st,
fourth, and so on. If this order is departed from the figures become
irregular. If the weaver continues more than twice consecutively in
either order, a row of V-shaped figures is formed, thus: VVVV. Plate
XXXV represents a woman weaving a blanket of this pattern, and Fig. 48
shows a portion of a blanket which is part plain diagonal and part
diamond.

[Illustration: FIG. 48.--Diagonal cloth.]

Sec. VIII. I have heretofore spoken of the Navajo weavers always as of
the feminine gender because the large majority of them are women.
There are, however, a few men who practice the textile art, and among
them are to found the best artisans in the tribe.

[Illustration: PL. XXXVI.--NAVAJO WOMAN WEAVING A BELT.]

Sec. IX. Navajo blankets represent a wide range in quality and finish and
an endless variety in design, notwithstanding that all their figures
consist of straight lines and angles, no curves being used. As
illustrating the great fertility of this people in design I have to
relate that in the finer blankets of intricate pattern out of
thousands which I have examined, I do not remember to have ever seen
two exactly alike. Among the coarse striped blankets there is great
uniformity.

[Illustration: FIG. 49.--Navajo blanket of the finest quality.]

The accompanying pictures of blankets represent some in my private
collection. Fig. 49 depicts a blanket measuring 6 feet 9 inches by 5
feet 6 inches, and weighing nearly 6 pounds. It is made entirely of
Germantown yarn in seven strongly contrasting colors, and is the work
of a man who is generally conceded to be the best weaver in the tribe.
A month was spent in its manufacture. Its figures are mostly in
serrated stripes, which are the most difficult to execute with
regularity. I have heard that the man who wove this often draws his
designs on sand before he begins to work them on the loom. Fig. 50 _a_
shows a blanket of more antique design and material. It is 6 feet 6
inches by 5 feet 3 inches, and is made of native yarn and _bayeta_.
Its colors are black, white, dark-blue, red (_bayeta_) and--in a
portion of the stair-like figures--a pale blue. Fig. 50 _b_ depicts a
tufted blanket or rug, of a kind not common, having much the
appearance of an Oriental rug; it is made of shredded red flannel,
with a few simple figures in yellow, dark blue, and green. Fig. 51
represents a gaudy blanket of smaller size (5 feet 4 inches by 3 feet
7 inches) worn by a woman. Its colors ar