162 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA LETH. ANN. 41 
Informant ‘§ No. 1.—10 splints; considered much coarser than the average. 
Informant No. 2.—16 splints. 
Informant No. 3.—13 splints; considered thick. 
Informant No. 4.—20 splints; varied from 19 to 25; considered fine and thin 
Informant No. 5.—15 splints; varied from 14 to 17. 
Informant No. 7.—20 splints. 
Informant No. 9.—19 splints. 
Informant No. 10.—22 splints. 
The first observation relates to a basket slightly larger than those 
made by informants Nos. 3, 4, and 5. In the different specimens 
the coils appeared about alike, except in that made by No. 1. Even 
there they seemed only a little larger than the average, while that 
constructed by No. 4 had coils which, if they differed at all, did not 
seem noticeably thinner to the investigator. 
No. 25, who seems to have been a particularly fine craftswoman, 
well informed as to her materials and technique, and a very careful 
worker, had 20 to 24 splints per coil in her burden basket, most of 
which were necessarily quite fine with only a few coarse ones among 
them. No. 30 employed 23 to 28 in hers, some of which were very 
fine and only a few coarse. No. 24 had 17 to 23. No. 22 used 
nearly the same number, but hers varied more in size than those 
of No. 24. Nos. 12 and 13 said people paid practically no attention 
to the number of splints, their one idea being to produce a uniform 
coil of the proper thickness for the kind of basket under construction, 
and that thick and thin splints together were more easily handled 
than those all of a size. They declared that fine splints should be 
combined with thicker ones, even in fine baskets, because the coarse 
furnished the heavy filling, the others fitting into the chinks. Those 
who use only fine ones spend much time to no real advantage. Ifa 
woman’s supply does not contain enough of these, she reduces some 
coarse ones before beginning work. 
About half of the informants, and especially No. 1, roll the coil 
splints between their fingers at the place where they intend to make 
a splice. This makes the coil round and fits the splints close together. 
Five of the women before stitching very frequently drew the point 
of the awl once or twice through the loose coil splints, from where 
they were sewed at the left, to their ends at the right. Sometimes 
the tips of the fingers were used instead. Many did not attempt to 
manipulate the splints at all. The explanation of those who did so 
was that the process spread and straightened them and prevented 
their becoming entangled. 
Any parts of the coil splints that seem to make the coil too thick are 
split or pared down far enough to prevent their spoiling the outlines, 
Where necessary the thick part is cut off. Some women are more 
particular about these points than others, but all pay some attention 
15 See list of informants, pp. 431 et seq. 
