Page:Tourist's Maritime Provinces.djvu/372

312 examines them, takes down their number, and places opposite each the maximum amount one can afford to pay. He determines the value entirely upon merit. The name of the breeder and the place where they were secured are not known to him. The auction is held in a different place from where the furs have been exhibited. Ten shillings is the minimum bid. The sales are made with great rapidity, scarcely a word is spoken, a nod from the buyer suffices. Often, it takes only fifteen seconds to dispose of one lot. The larger percentage of poorer skins are usually offered in October and June. The principal sale is held in March. It is then that the greatest competition is met with for good skins. Since I first began to ship, the falling off in the world's supply of silvers has been about sixty per cent. The average price for ordinary grades has increased by 200 per cent.: for the higher grades about 400 per cent.

"The lowest grade is the pure silver, the whole body covered with silver. The second grade is black between the ears, shoulders, back of the neck and belly. The rest of the skin is silver. In the next higher grade the black would extend half down the body, and the silver would not be very bright on the rest of the body. Going higher up the scale there is the three quarter black and the one quarter silver, with no distinct dividing point, the change being gradual from one colour to the other.