282 ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GUIANA INDIANS [BTH. ANN. 38 
346. The manufacture of the cassava squeezer (WER, 1r).—Terms: 
The Arawak Indians differentiate the component parts of a cassava 
squeezer (pl. 69, fig. 1, A) into head (a), mouth (6), body (¢), and 
ankle (d). These terms I propose utilizing, with the modification of 
the last mentioned into an ankle ring, at the same time introducing a 
new element, the leg (e), between it and the body proper. So, for 
technical purposes the head (F) consists of a collar (a), through 
which the article is hung, and neck (4), while the body may be re- 
garded as constructed of a shoulder (c), shoulder girdle (IX, L, M, a), 
body proper (0), and hip girdle (c), and it is on these lines that the 
manufacture of the squeezer as a whole will be described. The cas- 
sava squeezer is only made by men. 
347. Foundation: A commencement is made by plaiting at their 
center a set of itiriti strands into another series laid at right angles. 
As often as not, with a view perhaps to bringing out the pattern 
more distinctly or for other reasons, the elements of one set are laid 
on their outer surfaces, those of the other on their inner. The stain- 
ing of the strands is not adopted for squeezers destined for domestic 
use. The plaiting process consists in passing each strand alternately 
under and over a set of three, each such strand at the point of under- 
lapping and overlapping being always in advance of the one imme- 
diately preceding it, to the extent of its own width. The resulting 
stepping-stone arrangement is seen in plate 69, figure 1, B, where the 
squeezer is being manufactured on a foundation of 16 strands, 9 of 
which are placed horizontally and 7 vertically. But in the larger 
varieties, 24, 28, or 32 strands may be employed in the foundation, 
and under such circumstances there will be, respectively, 13, 15, and 
17 placed horizontally, with 11, 13, and 15 vertically. Furthermore, 
for the larger specimens, which measure, on the stretch, well over 6 
feet, the itiriti strands, which are continuous throughout the whole 
extent of the article, may not prove sufficiently long. In these cases 
a commencement is made by superposing each two strands to the 
extent of about 6 inches and plaiting them at their centers of super- 
position as if they together constituted but one. Another advantage 
' of this “lengthening ” process is that it affords the proportionately 
extra strength now required. 
348. Collar and neck: Once completed, the rectangular founda- 
tion is turned around on its diagonal axis, so as to represent more or 
less the conventional diamond (pl. 69, fig.1,C). The strands project- 
ing from the upper and lower portions of one side of this diamond are 
next plaited into one another in such a manner that, as each succes- 
sive strand reaches the lines, which will ultimately limit the upper 
and lower edges of the collar now in the course of formation, it is 
bent backward, outward, and downward at the former limit, back- 
