"In Japan," according to Culin (2, p. 30), “cat's-cradle is called aya ito tori, 'woof pattern string-taking.' The figures are identical with those in Korea, but receive different names: 1, Unknown; 2, a mountain cat into which a domestic cat is supposed to transform itself; 3, a musical instrument, or the two pieces of wood under the sole of clogs; 4, horse-eye; 5, a musical instrument."

Culin (2, p. 30) states that in southern China cat's-cradle is called "well-rope." It is spoken of as an amusement of girls, but is known to most Cantonese laborers; they make the same figures as those of Korea and Japan. Miss Fielde (p. 87) says that the children of Swatow play cat's-cradle precisely as do the children in America and Europe; but the Chinese call it "sawing wood," in allusion to the final act in the performance.

This last statement evidently refers to a figure which is made thus: make the "manger," or "inverted cradle"; the other player picks up one of the straight strings in the middle, passes it under the other, and holding the latter in the middle, draws these two strings as far apart as possible; the first player releases all the strings except those on the little fingers; the two players make sawing movements with the strings. I have an impression that this figure is played in England.

"Sawing Wood" was taught to me by Zia Uddin Ahmad of Trinity College, Cambridge, who said it was known in Delhi and Lucknow under the name of Qainchi, "scissors." It is made thus: Opening A (cf. p. 11), the other player passing his left hand over all the strings, pulls the straight little-finger string toward the original player, and with his right hand, under the remaining strings, pulls the straight thumb string toward himself; the first player releases all but the index loops; the sawing movement can then be made. This figure and the trick described on p. 345, and one very similar to "The Lizard" (p. 337), which Dr. S. Levinstein taught me, are all the string games that I have yet heard of from India. A Scottish method of making this figure is described by Maclagan (p. 190), the two operators chant alternately:

"See saw, Johnnie Maw,

See san, Johnnie man."

East Indian Archipelago. A. R. Wallace (p. 183) tells us: "One wet day in a Dyak house [Borneo], when a number of boys and young men were about me, I thought to amuse them with something new, and showed them how to make 'cat's-cradle' with a piece of string. Greatly to my surprise, they knew all about it, and more than I did; for, after I and Charles had gone through all the changes we

could make, one of the boys took it off my hand and made several new figures, which quite puzzled me. They then showed me a number of other tricks with pieces of string, which seemed a favorite amusement with them." De Crespigny (p. 344) writes of the Dusuns of Borneo: "Near me were two children playing at cat's-cradle exactly as I remember to have played it in my childhood." This precisely coincides with my own experience in the same island.

When I visited the Philippine Reservation at the St. Louis Exposition, in 1904, I played cat's-cradle with some of the natives, and I found they played in the same manner as we do. My time was too limited to learn the names of the figures or to see what others they knew. Mrs. Jayne was more diligent, and she learned a few new figures from some of the natives. It will be noticed that the Bagobo Diamonds (pp. 43, 46) begin with Opening A. Schmeltz (p. 230) says girls are skilled at this game in Soerabaja in Java, and he states that Matthes records it as a very favorite child's game among the Macassarese and Bugis of South Celebes. It is called toêká-toêká, "the ladder game," derived from toêká, "steps." We have no indication whether this is the Asiatic or the Oceanic type.

Europe. So far as I am aware no description of the British form of cat'scradle has been published sufficiently explicit to enable one to play the game thoroughly. Mrs. Gomme in her excellent monograph (p. 61) gives illustrations of the figures, and states they are produced seriatim as follows: 1, Cradle; 2, soldier's bed; 3, candles; 4, cradle inversed or manger; 5, soldier's bed again or diamonds; 6, diamonds or cat's-eye; 7, fish in dish; cradle as at first. Other English names are barn-doors, bowling-green, hour-glass, pound, net, fish-pond, the lady's bed, fiddle; but it is not clear to what figures all these names refer. Three or four figures are described and figured by E. Nister (p. 73), but he does not describe the whole series, neither does he give names to any of the figures.

I have heard of cat's-cradle from Denmark, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Netherlands, but details are lacking.

My friend, Miss B. Freire-Marreco, informs me that a Dane of her acquaintance does exactly the same as in the English cat's-cradle though giving different names to the various figures; they are as follows, the English name preceding the Danish: 1, Cradle, cradle; 2, church-window, unknown; 3, pound of candles, mirror; 4, cradle, cradle; 5, soldier's bed, hour-glass; 6 [7, ?], fish in dish, whale. De Cock and Teirlinck record Afpakken: Dradens pel (Taking off Stringgame') from Molenbeek-Brüssel; they give three figures illustrating the method of making the cradle and three figures from Mrs. Gomme. They add the following

information: "In Germany it is also known under the name of Abheben (‘Taking off'), Faden-abheben (“Taking-off strings '), and Fadenspiel ('String-game'). The figures are variously named; in Brabant they are known as Wasser (‘Water'), die Schere (Scissors '), die Geige ('Fiddle'), die Wiege ('Cradle '), (cf. Georgens, Sp. für Knaben, bl. 263). Andree (Braunschw. Volkskunde) calls it Hexenspiel ('Witch's game'), and Auf- und abnehmen (‘picking-up and taking-off'). In the neighborhood of the town of Nantes it is known as la scie ('Saw '); the best known figures are called: le berceau ('Cradle'), les chandelles ('Candles'), les carreaux ('Squares'), les ciseaux (‘Scissors '), etc. (R. des Trad. pop. XIII, 15.)”

OCEANIC TYPE

There is no need to give all the references by travellers of the occurrence of cat's-cradle over this vast area, but the following will suffice to indicate its universal

Occurrence:

Australia. Eyre (p. 227) refers to the "varied and singular figures" made by the Australians and remarks that "our juvenile attempts in this way are very meagre and uninteresting compared to them." Bunce (p. 75) says: "Some were playing with a puzzle made of string, 'Cudgi Cudgick.' This puzzle was played between two individuals and required two pairs of hands, in the same manner as the juvenile game of 'cat's-cradle' common to our own country." It is not clear from this description whether they played as we do or whether, as elsewhere in Australia, two people are required to make some figures.

Roth (p. 10) has paid more attention to this subject than any one else in Australia. He states: "With any fair length of twine, adult women and young children, of both sexes, will often amuse themselves for hours at a time. It is thus used in the form of an endless string to play the game known to us Europeans as 'cratchcradle.' Thus played with, it is met with everywhere throughout North Queensland. In some districts it is even indulged in by adult men; it is the women and children, however, who are most partial to it. Some of the figures are extremely complicated, passing through at least eight or nine stages before completion. During the process of manufacture such a one requires not only the hands, but even the mouth, knees, etc., to make the different loops, twists, and turns. In addition to variations in complexity, certain of the figures may be made with two endless strings, while to complete others again it may be necessary to have one or even two assistants. Strange to say, similar figures may be met with at distances extremely remote, with

and without similar interpretations. Occasionally the endless string may be arranged on the flat, or on the ear." Dr. Roth has given careful drawings of seventy-four North Queensland cat's-cradles and to most he has added a small figure to illustrate the original object which is copied, but unfortunately he does not give any indication of how they are made. My friend, Mr. W. Innes Pocock, has, however, been able to discover ways in which many of these figures can be constructed; these I hope will be published by the Anthropological Institute of London in Man. One (pl. V, Fig. 6), which is called a "Duck in Flight," is the same as the Torres Straits 'Casting the Fish-spear" (p. 131).

New Guinea. Turner (p. 483) was the first to record cat's-cradle from New Guinea, where he found it played by the Motu children of Port Moresby. Later, Finsch (1891, p. 33) found it as a child's game in Bentley Bay, and I have seen it played by children at Hula, Port Moresby, Delena, and on Kiwai Island. Thilenius (p. 20) hazards the suggestion that the figures made in this game may even have had an influence upon the decorative art and wood carving of the Papuans. I have more than once (1, p. 361; 2, p. 224; 3, pp. 38, 175, 201) alluded to its occurrence among the Papuans of Torres Straits. The general name for the game among the Western Islanders is Womer, and by the Eastern Islanders it is called Kamut. In 1888 I transferred on to cardboard a few figures that were made for me by a native of the Western Islands; three of these have been published by Edge-Partington & Heape (pl. 341, 1-3), they are Gud, mouth, Umai, dog, and Ger, sea-snake (cf. p. 34). Several examples from this region have been published by Dr. Rivers and myself, a few more will be found in this book, and some additional ones will be published in Vol. IV of our Reports. The thirty-four figures we wrote down fall into Mrs. Jayne's three groups (cf. p. 4). Of the patterns, 16 were figures at rest and 11 figures in motion; there were 6 tricks and I catch, and we know of the occurrence of many others; altogether the figures in motion appear to be as numerous as those at rest. More than one-third represent animals. Two of the fish, besides being well known as fish, are the subjects of a very popular folk-tale of the Murray Islands. One figure which represents boys playing is subsequently converted into two rings, which represent two of the sacred grounds of Mer (Murray Island), in which the very important initiation ceremonies into the Malu fraternity were held; and another is supposed to represent the passing of the stone-headed clubs from hand to hand during one of the Malu dances, as is described in Vol. VI of the Reports. With these exceptions there does not appear to be anything of a religious nature in the game as played in Torres Straits, and I think that these

figures have no such significance. Words are said or sentences muttered while most of the figures are being made, but it is difficult to make sense of some of these, and it is quite impossible to understand others. In Murray Island these are called Kamut wed, "Kamut songs."

Nageg upi seker

dike,

abele lar upige

seker dike.

*

Nageg tail comb it is here, that fish on the tail comb it is there.

Waierge Waier kesge.

Tup igoli umi Waierge, Waier kesge,

Tup swim round to Waier, Waier in the channel, to Waier Waier channel.

Pageia mai nagedim upi etauerida kai amarem pekem.

Sea-snake you

to where tail strikes I

to side.

The natives of Torres Straits do not know how to play the Asiatic form of cat's-cradle.

Melanesia. "It was interesting to me," writes Finsch (1888, p. 143), "that the taking off of a thread stretched between the fingers is also found in New Ireland; fairly large lads occupied themselves with it. They were able to make very beautiful figures and in so doing sang a not unpleasant melody." Codrington (p. 341) records that "cat's-cradle, in Lepers' Island Lelegaro, in Florida Honggo, with many figures, is common throughout the islands." He also says (p. 30) that the people of Florida are grouped into six exogamous divisions, or Kema. The names of two of these are Honggo-kama and Honggo-kiki, respectively the "Great" and the "Little Cat'scradle." Buchner (p. 269) records the game from Fiji, and he makes the improbable suggestion that the natives had been taught it by the missionaries.

*This has reference to the series of small spines at the base of the tail of the Nageg fish, i. e. “trigger fish" or "leather jacket” (Monocanthus); in the folk-tale Nageg is the mother of Geigi. †The Wangai "plum" (Mimusops Kaukii).