Boas] STRUCTURE OF BASKETS 179 
coil rather than distributed over a curved surface. It might be sup- 
posed that when such an angle is created the coil at the corner would 
usually be made thicker for the identical reason given concerning rim 
and other cols. One woman makes all the coils of the bottom thicker 
than those of the sides, but none of the others do so. Informants 
Nos. 4 and 5 laughed at the idea of increasing the diameter of any 
coils, saying that this did not improve the wearing quality as the 
sewing splints are the first to break, and when the bunch of splints is 
exposed it soon drops to pieces. If the sewing splints were thicker, 
they said, that would be a different matter, but no one follows the 
practice of making them so. It must be confessed that very few 
display such reasoning ability as these two women, but give voice 
to the first ideas that occur to them. 
Sometimes coils which are exposed by wear are resewed with new 
splints, the stitches passing through the edges of the coils above and 
below. The sewing on slat work is not tapped with the awl to drive 
it home as is the case with coiled work. 
SmpE WALLS 
According to our ideas, the bottom stops where the sides turn 
upward, but in the mind of the Indian woman the line may be beyond 
the curve, slightly up the side walls, although this is not always the 
case. At the place where the bottom is considered to end, a line of 
beading is run along the coil, to set it off from the side walls. The 
beading consists of a strip of bark passed along the entire coil, every 
alternate stitch of the coil passing over the strip, the others going 
under it. Occasionally double lines of beading are used. When the 
bark is of a strongly contrasting color the effect is very pleasing and 
the women liken it to a string of beads. 
When the sides are started the coil is pulled outward a very little 
with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand in order to produce a 
gradual flare. The awl holes are made pointing slightly upward 
into the last coil, instead of at right angles to the slant of the work, 
as is the case in the flat bottoms. Some women direct the passage 
of the awl slightly backward to the left as well, a procedure which 
would seem to assist in forming the flare. The proper flare or bulge 
is determined by custom, but it is also regulated to some extent by 
taste, and with the less experienced workers certainly it is not com- 
pletely under control. If a woman begins a basket and discovers 
after several rounds that it is going to flare too much she constricts 
the coils, thus creating a quite unusual shape, especially if the change 
is abrupt. A pronounced flare lessens the utility of the basket, par- 
ticularly if it be used for carrying purposes. The degree of slant is 
entirely determined by the eye, and it is remarkable how closely the 
women adhere to the tribal standards. Sometimes a basket may, 
