Note 19 — C
Reading edition
27. The system of tanning pursued by the ordinary village Chamâr is of the most primitive kind. The skins are placed in a pit and covered with water, containing lime (chûna) and impure carbonate of soda (sajji); after ten days they are taken out and the hair removed with an iron scraper (khurpi). They are again removed, sewn up in the form of a bag, which is again filled with the bark solution, and hang on a tree or stand. This process lasts five days, when the tanning is considered complete.19