INTRODUCTORY NOTE.—­This game, known under a variety of names, is a favorite among the Indian tribes living on the North Pacific Coast.  The disks, always of an uneven number, are made of wood and ornamented with designs composed of segments of circles with groupings of dots.  Some of the markings are regarded as cabalistic, and there are men who claim to have a knowledge of spells that will bring luck to the disks they ornament and treat; such disks are considered valuable and often command a high price.  All of the disks in a set that is used in this game are ornamented alike except one; this must be different from the others.  It may be decorated with red, for the sun, or with a dark color almost black, for the night.  This disk is frequently called the “chief,” and the aim of the game is to guess in which pile of disks the “chief” is hidden.

Properties.—­A mat on which the game is played; a small mat on which the counting or tally-sticks are put; a board that is to serve as a drum; four drum-sticks; nine wooden disks about two and a half inches in diameter.  The designs on the nine disks, the twenty tally-sticks and the four drum-sticks should be in color or burned into the wood.  Eight of the disks should be decorated alike; the ninth must be different and have either red or brown as the predominating color; this disk is the “chief.”  A bundle of excelsior is to be the substitute for the fiber of cedar bark which is used by the Indians of the Northwest Coast when playing this game; if excelsior is not available, dry leaves or some other dry material might be substituted, within which, or under which, the disks could be hidden.  All the articles used in this game except the mats should be made in camp.

Directions.—­An uneven number of players is required for this game.  The mat is laid east and west; at a little distance back to the northwest the small mat is placed and on it are put the twenty tally-sticks.  In a line with the small mats to the northeast is laid the board around which the four singers and drummers sit.  The bundle of excelsior, or whatever material is used in its place, together with the nine disks, is put at the western end of the mat; before these is the place for the player who is to hide the disks.  On the northern and southern side of the mat sit the players who are to guess where the “chief” is hidden, three or four on a side.  The messenger stands at the eastern end of the mat facing the player who is to hide the disks.  Lots should be drawn to determine who of the six or eight players are to sit on the northern side and who on the southern side.  The player who is to do the hiding of the disks can be either selected or drawn by lot.  Whoever takes this part in the game should be capable of considerable dramatic action.  Among the Indians the person who does the hiding of the disks personifies one who practices magic; he makes passes over the disks and the cedar fiber under which the disks are hidden, makes signs and movements, and does what he can to throw a spell of confusion over those who are to guess where the “chief” is hidden.