134 



THE PIMA INDIANS 



[ETH. AXX. lie 



hence a higher price is sometimes demanded for baskets in which a 

 large amount of devil's claw is used. 



Leaves of the agave are sometimes used, but baskets of this mate- 

 rial are obtained chiefly fxom the Papagos. Wood from the slender 

 branches of cottonwood is sometimes used to take the place of willow, 

 but it is less durable and soon becomes yellow. It is prepai'ed in 

 the same manner and kept in the same sort of coils as the willow 

 (fig. 57, c). 



Wheat straw is extensively used in the manufacture of the jar- 

 shaped grain baskets. It is of modern introiluction, and has not fully 

 supplanted the ancient style of grain bin. 



Fig. 60. Stripping martyiiia. 



The arrow bush (Pluchea borealis) was the principal material 

 employed in the construction of storage bins or baskets. It is 

 everywhere abuntlant along the river, and is one of the few shrubs of 

 Pimeria that is not armed with thorns, its slender, graceful stalks 

 being easily mani])ulated (pi. xxi, a). 



Reeds, Phragmitis communis, were formerly common along the 

 Gila, but continuous seasons of drought caused them to disappear. 

 Sleeping mats were made from them, but such mats are now rarely 

 seen, agave leaf being used instead. 



Plate XXI, c illustrates the crucifixion thorn, Holocantha onioryi, 

 surrounded by saltbushes. 



