nd the slits in his ears and his tail and--so forth;
But he never once said, 'in the county of Meath,'[CX]
So Pat he escaped by the skin of his teeth.

[CX] In criminal cases it is necessary to prove that the crime was
committed in the county where the venue is laid.

NOTES

[1] Called in the Dakota tongue "_Hok-see-win-na-pee
Wo-han-pee_"--Virgins' Dance (or Feast).

[2] One of the favorite and most exciting games of the Dakotas is
ball-playing. A smooth place on the prairie, or in winter, on a frozen
lake or river, is chosen. Each player has a sort of bat, called
"_Ta-kee-cha-pse-cha_," about thirty-two inches long, with a hoop at the
lower end four or five inches in diameter, interlaced with thongs of
deer-skin, forming a sort of pocket. With these bats they catch and
throw the ball. Stakes are set as bounds at a considerable distance from
the center on either side. Two parties are then formed and each chooses
a leader or chief. The ball (_Tapa_) is then thrown up half way between
the bounds, and the game begins, the contestants contending with their
bats for the ball as it falls. When one succeeds in getting it fairly
into the pocket of his bat he swings it aloft and throws it as far as he
can toward the bound to which his party is working, taking care to send
it if possible where some of his own side will take it up. Thus the ball
is thrown and contended for till one party succeeds in casting it beyond
the bounds of the opposite party. A hundred players on a side are
sometimes engaged in this exciting game. Betting on the result often
runs high. Moccasins, pipes, knives, hatchets, blankets, robes and guns
are hung on the prize-pole. Not unfrequently horses are staked on the
issue and sometimes even women. Old men and mothers are among the
spectators, praising their swift-footed sons, and young wives and
maidens are there to stimulate their husbands and lovers. This game is
not confined to the warriors but is also a favorite amusement of the
Dakota maidens, who generally play for prizes offered by the chief or
warriors. (See _Neill's Hist. Minn._, pp 74-5; _Riggs' Takoo Wakan_, pp
44-5, and _Mrs. Eastman's Dacotah_, p 55.)

[3] Pronounced _Wah-zee-yah_--the god of the North, or Winter. A fabled
spirit who dwells in the frozen North, in a great _teepee_ of ice and
snow. From his mouth and nostrils he blows the cold blasts of winter. He
and _I-to-ka-ga Wi cas-ta_--the spirit or god of the South (literally