Boas] THE TECHNIQUE OF COILING 163 
to them. From time to time the basket is held off for a critical in- 
spection of the evenness of the coils, and if a finished round displays 
any irregularity care is taken to correct it by properly adjusting the 
size of the next coil, so that it will fill a depression or allow for a lump 
in that just completed. (Pl.1, b,c.) To even up minor inaccuracies 
the sewing splint is tightened and tapped home harder and oftener 
while sewing. If the fault can not be remedied in one round it is 
usually accomplished in the second or third. Careless, inexperienced, 
or blind workers are not able to correct defects, and their baskets 
often have a noticeable waviness at the rim. 
The differences in size of coil as made by individual women are 
slight, and seldom noticeable on finished baskets. Experts who de- 
tect very minute variations say that certain coils are too thick or 
too thin for a given size and kind of basket, for, roughly speaking, 
little ones should have smaller coils than large ones, otherwise they 
will appear clumsy. They occasionally criticize work as being too 
rigid, though as a rule this is considered a ‘“‘good fault,” except in 
very small pieces, flexibility being more often the reason for disap- 
proval. Coils of average thickness, tightly sewed to render them 
rigid, are deemed best for trays, for unless these are stiff they are 
utterly worthless. 
Rigidity is obtained by a thickness of coils sufficient for the size 
and proposed use of the basket, by closeness of stitches, by much 
wetting of both coil and sewing material, and especially by the tight- 
ness of the loop drawn around the coil which is accentuated by the 
tapping. This is done with the middle of the awl, which is held near 
its point in the right hand, thus allowing all the weight possible to 
be added to the blow; the left hand meanwhile pulls whatever slack 
there may be. 
On small workbaskets and the like, the coils never can be too fine, 
but the making requires more time. Baskets of very delicate work- 
manship are naturally more valuable because of this quality and on 
account of the greater amount of time and labor expended on them, 
but they are not judged any better as objects of utility, and therefore 
are not often made. All women follow to a degree the rule of grading 
the size of coil to suit that of the basket, but some, if they have been 
in the habit of making chiefly one or another size, find it hard to alter 
their “hand.” As with ourselves, however, there are those who are 
very adaptable and who can change about without difficulty. 
The frequency with which splints are moistened depends upon the 
dryness of the weather and the condition of the fiber; that is, whether 
it is pliable or brittle from long seasoning; and also upon the indi- 
vidual handling it. If the splint is new or has been soaked weil 
beforehand it requires very little wetting during sewing. While 
some women dampen it about every 5 to 10 minutes others dip the 
hand in water and rub the splint they are working with every three 
or four stitches. 
