664 W. Thalbitzer 



Thus the ring-and-pin toy of the Greenlanders is a rudiment of 

 a half-religious festival; like the bull-roarer and probably also the 

 buzzes it has originally been of importance as a cult instrument. 



The rattle has also its analogue in the west but has nothing of 

 this character either as toy or cult instrument. What is stated in 

 the east Greenland tales about the rattle used in the house-passage 

 as a kind of door-hammer, is in agrément with Miertsching's observa- 

 tions at Point Barrow in Alaska. He states that in the house-passage 

 of each house a kind of "trap" was placed, which made a noise if 

 touched unawares and thus warned the inhabitants that somebody 

 was passing through^). 



Lastly, I may just once more mention the ball-games. The 

 three kinds into which the Eskimo ball-games are classified by Culin 

 are all recognized in the described Greenland ball-games: shinny, 

 foot-ball and tossed ball'^). I am of opinion that the descriptions 

 cited by me from Giesecke's diary and Rink's tales from West Green- 

 land (pp. 660 — 663) provide us with much good and partly new 

 information about the Eskimo shinny-game. Both men and women 

 take part in this game ; each person has his racket or shovel-shaped 

 bat, made of a walrus scapula (without net-w^ork) ; the ball is heavy 

 and large and the game is often dangerous; the ball is only touched 

 with the bats not the hands, except at the very end of the game. 

 The parties assemble from different settlements and act as enemies 

 towards each other; there are certain rules for throwing the ball 

 from one member of a family to another but these are naturally 

 crossed as much as possible by the attacks of the adverse party. 

 In the description of the Ammassalikers' ball-game the latter feature 

 — regard for the relationship in the idea of the game — is strongly 

 emphasized. Though the description of shinny among the Indians 

 in Canada and further south is not very detailed, the resemblance 

 to the Eskimo ball-games is easily seen ; like the Indians the Eskimo have 

 undoubtedly had visible goals at the ends of the field on the ice 

 where they were playing^). 



Another question is, whether there is any connection between 

 these games, which the immigrant Europeans in Canada adopted in 

 a more general form as their national game under the name of la 

 crosse, and the old ball-game knattleikr known from north-western 

 Europe. The description of the latter, as recently given by F. Knudsen 

 on the basis of the middle-age literature of Ireland, England and 



1) Miertsching (1856) p. 199. 



2) Culin (1907j pp. 629, 701 and 709. He further mentions (p. 712) the game of 

 juggling with bails or pebbles as known from Baffin Land (and Smith Sound). 



8) Culin (1907) pp. 616-647. 



