So, along with their nets, the fishermen from Europe brought over more substantial trade goods, such as knives, axes, fishhooks, combs and colored cloth. Codfish Land, as they called it, began yielding up tidy extra profits from a trade in sealskins, red and blue fox, otter, beaver and marten. The bulk was small on the return trip; the merchants at home paid well. The first pelts of the American pine marten taken by the sailors caused much excitement. They were mistaken for sable. At the time Siberian sable was the most expensive of all furs traded in the great international fur center at Leipzig. In Russia it was reserved for the use of royalty only; in England noble women eagerly sought the precious pelts as neckpieces. A sack, as the Russian traders called a robe of Siberian sable, was worth more thousands of rubles than most western royalty could afford. But, although the pine marten did eventually become known as American sable, the pelt of this little animal was never so precious as that of his glistening, thick-coated Siberian cousin. For one thing the guard hairs of his fur did not have the beautiful silver tips. However, there was another marten, otter-like in its aquatic habits, that turned out to have a much finer coat than its European and Asian cousins. This one the fishermen learned to call mink. It was the name already given in Finland to this scrappy little member of the weasel family, for whose fur there was a premium market in western European countries. The American wild mink with its thicker, silkier under fur and its glossier guard hair was definitely more desirable, bringing a better price. Although Portuguese sailors had led the way to Codfish Land, Portugal followed up her early advantages in America only half-heartedly. She agreed to a Papal-sponsored division of the earth that left the new world pretty much to Spain. The Portuguese suspected there was no short route west to Asia. Anyway, they were doing very well in their own sphere with their route to the east around Africa. In the end the Pope’s line of demarcation was all right with the Spaniards, too. By the time they were sure there was no centrally located strait through America, they had turned up enough gold, silver and other rich loot to keep them well occupied.