In the same manner, the larger hides of cows and oxen are dried, most frequently before putrefaction has produced any effect upon the hairs, and which, of course, then remain. This is the general seat for visitors during the day, and their bed at night, unless a tanned hide (_nit_, as it is termed) can be procured, and which is considered softer and more suitable for a respected guest. The _nit_, or leather, is tanned by being made into a kind of trough, which contains an infusion of the bark of the _kantuffa_ acacia. This trough is formed by a skin being loosely extended upon four stick supports, which elevate it about a foot from the ground. The kantuffa bark, after being well pounded in a mortar, is strewed over the surface, and the hollow is then filled with cold water, and in the course of a few days a strong red infusion is made, with which the whole surface of the skin is frequently washed, and when evaporation has reduced its contents to a sloppy paste, the sticks are withdrawn, the ends folded in, and with the contained mass, the skin then undergoes the usual fatiguing process of treading, until the evidences of the nit being properly prepared are satisfactory. The bark of the _kantuffa_ reminded me of that of the red mimosa of Adal, which produced an astringent gum, something like _kino_, but not, I considered, so powerful a drug. This tree, however, was pointed out to me as being that with the bark of which the Dankalli tan their affaleetahs, or small water-skins, carried by travellers; for the larger ones are prepared with the hair left on, by simply drying in the hot sun, after having been distended with air, to expose them fully to its influence. It is very probable that the celebrated Morocco leather, derives its bright red colour from the bark employed in tanning being obtained either from the kantuffa or the Adal tree, for both these trees give a very red colour to the skins that are prepared with their bark. From this I am inclined to believe, that among other articles of commerce that might be advantageously drawn from the Barbar states in the north of Africa, a good tanning bark could be obtained in considerable quantities, and at a very reasonable rate.