Note 768 — Chapter V · NEW MEXICANS.

'The players generally take each about ten arrows, which they hold with their bows in the left hand; he whose turn it is advances in front of the judges, and lances his first arrow upwards as high as possible, for he must send off all the others before it comes down. The victory belongs to him who has most arrows in the air together, and he who can make them all fly at once is a hero.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 198. 'The Indians amuse themselves shooting at the fruit (pitaya), and when one misses his aim and leaves his arrow sticking in the top of the cactus, it is a source of much laughter to his comrades.' Browne's Apache Country, p. 78; Armin, Das Heutige Mexiko, p. 309. The hoop and pole game of the Mojaves is thus played. 'The hoop is six inches in diameter, and made of elastic cord; the poles are straight, and about fifteen feet in length. Rolling the hoop from one end of the course toward the other, two of the players chase it half-way, and at the same time throw their poles. He who succeeds in piercing the hoop wins the game.' Palmer, in Harper's Mag., vol. xvii., p. 463; Emory's Rept. U. S. and Mex. Boundary Survey, vol. i., p. iii.; Whipple, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 114; Möllhausen, Reisen in die Felsengeb., tom. i., pp. 216, 223; Möllhausen, Tagebuch, p. 395; Backus, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iv., p. 214. 'Tienen unas pelotas de materia negra como pez, embutidas en ella varias conchuelas pequeñas del mar, con que juegan y apuestan arrojándola con el pié.' Alegre, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, tom. iii., p. 111; Sedelmair, Relacion, in Doc. Hist. Mex., serie iii., vol. iv., p. 851.