284 
IN FORBIDDEN SEAS 
driven in. “ French ” nails, 2J inches long, are 
used in staking out. The first nails driven are 
those in the nose and under-lip, then the tail nails. 
The “ points ” are then staked, care being taken so 
to stretch the skin that the sides stake out in a 
straight line. The fore-paws and hind-flippers are 
the last to be staked, with the exception of a nail 
on each side the neck. The skin is now tightly 
stretched, and the process of leaning commences. 
This is done as follows : 
A straight cut is made with a sharp “ leaning 
knife ” from the neck to the tail down the middle 
of the back, just deep enough to go through the fatty 
part, which adheres to the skin when stripped from 
the animal, care being taken not to cut the skin to 
which the fur is attached. Two men generally work 
on one skin. The frame is placed at a convenient 
height, and with one man on each side this fleshy 
matter is “ leaned ” off. Good “ leaners ” will take 
it off in one piece, leaning close to the true skin 
without cutting it. After the leaning is completed, 
should there be any bullet-holes in the skin, these 
are neatly sewn up, and then the nails along the 
sides are readjusted, and the skin stretched as tight 
as a drumhead. It is then exposed to the sun and 
dried. As it dries, the fat or oil in it comes to the 
surface, and is scraped off with a blunt knife. In 
fine weather, in about three or four days it is ready 
to come off the frame, being clean, v/hite, and dry, 
and nearly all the oil having been got out of it by 
constant scraping. The fur is then well beaten up 
and the skin put away. At intervals in sunny 
weather these skins are again aired until they are 
finally packed for shipment to London. 
