novn] DOMESTIC IMPLEMENTS AND REQUISITES 837 
423. The construction of the conical-base landing-net basket (pl. 
108 B) of the Carib, Akawai, Arawak, Warrau, etc., is somewhat 
peculiar. Starting with six itiriti warps (wa) plaited into a hexa- 
gon (fig. 137 A) a weft (we) is inserted, but its extremities, so soon 
as they cross one another on the lower edge of the basket, become 
additional (extra) warps (ewa). Weft after weft is thus added, the 
utilization of their extremities as warps causing the basket to have 
a longer slope on the lower surface than on the upper. The com- 
pleted pattern is one of hexagons (WER, 1v). The basket itself has 
somewhat the appearance of an old form of nightcap and is attached 
within and alongside of the two limbs of a forked stick that may 
sometimes reach to a length of 6 feet. To the Arawak it is known as 
shipi; to the Warrau as basso. It is used for catching the fish floating 
Wie, 187.—Diagram showing construction of conical-base landing-net basket. 
on the water surface after being intoxicated with one or other of the 
various fish poisons. 
424. The kamaiyo basket of the Arawak is similarly the only 
example that I can bring forward of a closework conical-base basket 
(pl. 109 B). It is an article but rarely used now, the few examples 
met with being usually in the possession of the older folk and of the 
medicine men. Employed as a strainer, the Arawak required it in 
the manufacture of black paiwarri (sec. 257), not with other drinks. 
Owing to its conical base, it has no present-day utility as a receptacle 
for storing articles without the suspending string attached to oppo- 
site sides of its upper circular edge. The manufacture of the founda- 
tion is comparatively simple. Operations are commenced by mak- 
ing a square mat (fig. 188 A), the plaiting of which consists in the 
repetition of passing a single horizontal strand (a) over and under a 
set of three vertically arranged ones (0), Once the square, which 
