It would seem that it could be no great advantage to hold possession of such a cold and dreary land as Siberia; but yet it produces a good deal of gold, silver, and copper, and the southern portions, having a rich soil, yield vast quantities of grain. The Tartars are fond of rearing horses and cattle, and so abundant are these creatures in some places, that a horse sells for two dollars and a half, and an ox for a dollar and a quarter! Oatmeal is sold for five cents a bushel, and a man may live for ten dollars a year! But though articles seem so very cheap, it must be remembered that a man must labor for about four cents a day; so that, after all, he has to work pretty hard for a good living. But what I have been saying relates to the southern part of Siberia, where the climate is milder and the soil rich; as you go northward, the cold increases, and vegetation diminishes. At last you come to a country where there are few people, and where, as I have said before, the whole region seems to be given up to savage animals. In the loneliness of the forests here, the wolf and bear roam at their pleasure, being the sovereigns of the country. Yet it is in these very regions that a great source of wealth is found--for here are various animals which yield fine and beautiful furs. The most celebrated and valuable are produced by a species of weasel, called the sable--one skin of which sometimes sells for a hundred and fifty dollars. Beside the sable, the black fox, whose skin sells for twenty to seventy-five dollars, martens of two or three kinds, and other animals, are found, which produce valuable furs; and it is to be considered that it is the very coldness of the country which renders the furs so excellent. Creatures living here have need of very warm shirts and jackets, and nature, like a kind mother, takes good care of her children. Considering that the animals of the north of Siberia live among regions of snow and frost, where summer comes only for a few weeks in the year, and winter holds almost perpetual sway, she gives the sable, and the marten, and the fox, and even the wolf and bear, such nice warm clothes, that kings and queens envy them, and hunters are sent two thousand miles to procure these luxuries.