In summer, swimming and playing in the
water is a favorite amusement. She even imi-
tates with the soles of her feet the peculiar,
resonant sound that the beaver makes with her
large, flat tail upon the surface of the water.
She is a graceful swimmer, keeping the feet
together and waving them backward and for-
ward like the tail of a fish.
Nearly all her games are different from those
of the men. She has a sport of wand-throwing
which develops fine muscles of the shoulder and
back. The wands are about eight feet long,
and taper gradually from an inch and a half to
half an inch in diameter. Some of them are
artistically made, with heads of bone and horn,
so that it is remarkable to what a distance they
may be made to slide over the ground. In the
feminine game of ball, which is something like
"shinny," the ball is driven with curved sticks
between two goals. It is played with from two
or three to a hundred on a side, and a game be-
tween two bands or villages is a picturesque
event.
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