CULIN] FOUR-STICK GAME: KLAMATH 329 
counters, kshesh, which, at the beginning of the game, are in 
possession of one or the other side and lie flat on the ground. 
As points are won by one or the other side, they are taken up 
and thrust into the ground in front of the winner, according to 
the number of points gained. 
These specimens were collected by Dr George A. Dorsey.“ who 
describes the game under the names of shulsheshla, spelshna, or 
shakla : 
In playing this game the four long sticks are arranged in one of a number of 
possible combinations, the players hiding them under a blanket or large basket 
tray. x 
A taking the counters on his side makes the first guess, B manipulating the 
sticks under a blanket or mat. Should A guess correctly the position of the 
sticks, he wins and thrusts in the ground one or two counters, according to 
the value of his guess, and B again arranges the sticks under the blanket. 
Should A guess wrongly he forfeits one counter and guesses again, but in this 
case B conceals only two of the sticks, that is, one large and one small 
wrapped one. 
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1 2 3 4 5 6 
Fic. 434. Possible combinations of large and small sticks in the four-stick game; Klamath 
Indians, Oregon; from Dr George A. Dorsey. 
If A wins, or guesses correctly, the sticks are passed to him, when he manipu- 
lates them under the blanket and B guesses. But if A loses, he ‘forfeits a 
counter and B again manipulates the single pair of sticks. In guessing, when 
they wish to designate the small wrapped sticks, the index and middle finger 
are used; for the thick sticks, the index finger alone. In expressing the guess 
at positions numbered 1 [figure 434] and 2 (vuish), they move the hand side- 
wise one way or another as they desire to indicate the positions as expressed in 
numbers 1 or 2. To miss the guess when “ vuish is laid,” neither side loses nor 
wins, nor is there any changing to the other opponent of the sticks; but when 
the position 3 or 4 is laid, with A guessing and winning, the sticks must be 
passed to him for manipulating and he wins no counters. When the sticks are 
laid in positions 5 or 6 and A guesses, using two fingers, he obviously loses 
doubly, and two counters are passed to B. 
Another set (cat. no. 61724) is exactly similar to the preceding, 
except that the buckskin-wrapped sticks are not painted black, 
while the two large sticks are not painted alike, one having two 
burnt bands about the center 2 inches’ apart, from each side of 
which a row of zigzag lines extends entirely around the stick. 
On both of the large sticks of this set there are four parallel 
bands, equidistant from the burnt ends of the stick, the pairs 
being connected by parallel spirals. 
A third set (cat. no. 61723) has two small sticks wrapped with raw- 
hide which has been painted red; the large sticks are charred at 
«Certain Gambling Games of the Klamath Indians. American Anthropologist, n. s., v. 
3, p. 23, 1901. 
