62 Mat and Basket JVeai'ing. 



basketrj- of the Pacific, the wonder of early visitors. There may still be a very few 

 specimens stored in the closets of some old residents, but I know of none in any 

 museum except the two complete with one coverless specimen in this Museum, and 

 I shall therefore both describe and figure these most carefully. 



There is little to say about the preparation of the rootlets : they were sometimes 

 split in halves and sometimes used whole. The structure is rather peculiar and serves 

 to distinguish this material from the manj- vines of the Convolvulus family that have 

 a somewhat similar appearance. In the centre are five or six tubes which give elas- 

 ticity' to the strips ; the ferns having in seAion a harder tissue of horseshoe shape. 



In illustrating the finest basket of this material that the Museum possesses we 

 find diiificulty in distinguishing the two colors which were once very distinct, since 

 age has so browned the light color of the natural stem, and so faded the deep purplish 

 black of the contrasting portion, that while the eye with difficulty makes the distinc- 

 tion, the photographic plate has failed to do so, except in the middle of the second 

 band from the bottom. Fig. 60 shows the body of the basket, and Plate VII the cover, 

 the basket belonging to what we may for convenience call Class I. The full descrip- 

 tion is rather dull reading to an^- but an expert in basketr^', but is worth giving, there 

 are so few specimens left, and time must destroj- these. 



No. 7651. Diameter 26 in., height 17 in. Specimen in good condition, except 

 that the cover is cracked all along the upper rim, and several of the side cover loops 

 are gone. Starting from the rim, which is of course reversing the order of manufac- 

 ture, this rim is flat, consisting of two rods carefully clothed with flat strip, every fifth 

 and sixth one going down under two horizontal twisted rounds in which the strips pass 

 over two of the upright strips. Then a band of dark and light strips, originally light 

 brown and black, 16 rounds of two-ply over uprights of 3 rods each; 2 rounds twisted, 

 followed by 12 plain brown; 2 twist, variegated band of 17 rounds; 2 black twists and 

 I brown, 16 brown and 2 twists; sides then turn in to form bottom with a variegated 

 batid of 16 rounds, i brown, i black and i brown twist; 11 variegated rounds, 7 brown 

 rounds, 3 brown twists; 15 brown rounds, 2 twists; 10 brown rounds followed by 7 

 twists to centre of start. There are 19 braided sennit loops to attach cover. Cover is 

 formed with the same kind of rim, 2 twists, 2 black, 7 brown rounds, i twist; 19 varie- 

 gated, 2 twist, turning edge; iS brown rounds, 2 twist; 25 variegated rounds, 12 

 twists; 8 brown and 2 black twists; 12 twists to centre. This basket, supposed to 

 have come from the island of Hawaii, was many years in the cabinet of the A. B. C. F. 

 Missions in Boston. 



No. 65S9. This basket is plain brown without color decoration, 17 in. in diame- 

 ter and 10 in. high. The rim is similar to the last, but has three bars as a foundation 

 instead of two. The succession from the rim is as follows : 2 twists, 10 rounds ; 



