A THLE TIC AM U SEMEN TS. 131 



Another Eskimo out-of-door amuse- 

 ment much resembles the old Indian 

 game of "Lacrosse." It is played on 

 the smooth lake ice, with three or four 

 small round balls of quartz or granite, 

 about the size of an English walnut. 

 These are kicked and knocked about 

 the lake, with plenty of fun and shouting, 

 but utterly without any rules to govern 

 the game. 



It takes a long time to grind one of 

 these irregular pieces of stone into a 

 round ball, but the Eskimo people are 

 very patient and untiring in their rou- 

 tine work, and with them, as with the 

 Indians, time is of hardly any consequence 

 whatever. The number of years that they 

 will spend in plodding away at the most 

 simple things shows them to be probably 

 the most patient people in the world. 



