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 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.
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