54^ 



Mat and Basket Weaving. 



mat desired, and these are strongl}- sewn together as shown in the figure. The split- 

 ting into strands of the sele(fled width is then done and the plaiting begins. Each 

 strand passes diagonall}' to the edge of the growing mat and then turns and continues 

 its journey at right angles to its former course imtil it reaches the other side, or is 

 continued^by a succeeding strand which is neatly inserted under the overlapping trans- 

 verse strand. The skill with which the weaver keeps the long strands from hopeless 

 entanglement and puts each in its destined place is surprising to the uninitiated. To 



^' j>-.-f-:*. ■"''">; 





Fir,. 55. THE BECIXN-INCr OF A MAT OF I,AUHAI,A. 



the success of the mat the weaver's fingers must put the right tension on each strand 

 or the mat will be bellied or warped, and will not lie flat or be redlangular when finished. 

 An inexperienced or careless mat maker is alwaj-s known by the irregular mat. While 

 the whole leaved edging is sometimes left on the finished mat, it is usuall}' cut off 

 when the distal end has been bound in. 



The size of these mats was unlimited, except by the use to which they were 

 destined. Often they extended quite across the house, and when intended for covering 

 canoes might be eighty to a hundred feet long. Long and narrow ones were used for 

 a table at an ahaaina or feast ; a moderate sized one in the Bishop Museum, made for 

 this purpose, measures 3 ft. in width and is 28.7 ft. long (No. 25S3). It was not un- 

 common to weave in coarser mesh or strand immense mats to spread on the ground for 



