THE GEOGRAPHY OF GAMES 



141 





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Photograph by G. X. Collins 



SIBERIAN NATIVE SPINNING THE GYROSCOPIC TOP 



Two of the inexplicable facts of science are that the primitive tribes of Liberia should 

 have discovered the principle of the gyroscope long before it was known to civilized peoples, 

 and that the Australian natives, who have not even advanced to the agricultural stage, should 

 wield the boomerang, involving another principle of advanced physics, in a manner that white 

 men cannot equal. The Liberian keeps his top spinning in the air for any desired time by 

 repeated strokes with the small whip in his right hand. 



Certain oriental dignitaries visited 

 London some years ago and were deeply 

 impressed by their lavish entertainment. 

 One thing puzzled them. Inquired one, 

 when his curiosity got the better of his 

 restraint, "Why make the women of your 

 own families dance and why play so 

 many games yourselves? We can get 

 dancing girls and minstrels to entertain 



us?" Nearer neighbors than that never 

 can understand why Englishmen and 

 Americans play so hard. 



No explaining is needed among Anglo- 

 Saxons for mountain-climbing, baseball, 

 walking, or other active exercise. Colo- 



nial Americans brought the sports of 

 England with them. George Washing- 

 ton's diaries attest his 



ove of hunting 



