Note 493 — ABDULLAH BIN FAZIL AND HIS BROTHERS[476]
Richard Francis Burton translation · Edition 2
Al-Mas’údi (chap. xvii.) alludes to furs of Sable (Samúr), hermelin (Al-Farwah) and Bortás (Turkish) furs of black and red foxes. For Samúr see vol. iv. 57. Sinjáb is Persian for the skin of the grey squirrel (Mus lemmus, the lemming), the meniver, erroneously miniver, (menu vair) as opposed to the ermine = (Mus Armenius, or mustela erminia.) I never visit England without being surprised at the vile furs worn by the rich, and the folly of the poor in not adopting the sheepskin with the wool inside and the leather well tanned which keeps the peasant warm and comfortable between Croatia and Afghanistan.