under this denomination, and from which, by his indulgence, we have been enabled to give a sketch of their figures, and the following description:

The pekan (fig. 189.) so strongly resembles the marten, and the vison (fig. 190.) the pole-cat, that we are inclined to consider them as varieties of those two species. They are of the same make and proportion, have the same length of tail, quality of hair, and number of teeth and claws; from which facts there is certainly sufficient reason to conclude that they are merely varieties, or at least as species approaching so near each other, that it is difficult to point out any real difference, except that the hair of the pekan and the vison is more soft, brown, and glossy, than that of the marten and pole-cat; but this difference is common to them as well as to the beaver, otter, and other animals of North America, whose fur is more beautiful than those of the same kind of animals in the north of Europe.

THE SABLE.

ALMOST every naturalist has treated of this animal without knowing any thing more of it than its skin. M. Gmelin is the first who has given its figure and description, from having seen two living ones at the Governor’s of Tobolski. “The sable (says he) resembles the marten in his shape and habit of body, and the weasel in the number of his teeth: he has six long incisive teeth, a little turned back, two long canine teeth in the lower jaw, and very sharp small teeth in the upper; he has very large whiskers about the mouth; and his feet are broad, and armed with five claws. These characters were common to these two sables, but one of them was of a dark brown, excepting the ears and throat, where the hair was rather yellow; the other, which was smaller was of a more yellowish tincture, its ears and throat being also much paler. These are the colours they both have in winter, and which they change in the spring, the former becoming of a yellowish brown, the other of a pale yellow. I have often admired, continues M. Gmelin, the agility of these animals.Whenever they perceived a cat they fixed themselves in an erect posture on their hind legs, as if they were preparing for an attack. Their inquietude in the night[C]was also remarkable, that being the natural time for seeking their prey, whereas in the day, especially after feeding, they generally slept an hour at a time, during which they might be taken up, rolled about, or carried to any distance without the smallest hazard of disturbing them.”

[C]This inquietude and motion during the night is not peculiar to sables: the same thing may be observed in ermines.

These animals inhabit the banks of rivers in shady places, and also the thickest woods: they leap with great ease from tree to tree, and are said to be afraid of the sun; the rays of which tarnish the lustre of their robes in a very short time. It has also, though erroneously, been asserted, that they conceal themselves in holes, and remain torpid during the winter, whereas that is the chief time for hunting them, as their skins are then in the greatest perfection. They live on rats, fish, and wild fruit. They have the same disagreeable odour common to animals of this kind, and which is strongest during their rutting season. They are most numerous in Siberia, being very few in Russia, and still less in Lapland and other northerncountries. The blackest furs are the most esteemed.[D]The difference of this skin and which so particularly distinguishes it from all others, consists in the fur having no grain, but rubbed any way, is equally smooth and irresisting; whereas the furs of all other animals, rubbed against the grain, give a sensation of roughness from their resistance.

[D]Sonnini says that there is a variety of the sable, entirely white; it is very rare. Another variety is equally rare, which has a white or yellow spot under the neck.

The sable is chiefly hunted by condemned criminals, who are sent to Russia into these dreary and extensive forests; or by soldiers who are sent there on purpose. These unfortunate wretches remain there many years, and are obliged to furnish a certain number of skins annually; they only employ a single ball to kill this animal that they may damage the fur as little as possible; sometimes instead of fire-arms, they make use of the cross-bow and very small pointed arrows. As the success of this hunting requires address and great assiduity, the officers are permitted to encourage the criminals, by allowing them to share among themselves the surplus of the number they are obliged to procure; and this in a few years, frequently amounts to a considerable sum.

Some naturalists have imagined the sable to be thesatheriusof Aristotle, and their conjectureseems to be well founded. The fineness of the sable’s fur indicates that he often goes into the water; and some travellers assert, that the greatest numbers are found in small islands; Aristotle calls thesatheriusa water animal, and joins it to the beaver and the otter. We must also presume, that when Athens was in its height of magnificence, these beautiful skins were not unknown to the Athenians, and that the animal which supplied them had some name affixed to him, and we know of no one that can be applied to the sable with greater propriety than that ofsatherius. If it be true that the sable eats fish, and often dwells in the water, he must also have a place among the number of amphibious animals.

THE LEMING.

OLAUS MAGNUS is the first who has taken notice of the Leming; and all that Gesner, Scaliger, Ziegler, Johnston, and others have said respecting him, is extracted from that author. But Wormius, who made very strict researches, speaks more particularly. “Theleming (says he) is of the shape of a mouse, but has a shorter tail: his body is about five inches long, and is covered with fine hair of various colours. The extremity of the upper part of the head, the neck and shoulders are black, and the rest of the body is reddish, intermixed with small black spots of various figures excepting the tail, which is brown, and not above half an inch long. Some of them have red hairs about the mouth, resembling whiskers, six of which are considerably longer than the rest. The mouth is small, and the upper lip divided like the squirrel. Two sharp, incisive, and crooked teeth, shoot from the upper jaw, the roots of which penetrate to the orbit of the eyes: in the lower jaw they have teeth conformable to the upper; a little distance from these on each side are placed three grinders. The tongue is pretty large, and extends to the extremity of the incisive teeth. The remains of the food found in the throat of this animal, induces us to imagine he ruminates. The eyes are little and black; the ears round and inclining towards the neck; the legs before are shorter than those behind; the feet are cloathed with hair, and armed with five very sharp and crooked claws; the middle claw is the longest and the fifth is like the spur of acock, sometimes placed very high up the leg. The hair on the belly is whitish, bordering a little on yellow, &c.”

This animal, though its legs are very short, and its body thick, runs very swiftly. They generally inhabit the mountains of Norway and Lapland, from whence they sometimes descend in such numbers, that the inhabitants look on their arrival as a terrible scourge, which there is no possibility of preventing. They move, for the most part, in the night, and remain still during day. It is in vain that attempts are made to stop their progress, for though thousands are destroyed, myriads seem to succeed. They generally move in lines about three feet from each other, and exactly parallel; and their march is always directed from the north-west to the south-west. Wherever their motions are directed nothing can turn them aside; if a lake, or river, interrupts their progress, they all take to the water and swim over it; even a fire, or a well, does not turn them out of their line of direction; they boldly plunge into the flames, or leap down the well, and are sometimes seen climbing up on the other side. If they are interrupted by a boat, while they are swimming across the river, they mount directly up its sides, and the boatmen, who know how vain resistancewould be, calmly suffer the living torrent to pass over, which it does without further damage; and if they meet with a stack of hay or corn, they gnaw their way through. Happily, however, they never enter an house to destroy the provisions, but consume every root and vegetable that they meet, and lay waste every garden, meadow, or field of corn that comes in their way. If a man ventures to attack one of them, the little animal is no way intimidated by the disparity of strength, but furiously flies up at his opponent, and wherever he fastens, it is not easy to make him quit his hold; and when thus attacked they have a kind of bark somewhat like that of little dogs.

An enemy so numerous and destructive, would soon render the countries where they appear utterly uninhabitable, did it not fortunately happen, that the same rapacity that animates them to destroy the labours of mankind, at least impels them to destroy each other. After committing incredible devastations, they at last separate into two armies, opposed with deadly hatred, along the coasts of the larger lakes and rivers. The Laplanders, who observe them thus drawn up, instead of considering their mutual animosities as a happyriddance of the most dreadful pest, form ominous prognostics from the manner of their engagements: they consider their combats as a presage of war, and expect an invasion from the Russians or Swedes. The two divisions, however, continue their engagements, and from that time they begin to disappear, nor is it well known what becomes of either the conquerors or the conquered. Some suppose that they rush into the sea, others that they kill themselves, as some are found hanging on the forked branches of trees; and others that they are destroyed by the young spring herbage. But it is most probable, that having consumed the vegetable productions of the country, they then fall upon and devour each other. However this may be, they die in such numbers, that their carcasses have been known to infect the air, and to produce malignant disorders. They seem also to infect the plants which they gnaw, as the cattle often die that feed in the places where they passed. In fine weather, they go in droves into the water, but no sooner does the wind rise, than they are all drowned. As the inhabitants know not from whence they come, it is a vulgar opinion that they fall from the clouds with the rain.[E]

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