Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 30.djvu/336

320 a boatman of rare skill. His favorite sports are boat-races, tennis, and shuttle-cock, to the last of which adults devote themselves with great zest. The shuttle-cock, which is thrown by the toe, often passes from one pair to another fifteen or twenty times without touching the ground. These games of skill are, however, second in favor to the games of chance, of which bacoing and the game of the twenty-six



animals are the chief. The former game is common to all the extreme East, and even numbers many Europeans among its votaries. The game of animals is more peculiarly Cambodian. It is a lottery, in which the numbers are represented by animals; and these give it life and touch the fancy of the players in a thousand ways. Roulette-players are sometimes struck by a particular number, and put a great deal of trust in it. How much more should an animal enlist their confidence! Its appearance, its voice, the direction of its course, are precious signs to the Cambodian player; and as he is, moreover, superstitious and frequently idle, it is easy to see how prominent a place these fascinating diversions occupy in his mind.