292 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1884. 



ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 



Mr. William H. Ball has contributed to the National Museum a large 

 number of Aleut grass wallets, conoidal in form when filled (Fig. 1). The 

 warp is of coarse straws, radiating from the center of the bottom. The 

 covering or woof is made by plaiting or twisting two straws in a coil or 

 twine, crossing them between each pair of warp straws. It is as if a 

 twine of two strands had a straw or osier passed down through every 

 half turn (Fig. 2). This plait or twine may be driven close home so as 

 to be absolutely water-tight, or the weaver may leave spaces from one 

 twine to the next wide enough to make a net. A very pretty effect is 

 produced by these Aleutian basket-weavers by splitting the wa.rp 

 straws and twining woof straws around two of the half straws, joining 

 1 by 2, 3 by 4, 5 by 6, at one round, and the next twine inclosing by 

 1, 2 by 3, 4 by 5, and so on. This produces a series of lozenge open 

 ings (Fig. 2). The split warp strands are often crossed to form X- 

 shaped openings, or carried straight so as to produce parallelograms. 

 I have observed the same effect in Peruvian mummy cloth, but a greater 

 variety of network is there produced by alternating the rectangular and 

 lozenge meshes in bands varying in width. 



In the u Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," No. 318, plate 7, 

 Mr. Dall figures and describes the matting of the Aleutian Islanders 

 found in the caves in the Catherina Archipelago. 



The method of manipulation in the matting is the same as that just 

 described for the basketry of the Aleuts, and the delicacy of workman 

 ship is most admirable. . This method of weaving by means of twining 

 two woof strands around a series of warp strands occurs in many places, 

 and will hereafter in this paper receive the name of " twined basketry." 



In a covered basket made of split bamboo from the Malabar coast the 

 fastening off at the top of the basket and the weaving of the cover have 

 a three- stranded twine. At every third of a turn the splint that is in 

 ward is hooked or passed behind the warp splint at that point. This 

 produces a very smooth effect on the inside and a rough surface without. 



The mats of the Aleuts are made of the fiber of the Elymus* treated 

 as hemp. The ornamentation on the outside of the mats and baskets 

 is formed by embroidering on the surface with strips of the straw in 

 stead of the macerated fiber which forms the body of the fabric. The 

 embroidery stitches in these, as in most savage basketry, does not always 

 pass through the fabric, but are more frequently .whipped on, the stitches 

 passing always between the two woof strands, as in aresene embroidery, 

 showing only on the outside. Mr. Dall justly praises the marvelous 

 nicety of this Aleutian grass-weaving, both in mats and basketry. 



There is no Chinese or Japanese basket in the National Museum show 

 ing this plaited weft. The grass of these Aleutian wallets is exceed- 



* Elymus mollis, Sitka, Norton Sound, Kotzebue Sound ; E. arenariw, Norton Sound, 

 to Point Barrow ; E. Sibiri&us, Sitka. (See Rothrock, Smithsonian Report, 1867.) 



