45 B 
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
Baskets of many kinds and shapes are made. There is the mtanga, a 
basket made by weaving flat strips of cane or wood over a framework of more 
rigid circles of wood which are sometimes the midribs of palm fronds, some¬ 
times split and pared bamboos. This style of basket usually has a solid wooden 
rim of some flexible white wood. Then there are large flat baskets of tightly- 
plaited straw with a firm rim of wood, which are used for winnowing meal. 
Small baskets are made for holding all manner of food, grain, eggs, etc. Some 
WEAVING IN ANGONILAND 
of these baskets, especially in cattle-keeping countries, are so admirably and 
tightly plaited that they will hold milk. Enormously large baskets, shaped 
somewhat like a demijohn, are closely woven and in addition are smeared with 
sticky, rubber-like juice derived from the roots of a shrub, and are then imper¬ 
vious to water. These baskets are used for holding beer. Some baskets of 
plaited straw are made to fit into one another so that one acts as a cover to the 
other. A somewhat flattened form, known amongst the A-nyanja and Wa-yao 
as mtungwi , is made out of a soft, flexible wood in two pieces, one of which is 
slightly scooped out to form the bottom of the basket, and the other, a broad 
strip of wood, is bent round and attached to the sides of this flat piece so that 
one half of the basket is thus formed. The sides are often beautifully decorated 
