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."
[Footnote 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 northern countries. 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.
[Footnote 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 the _satherius_ of
Aristotle, and their conjecture seems 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 the _satherius_ a 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 of _satherius_. 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.