206 



GAMBLING. 



There are several games, the principle of which is the same. In one, 

 a small piece of bone is passed rapidly from hand to hand, shifted behind the 

 back, &c., the object of the contending party being to ascertain in which hand 

 it is held. Each side is furnished with five or ten small sticks, which serve 

 to mark the game, one stick being given by the guesser whenever he loses, 

 and received whenever he wins. On guessing correctly, it is his turn to 

 manipulate. When all tlie sticks are won, the game ceases, and the winner 

 receives the stakes, consisting of clothing or any other articles, as the play 

 may be either high or low, for simple amusement, or in eager rivalry. The 

 backers of the party manipulating keep up a constant di-umming with sticks 

 on their paddles, which lie before them, singing an incantation to attract 

 good fortune. This is usually known as the game of hand, or, in jargon, 

 It-lu-kam. Another, at which they exhibit still more interest, is played 

 with ten disks of hard wood, about the diameter of a Mexican dollar, and 

 somewhat thicker, called, in the jargon, tsil-fsil; in the Niskwalli language, 

 la-lmlp. One of these is marked and called the chief. A smooth mat is 

 spread on the ground, at the ends of which the opposing players are 

 seated, their friends on either side, who are provided with the requisites for 

 a noise, as in tlie other case. The party holding the disks has a bundle of 

 the fibers of the cedar bark, in which he envelops them, and, after rolling 

 them about, tears the bundle into two parts, his opponent guessing in which 

 bundle the chief lies. These disks are made of the yew, and must be cut 

 into shape with beaver tooth chisels only. The marking of them is in itself 

 an art, certain persons being able by their spells to indue them with luck, 

 and their manufactures bring very high prices. The game is coimted as in 

 the first mentioned. Farther down the coast, ten highly polished 'sticks are 

 used, instead of disks. 



The women have a game belonging properly to themselves. It is 

 played Avith four beaver teeth, having jiarticular marks on each side, meh- 

 ta-la. They are thrown as dice, success depending on the arrangement in 

 which they fall. 



Each species of gambling has its appropriate tamalmo-tis, or, as it is 

 called upon the Sound, SlnvolaUtud, that is, its patron spirit, whose coun- 



