I ought to except Sunday; for,
by a prescription which no captain or agent has yet ventured to
break in upon, Sunday has been a day of leisure on the beach for
years. On Saturday night, the hides, in every stage of progress, are
carefully covered up, and not uncovered until Monday morning. On
Sundays we had absolutely no work to do, unless it was to kill a
bullock, which was sent down for our use about once a week, and
sometimes came on Sunday. Another good arrangement was, that we had
just so much work to do, and when that was through, the time was our
own. Knowing this, we worked hard, and needed no driving. We "turned
out" every morning at the first signs of daylight, and allowing a
short time, about eight o'clock, for breakfast, generally got
through our labor between one and two o'clock, when we dined, and
had the rest of the time to ourselves; until just before sundown, when
we beat the dry hides and put them in the house, and covered over
all the others. By this means we had about three hours to ourselves
every afternoon; and at sundown we had our supper, and our work was
done for the day.
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