The Natioiial Game of Skill of Africa. 
51 
by the word IKoenie, meaning he runs away. If, on the other hand, a 
player assumes a vigorous offensive and succeeds in capturing all the pieces 
in two or more consecutive holes belonging to his adversary, he is said to hit 
him OR the head (XNoii). 
There is a good deal in the game when played by experienced players, 
who will sometimes sit for hours over a single contest; victory usually 
falling to the player whose ability to foresee positions, and to calculate 
rapidly in what hole any particular move will end is the more developed. 
When played in a village or werft it invariably attracts spectators, who 
follow the moves with the greatest interest and vie with one another in 
offering suggestions to the players ; a practice that frequently leads to 
quarrels. 
To render the rules of the game quite clear the complete record of a 
contest between two players P and Q is appended. In the diagrams, the 
holes are represented by open squares, the pieces by black dots and the 
appropriation or capture of pieces by a black rectangle or square. 
Ila. — The Games of Maruha, Mofuha, Tschuha and Chuha. 
Maruba. 
Maruha is the favourite recreation of the Bapedi inhabiting the northern, 
western and southern portions respectively of the Middleburg, Lydenburg 
and Zoutpansberg districts of the Transvaal. It is played on a board 
consisting of four parallel rows of holes, the number of holes in each row 
being dependent upon the number of players. A row generally contains an 
even number of holes, but there is no definite rule on this point. 
At the beginning of a game each player puts two pieces (mathlapa) in 
each of the holes (mehoti) of his outer row and the same number in each of 
the holes of his inner row, except the one on the extreme left, which is left 
empty, and the one next to it, into which only a single piece is placed 
(Fig. 5, I and Plate XYI). The first player may start his move from any 
of the holes in his inner row containing two pieces or from any hole in his 
outer row. The pieces are moved in a counter-clockwise direction in exactly 
the same manner as in \\IIus ; a move continuing until the last of the pieces 
taken up from any particular hole is dropped into an empty hole. If the 
hole in question is in the player's outer row his move comes to an end, and 
this also happens if it is in his inner row and the corresponding hole in his 
opponent's inner row is empty. If, on the other hand, the hole is in his 
inner row and has opposite it, in the inner row of his opponent, an occupied 
hole, he is entitled to "kill" (tlaha) the pieces in this hole and the corresponding 
hole in his opponent's outer row, and is moreover entitled to capture (tlola) 
