is dark, as a rule, in colour, as they use their own dyes, but its texture, and especially the texture of the sacred cotton blankets, is extremely fine, even finer and better as an example of weaving skill than many Navajo blankets. “In some Pueblos,” says Matthews, “the skill of the loom has been almost forgotten.” [Illustration: DETAILS OF NAVAJO LOOM CONSTRUCTION] The Navajo loom is set up anywhere and a shelter of boughs built over it. As the rainfall is light in the Navajo country, it is not necessary to provide permanent shelters. The loom is worth a careful description, and as I do not know of any better, or indeed so good as that given by Matthews, it is here quoted entire: “Two posts, a a, are set firmly in the ground; to these are lashed two cross pieces or braces, b c, the whole forming the frame of the loom. Sometimes two slender trees, growing at a convenient distance from one another, are made to answer for the posts, d is a horizontal pole, which I call the supplementary yarn-beam, attached to the upper brace, b, by means of a rope, e e, spirally applied, f is the upper beam of the loom. As it is analogous to the yarn-beam of our looms, I will call it by this name, although once only have I seen the warp wound around it. It lies parallel to the pole, d, about two or three inches below it, and is attached to the latter by a number of loops, g g. A spiral cord wound around the yarn-beam holds the upper border cord, h h, which, in turn, secures the upper end of the warp, i i. The lower beam of the loom is shown at k. I will call this the cloth beam, although the finished web is never wound around it; it is tied firmly to the lower brace, c, of the frame, and to it is secured the lower border cord of the blanket. The original distance between the two beams is the length of the blanket. Lying between the threads of the warp is depicted a broad, thin, oaken stick, l, which I will call the batten. A set of healds attached to a heald-rod, m, are shown above the batten. These healds are made of cord or yarn; they include alternate threads of the warp, and serve when drawn forward to open the lower shed. The upper shed is kept patent by a stout rod, n (having no healds attached), which I name the shed-rod. Their substitute for the reed of our looms is a wooden fork, which will be designated as the reed-fork.”[106]