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5

sticks the length of bed was made [[image - hand drawn 6 horizontal lines and two vertical lines intersecting them]] sticks were left round all of the same size about the size of the top of a good sized thumb, & held close together by bark which was used to hold sticks together. I send you, the strip of Japanese straw work to show you how the work was down. This mattress was laid on bed, sides & ends fastened securely to side poles & ends, bark being used twisted in & out & tied. The bed was enclosed by willow work same as in mattress for bed, commencing from bed clear to the roof poles, the sticks need in this were as large as a persons little finger, and held together same

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Sometimes to make it look pretty, in making this willow work some of the sticks, say every five or six sticks was left with the skin or bark on the other five or six, bark peeled off, this made it striped. [[image - sketch captioned "Willow work" with horizontal and vertical lines intersecting, labeled "post". "Bed" on bottom]]
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