Tapora from one Continuous Midrib Strip.

This variety has the full length of both sides made from a single midrib strip taken from one side of the leaf. The length of the strip taken must therefore be twice the length of the basket. The leaflets are plaited from end to end in the same manner as the nikau sheets for thatching a roof.

If at the commencement, the depth of the plaiting is six strokes, there will be six plaited sinistrals with unplaited free parts projecting beyond the first dextral. Similarly on the right end, there will be six dextrals projecting beyond the last sinistral. The two ends of the plaited sheet are now brought together, Fig. 161.

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The right end of the sheet is now on the left of the diagram. The first dextral, Dl, and the last sinistral, Sx, are shown forming the margins of the plaited portion. The two ends of the midrib strip are tied together by a prolongation of the strip, A.

The two sets of crossing elements are now provided. The dextrals on the left are separated into two series of alternates to continue the check technique, and the first sinistral, S1, is placed in position. Then the others follow in order until the triangular gap is filled in, Fig. 162.

The sides are thus completed. In plaiting the sheet, the dextrals are doubled down as in the previous tapora.

The bottom is closed in the same manner as the others, by the single or double braid method. Though the rim is practically round, the bottom is elongated by stretching it out and taking one end as the commencing point.

Though the midrib upper edge of this variety looks better, in that it is continuous and does not gape at either end, it is not made for its better appearance. In cases where cocoanut leaves are not abundant and baskets for different people are required for distribution of food, the continuous midrib tapora is made. If a length of leaf sufficient for two baskets were cut transversely into two, the basket made from the shorter leaflets of the tip end portion would be smaller than that made of the longer and more widely spaced leaflets from the butt-end portion. This would create dissatisfaction. By splitting the leaf longitudinally, however, each strip shared the longer butt leaflets and the shorter tip-end leaflets and two baskets of exactly even size page 181were made. This variety of basket is therefore a diplomatic solution of a difficulty that might lead to strained relationships.

Use. The tapora is the commonest container for fruit, food products and fish. In some cases the midrib is not split down and fruit is put into it by widening out one of the interspaces between the leaflets. The leaflets are then brought close together and the basket is really a closed bag. The closed form may be used slung on either side of a make-shift pack saddle for the transport of fruit, as is done in Mangaia. The butt end of the midrib may be left long as a handle to carry over the shoulder.

Name. The tapora in Rarotonga and Mangaia is called a peru. The form made from the one midrib strip is said by the Mangaians to be the true ohini, whilst the ohini described in this work is said to have been introduced from Tahiti, where it is called a pohini.