TUBNEH.] AMUSEMENTS. 255 



struggle amidst the terrible storms of a region where for eight mouths 

 in the year the soil is frozen and the few warm days of summer bring 

 forth a scanty vegetation, yet so strong is their love for tliese inhos- 

 pitable shores that the absent pine for a return and soon lose their hold 

 on life if they are not able to do so. 



During the intervals between the hunts and when food is still plen- 

 tiful, the Eskimo divert themselves with games of various kinds of their 

 own. They are also quick to adopt other games which require outdoor 

 exercise. • 



PootbaU calls out everybody, from the aged and bent mother of a 

 numerous family to the toddling youngster scarcely able to do more than 

 waddle under the burden of his heavy deerskin clothes. Wrestling 

 among the men is indulged in for hours at a time. The opponents 

 remove all their superfluous garments, seize each other around the 

 waist and lock hands behind each other's backs. The feet are spread 

 widely apart and each endeavors to draw, by the strength of the arms 

 alone, the back of his opi)onent into a curve and thus bring him oft" his 

 feet. Then with a lift he is quickly thi-own flat on his back. The fall 

 must be such that the head touches the ground. Where the contestants 

 are nearly matched the struggle may continue so long that one of them 

 gives up from exhaustion. The feet are never used for tripping. Such 

 a procedure would soon cause the witnesses to stop the struggle. 



The Eskimo and Indians often engage in comparative tests of their 

 strength in wrestling. The Eskimo prove the better men in these 

 engagements. Tlirowiiig stones at a mark is a sport for the younger 

 men, some of whom accpiire surprising dexterity. 



If a pack of playing-cards can be obtained they engage in games 

 which they have learned from the white people and teach each other. 

 Small stakes are laid on the result of the game. The women ai)pear to 

 exhibit a greater passion for gambling than the men do. They will 

 wager the last article of clothing on their persons till the loser ap])ears 

 in a nude condition before spectators. Then the winner will usually 

 return at least a part of the clothing, with an injunction to play more 

 and lose less. 



The young girls often play the game of taking an object and secret- 

 ing it within the closed hand. Another is called upon to guess the con- 

 tents. She makes inquiries as to the size, color, etc., of the object. 

 From the answers she gradually guesses what the thing is. 



A favorite game, something like cup and ball, is played with the 

 following implements: A piece of ivory is shaped into the form of an 

 elongate cone and has two deep notches or steps cut from one side 

 (Fig. 75). In the one next the base are bored a number of small holes 

 and one or two holes in the upper step. The apex has a single hole. 

 On the opposite side of the base two holes are made obliquely, that they 

 will meet, and through them is threaded a short piece of thong. To 

 the other end of the thong is attached a peg of ivory, about 4 inches 



