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A GAME OF POLO 303
After a battle it was always customary to cut off
the heads of the slain and to count them. A soldier
usually made his record and received promotion
on account of his tally of heads. The score being
made, the heads were then buried, forming those
Jcubi-dzuka, or " head-heaps," which, as grassy or treegrown
mounds, now mark the site of old battlefields
in Japan. In time of peace, when there
were no heads to be cut off, except occasionally
on horseback was in-
those of criminals, a game
vented in which netted poles or " spoons " took the
place of swords, and wooden balls were knocked
about and counted in lieu of human heads ;
but as
of old the contestants were named Genji and He'ike",
and wore white and red, while from the tall wickets
of bamboo flew the pennants
colors.
On the occasion of
of the same rival
the dakiu tournament given in
honor of the bride and groom, let us imagine ourselves
sitting near the princess and judges. The
ground selected was in front of the clan's stables
over which Mr. Honda was superintendent. The
course was a smoothly rolled, sanded space, about
six hundred feet long, planted at the sides with rows
of cryptomeria and fir trees. The width was about
The stables occupied half the space north
sixty feet.
of, and parallel to, the course. The southern half
was a long, covered building with a row of rooms
filled with the families of the daimios of Echizen
and Higo, ladies and gentlemen in waiting, the
judges and scorers. The center of interest and the