IMPLEMENTS OF STONE. 223 



Adair describes them, and the game in which they were used, and remarks that 

 they were " from time immemorial rubbed smooth on the rocks, and with prodigious 

 labor," and furthermore were so highly valued, " that they were kept with the 

 strictest religious care from one generation to another, and were exempted from 

 being buried with the dead." 



It is a singular fact that similar stones are found in Denmark, and Molina describes 

 them as numerous in Chili. We may conclude that they everywhere had much 

 the same use.* 



* Rev. J. B. Finley (distinguished for his zealous efforts in christianizing the Indian tribes of Ohio) 

 states that, among the tribes with which he was acquainted, stones identical with those above described 

 were much used in a popular game resembling the modern game of " ten pins." The form of the stones 

 suggests the manner in which they were held and thrown, or rather rolled. The concave sides received 

 the thumb and second finger, the forefinger clasping the periphery. Adair, in his notice of the Southern 

 Indians, gives a minute and graphic account of a game somewhat analogous to that described by Mr. 

 Finley, in which stones of this description were used. Du Pratz notices the same game, and fully explains 

 the purpose of the oblique-edged stones, Nos. 4 and 6 of the text. These, when rolled, would describe a 

 convolute figure. The lines on the stones, resembling bird-tracks, were probably in some way connected 

 with " counting" the game. 



" The warriors have another favorite game, called Chvvtjke ; which, with propriety of language, may be 

 called ' running hard labor.' They have near their state house a square piece of ground well cleaned ; 

 and fine sand is strewed over it, when requisite, to promote a swifter motion to what they throw along its 

 surface. Only one or two on a side play at this ancient game. They have a stone about two finyers 

 broad at the edge and tuo spans round ; each party has a pole about eight feet long, smooth and tapering 

 at each end, the points flat. They set off abreast of each other, at six yards from the edge of the play- 

 ground ; then one of them hurls the stone on its edge, in as direct a line as he can, a considerable distance 

 towards the middle of the other end of the square ; when they have run a few yards, each daits his pole, 

 anointed with bear's grease, with a proper force, as dBlr as he can guess, in proportion to the motion of ' 

 the stone, that the end may lie close to the same ; — when this is the case the person counts two of the 

 game, and in proportion to the nearness of the poles to the mark, one is counted, unless by measurement 

 both are found to be an equal distance from the stone. In this manner the players will keep moving most 

 of the day at half speed, under the violent heat of the sun, staking their silver ornaments ; their nose, 

 finger, and ear rings ; their breast, arm, and wrist plates ; and all their wearing apparel, except that which 

 barely covers their middle. All the American Indians are much addicted to this game, which appears to 

 be a task of stupid drudgery ; it seems, however, to be of early origin, when their forefathers used diver- 

 sions as simple as their manners. (The hurling stones they use at present were, from time immemorial, 

 rubbed smooth on the rocks, and with prodigious labor ; they are kept with the strictest religious care 

 from one generation to another, and are exempt from being buried with the dead.) They belong to the 

 town where they are used, and are carefully preserved." — Adair's History of American Indians, p. 402. 



" The warriors practise a diversion which they call the game of the pole, at which only two play at a 

 time. Each pole is about eight feet long, resembling a Roman f, and the game consists in rolling a flat 

 round stone, about three inches in diameter and one inch thick, with the edges somewhat sloping, and 

 throwing the pole in such a manner that when the stone rests, the pole may be at or near it. Both 

 antagonists throw their pole at the same time, and he whose pole is nearest the stone counts one, and has 

 the right of rolling the stone." — Du Pratz, History of Louisiana, 1720, p. 366. 



Mr. Breckenridge (Views of Louisiana, p. 250) mentions a game popular among the Arikara, 

 (Riccarees,) played with a ring of stone. Lewis and Clarke also mention a game common among the 

 Mandans, similar to the one above described, and which was also played with rings of stone. Mr. Catlin, 

 (vol. i. p. 132) both describes and illustrates the game, which, among the Mandans as well as among 

 the Creeks, was denominated " Tchung-kee." 



Disrnidal stones analogous, if not identical, with these, have been found in abundance in Chili. " In 



