the revolving top of an opponent,
because if successfully accomplished the defeated top splits. A
scarred veteran sometimes becomes quite an honoured hero from the
number of its victims.

Some of the tops are of the roughest description, made by the village
carpenter. More finished ones can be bought in the native bazaar for a
farthing. But often a hopelessly disreputable-looking top, with an old
nail for its spike, has a better record for deeds done than a more
showy one bought in a shop. Those that are spun with the view of
splitting their opponent often have, instead of a spike, a flattened
bit of iron like a little chisel, which the boys sharpen on a stone,
and with these they do great execution. Sometimes somebody's foot is
seriously wounded in case of a miss-fire. Now and then, for a change,
a boy will play with a whip-top.

Kite-flying amongst Indians is an exciting sport, quite different to
the tame amusement of merely seeing how high a kite will go. The
Indian kites are nearly always quite small, made of thin coloured
paper pasted on to a frame of very slender wooden splints. The better
kites are made of paper of several different colours tastefully
combined, and often decorated with gold. Strong thread is used, of
which the enthusiastic flyer has a large store on a wooden roller,
which he intrusts to some small confederate who pays it out or takes
it in as required, and is proud to be allowed to have this share in
the sport.

But the real purpose of Indian kite-flying is to do battle with
somebody else's kite up in the air. You have to try and so manoeuvre
your kite that its thread crosses that of your opponent, who may be
stationed quite a long way off and out of sight. He on his part will
try and avoid you and get the upper hand himself. In the hands of
expert flyers the contest is most exciting. Crowds will gather and
watch the result with intense interest. The kites dodge, and rush
upwards, and dive downwards, as if they were alive, and the fight
often goes on for a long time. The thread is doctored with glass which
has been pounded into fine dust and mixed with gum. This gives the
thread great cutting capacity, so that if it fairly crosses that of
its opponent, by a dexterous sawing movement the thread is cut, and
the liberated kite sails away on its own account.

Then follows intense excitement amongst the crowds of onlookers far
and near. The kite, without the support of its line, soon begins to
f