Page:Lacrosse- The National Game of Canada (New Edition).djvu/155

Rh made, to find the best catchers those who had bagged netting, and there were passable players who could not play at all when obliged to use the netting flat. When you find you must resort to bagging, to make you equal with others, you may be convinced you have yet to learn the very elements of good and scientific play. The Indians are celebrated for catching, and yet, observe the paltry net work of their sticks, as a rule, and without the least bag. We remember that at the match before H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, of twenty-five Indians, only one carried a stick which would not have passed the inspection of the Umpires, and yet one special feature of that match was their magnificent catching. Catching, however, has always been their hereditary acomplishment [sic]. When the original stick was used they played for hours without missing a catch; Lanman says, "it is sometimes kept from touching the ground for a whole afternoon." Sandford, in his History of the United States, also says, "the ball seldom touches the ground." If you look at the size and shape of the original stick, you will understand the difficulty of such play, and may feel that catching in our game,