11332) ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GUIANA INDIANS [BTH. ANN. 38 
of one continuous coil, but of several, each succeeding one adding to 
its height. More than this, the effect of the squeezing is not only to 
make adjacent coils cohere, but also to “lock”? them, the upper 
level of each coil, as an effect of the procedure, being lower on the 
inside than on the outside (B). When a height of about 34 to 
4 inches has been reached in the making of the pot, a simulta- 
neous shaping, thinning, and smoothing takes place; the more or 
less irregularly sloping walls have to be pressed in here or pressed 
out there to obtain the necessary contour, at the same time that 
the component coils have to be squeezed more and more together 
to obliterate the lines of junction, while their composite surfaces 
inside and out must be smoothed into one harmonious whole. 
This is all effected by means of the open hand pressing against 
the inner wall. At the same time a smooth, spoon-shaped piece of 
calabash is made to exert with its convex side an equal pres- 
sure on the corresponding outer wall (C). This process is now re- 
versed, the hand being pressed on the outer wall and the calabash 
on the inner. In section the result would be something like D. 
Three or four more coils are now added and treated with one 
another in similar fashion as regards shaping, thinning, and smooth- 
ing, but on this occasion the vessel instead of being widened is 
narrowed (E). When the required height of the body of the pot 
has been reached, the upper edge is neatly trimmed with a sharp 
knife from the outside. This knife is held more or less horizontally, 
cuts toward the operator, its tip is more or less guided by her free 
hand held over the inside of the vessel, and is moistened with water. 
This trimmed edge is now everted, the next coil added to it on the 
outside, but the immediately succeeding and final one is placed on 
the inside (F). These two coils constitute the neck and are shaped, 
thinned, and smoothed as were the previous ones, while the line of 
demarcation between neck and body is guided by means of the 
straight edge of a little slip of wood about 4 inches long. The top 
is trimmed off with a knife, its edges smoothed over and gradually 
everted (G, H) to make a slight lip. This knife would seem to have 
replaced the piece of calabash shell that is said to have been formerly 
used. A piece would be carefully cut from one side of the shell, 
so that the space left exactly corresponded with the intended lip of 
the vessel. By means of this nick the shell was then fitted onto the 
edge of the vessel and so passed around its circumference (IT, 276). 
A day later, when the clay is a bit drier, the various roughnesses of 
the surface, especially on the edges of the base, are sliced off with a 
sharp knife or shell edge, and a smooth, reddish pebble, obtained by 
barter and upon which great store seems to be placed, is used for 
polishing. The stone has been described as a cornelian (BE, 7), a 
red jasper (AK, 67), a porphyry, or celt. The vessel has to be 
