MĔNG-GĔLUNCHOR
way. And yet I am persuaded that, if your joints are not stiff with age and you are not afraid of cold water, or ridicule, or personal damage (and you will admit none of those things) you would mĕng-gĕlunchor with the best of them, nor be the first to cry "hold, enough."
It is usual for the men, when sliding down the rock, to sit upon a piece of the thick fibre of the plantain called upih. It is perhaps advisable, but the women do not seem to want it. It is surprising that there are so few casualties and of such small importance—some slight abrasions, a little bumping of heads, at most the loss of a tooth, will be the extent of the total damage, and with a little care there need be none at all.
By 1 P.M. every one will probably be tired, dry garments are donned, and a very hungry company does ample justice to the meal. An hour will be spent in smoking and gossip, and, as the shadows begin to lengthen, a long procession slowly wends its way back, down the slippery descent, across the sunny fields, and through the forest, to the trysting-place where all met in the morning and whence they now return to their own homes.
The intelligent reader will realise that this is a game abounding in possibilities, but the players
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