The next day they are spread
out and opened again, and at night, if fully dry, are thrown upon a
long, horizontal pole, five at a time, and beat with flails. This
takes all the dust from them. Then, being salted, scraped, cleaned,
dried, and beaten, they are stowed away in the house. Here ends
their history, except that they are taken out again when the vessel is
ready to go home, beaten, stowed away on board, carried to Boston,
tanned, made into shoes and other articles for which leather is
used; and many of them, very probably, in the end, brought back
again to California the shape of shoes, and worn out in pursuit of
other bullocks, or in the curing of other hides.
By putting an hundred and fifty in soak every day, we had the same
number at each stage of curing, on each day; so that we had, everyday,
the same work to do upon the same number: an hundred and fifty to
put in soak; an hundred and fifty to wash out and put in the vat;
the same number to haul from the vat and put on the platform to drain;
the same number to spread and stake out and clean; and the same number
to beat and stow away in the house.
Pages:
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271