346 COILED BASKETRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA (ern. ANN. 41 
point and from the point of view of the minimum number of difficul- 
ties involved in their execution. The typical styles are the horizontal 
band of continuous designs, many of which are zigzags or meanders, 
and the slightly separated smaller elements which are sometimes seen 
in all-over arrangement. These types are illustrated in Plates 58-62. 
A great many designs are executed only in outline, with here and 
there triangles or squares worked in solid black by way of contrast. 
The background is always light. 
In contrast to these there are a few decorated with vertical series 
of figures, which at once seem to give rise to the same difficulties 
experienced by the other tribes using them. Plate 59, d, is a very 
interesting specimen. The leftward lean of the stripes is much more 
pronounced than usual, although the basket has been very carefully 
made. Not only was the circumference spacing unsatisfactory but 
other difficulties have arisen which were practically unavoidable. 
Owing to the rapid increase in the wall circumference in the region 
of the bottom, it was almost impossible to adjust the triangles, so 
that near either corner a confused arrangement results which obvi- 
ously was not intended. The central field presents difficulties due 
almost wholly to miscalculation on the part of the maker who made 
the compromise solution seen at the left edge. The break in the 
stripe on the right, however, is due to the fact that a constantly m- 
creasing coil circumference requires more stitches to sew it with each 
succeeding round. It is quite evident that in this instance the con- 
stantly increasing number of stitches and the fact that each was 
imbricated made it necessary to follow exactly the straight rows which 
were then more emphasized. At this particular place on the basket 
where it was expedient to place the triple stripe, one or the other of 
the lines necessarily fell where it could not be carried out by consecu- 
tive stitches, hence the break which is the more apparent because each 
imbricated background stitch is set off from its neighbor by its un- 
compromising square form. The maker had much better luck with 
her two top zones, for the triangles and zigzags are almost perfectly 
spaced even at the break which is visible in the upper left corner. 
Plate 59, h, shows another attempt at vertical decoration which was 
unsuccessful from the point of view of circumference spacing. 
Plate 59, 6, is a rare specimen and presumably modern. Its square 
corners and solidly worked designs are foreign to the earlier Chilcotin 
style. The circumference spacing of the elements is unusually excel- 
lent, although a slight discrepancy occurs in the central of the three 
zones below the rod. The imbrication of the background of this zone, 
while not conforming to the old Chileotin style, is not unusual at the 
present time. 
The filler, on account of the prevailing styles of decoration, is ex- 
tremely rare; in fact not a specimen studied can boast of one. The 
