MOCCASINS, BUCKSKIN, ETC. 383 



ing loose and low will also be about as good a guard 

 against snake-bites as you can conveniently have. An 

 inner sole of sheep-skin with the wool half sheared 

 off may be necessary at first if the feet are tender. 



The most important part of every recipe for making 

 buckskin is never given, and the rest is so generally 

 stated as to be of little use. The important part is 

 that the undertaking should always be sublet when- 

 ever possible. It is tedious, tiresome, and disagree- 

 able, the best way it can be done. Still there may 

 be times in every hunter's life when he may have to 

 make it himself. And every one should know how 

 to do it. The operation requires no skill and may, 

 moreover, be done by any common hand under your 

 supervision. 



There is no tanning process about it. Leather is 

 a chemical compound. Buckskin is simply the raw 

 fiber broken up, loosened, and retained from stiffening 

 again when wet. 



The hair, the fine little outer skin in which it is em- 

 bedded, called " the grain," and the fleshy and mem- 

 branous parts adhering to the inside must first be re- 

 moved. To do this is no trifling matter unless one 

 knows just how, and then it is simple enough though 

 it takes work. The hide is first soaked in water from 

 two to five 01 six days, according to temperature of 

 water. In warm water a dry hide will soften in two 

 days, and soon after that will begin to spoil. In cold 

 water it may, and often must, be left longer. A hide 

 will be soft enough when first stripped from the deer, 

 but will be better if left a day or two in water. If 

 stripped off from the neck downward a hide will be 

 more easy to clean on the inside. 



A graining-log and knife are now necessary. A 



