body is dark at the base, yellowish above, and tipped with black, short on the head
and gradually lengthening towards the tail where it loses much of the yellow hue
taking a chestnut colour instead; the tail is black and shining, the throat brown, with
a few white tipped hairs, the belly and legs dark brown ; the ears are short, broad
and round, appearing lighter on the tips. Captain Franklin’s specimen was killed at
Cumberland-House, in November 1819, but the animal was seen at various places
during the Expedition, even as far to the northward as the Great Slave Lake. Fishers
are killed by the fur hunters, and purchased by the Hudson’s Bay Company, whose
importation in the last year amounted to 1800.
Mustela Lutreola. Mink.
No specimen of this animal was sent home, although it was met with by the
travellers on their journey, and a drawing of one was made by Lieutenant Hood ; a
skin was received, with those supplied by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the purpose
of elucidating these notices, and as the name “ Mink,” has been applied by some
writers to other animals than the present, it is very satisfactory that the authority of
its application here is unquestionable. The Mink is well described by Foster, in the
Philosophical Transactions, in his account of the animals received in 1771, from Hudson’s
Bay, as the Lesser Otter, or Jackash, as it is called by the natives ; it is considered
by him to be the same as M. Lutreola, which is found in parts of Europe and Asia.
Hearne also notices it. It is of slender make, with more of the general appearance of
a small Otter than of a Marten. The fur, apparently of excellent quality, is short and
thick, of an uniform dark brown, glossy at the tip, that of the tail rather longer and
darker. The specimen, including the tail, which is six inches long, is nearly two feet
in length. The number of skins of this species, imported by the Hudson’s Bay Company
in 1822, exceeded 460Q. The habits and prey of the Mink are those which have
been erroneonsly ascribed to the Fisher, and it is probable that the Mustela which feeds
on fish, mentioned in the communications from the northern parts of America, is really
the animal now described : it is a true Fisher, haunting small streams and rapids in
the summer, and preying upon the fish that come there to spawn.
Mustela Erminea. Stoat or Ermine.
An universal inhabitant of the northern countries, both in the Old and New World.
It is known as the Stoat in thq summer season, when the whole upper parts of the
body are brown ; in the winter it becomes beautifully white, with the exception of
the tip of its tail, which is black. It has not been observed by writers that the fur of
the Ermine becomes thicker and elongated in winter, but this is a general effect of cold
in all Quadrupeds, whether they alter the colour of their coats or remain unchanged.
In the vicinity of Hudson’s Bay and in the interior, the Ermine frequents the houses
of the settlers in search of mice, which constitute its principal food. The skins,
though elsewhere an article of commerce, do not appear to have been imported in the
last year by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Mephitis Americana. Skunk.
These animals corresponding in general character and appearance, but with great
diversity of the arrangement of their white and black markings, are found in all parts
of the New World. Several of these, heretofore separated, have recently been considered
by M. Cuvier as referrible to one species, and the whole have been removed by
him from Yiverra, where they have hitherto been arranged, and made a distinct genus.
The animals, now under examination, are the particular sort designated as the Viverra
Mephitis of Gmelin, the Skunk of Pennant and Hearne, and Le Chiche of Buffon.
They are well known on account of the intolerably disagreeable odour which they emit
when irritated, whence they obtained, amongst the French settlers in North America,
the name of Bête puante and Enfant de diable. Two specimens were received from the
Expedition; they were only seen in the first period of the journey, for though the
animal is frequent in the places which it inhabits, it was not found north of the
Slave Lake. The specimens differ slightly, one having rather broader stripes of white
than the other ; the variations in this particular have heretofore been considered to
constitute distinct species.
Lutra Canadensis. American Otter.
The Otter of America has hitherto been identified with that of Europe, from which
it was considered to differ in size only ; but independent of that circumstance, there
appear to be other points which will support its separation from the European Otter,
and the specimen supplied by Captain Franklin being quite perfect, a complete comparison
of the two animals can be now instituted. The chin and throat are dusky
white, and all the rest of the body is a glossy brown, finer and thicker than that of the
European Otter. The neck is elongated, not short, and the head narrow and long, in
comparison with the short broad visage of the other animal ; the ears are consequently
much closer together. The tail is more pointed and shorter, being considerably less
than one half of the length of the body, whilst the tail of the European Otter is more
than half the length of its body. These differences are probably decisive as to their
specific difference. The whole animal is five feet long, of which the tail is eighteen
inches. A fine specimen of the European Otter measures forty inches including its tail,
which is fourteen.- The American Otter is an inhabitant of the waters of the whole
northern parts of America, and is found as far north as the Copper-Mine River.
The skins are articles of considerable commerce, the imports of. last year from
Hudson’s Bay having amounted to 7300. M. Cuvier unites the utra Brasiliensis of