Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/274

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CULIN] HAWAIIAN GAMES 23 1

by the numerals. The end (13) is called la-ni, " sky " or " heaven," ox pa-hu. The divisions on each side are called pe-pri-ao, " ear."

64. He-lu-pa-ka-hi : " One-BY-ONE-COUNTING." — Two persons simultaneously put out their fingers and count, first one finger, crying " one ; " then two, crying " two," and so on up to ten, re- peating ten times. The game is played very rapidly, and if a player makes an error he loses, otherwise the one first completing the count wins. This game is also called ku-la lurna, from ku-la, " school," and li-ma> " finger," from its being used, presumably, as a school exercise. It is not the same as the Chinese game of cKdi miii, or the Italian morra.

Of the Samoan game Stair ' says : " O le talinga matua, also called O le lupein ga, was a game of counting, played by two persons sitting opposite each other. One of them held up his closed hand to his companion, and immediately after showed a certain number of fingers, quickly striking the back of his hand upon the mat, directly after. His companion was required to hold up a corresponding number of fingers immediately after, in default of which he lost a point in the game."

J. S. Polack * says of the game in New Zealand : " The game of Ti is much indulged in. It consists of a party counting in unison with the fingers ; on a number being given, the players must instantly touch the finger denoting the said number, and an error in this active performance is productive of much mortifica- tion to the native ; the dexterity with which it is played can only be accomplished by continual practice."

65. Pi-li-li-ma : " Hand-BETTING." — Two players simultane- ously extend their closed hands containing marbles, money, or similar small objects, at the same time crying a number. The one who guesses the sum of the objects wins them all.

66. Pee-pee-a-ku-a : " GHOST-HIDING," Hide-and-SEEK. — The one who is "it," called a-ku-a, "ghost " or " god," is determined

1 Page 138.

  • Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders % London, 1840, vol. II, p. 171.

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