if the said man be bigger and stronger; but we repudiate the miscellaneous butting which in close contests, make men calculate what they will do with their shoulders instead of their crosse.
We were invited by an Indian chief, at Caughnawaga, early one morning last summer, to witness a game of Lacrosse on the common, among about thirty Indian residents; and after watching a hard-fought game of an hour, the gentle savage turned to us, and said, in broken English: “You can’t play Lacrosse like that. You smash heads, cut hands, make blood. We play all day; no hurt, except when drunk.” It is very rare that an Indian is injured or injures ever so slightly when playing with his fellow red-skins; but when red meets white, then comes the tug of war—and we blame the latter for its development.
There is one other important consideration in fielding, which men are likely to forget in the excitement of the game,—we refer to over-exertion. No man should use himself up by hard running, unless a hard run is unavoidably necessary. Keep your wind and endurance as fresh as possible for the last game.
