44^ XOSA ARTS AND CRAFTS. 



luka. They plaited of grass, or split rushes, or tig bast, small 

 closely woven trays or eating mats, izi-tebe, and also small plates 

 or basins for eating out of, izi-tya. They also made straw hats 

 for boys, and milkpails, the latter so closely plaited as to be quite 

 water-tight. 



The making of sleeping mats and the making of baskets were 

 other important industries of the women. The sleeping mat, 

 H-kuko, was not plaited, but the rushes, imi-.zi {Cy perns te.rlilis), 

 of which they were made, were laid side by side, and either sewn 

 together by piercing the rushes with holes, through which a long 

 thread was drawn, or laced together by threads crossing each 

 other at every other rush or so. They were finished off or 

 bound, peta, by a double row of sewing or border, iim-peto, to 

 prevent unravelling. 



Baskets were made in various ways and of various materials. 

 Light baskets for winnowing, imi-iiyasi, and very light baskets for 

 storing grain, isi-lulu, capable of holding many bags, were plaited 

 out of tough grass. Other baskets, such as the in-gobosi or 

 i-tala, for holding grain, which held a couple of bushels, and the 

 i-cjindwa^ in which clothes and household goods were stored, of 

 half the size, were constructed much as straw beehives are in 

 Europe. When the rushes required for the work had been cut 

 and dried, the best were selected, moistened and split along their 

 length ; of these the best were again selected, freed from any 

 marks, and used for winding round either other rushes or grass 

 made into a roll of the thickness of a finger or so. which was 

 constantly added to at the end as it was enwrapped, and firmly 

 sewn to the convolutions below. Baskets were also made in the 

 European way by interlacing or intertwining, jiba, cica, small 

 withes, etc., with upright sticks. A large basket of this kind 

 was iimczvaswa. A smaller basket, which held perhaps a bushel 

 of grain, was in-zivazn'a. 



Brooms,mw-»ya??i, were made of the threshed head of Kaffir- 

 corn, um-nyani, or of the male flower of maize, in-tshatshoba, or 

 of the bushy u-nzvelc {Cliff ortia strobUifcra). which grows 

 luxuriantly alongside every stream in the lower and middle parts 

 of the country, or of the broom-bush, i-bosisi or i-ratsha, of the 

 higher plateau. 



Great use was made in manufacture of the hides of cattle, 

 ici-ku}nba. and the skins of sheep and goats, in-gaga. 



A hide was first stretched out on the ground, to which it 

 was fastened, bopelela, with pegs, isi-konkzvane, at the edges, 

 mg-qoto. When it was quite dry it was suspended on a frame 

 consisting of two large vertical and two horizontal posts, which 

 was leant against the kraal-fence. It was tied to the frame by 

 thongs put through the holes made for the pegs. The hair side, 

 which was at the back, was previously moistened with water and 

 smeared with fresh cowdung, an excellent disinfectant. The 

 ^^f^sh side was well softened with tepid water.. It was 

 then scraped or shaved, or pared, pala, to remove 

 all bits of flesh that had adhered to it in the 



