Page:The Pima Indians.pdf/182

] hota stcok, "middle black," has 6 longitudinal rows; reed d, ma-atcoʌolt, has 5 rows around the open end.

One hundred grains of corn are placed between the players in a hole, from which they are taken as won and placed in a hole in front of each player. When a player wins all the corn, he puts up a stick in the sand. The number of sticks may be from 1 to 10, as determined beforehand. Each player cancels one of his opponent's sticks when he wins one himself.

Two players confine their attention to the guessing; one on each side fills the reeds; one on each side watches the counting. Four men, one at each corner, hold the blanket, under which the filling is done, and sometimes offer suggestions to the leaders. The "old people," the plain reeds, and the marked reeds, are kept together and the "young people" are used by the opponents. When the two pairs are filled with sand and a bean or ball is concealed in each pair, the blanket is dropped and the reeds are laid in the center, each filler handing his pair over to the side of his opponent. If A guesses wrong and B right, four grains of corn are forfeited to the winner. If neither guesses right, they exchange reeds and begin again. If both guess right, there is no count. When one guesses right, he takes the four reeds and places his ball in one and the opponent then decides which pair it is in by laying one reed across the other in the pair which he thinks does not contain it. Then he pours out the sand of first one then the other. If he has guessed right, he does not score, but continues the play by filling and offering to his opponent. If he guesses wrong, the opponent scores 4 and 6 additional if the ball is in the under reed, 10 if it is in the upper.

Cheating is done in various ways, but there is reason to believe that this practice has arisen since the Pimas have come in contact with the whites.

Any number of players may participate, but they are under two leaders who are selected by toss. Each draws up his men in line so that they face their opponents (fig. 92). A goal about 50 yards distant is marked out and the game begins. A small object, usually a circular piece of pottery, one of those so common about the ruins of the Southwest (fig. 93), is carried around behind the line by a 26 —08——14