, with long, shaggy fur, sharp-pointed snout, erect
ears, and bushy tail. Its aspect was fox-like, and its movements and
attitudes had all that semblance of cunning and caution so
characteristic of these animals. Well might it, for it _was_ a fox--the
beautiful white fox of the Arctic regions.

It is commonly supposed that there are but two or three kinds of foxes
in America; and that these are only varieties of the European species.

This is an erroneous idea, as there are nearly a dozen varieties
existing in North America, although they may be referred to a less
number of species. There is the Arctic fox, which is confined to the
cold Northern regions, and which in winter is white.

The "sooty-fox" is a variety of the "Arctic," distinguished from it only
by its colour, which is of a uniform blackish brown.

The "American fox" or, as it is commonly called, the "red fox," has been
long supposed to be the same as the European red fox. This is erroneous.
They differ in many points; and, what is somewhat curious, these points
of difference are similar to those that exist between the European and
American wolves, as already given.

The "cross fox" is supposed by the Indians and some naturalists to be
only a variety of the last. It derives its name from its having two dark
stripes crossing each other upon the shoulders. Its fur from this
circumstance, and perhaps because the animal is scarce, is more prized
than that of the red variety. When a single skin of the latter is worth
only fifteen shillings, one of the cross fox will bring as much as five
guineas.

Another variety of the red fox, and a much more rare one, is the
"black," or "silver" fox. The skins of these command six times the price
of any other furs found in America, with the exception of the sea-otter.
The animal itself is so rare that only a few fall into the hands of the
Hudson's Bay Company in a season; and Mr. Nicholay, the celebrated
London furrier, asserts that a single skin will fetch from ten to forty
guineas, according to quality. A remarkable cloak, or pelisse, belonging
to the Emperor of Russia, and made out of the skins of silver-foxes, was
exhibited in the Great London Exposition of 1851. It was made entirely
from the neck-part of the skins--the only part of the silver-fox which
is pure black. This cloak was valued at 3400_l._; though Mr. Nicholay
considers this an exaggerated estimate, and states its true value to be
not over 1000_l._ George