136     IN RUSSIAN TURKESTAN
order to make the leather elastic it is soaked for
several days in water and then strewn with millet;
the millet is hammered into it, and the whole is left
to dry. Afterwards, when the millet has been
brushed away, it is dyed, and the indentations
caused by the seed swell out, thus giving the
leather its peculiar mottled appearance.