36 



Mat and Basket Weaving. 



were genuine native patterns and not taught by tlie foreigners. It should be stated 

 in passing that one great difficulty a student of basketry meets in our region where 

 ancient specimens of tliis perishable Avare are not to l)e f<nmd, is the number of braids 

 and patterns taught the natives by foreigners with the laudable intention of improving 

 their manufa(5lure, or in other cases copied without instru(5lion from articles in posses- 

 sion of foreigners. The beautiful flowers made from the stem of the Tacca pinnatifida^ 

 and the fans equally tasteful, made by the Tahitians, were not native conceptions but 

 were taught bv the Frencli Romanist Sisters. The various straw braids used by the 



Fig. 46. HAWAIIAN COVERED PANDANUS BASKETS. 



modern Hawaiians are another illustration of the foreign grafts. I cannot believe that 

 the primitive forms shown in Fig. 45 are other than purely native invention, and for 

 all I know those in Fig. 46 are equally so. Dimensions and brief descriptions of the 

 baskets of this class in the Bishop Museum are as follow: — 



4256. Base 8.7 in. D ; 12 in. high; cap 5 in. D ; ^ 8 in. .strip doubled on itself to half 

 size where the neck narrows. This is the common way of treating the neck weave 

 and is found in all these examples except one (No. 4263). The handle is formed 

 by a cord attached to the neck ; the basket is sewed diagonally on the bottom. 



4257. Base 7.5 in. D ; 12 in. high ; cap 5 in. D ; strips 5/8 in.; body of double thick- 

 ness of strips. 



4258- Base 8 in. D ; 9 i"- liigli; cap 5.2 in. D ; M i"- strip on bottom; ]/. in. above; 

 hau cord twisted, crossing bottom diametrically inside and up the sides to form 



