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REGNARD’S JOURNEY TO LAPLAND. 195
The wolves are almoft all of a whitifh grey colour ; there are fome of them white; and
the rein-deer has no enemy more determined than the wolf. It avoids the wolf by
flight ; but when it is furprifed by its adverfary, it defends itfelf with its fore feet, in
which confifts its chief ftrength, and with its horns, when they are ftrong enough to
fuftain the fhock; for the rein-deer cafts their horns every year, and when they are
new, they cannot be made ule of. ‘To prevent the wolves from attacking the rein-deer,
the Laplanders tie them to fome tree, and it feldom happens that they are attacked in
that fituation ; for the wolf being a fufpicious animal, is afraid left there fhould be fome
fnare laid for him, and that this is employed asa bait to draw him thither. The fkin
of a wolf may be worth ———— and there are few perfons, even the greateft
nobles of Sweden, who do not wear drefles of its fur; and there is no better defence
againft the cold.
Foxes are abundant in every part of Lapland ; they are almoft all white, although
fome are found of the ordinary colour. ‘Thofe of a white colour are in little eftima-
tion; but fometimes thofe of a black colour are met with, and thefe are the rareft, and
the moft coftly ; their fkins are fometimes fold for forty or fifty crowns; and the hair
is fo fine and fo long, that it hangs from any fide ; fo that, in taking the {kin by the
tail, the hair falls by the fide of the ears, and lies towards the head. All the Princes
of Mufcovy, and the nobles of this country feek with anxiety the furs of thefe fkins ;
and, after thofe of the fable, they are the moft efteemed. But as I have mentioned
the fable, it is but proper that I fhould mention to you all that I know of it. That
which we denominate fable, was formerly called Zabel. This animal is the fame fize
with a pole-cat, and differs from the martin, in being of .a lefs fize, and in having
much longer and finer hair. The true fables are damaiked with black, and are caught
in Tartary and Mufcovy ; very few of them are found in Lapland. The blacker the
hair is, the more is it fought after, and is fometimes worth {ixty crowns, although its
fkin be no more than four fingers in breadth. Some of a white or grey colour have
been met with; and the Grand Duke of Mufcovy has made prefents of them to the
King of Sweden by hisambafladors, as being fkins exceedingly valuable.
The martins approach nearer to the fable than any other animal, they imitate them
pretty exactly in the finenefs and length of their hair ; but they are much larger. I
have met with fome as large as a cat, and there are few countries, in which they are
more abundant than in Lapland. ‘The {kin is worth a rix-dollar, and thofe of them
whofe {kin is of an afh-colour above the throat, are in higher eftimation than thofe who
have it white in the fame place. This animal makes a great havoc among the minevers,
of whom it is extremely fond, and feizes them in the chace, without great difficulty : it
does not live folely on {quirrels, but it hunts alfo after birds; and mounting to the tops
of trees, it waits till they are afleep, and then jumps upon them, and devours them.
If they are neverthelefs firong enough to fly, they abandon themfelves to the air with
the martin, whofe claws are as ftrong and as fharp as thofe of any other animal, and
which maintains itfelf on the back of the bird, and bites it in its flight, till at length
the bird falls down dead. ‘This fall is often equally fatal to the martin with the bird ;
and when it has rifen to a great height in the air, the martin frequently falls amorig
rocks, where it is deftroyed, and has no better fate than the other.
I have fpoken in another place of the yerts in Swedith, and gu/ones in Latin, when
fpeaking of the rein-deer, whom they cut in two. ‘This animal is about the fize of a
dog ; its colour is dark brown, and its fkin is compared to thofe of the fables ; it is
damafked, and very precious,
c C2 The
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