INDIAN GAMES. 139 



nor a game of chance, but which seems to have been a 

 simple contest of skill. "Two pins are placed on the 

 floor, about the distance of a foot from each other, and a 

 small hole made behind them. The players then go about 

 ten feet from the hole, into which they try to roll a small 

 piece, resembling the men used at draughts ; if they 

 succeed in putting it into the hole, they win the stake ; if 

 the piece rolls between the pins, but does not go into the 

 hole, nothing is won or lost ; but the wager is wholly lost 

 if the chequer rolls outside the pins." 



Morgan"^ describes a winter contest of skill among the 

 Iroquois, which he calls snow-snake. The so-called 

 snakes were made of hickory. They were from five to 

 seven feet in length, a quarter of an inch in thickness, 

 tapering from an inch in width at the head to about half 

 an inch at the tail. The head was round, turned up 

 (slightly and weighted with lead. This implement was 

 shot along the snow crust, by hand, with great speed, and 

 a point in the game was gained by the snake which ran the 

 greatest distance. When there w^ere a number of players 

 divided into sides, if there were two, three or more 

 snakes of the same side which were in advance of the 

 snakes of the other side, all such counted. Such contests 

 usually took place between tril)os and aroused a great 

 degree of spirit and the usual amount of betting. In sim- 

 pler form, Sagard Theodat descril)cs this kind of amuse- 

 ment. 



OTHER AMUSEMENTS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. 



Under the name of " Fuseaux" La Potherie^*"' describes 

 a similar winter game of the children. He further says 

 the women only played at platter or dice. The children 



"* League ol' the Iroquois, p. 303. '■" Vol. in, p. 24. 



