10^ 



Theyouth exercise themselves frequently in wrest- 

 ling and running. They are also much attached to 

 playing with the ball ; it is called by them pilma^ and 

 is made from a species of rush. But of all their 

 gymnastic games that require strength, the peuco 

 and the paliean are the best suited to their genius, as 

 they serve as an image of war. The first, which re- 

 presents the siege of a fortress, is conducted in the 

 following manner : Twelve or more persons join 

 hands and form a circle, in the centre of which stands 

 a little boy ; their adversaries, who are equal in 

 number, and sometimes superior, endeavour by 

 force or stratagem to break the circle, and make 

 themselves masters of the child, in which the victory 

 consists. But this attempt is by no means so easy 

 as it may seem. The defenders make almost in- 

 credible efforts to keep themselves closely united, 

 whence the beseigers are often compelled, by this 

 obstinate defence, to relinquish the attempt through 

 weariness. 



The paliean y which the Spaniards call chueca, re- 

 sembles the arpasto or sphero machia of the Greeks, 

 and the calcio of the Florentines. This game has 

 every appearance of a regular battle, and is played 

 with a wooden ball, called pali, on a plain of about 

 half a mile in length, the boundaries of which are 

 marked with branches of trees. The players, ^ to 

 the number of thirty^ furnished with sticks curved 

 at the end, arrange themselves in two files, disposed 

 in such a manner that each of them stands opposite 

 to his adversary ; when the judges appointed to pre- 

 side at the game give the signal, the two adversaries 



