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A GAME OF POLO. 305
opposite
and farthest from the wickets.
The horses
were now in line at the extreme end, ranged on
either side of the course, each horseman holding
up his saji, or spoon. This instrument was made
of bamboo, five feet long, with crook, or scoop, at
the end netted with cord. An American boy would
at once see that it was a game of " shinny " on
horseback, and would think that the saji was more
like a lacrosse racket than anything
else.
Two old fellows now entered, each with a basket of
what appeared to be red and white eggs. These were
were laid at intervals of two or
the balls.
They
three feet apart, the white balls in front of the redhelmeted
players, and the red before the white hats;
that the is, Genji heads were laid before the He'ike'
riders, and the Heike* skulls before the Genji knights.
Two rows of thirty-six balls each thus lay alongside
of each line of players and extended before the
leaders a distance of some yards. At the far end,
whence they had entered, were two wickets of bamboo
poles. The wickets stood about twenty-two feet
from each other. The poles of each wicket were two
feet apart, and the cord joining them was three feet
from the ground. By the rules of the game each
ball must go over the
cord and between the wicket
poles ; failing to do which, the balls falling outside
were tossed back into the course. The Genji, or
whites, were to scoop up and toss the red balls over,
and the Helke*, or reds, vice versa. Each was to
hinder the other and prevent victory if possible.
At the given signal both parties rode up the lists,