Perceiving with satisfaction that the shore was strewn with just the
sort of boards and planks I wanted, I lost no time in collecting them;
and, forming a raft to tow after us, we were in a short time able to
direct our course homeward, without visiting the wreck at all.
As we sailed along, extremely well pleased with our good fortune,
Fritz, by my direction, nailed part of the shark's skin flat on boards
to dry in the sun and the rest on the rounded mast.
`Will that be a good idea, father?' inquired he, `it will be quite bent
and crooked when it hardens.'
`That is just what I want it to be,' said I, `we may happen to find it
useful in that form as well as flat. It would be beautiful shagreen*
with which we could smooth and polish wood.'
* Rough leather used like sandpaper
`I thought,' remarked Ernest, `that shagreen was made from asses'
hides.'
`And you thought rightly,' said I. `The best shagreen is prepared in
Turkey, Persia, and Tartary, from the skins of horses and asses. In
these skins, the roughness is produced artificially; while the skin is
newly flayed and still soft, hard grains of corn are spread on the
under surface, and pressed into it as it dries. These grains are
afterward removed, and the roughness imparted to the appearance of the
skin remains indelibly; shagreen is useful in polishing joiners' work,
and it is made in France from the rough skin of a hideous creature
called the angel-fish.
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