528 EEPORT OB^ NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



H. Ling Roth, in liis paper on the aborigines of Hispaniola/' says 

 that although none of the histories make reference to the island in 

 which baskets were manufactured, nor even to tlie material out of 

 which they are made, there is occasional mention of them, proving 

 that formerly, as now, the Caribs and their tribes knew how to weave 

 basket work. The Spaniards 1)oth in Hispaniola and Cuba on several 

 occasions found men's heads cut off and sewed up with great care in 

 small baskets. He quotes Benzoni in speaking of a feast in which 

 baskets were adorned with roses and various flowers. Coliunbus found 

 baskets in Guadeloupe full of men's bones. 



A glance at the map of northern South America shows how easy it 

 is to pass from the AVindward Islands u]^ the Orinoco and over the 

 drainage of the Rio Negro, down to th(^ Amazon. On this central 

 position it is not difficult to make communication with the highlands 

 of middle Brazil, Bolivia, eastern Peru, and Ecuador, and to pass from 

 the Xingu River to Paragua}^ is easy. This explanation will clear 

 the way for the collection of baskets now to be described. 



The seventieth ]xirallel from Greenwich may l)e used to divide South 

 America into east and west basketr}' sub-areas. The West Indies will 

 be counted with the eastern portions. The few widespread linguistic 

 families serve as a l^ond to hold the tribes in mind. At the extreme 

 north the Carib and the Arawak are conspicuous; the Tupi-Guarani 

 and the Geez answer for Brazil; over the Amazon watershed, the 

 La Plata areas, tlie Gran Chaco tribes follow. Patagonia and Fuegia 

 complete the series. Over a large portion of this eastern region the 

 types of weaving practiced in the Southern States of the Union pre- 

 vail. On the western side of the continent, in the Andean valleys, 

 the basketry is more varied and interesting, as the description and 

 illustrations will show. The information which follows is far from 

 complete. The little which is said will serve at least as a starting 

 point and show that aboriginally and technically there was onl}^ one 

 America. 



Plate 238 shows an Indian woman standing in front of the agave 

 plant — a fitting combination, since in Mexico, Central America, and 

 northern portions of South America the agave is to the native popu- 

 lation an enduring friend. In modern industries it has not lost its 

 influence. The lechiguilla, ixtl, sisal, and other standard flbers are 

 therefrom. In old times it was the substance from which receptacles, 

 clothing, parts of household utensils and conveniences, and man}" 

 other useful things were made. The figure standing in front of the 

 plant might be called the Clotho of the agave, whose skillful fingers 

 will turn the ideal plant into many supplies of wants. 



Baskets from British Guiana are like those described by E. F. im 

 Thurn in his work entitled Among the Indians of British Guiana. 



« Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britaiu and Ireland, XVI, p. 283. 



