332 THE NISHINAM. 
has his mouth open widest, is most likely to catch the clover, which he is 
then entitled to eat. As a variation, one will stand with his eyes shut and 
mouth open, while another fires wads at the port-hole, or occasionally harder 
substances, and he is not particular whether he hits the mouth, the nose, or 
some other portion of his physiognomy. 
The most common mode of gambling (/i’-/ai), used by both men and 
women, is conducted by means of four longish cylinders of bone or wood, 
which are wrapped in pellets of grass and held in the hand, while the oppo- 
site party guesses which hand contains them. These cylinders are carved 
from several materials, but the Indians call them all bones. Thus they have 
the phrases pol’-loam hi'-lai hin, toan'-em hi'-lai hin, du'-pem hi'-lar hin, 
gai'-a hi'-lai hin, which mean respectively to gamble with buckeye bones, 
pine bones, deer bones, and cougar bones. There is a subtile difference in 
their minds in the quality of the game, according to the kind of bones 
employed, but what it is I cannot discern. This game, with slight varia- 
tions, prevails pretty much all over California; and as I had opportunity 
- of seeing it on a much larger scale on Gualala Creek, the reader is referred 
to the chapter on the Gualala. The sw’-toh is the same game substantially, 
only the pieces are shaken in the hand without being wrapped in the grass. 
The ha is a game of dice, played by men or women, two, three, or four 
together. The dice, four in number, consist of two acorns split lengthwise 
into halves, with the outsides scraped and painted red or black. They are 
shaken in the hands and thrown into a wide, flat basket, woven in orna- 
mental patterns, sometimes worth $25. One paint and three whites, or vice 
versa, score nothing; two of each, score one; four alike, score four. The 
thrower keeps on throwing until he makes a blank throw, when another 
takes the dice. When all the players have stood their turn, the one who 
has scored most takes the stakes, which in this game are generally small, 
say a “bit”. As the Indians say, ‘This is a quick game, and with good 
luck one can very soon break another.” 
The ti’-kel ti’-kel is also a gambling game, for two men, played with a 
bit of wood or a pebble, which is shaken in the hand, and then the hand 
closed upon it. The opponent guesses which finger (a thumb is a finger 
