SWANTON] GAMES 243 
acter of a steady warrior to let his temper be ruffled by any accidents—their 
virtue, they say, should prevent it.... To move the deity to enable them to 
conquer the party they are to play against, they mortify themselves in a sur- 
prising manner; and, except a small intermission, their female relations dance 
out of doors all the preceding night, chanting religious notes with their shrill 
voices, to move Yo He Wah ** to be favorable to their kindred party on the 
morrow. The men fast and wake from sunset, till the ball play is over the next 
day, which is about 1 or 2 o’clock in the afternoon. During the whole night, 
they are to forbear sleeping under the penalty of reproaches and shame; which 
would sit very sharp upon them, if their party chanced to lose the game, as it 
would be aseribed to that unmanly and vicious conduct. They turn out to the 
ball ground in a long row, painted white, whooping, as if Pluto’s prisoners were 
all broke loose; when that enthusiastic emotion is over, the leader of the com- 
pany begins a religious invocation by saying Yah, short; then Yo, long, which 
the rest of the train repeat with a short accent and on a low key like the 
leader; and thus they proceed with such acclamations and invocations, as have 
been already noticed, on other occasions. Bach party are desirous to gain the 
twentieth ball, which they esteem a favourite divine gift. As it is in the time 
of laying by the corn, in the very heat of summer, they use this severe exercise, 
a stranger would wonder to see them hold it so long at full speed, and under 
the scorching sun, hungry also, and faint with the excessive use of such sharp 
physic as the button snakeroot, the want of natural rest, and of every kind of 
nourishment. But their constancy, which they gain by custom, and their love 
of virtue, as the sure means of success, enable them to perform all their exer- 
cises without failing in the least, be they ever so severe in the pursuit.” 
The single-pole game is as old as the time of Adair, but there is no 
lengthy description of it dating from an early period.*® 
Another ancient and popular game, yet one apparently devoid of 
the social significance of the two-goal ball game, was known to the 
traders as the chunkey game. I again quote from Adair: 
The warriors have another favorite game, called Chungke; which, with pro- 
priety of language, may be called “ Running hard labor.” They have near their 
state house a square piece of ground well cleaned, and fine sand is carefully 
strewed over it, when requisite, to promote a swifter motion to what they 
throw along the surface. Only one or two on a side play at this ancient game. 
They have a stone about two fingers broad at the edge and two spans round; 
each party has a pole of about 8 feet long, smooth, and tapering at each end, 
the points flat. They set off abreast of each other at 6 yards from the end of 
the playground; then one of them hurls the stone on its edge, in as direct a 
line as he can, a considerable distance toward the middle of the other end of the 
square ; when they have run a few yards each darts his pole anointed with bear’s 
oil, with a proper force, as near as he can guess in proportion to the motion of 
the stone, that the end may lie close to the stone—when this is the case, the 
person counts two of the game, and, in proportion to the nearness of the poles 
to the mark, one is counted, unless by measuring, both are found to be at an 
equal distance from the stone. In this manner, the players will keep running 
most part of the day, at half speed, under the violent heat of the sun, staking 
their silver ornaments, their nose, finger, and ear rings; their breast, arm, and 
wrist plates, and even all their wearing apparel, except that which barely covers 
44 Adair is reverting again to his favorite theory that these meaningless syllables had 
reference to the Jehovah of the Hebrews. 
4° Adair, Hist. Am. Inds., pp. 399-401. 
“Tbid., pp. 113-114; see also, p. 263 of this article. 
