140 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



the white people should give the bones to 

 the dogs. 



The games or sports of the Crees are 

 various. One termed the game of the 

 Mitten, is played with four balls, three of 

 which are plain, and one marked. These 

 being hid under as many mittens, the op- 

 posite party is required to fix on that which 

 is marked. He gives or receives a feather 

 according as he guesses right or wrong. 

 When the feathers, which are ten in num- 

 ber, have all passed into one hand, a new 

 division is made ; but when one of the 

 parties obtains possession of them thrice, he 

 seizes on the stakes. 



The game of Platter is more intricate, 

 and is played with the claws of a bear, or 

 some other animal, marked with various 

 lines and characters. These dice, which 

 are eight in number, and cut flat at their 

 large end, are shook together in a wooden 

 dish, tossed into the air and caught again. 

 The lines traced on such claws as happen 

 to alight on the platter in an erect position, 



