Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/523

 Customs of the Lower Congo People. 459

game to his side, and he or another on the side A goes out again. Should he not find it, then it counts as a game to the other side, and one lad on that side goes out. Of course the " biti " players try to hide the guiding note by play- ing rapidly, and covering it with variations on the other reeds. A quick ear to catch the repetition and absence of the guiding note is necessary for this game.

2. The following game is played with the beautiful round black seeds of the " Canna " plant, which grows wild in most places on the Congo. The seeds are about the size of buckshot. The players are divided into two sides, A and B, and form a circle as they sit on the ground. If the side A plays first, a thrower takes about 25 to 30 seeds in each hand, and throws them out from his hands alternately, counting one, two, three, and so on up to ten, and the rest he throws helter skelter over the cleared space in front of him, yet in such a way as not to disarrange too much the positions of the first 10 seeds he threw, but he tries to do it as carefully carelessly as he can. Before beginning to throw the seeds, the side A has agreed that the seed 5 is the playing seed, and so, the seeds having been thrown, one lad on the side A withdraws a little from the circle out of sight and hearing. Then, if the side B has spotted the playing seed 5, they pick it up, and say, " That is the seed and its number is 5." It counts as one game to them. If, however, they have not spotted the seed, or pick up the wrong one, then a lad on the side A touches the right one, and the lad who has left his side is called back and picks up the seed that has been touched by the player on his side. That counts as one game to the side A. Any touching or picking up of the wrong seed is counted as a game to the other side. Suppos- ing the side A says that the seed 5 is not the playing seed, then the side B removes that seed, and the lad is recalled and, of course, he finds the seed 5 is gone, and, should he try to help the cheating by picking up another