rorH] TWINE, CORDS, AND BANDS 115 
latter extremity after being pulled down a bit is next turned upward 
so as to form a sort of sheath for the fibers already freed (D) and is 
steadily but firmly pulled off and cast aside. This pulling off is a 
somewhat tricky business, the art being to close the upturned sheath 
above with the left thumb and forefinger so as to prevent the fibrous 
core from slipping out (E) and to clench it below between the corre- 
sponding digits of the right; the purpose of the remaining fingers is 
rather to guide and steady the sheath during the pull exerted by both 
hands. ‘The exposed fibers remaining suspended are next picked and 
cleaned of any débris. The distal end of the leaf is again similarly 
fixed over the cross stick 
and pulled, with the result 
that the whole proximal 
extremity of the leaf is 
dragged through the loop, 
whence it emerges entirely 
cleared of its outer cortex. 
The leaf, such as is left of 
it, is again fixed on the 
loop, and its proximal 
fibers together wound 
over the cross stick, in ex- 
actly similar fashion as the 
distal extremity originally 
was: by pulling sharply 
downward, the cross stick 
drags away in their en- 
tirety the fibers now 
cleared of all cortical sub- 
stance. This forcible pull- 
ing out of the kuraua fiber 
isman’swork, thestrength 
required for cleaning the 
cortex from off the prox-— 
imal extremity being too 
much for the women. In the absence of a son or other assistant, 
a wife may help by looping three or four leaves in a row ready 
for her husband to pull, and may perhaps complete his work by 
dragging off the distal portions which require far less vigor in their 
manipulation. Of course here and there are to be found some 
women who are physically capable of carrying out the complete 
pullmg process by themselves, but always on the lines above 
described, i. e., commencing with the cleaning of the proximal 
extremity of the leaf (WER, 1m). 
65. Kuraua twine is utilized for fishlines, hammocks (ARW, 208), 
bow strings, scale lines, and hammock ropes. The methods of 
Fic. 27.—Manufacture of kuraua (Bromelia) twine. 
