ABORIGINAL AMERICAN RASKETRY. 529 



The specimens in the National Museum are all of the twilled pattern, 

 wrought from a bi-own vegetalile tiber whieJi shows the same on l)oth 

 sides. This twill is used witli good eftect in tlic diagonally woven 

 cassava strainers, widely distributed, wliieli may l)e contracted in 

 length by a corresponding increase of width. When tlie cassava is 

 packed into this strainer the latter is suspended and a great weight 

 fastened to th(> l)ottom. The same device is used among us by country 

 housewives in making curds. There is an entire lack of gaudy dyes in 

 the Guiana l)askets, tlie only colors being the natural hue of the wood 

 and a jet-black varnish. The gorgeous plumage of the l)irds replace 

 the dyes in ornamentation. (See Plate 239.) 



The material used for basket work among the Indians of Guiana is 

 the split stem of a kind of maranta {Ixch/tosJjiJion) called iturite by 

 the Indians. For rough work other species of iturite are used, and 

 for the roughest of all the unsplit stems of certain creepers, especially 

 one called l)y th(^ Indians mamamoorie {(JarhKJorlc-d'phiinicri-i). 



The so-called pegalls (packalls) are sipiare generally. The basket 

 and lid are the same shape; the latter, being larger, slips over the 

 former and entirely covers it. Many Caribs made their pegalls of an 

 oblong shape, with gracefully curved lines, and adorn them with long 

 strings of thick, white cotton on which are knots of colored feathers. 

 Sometimes the true Caribs make the pegall and lid double, and l)etween 

 the two layers of basket work certain leaves {Ixc]in<»<i2)li<>n) ar*^ inserted 

 to make the whole waterproof. Here is another example of double 

 warp noted in several ]^;irts of North America. 



Another basket, shaped like a slipper, is the suriana, for carrying 

 heav}" loads. This useful form has a wide distribution, being seen in 

 Guatemala. The '"'quake," another ])asket, is used for storing pro- 

 visions. They also serve as cages. It is made of open wicker work 

 with a rounded l)ottom. Most of the T)askets are manufactured in the 

 same way and of the same material. The Nikari karus, living on the 

 Brazilian l)orders, make their pegalls of the leaves of the palm 

 {Orh!(jn<t), very rare in British Guiana. These are square or oblong." 



Plates 24:0 and 2-1:1 are from photographs pi-esented by the distin- 

 guished ethnologist, Carl von den Steinen. The}" represent carrying 

 baskets from eastern Brazil in the collection of the Berlin Ethno- 

 graphic Museum. In order to bring the structure into (-omparison, 

 baskets of the same function were selected. The following descrip- 

 tions, aided by the photographs, will make plain the structure. 



Plate 240, lig. 1, is a carrying ]>asket (hasiri) of the Jamamadi 

 Indians, living on the Rio Purus, in the collection of Paul Ehrenreich. 

 The warp is crossed and the weft passes through the warp in regular 

 order, so as to produce hexagonal openings. The border is formed 



«E. F. im Thurn, Among the Indians of British Guiana, p. 282, London, 1883. 

 NAT MLS 1902- -S-l 



