108 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



String is rewound on a corncob, ready to be 

 placed on the shuttle for weaving. The shuttle 

 (T. churukaa) is of a common type, usually be- 

 tween 15 and 20 cm. long (fig. 24, t). The best 

 are made from a hard yellow wood known as 

 palo amarillo (T. chari-lsipambiti) which grows 

 near Nocusepu. A second tree called in Taras- 

 can oremu makes an inferior but serviceable in- 

 strument. Specialists usually make them, to sell 

 for $0.20 each, though it is no trick for any 

 fisherman to carve one quickly. Each fisherman 

 has at least three or four different sizes, to 

 make nets with difi^erent meshes. The net spacer 

 (T. uandtsvkua) is a flat piece of bamboo of the 



Figure 24. — Fishnet knots and shuttle, a. Knot for 

 small mesh of seine pocket. 6, Knot for all 

 other uses, c. Shuttle. 



exact width of the desired mesh, from 15 cm. 

 to 20 cm. long. A minimum of seven spacers of 

 different sizes are required for the nets com- 

 monly used. A set measured showed the fol- 

 lowing widths, which may be considered as 

 standard: 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.9, 2.8 cm. 



Two knots are commonly used. The finest 

 meshes of the pocket of the seine are made with 

 a square knot. A reverse bowline is used in all 

 other places (fig. 24). 



In beginning to weave a new net, or a section 

 of a new net, many fishermen make use of an 

 old piece kept for this purpose, so that the first 

 line of new meshes will have something to tie 

 onto and be properly spaced. Some weavers can 

 anchor the new net to an extended string, but 

 this is more difficult. As soon as several lines 

 of new mesh have been woven, the old net is 

 cut away and guarded for the time when it must 

 serve again. The gill nets, both large amd small 

 sizes, are of simpler construction than the seine, 

 since through the entire length the mesh is iden- 

 tical and the net occupies a flat plane. The large 

 net has a mesh a little under 3 cm., and the 

 small one from 0.7 to 0.8 cm. 



The chinchorro, or seine, is a far more com- 



plicated instrument. Basically it consists of the 

 net proper, made up of a number of joined 

 sections called poFios, and the bolsa, or pocket, 

 which comes midway between the ends of the 

 net. The pocket is composed of four pieces, 

 two carones, one on the top and the other on the 

 bottom, and two ciichillos, one on each side. 

 Each is made up of five or six different-sized 

 meshes, finest at the bottom of the pocket and 

 largest where they join the rest of the net. The 

 pafios come in three widths, all of the same 

 mesh size: the batidores, nearest the pocket, and 

 in contact with the cuchillos; the segundos, or 

 second panos; and the terceros, or third paiios. 

 Figure 22 shows the relationship of all parts of 

 the net. The average chinchorro has three or 

 four batidores, and four or five segundos — al- 

 ways one more paho of the segundos. The ter- 

 ceros are at least as numerous as the segundos 

 and may be much more so. The largest chin- 

 chorro on Janitzio, and probably the largest on 

 the lake, has 40 pafios in all, 8 batidores (4 on 

 each side), 10 segundos (5 on each side), and 

 22 terceros (11 on each side). 



Figure 22 also shows a magnified top detail of 

 the pocket. The pahos are all flat sections, tied 

 top and bottom to a heavy rope. All can be 

 extended horizontally and vertically in a single 

 plane. In basic construction they are like the gill 

 net. The pocket, as the name suggests, is of 

 such form that when extended it covers five out 

 of the total of six possible sides. The tops are 

 anchored to the same two ropes which hold the 

 pahos, while the sides are of exactly the same 

 width as, and fastened to the inner side of the in- 

 nermost batidores. Determining the exact form 

 of the pocket in relationship to the net is a difli- 

 cult procedure, since a net can be pulled into 

 almost any shape. After studying the principles 

 of construction, joining paper cut-outs were 

 made of the bolsa. resulting in the forms repre- 

 sented by figure 25. The pahos are shown in 

 true form, the carones in approximate true form, 

 and the cuchillos in apparent form only. The 

 approximate true form of the cuchillo, as nearly 

 as could be determined, is shown in figure 26. 

 The distortion apparent in figure 25 occurs when 

 the sides are pulled out to make contact with 

 the ropes. 



Let us imagine we are watching Marcial Ro- 

 jas making the cuchillo of a new bolsa. A string 



