Page:String Figures and How to Make Them.djvu/183

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150
STRING FIGURES

Thus is a most interesting and novel figure. The First and Second movements are unlike anything occurring in other figures. In the Fourth and Seventh movement, the use of the middle finger to assist the thumb in catching the string is not a native practice; I have put it in to make these movements easier. The finished pattern differs from the usual finished pattern, because it runs down to form a twisted cord if the strings be pulled too tight; moreover it is not extended in the characteristic Caroline Islands fashion.

TEN MEN

This is another Natik, Caroline Islands, figure collected in the same way as the two preceding figures. Roth gives a drawing (pl. VI., Fig. 7) of an Australian

finished pattern called a "Turtle," which appears to be the same as the finished pattern of "Ten Men." I have reproduced the plate on page 379.

First: Opening A.

Second: With the teeth draw the far little finger string toward you over all the strings (Fig. 332), and bending the left index over the left string of the loop held by the teeth, pick up from below on the back of the finger the right string of the loop held by the teeth, and return the left index to its position. Bend the right index over to the left, and pick up from below the left string of the loop held by the teeth,