Boas] BASKETRY OF NEIGHBORS OF THE THOMPSON 345 
than on the long sides, where it dips gradually toward the center 
and imparts to the upper section of the structure the outlines of a 
boat. The corners are quite rounded. On the outside some dis- 
tance below the rim is a thick rod which encircles the basket and 
is fastened to it by means of thongs. This rod serves at once as 
a handle to which to tie the carrying straps and by which to lift 
the basket when loaded, as well as a general support. There is not 
as much flare to the walls as is seen on the usual Thompson speci- 
men, a fact which renders the tying of the tump line around the 
basket impracticable. The graceful curve in the walls occurs in 
the lower half of the structure, whereas the Thompson curve is seen 
in the upper half. There is apparently almost no trace of pre- 
maturely turned corners, so that the shapes are as symmetrical as 
those of the Lillooet. 
The Chilcotin coil, as has been indicated before, is smaller than 
that of the Lillooet or Thompson and much less even. The walls 
lack the smoothness which characterizes the work of the other 
two tribes, while the bifurcation of the stitches on the outside is 
accomplished with such beautiful regularity as to form a decorative 
feature which is almost never attempted by either the Thompson 
or the Lillooet, but which was often used by the Shuswap to the 
east. A slight difference exists in the technique of sewing, since the 
sewing splint lies over the face of the coil a little more vertically, 
thus enabling the artist to approach true vertical lines somewhat 
more successfully. The presence of a number of examples in which 
the lean is fairly noticeable, however, shows that this improvement 
is not universal in the tribe. The bottoms are constructed in the 
same ways that the Thompson use. (Pls. 7, b; 8, a; 58, c-h; 59-62.) 
Other striking differences between Chilcotin work and that of 
the tribes to the south and east are also very apparent. Almost 
without exception the arrangement of the designs is in four horizontal] 
zones or fields, three of which are about equal in width and are 
located below the rod, while the fourth is much narrower and com- 
prises the space between the rod and the rim. Mr. Teit says in a 
note that in late years he has seen only five specimens which differed 
in this respect. All were entirely imbricated, although the usual 
custom is to leave the middle of the three fields below the rim bare 
except for the designs which cross it at intervals and connect the 
fields lying on either side of it. Of the five exceptions four had two 
design fields, the narrow one above the rod and a second comprising 
the remainder of the basket walls. The fifth lacked the rod and had 
only one field. Some other variations appear along this line, how- 
ever, especially as shown in Plates 58, ¢, g; 59, c, h; 60, e. 
The great majority of burden baskets are ornamented with designs 
well adapted to the shape of the basket, both from an artistic stand- 
