GROUND,.BALLS, STICKS, GOAL-POSTS, ETC. 303 



towards the ends. These drive fairly well, but they are very 

 apt to get under the ball and make it rise, particularly on 

 bumpy ground. The cane handles are made of ordinary or 

 sometimes of Malacca rattan, and are let into the heads at a 

 hole drilled near the centre, at any angle the player likes. The 

 more acute the angle the greater are the facilities for hitting 

 the ball when it is some distance off, and you get a more 

 sweeping stroke. The stick is tightly bound round with waxed 

 thread at its lower end where it joins the head. The tops of 

 the handles are either flat or round, and bound with soft white 

 leather or indiarubber, so as to afford a better grip to the hand, 

 and are generally furnished with a wrist-strap. It is best to 

 have these wrist-straps made of tape, which, whilst preventing 

 the stick leaving the hand from a blow, will yet give, if the stick 

 be caught by any means. Nasty accidents have occurred owing 

 to a player not being able to disengage his stick from his hand, 

 and so being pulled off his pony. Flat handles are the best, as 

 they are not so apt to turn in the hand. A polo stick measures 

 on an average from 4 ft. 4 in. to 4 ft. 6 in., but the length must 

 depend greatly on the man who is using it and the height of the 

 particular pony he is riding at the time, besides the strength of 

 his wrist. As a general rule, and as a safe standard to go by, a 

 polo stick should be of such a length that when the man using 

 it is mounted, and grasps it in his hand, letting his arm fall 

 to its full length by his side, the head should just touch the 

 ground. In weight polo sticks vary from 15 oz. to 21 oz. each, 

 but as every man has his particular fanc\, it is impossible to say 

 which is the best. The illustration opposite will show the most 

 favourite forms of sticks. 



The Thibetan 'byntu,' or polo stick (sketched from a stick 

 in the museum at Kew Gardens), differs much from our own, 

 but though a very rough implement the players are very 

 dexterous in its use. The handle, which is made of cherry or 

 sometimes of tamarisk wood, is let into a sort of groove in the 

 head, which is made of hard, heavy wood. This is clamped 

 with a band of roughly wrought iron and further secured 



