In the loom (Plate XXIII) the threads encircle a bamboo pole attached to
the wall, and are held tense by a strap which passes around the waist of
the operator. The weft threads are forced up against the fabric by means
of the comber board and are beaten in with a baton. The warp threads are
held in their relative positions, first by the comber board, second by
loops which pass under the lower threads and over a small stick or lease
rod, and lastly by passing over and under, or around, other lease rods.
These are rolled away as the work progresses.

[17] _Morinda Bracteata Roxb_.

[18] Woof threads are generally of one color. A somewhat similar process
used in Java is described by SIR THOS. RAFFLES in The History of Java,
Vol. I, p. 189.

[Transcriber's note: Although footnote 2 appears on the same page as the
above paragraph, it is not clear to what particular part of that
paragraph it refers.]

After the cloth is removed from the loom it is polished. A long pole of
_palma brava_ is fitted into a notch in the roof. The operator seats
herself on the floor with a smooth board before her, or in her lap, and
on it places the dampened cloth. A shell is fitted over the lower end of
the pole, which is bent and made bowlike, until the shell rests on the
cloth. It is then ironed rapidly to and fro until the fabric has
received a high polish (Plate XXIV).

The woman's duties do not end with the manufacture of cloth, for all the
garments worn by the members of the tribe are the result of her
handiwork. She sews the strips of hemp cloth into skirts, men's