EMPIRES children: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



111 



the manipulator, holding the handle, spins the 

 blade in a clockwise direction with respect to 

 himself until the strands have reached the desir- 

 ed tightness (fig. 27, b). Three other sections of 

 rope are similarly treated. Then the ends of 

 the two resulting pairs are spliced, so that two 

 enormous parallel loops result. One spliced end 

 usually is 40 or 50 cm. longer than the other. 



One end of each loop is placed around the 

 blade, and the manipulater spins, this time in 

 a counterclockwise direction. To equalize tlie 

 winding a second man places two crossed sticks, 

 8 cm. or so long, between the four strands, 

 grasping them with either hand (fig. 27, c). Then 

 he walks backward 10 m. or so while the spin- 

 ner tightens the new rope as much as possible 

 up to this point. Then the man with the sticks 

 walks backward a similar distance, thus loosen- 

 ing the tension in the rope, and the spinner 

 again takes up the slack. By similar steps the 

 rope is tightened to the other end, where the 

 two loops of uneven length remain. The long 

 loop is slipped through the short one and drawn 

 even (fig. 27, d), and the two resulting loops of 

 equal length are slipped over the head of a 

 second taravia, spun also in a counterclockwise 

 fashion, and with a few more twists the new 

 rope is completed. In a morning's work, three 

 men made three 60-m. ropes, using 12 hanks 

 in each, and two ropes of half this size, using 6 

 hanks each. The rope wheel, known in many 

 parts of Mexico, is not used in Tzintzuntzan. 



The colorin wood floats are oblong blocks 20 

 cm. long, a third as wide, and 3 cm. thick, with 

 a hole in the center to permit passage of the 

 rope. They are sold, when not made by the fish- 

 erman himself, for $0.05 apiece. 



CANOES 



Both types of canoe, the large tepari and the 

 smaller ichdruta, are hollowed from a single 

 block of fir or pine. They are cut and shaped 

 in the sierra, in Capacuaro, Cumachuen, and 

 other villages, and dragged to the lakeshore 

 with draft animals. Each new owner, who must 

 order his canoe as a custom-built job, usually 

 finishes his own craft, though this work normal- 

 ly consists only of thinning the walls a little 

 and making any special touches which may 

 strike his fancy. Wall thicknesses vary from 



5 cm. on the largest canoes to 2.5 m. on the 

 smallest. Axes and adzes are the principal tools 

 used in the hollowing process. The form of the 

 large tepari is given in figure 28, a. These boats 

 are from 8 to 14 varas of 80 cm. long, and are 

 known accordingly as canoes de a catorce varas, 

 de a doce or de a ocho as the case may be, with 

 all intermediate sizes extant. The cross section 

 is rectangular, with flat bottom and with gun- 

 wales sloping slightly inward. The wide square 

 stern, which seats two persons, has a moderate 

 overhang, while the bow, also squarish, but nar- 

 rower, may extend a meter or more beyond the 

 water line. It provides room for one person 

 only, an oarsman. Both bow and stern often 

 have a square projection of 6 or 8 cm. running 



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Figure 27. — Rope-spinning technique, a, Handle and 

 blade, b. The assembled taravia. c, Crossed 

 sticks to maintain equal tension in winding. 

 d. Method of equalizing ends of strands. 



the width of the canoe, to which are fastened 

 ropes when the boat is anchored to a pole while 

 used in fishing. Two or three blocks of wood, 

 rising 6 cm. to 12 cm. above the floor, are left 

 in the bottom during the hollowing process. 

 They serve the double purpose of seats and 

 structural braces. 



Oarlocks, which are inverted triangular pieces 

 of oak, are placed on the left, or port side 

 near the bow, carefully fitted to the edge of 

 the canoe and anchored in place by means of a 

 rope piercing the gunwale (fig. 28, h). The 

 oars consist of round blades 30 cm. in diameter 

 with stub handles, 30 cm. long, carved of a 



