Gabb.] bi^ [Aug. 20, 



it. The loom is a simple frame of four sticks, the two upright ones are 

 planted iu the ground ; the other two rudely tied to these. The warp is 

 wrapped around the two horizontal bars and a simple contrivance of 

 threads is arranged to open and reverse it. The thread for the woof 

 wound on slender sticks is then passed through in the usual manner and 

 driven tight by blows of a smooth stick. The process is exceedingly slow 

 and tedious and I have never seen it performed except by the men. The 

 belts are usually two to three inches wide and four or five feet long. 

 Breech-cloths are about four feet long and a litle more then a foot wide. 

 The cloths for the dead and the women's petticoats are wider and a trifle 

 longer. Except the cloths for the dead, which are woven white and after- 

 wards i^ainted, most of this cotton work is ornamented with colors. Be- 

 sides native vegetable dyes, the people of Bri-bri buy cotton dyed a dirty 

 purple with the blood of the onurex. This is procured from the people of 

 Terraba on the Pacific. They also now occasionally buy colored threads 

 of foreign production, especially a rich bluish purple, of which they are 

 particularly fond. All of this weaving is with very coarse thread, nearly 

 as thick as the finer twines used by shopkeepers in the United States for 

 tying small packages. The cloth is consequently coarse in texture and 

 rough in appearance, but closely woven and soft to the feel. It makes 

 excellent towels, though rather heavy for that purpose. The largest 

 piece of work of this kind I ever saw, was a blanket lirge enough to cover 

 a good sized double bed. It was in p ^ssession of an old woman who 

 wanted to sell it to me for a cow, and refused ten dollars cash; 



The pottery now made is the coarsest and poorest I have ever seen. 

 None of the finely made and elaborately ornamented vessels found in the 

 huacas or gr.ives are made at present. The use, for half a century or 

 more, of foreign cast-iron pots and kettles has restricted this industry, 

 and possibly helped to injure the character of the work. But two or 

 three vessels taken by me from Tiribi graves, certainly not less than fifcy 

 or sixty years old, are in no respect superior to those made at the present 

 day. Native earthenware is now only used for receptacles for chicha. The 

 jars are large — say from ten to twenty gallons capacity. The form is very 

 simple, the workmanship is rough, the clay is coarse and badly mixed, 

 the burning is almost always imperfect, and they are always without the 

 slightest attempt at ornament. The jars are moulded by hand, the clay 

 being added sijii'ally, and moulded by the fingers and trimmed witli a 

 smooth stick, in exactly the same manner as I have seen done by the 

 negi'o women in Santo Domingo. After a certain amount of drying, they 

 are burnt in the open air, in a fire of sticks heaped over them. Each jar 

 is buint separately. 



Although not given to unnecessary exertion, these people travel occa- 

 sionally from house to house, and even make journeys to Terraba and 

 Limon. The laziest will gladly walk for two days to a dance. They also 

 occasionally go off into the less frequented regions to collect sarsaparilla, 

 with which to buy whatever of foreign manufacture they may want, like 



