Games.

The Khasis have many games, but their principal game is archery, this
may be said to be the national game, and is a very popular form of
recreation amongst them, the sport being indulged in from about the
beginning of January to the end of May each year. The following is
a description of a Khasi archery meeting, for the details of which
I am largely indebted to U Job Solomon. By way of introduction it
should be stated that the Khasis opine that arrow-shooting originated
at the beginning of creation. The Khasi Eve (_Ka-mei-ka-nong-hukum_)
had two sons to whom she taught the toxophilite art, at the same time
she warned them never to lose their tempers over the game. At the
present day villages have regular archery meetings, the men of one
village challenging those of another. There are men on both sides
called _nong khan khnam_ (lit., he who stops the arrow). This man,
by uttering spells, and reciting the shortcomings of the opposite
side, is supposed to possess the power of preventing the arrows of the
opposing party hitting the mark. These men also, to some extent, may be
said to perform the duties of umpires. They may be styled umpires for
the sake of convenience in this account. Before the match commences
conditions are laid down by the umpires of both sides, such as (_a_)
the day on which the contest is to take place; (_b_) the place of the
meeting; (_c_) the number of arrows to be shot by each archer; (_d_)
the distinguishing marks to be given to the arrows of either side;
(_e_) the amounts of the stakes on each side; (_f_) the number of
times the competitors are to shoot on the day of the archery meeting,
and many other conditions too numerous to mention here. The targets are
generally small bundles of grass called "_u skum_," about 1 ft. long
by 4 in. in diameter, fastened on a small pole. Sometimes targets are
made from the root of a plant called _ka soh pdung_. The distances