ESKIMOS 175 
with the open hand backwards and forwards, the object being 
to prevent it from touching the ground. Wrestling is indulged 
in by the young men; in this no tripping is allowed, and a 
throw must be made from a shoulder hold. Boxing as we under- 
stand it is not practised, but they have hitting contests, where 
one man stands unguarded and allows another to hit him as 
powerful a blow as he is capable of, on the understanding that 
the blow may be returned under similar conditions. When 
such a contest takes place between strangers it often leads to 
the vanquished one, if at home, revenging himself upon the 
stranger with his knife, and altogether this is a rather danger- 
ous pastime for grown men, although good for boys. The 
children play out-of-doors during the daylight, having usually 
miniature sleds to which they attach themselves, or the pups. 
Among the indoor amusements are a number of games of 
skill. a very popular game is played by suspending a small 
ring of ivory by a string to the roof; another string, steadied by 
a weight, hangs below the ring, often in a vessel of water to 
prevent it swinging too violently. The string is twisted so that 
the ring revolves rapidly, and all stand round and attempt to 
pierce it with small wooded lances. A prize is given to the first 
successful one, who in turn donates a prize to the second, and 
so on. Another game is a variety of the cup-and-ball game. A 
piece of ivory, roughly carved to represent a bear or some other 
animal, is pierced full of holes and is attached by a short string 
to a small ivory pencil. The play consists in tossing the large 
piece into the air and piercing it with the stylus, different 
values being assigned to the different holes. Cat's-cradle is the 
constant amusement of the women and children, and they have 
a great number of figures unknown to the ordinary player in 
civilization. The Eskimos do not appear to have the gambling 
spirit strongly developed, and have few games of chance. One 
of these consists in guessing the number of articles held in the 
closed hand; another is played with small slabs of ivory, re- 
