122 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. XII. 



boxes, only to receive the reply "done to make pretty," or to find that 

 no two of five or a dozen informants could agree on many patterns, 

 while frequently it was found that some obliging individual had volun- 

 teered names at one time which he could not remember on the day 

 following. It is possible that a long residence with the people and 

 diligent inquiry along this line might yield more definite results, but 

 for the present the writer must content himself by showing some typical 

 examples of the decorative art, and adding a few notes to the same. 



The great majority of baskets lack in decoration, other than that 

 which can be obtained by a slight change in the weave. In these a 

 central band can be distinguished from those at top and bottom, al- 

 though the same material is used and there is only a minor variation in 

 the technique. 



Small carrying receptacles, or trinket baskets, frequently have 

 designs produced by plaiting the rattan or bamboo of natural color 

 with that which has been blackened (Plate XXXI Va). No uniform 

 meaning or pattern name seems to be attached to the designs shown in 

 this specimen, but an incised design on the wooden rim was readily 

 identified as a crocodile. 



The small baskets in the coiled weave sometimes have the fronts 

 entirely covered with beads which are woven into the basket in parallel 

 lines. The tobacco box shown in Plate XXXV has been covered with 

 cloth and pitch, in which an artistic design made from the yellow 

 cuticle of an orchid has been inlaid. Plate XXX Vb shows the wooden 

 tops of three tobacco boxes. Nos i and 2 are carved and inlaid with 

 beads and buttons in designs which "look pretty," but number 3 depicts 

 a hunting scene in which two men and a dog are hunting the alligator. 

 Several beads are missing so that it requires quite a stretch of the 

 imagination to. secure the impression the native artist meant to impart. 



The prized trinket baskets of the women generally have the fronts 

 covered with cloth, to which hundreds of colored beads are sewed, in 

 elaborate designs (Plate XXXVI). 



The patterns brought out in the weaving are as beautiful and in- 

 tricate as they are confusing. Five typical specimens of cloth used 

 in women's skirts are shown in Plate XXXVII. In them can be 

 found several apparently different designs to some of which names 

 were assigned, but as there was no agreement among my informers 

 I refrain from giving them here. The pattern marked X in (c) was 

 generally identified as "alligator," yet the weavers were by no means 

 agreed. 



