Note I — Chapter X

One of the principal games of the Pawnees, and the one on which the most gambling is carried on, is played by means of a small ring and a long javelin. This ring is about four inches in diameter; and the object of the player, is to hurl his javelin through the ring, while it is sent rolling over the ground, with great speed, by one of his companions in the game. The javelin is filled with barbs nearly the whole length, so that when it has once passed partly through the ring, it cannot slide back. This is done to ascertain how far it went before it struck the edges of the ring, and the farther the cast the more it counts in favour of the one who hurled it. It is practised by the children, young men, and chiefs. The first gamble for single arrows—the second for a bow and quiver—and the last for horses.