72 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



boy, and for three if she has given birth to a girl. Some mothers 

 preserve a piece of the navel-string, sew it up in a bag neatly orna- 

 mented, and suspend it as an amulet to the outer garment of the 

 child. 



Many of the Cree hunters are careful to prevent a woman from 

 partaking of the head of a moose-deer, lest it should spoil their future 

 hunts ; and for the same reason they avoid bringing it to a fort, fear- 

 ing lest 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 opposite 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 number, 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, indicate what number of 

 counters the caster is to receive from his opponent. 



They have, however, a much more manly amusement termed the 

 Cross, although they do not engage even in it without depositing 

 considerable stakes. An extensive meadow is chosen for this sport, 

 and the articles staked are tied to a post, or deposited in the custody 

 of two old men. The combatants being stript and painted, and each 

 provided with a kind of battledore or racket, in shape resembling 

 the letter P, with a handle about two feet long, and a head loosely 

 wrought with net-work, so as to form a shallow bag, range them- 

 selves on different sides. A ball being now tossed up in the middle, 



