332 THE ESKIMO ABOUT BERING STRAIT [kth.ann.18 



toy sled. In the background is the shelter over the entrauce of the 

 tunnel leading to the interior of the half-underground house, the roof of 

 which appears like a mound on the right. 



During one of my sledge journeys I was stormbound at Cape Darby, 

 near Bering strait, and during the day an old man in the house where 

 I stopped amused me by the ingenuity with which he made intricate 

 patterns of cord, holding the loop between his extended hands after the 

 manner of children making a "cat's cradle." For an hour or more he 

 made a constant succession of patterns with his sinew cord, forming 

 outlines of various birds and other animals of the region. The readi- 

 ness with which he wove the strings in and out showed that his dex- 

 terity must have been gained by long practice. I also heard of this 

 form of amusement among the Eskimo along the coast southward to the 

 mouth of the Kuskokwim, 



The following games are in common use throughout this region: 



First game — (St Michael). A round block about 6 inches long is 

 cut into the form of a large spool, but with the flaring rim of one end 

 replaced by a sharpened point. The top is from 2i to 3 inches across 

 and has a deep hole in the center. This spool-like object is planted in 

 the floor of the kashim with the large end upward, and an indetinite 

 number of players gather around it seated cross-legged on the floor. 

 Near the spool is a small pile of short sticks, of uniform size, used as 

 counters. These, with a small, pointed wooden dart, in size and shape 

 almost exactly like a sharpened lead pencil, compose the implements of 

 the game. The first player takes the butt of the dart between the 

 thumb and forefinger, with its point upward and his hand nearly on a 

 level with the spool. Then he gives the dart a deft upward toss, trying 

 to cause it to take a curved course, oo that it will fall with the point 

 downward and remain fast in the hole at the top of the spool. If he 

 succeeds he takes one of the counting sticks from the pile and tries 

 again; when he misses, the dart is passed to the next player, and so 

 on, until the counters are all gone, when the players count up and the 

 one having the most counters is tlie winner. Ordinarily this game is 

 played by men, women, or children merely for pastime, but sometimes 

 small articles are staked upon the outcome. It is a source of much 

 sport to the i)layers, who banter and laugh like school children at each 

 other's bad play. 



Second game — (St Michael). A bundle of from fifty to seventy- 

 five small, squared, wooden splints, about 4 inches long and a little 

 larger than a match, are placed in a small pile crosswise on the back of 

 the player's outstretched right hand. The ^flayer then removes his 

 hand quickly and tries to grasp the falling sticks between his thumb and 

 fingers, still keeping the palm downward. If one or more of the sticks 

 fall to the ground it is a miss and the next player tries. Every time a 

 player succeeds in catching all of the falling sticks, he lays aside one 

 of them as a counter until all are gone, when each player counts up and 



