At San Gabriel alone a hundred cattle were slaughtered every Saturday as food for the Indians themselves.

The hides of all slain animals were carefully preserved, and either tanned for home use or shipped East.

Dana in _Two Years Before the Mast_ gives interesting pictures of hide-shipping at San Juan Capistrano.

A good tanner is a skilled laborer, and these Indians were not only expert makers of dressed leather, but they tanned skins and peltries with the hair or fur on.

Indeed I know of many wonderful birds' skins, dressed with the feathers on, that are still in perfect preservation.