The great weight of the wet hides, which we were obliged to roll
about in wheelbarrows; the continual stooping upon those which were
pegged out to be cleaned; and the smell of the vats, into which we
were often obliged to get, knee-deep, to press down the hides; all
made the work disagreeable and fatiguing;- but we soon got hardened
to it, and the comparative independence of our life reconciled us to
it; for there was nobody to haze us and find fault; and when we got
through, we had only to wash and change our clothes, and our time
was our own. There was, however, one exception to the time's being our
own; which was, that on two afternoons of every week we were obliged
to go off and get wood, for the cook to use in the galley. Wood is
very scarce in the vicinity of San Diego; there being no trees of
any size, for miles. In the town, the inhabitants burn the small
wood which grows in thickets, and for which they send out Indians,
in large numbers, every few days. Fortunately, the climate is so
fine that they had no need of a fire in their houses, and only use
it for cooking. With us the getting of wood was a great trouble; for
all that in the vicinity of the houses had been cut down, and we
were obliged to go off a mile or two, and to carry it some distance on
our backs, as we could not get the hand-cart up the hills and over the
uneven places.
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