Discoidal Stones of the Indian Mounds. 217 
i 
ited by the modern (existing) race of Indians. The stones met 
with in a mound near Chillicothe, to which Dr. Morton alludes, 
are very unlike those figured in his paper, as they are of horn-stone, 
rudely blocked out, while the others mentioned, are of great 
symmetry and manifestly the result of much labor. , 
' Nor is there, apparently, much mystery as to the use made o 
. these stones. Iam assured, by Rev. Mr. Finley, “ the Wyandot 
Chief,” (distinguished for his zealous efforts in christianizing the 
Indian tribes of Ohio,) that among the tribes with which he was 
acquainted, stones of this description were much used in a popu- 
lar game, somewhat resembling our game of “ten pins.” A 
smooth and well packed area of earth was selected, at one ex- 
tremity of which a small wooden pin was stuck, while the player 
stationed himself at the other. The point of the gamie consisted 
in striking the pin oftenest ina given number of trials. The 
form of the stones suggests the manner in which they were 
| held and thrown, or, rather, rolled, The concave sides received 
the thumb and second finger, the forefinger clasping the pe- 
a riphery. 
Adair, in his account of the Indians along the gulf,* gives a 
minute, and graphic account of a game, somewhat analogous to 
| that described by Mr. Finley, in which stones of this description 
Were used. He says:—“'The warriors have another favorite 
game, called Chungke ; which, with propriety of language, may 
be called « Running hard labor.” They have near their state 
house, a square piece of ground well cleared, and fine sand is 
carefully strewn over it, when requisite, to promote a swifter mo- 
tion 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 about eight feet long, smooth and tapering at each end, the 
i Points flat. They set off abreast of each other, at six yards from 
the edge of the play ground; then one of them hurls the stone 
> 9n its edge, in as direct a line as he can, a considerable distance 
towards the middle of the other end of the square: when they 
have run a few yards, each darts his pole, ‘anointed with bear’s 
stease, with a proper foree, as near as he can guess, in proportion 
to the motion of the stone, that the end may lie close to the 
a 
eH atsiy ot ine American Indians, particularly those nations adjoining to the 
“issippi, East and West Florida, Georgia, &c. by James Adair, London, 1765.” 
