490 ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GUIANA INDIANS [ETH, ANN. 38 
[Norr.—Compare the ball game played with the head among the 
Paressi-Kibixi Indians of the Matto Groso.—Zeit. f. Ethnol, 1912, 
Part pale 
604. The next mention of this Indian game of tennis with a rubber 
ball is made by Von Humboldt from the River Atabapo (AVH, un, 
345). I have also seen Makusi and Patamona boys playing with a 
rubber ball on the following lines: With the boys standing around 
in a circle (pl. 172 C) and keeping their relative positions in it 
throughout the game, the ball is thrown into the air and before 
reaching the ground must be struck by the flat of the hand. With 
this increased impetus it strikes the ground with greater force and 
a correspondingly greater rebound, when it is again struck while 
falling in similar fashion, and the game is to see how many times 
running a player can strike the ball on the fall. As soon as one boy 
misses his stroke, another has a try, and so on. It is no mean feat 
to keep the ball rebounding but half a dozen times on a rough, uneven 
surface. 
605. Schomburgk describes a game of ball with maize cobs at the 
Makusi village of Tarong-Yauwise, at the head of the Cotinga, 
played by men and boys (but at this meeting there was a mixture 
of at least five tribes). The ball, made from a maize-glume (pl. 
172 A), is thrown into the air within a closed circle of participants, 
and before reaching the ground has to be struck up again with the 
flat of the hand of the person nearest, so that it is in a continual 
motion. If it is missed and falls to the ground the player in ques- 
tion is made the laughingstock of the company (SR, 1, 192). This 
method of playing is very like that practiced by young men on the 
Caiary and Aiary nowadays, where the ball (usually two are 
employed) ends in a tail formed of the extremities of the glumes, 
the shape reminding one of that of the English shuttlecock (KG, 
i. 26))e 
606. The Otomac Indians also appear to have had a game wherein 
the participants, placed in positions corresponding with the three 
corners of a large triangle, threw fruit stones, etc., at an individual 
stationed in the center, whose business it was by ducking, springing, 
and jumping to avoid being hit (G, 1, 90). 
607. True wrestling is practiced by Wapishana. The object, after 
closing in, is to lift the opponent off the ground. At the time of 
Appun’s visit to the Arekuna at Ibirimu-yeng village, wrestling 
formed a part of the sports in which the evenings were spent during 
his stay. The Indians divided themselves into two opposing sides, 
out of which at a given signal, to the accompaniment of a mighty 
roar, Which certainly was not inferior to that of the heroes before 
Troy, there stepped two individuals who let themselves loose upon 
