BOAS] THE TECHNIQUE OF COILING 161 
In making bottoms and lids, if the coils are not carefully per- 
forated at right angles to the plane and the awl inclines one way 
or the other (and many women do not seem to be aware that they 
hold the awl obliquely), the result is a bottom or lid which is not 
quite flat. 
The tightest sewing is preferred, and when finished a well-made 
basket is far harder and stiffer than Bristol board. The stitches 
completely hide the foundation. 
With the exception of rim or foot coils, or of a few which are placed 
at the curve between bottom and side walls, the coils in one piece 
of work are supposed to be uniform in size, and they usually are. 
Since the foundation splints are of uneven thickness and length, 
new ones must be added from time to time to replace others that 
are used up and thus maintain the original thickness. These are 
slipped in, a few at a time, from two or three up to five or six, as 
occasion demands. Their selection and incorporation into the coil 
requires a nice discrimination of sight and of touch, for one or two 
which are too thick or of faulty cross section might easily create a 
lump or a depression. Their length does not matter. When fresh 
material is added, that already in place is lifted up slightly with the 
left hand, and the new is laid in underneath, the ends being pushed 
in as far as they will go, up tightly against the last stitch. The 
following stitch catches the new ends, and holds them firmly together 
with the old splints. The number introduced varies greatly ac- 
cording to the nature and requirements of the coil. Often within 
five minutes’ work none are added. One woman inserted two at 
the end of 4 minutes and two again after another 10 minutes. 
Another added three, and after 7 minutes two more, and then 
none until 12 minutes had elapsed. 
The uniformity of the coil is gauged by eye, and more especially 
by feeling, the right forefinger and thumb, but sometimes the left, 
pinching the bunch from 3 to 8 centimeters ahead of the sewing. 
No other regulating devices are employed. Baskets of the same size 
ordinarily have coils which are approximately equal, although possibly 
containing a different number of splints, depending somewhat on the 
size of these. The number of splints for the coils of the same basket 
also varies. There are often from one to five less in some places 
than in others, while the same sized coils in one basket may be com- 
posed of as few as one-fifth to two-fifths of the total amount employed 
in the coils of another. 
As an example, some observations are here given on the number 
used in making medium-sized circular baskets by certain informants 
who themselves pay little attention to how many are included, 
provided a proper sized coil is the result. In some instances the 
opinions of others concerning the work of a particular woman are 
also included. 
