SWANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 683 



companions had been escorted to the town of the head chief of the 

 province of Asao, about the present St. Simons Island, 



they began to entertain us with a certain game, in order to begin which they put 

 all the players together with their chief at one side of the square (plaza), each 

 one with a staff or piece of sharp-pointed horn of the form and shape of a dart, 

 but one of them did not resemble it( ?) : the chief held a stone in his hand of the 

 shape and size of a five cent loaf of bread (una torta de pan de a medio real), 

 and to begin the game he who held it set it rolling with his whole strength, and 

 all at one time and without order threw their staffs after the stone and at the 

 same time started after them on the run : I did not understand the game very 

 well, but it appeared to me that he who ran fastest and arrived first took his 

 staff and the stone and without stopping a moment returned to dart it at the 

 place which they had left, and in the same manner the others took theirs and 

 returned to dart them : at this exercise they spent a considerable period of time 

 and they were so much engaged in running that sweat poured down all over 

 their bodies. (Garcia, 1902, pp. 195-196.) 



William Bartram observed chunk yards in the Cherokee country, 

 and Timberlake mentions the game specifically, stating that the count 

 was in accordance with the nearness of the bowl to marks upon the 

 poles (Timberlake, Williams ed., 1927, pp. 99-100). Adair's descrip- 

 tion is probably applicable to both the Creeks and Chickasaw and is the 

 only one that has come down to us from either tribe. He says that not 

 more than one or two played on a side, that the sticks were 8 feet long 

 and the stone rollers, measuring about 2 fingers in breadth and 2 spans 

 around, were the property of towns, which preserved them carefully 

 from one generation to another. After the stone and sticks had come to 

 rest, he whose pole lay nearest to the roller scored one point, and if it 

 was in contact with it two. If both sticks were equally near, neither 

 side scored. The poles were anointed with bear grease (Adair, 1775, 

 pp. 401-402; Swanton, 1928 c, p. 244). 



Romans says that the Choctaw used poles 15 feet long, that one 

 threw the stone, his antagonist tried to hit it by throwing his pole 

 after it, and the first player attempted to throw his own in such a 

 way as to intercept the pole of the second. The winner threw the 

 stone for the next play (Romans, 1775, pp. 79-80) . Cushman's account 

 is similar to that of Romans except that he shortens the poles from 

 15 feet to 8 or 10, and states that one point was scored by the man who 

 hit the stone and one by the man who hit the pole of his antagonist 

 (Cushman, 1899, p. 190). Halbert tells us that this ancient game, 

 called achahpi, was revived in 1876 and played for the last time by 

 an aged Choctaw named Mehubbee and some younger men whom he 

 instructed. From one of these Halbert learned that the yard was 

 about 100 feet by 12, th?it the poles were hickory saplings with rounded 

 ends, which had been barked, scraped, and seasoned over the fire. 



Four notches were cut near the head, one in the middle, and two 

 halfway between the above points. The score depended on the near- 



