The Hide Of The Wild Ass Is The Finest
Of All Leather, And Is So Close In The Grain That Before Tanning,
When Dry And Hardened In The Sun, It Resembles Horn In
Transparency.
I have made excellent mocassins with this skin,
which are admirable if kept wetted.
"August 28.--Sofi being upon the frontier, the laws are merely
nominal; accordingly there is an interesting mixture in the
society. Should any man commit a crime in Abyssinia, he takes
refuge over the border; thus criminals of the blackest character
are at large. One fellow who has paid us daily visits killed his
brother with a knife a few months since. I have excluded this
gentleman from the select circle of our acquaintance.
"The Arab women are very clever in basket-work and matting--they
carry their milk in baskets that are so closely fitted as to be
completely water-tight; these are made of the leaves of the dome
palm, shred into fine strips. In addition to the coarse matting
required for their tents, they manufacture very fine sleeping
mats, curiously arranged in various coloured patterns; these are
to cover the angareps, or native bedsteads, which are simple
frameworks upon legs, covered with a network of raw hide worked
in a soft state, after which it hardens to the tightness of a
drum when thoroughly dry. No bed is more comfortable for a warm
climate than a native angarep with a simple mat covering; it is
beautifully elastic, and is always cool, as free ventilation is
permitted from below.
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