116 INDIAN GAMES. 



Where Lafitau and Charlevoix, aided by opportunities 

 to investigate the game itself, have failed, it would seem to 

 be useless for us to attempt. Perrot has indeed succeeded 

 in making his account hopelessly involved. There is 

 however much information to be derived from it and the 

 obscure points are after all unimportant unless one should 

 actually wish to reproduce the game in practice. In that 

 event there are many points connected with the counts 

 which would prove troublesome. 



To play the game, a number of straws or reeds uniform 

 in size and of equal length were required. They were 

 generally from six to ten inches long. The number used 

 in the game was arbitrary. Lawson puts it at fifty-one. 

 Charlevoix at two hundred and one. The only essential 

 points were that the numbers should be odd and that there 

 should be enough of them so that when the pile was divid- 

 ed into two parts, a glance would not reveal which of the 

 two divisions contained the odd number of straws. In its 

 simplest form, the game consisted, in separating the heap 

 of straws* into two parts, one of which each player took, 

 and he whose pile contained the odd number of straws 

 was the winner. Before the division was made the straws 

 were subjected to a manipulation, somewhat after the man- 

 ner of shuffling cards. They were then placed upon the 

 deer-skin or upon whatever other article was selected as a 

 surface on which to play. The player who was to make the 

 division into two heaps, with many contortions of the body 

 and throwing about of the arms, and with constant utter- 

 ances to propitiate his good luck, would make a division 

 of the straws with a pointed bone or some similar instru- 

 ment, himself taking one of the divisions while his adver- 

 sary took the other. They would then rapidly separate 

 the straws into parcels numbering ten each and determine 

 from the fractional remainders, who had the odd number. 



