172 INDIAN GAMES. 



would have been much more justifiable than the compari- 

 son to tennis by the French writers. 



Ball play seems to be associated with the legends of 

 the Indians. Elias Johnson, 5 himself an Indian, tells about 

 a tradition of a little old man who frequently presented 

 himself among the ball players. His presence in no way 

 affected the game, but he was afflicted with innumerable 

 ailings and to a kindly woman who received him in her hut, 

 he successively disclosed the treatment which would cure 

 each of his complaints, until he reached consumption, 

 which he pronounced incurable. Whether the use of the 

 game by the medicine men, as a cure-all, is based on the 

 tradition, or the tradition on the use, does not appear, 

 but the connection is evident. 



In 1768, J. Long 6 arrived at Montreal. He spent 

 many years among the Indians of Canada and the north- 

 west. Part of the time he was engaged in mercantile 

 pursuits, and during a portion of the Revolutionary War 

 he cooperated with the Indians engaged on the English 

 side. He describes lacrosse. It is not clear among what 

 tribes he means that be saw the game played, but I infer 

 that it was among the Chippewas. The ball was of stuffed 

 deer-skin. The rackets were about two feet long and 

 were laced at the end. The ball was to be struck " into 

 a goal, at the distance of about four hundred yards, at 

 the extremity of which are placed two high poles, about 

 the width of a wicket from each other ; the victory con- 

 sists in driving the ball between the poles." He also re- 

 cords the good humor which prevailed during the games, 

 even in case of serious hurt. 



5 Legends, Traditions and Laws of the Iroquois, etc., by Elias Johnson, a na- 

 tive Tuscarora chief. Lockport, 1881, p. 58. 



Voyages and Travels of au Indian Interpreter, etc., by J. Long. London, 

 1791. 



