wall game, of which the only 'properties' are a small hard leather ball, some added caps, and sacks with sleeves of the same material. The principles' are twenty-two players-eleven a side-some of whom are encased in the latter garments, and the 'supers' are, when necessary, two umpires and a referee. To anyone who has only seen the game casually, or heard it described, the idea of twenty-two sane individuals shoving and hustling one another along a brick wall may seem absurd: indeed, the unsuspecting stranger who chanced on a wall game might have some cause to fancy that he had been suddenly transported to a corner of ancient Britain, where prehistoric man was engaged in a barbarous conflict, were it not for the abundance of clothing, truly of a primitive kind, in which many of the players are encased. A struggling mêlée of humanity meets his eye: human beings in a kind of Esquimaux outfit wildly struggling for no apparent reason, arms flourishing, legs lost to sight in the seething mass below, whence, after perhaps ten minutes of seemingly objectless excitement, will appear a dirty cap sheltering a dirtier face. On the instant half a dozen hands, a knee or two, and any other limbs in the neighbourhood will be thrust into this harmless object, while from the other side as many portions of the body as can be temporarily disengaged by the owners dart forth to its defence; and so on for perhaps some minutes more.

Gradually the neck follows the head, and slowly the object emerges on all-fours, each part of it, as it appears, being subjected to the same violent treatment as the head. Slowly it will dawn on our stranger that this is a human being with a sack-like substance over his shoulders, and dirty corduroys beneath, and as the latter bit by bit follow the body to which they belong, his bewildered mind will perceive that there is some method in this apparent madness, and that in the midst of this chaotic mass there is a ball which our slowly emerging player holds wedged between his feet. Very gradual is his progress, but he is moving, and his heart rejoices within him as he feels that he is walking the bully '—i.e. forcing his opponents backwards toward their goal. After a bit the pressure gives way a little, he is comparatively free, and advances at the double till he is stopped, and the 'bully' gradually begins again, or until the ball is kicked over the dividing line. In the wall game the object is to send the ball as far as possible towards the opponents' goal outside the line, for opposite to where it stops or is stopped outside the next 'bully' takes place. The 'bully' is always formed against the wall, and-to go back to the beginning-starts the game by being

NO. XVII. VOL. III.

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formed in the centre of the ground in the following manner. Each side has three walls' (in sack and cap): these are placed one behind the other against the wall, and in turn form down under and over their opponents; the 'bully' is completed by the four 'seconds' who form down next the walls' in a similar manner. Outside the bully' there are three players who for the most part only join in the 'loose play'-i.e. when the ball is turned out of the 'bully.'

It must not be imagined that the game consists in unscientific shoving; weight, though useful enough, is not the only requisite. And this is what makes the annual match between Collegers and Oppidans so interesting to lovers of the wall game: it is usually a struggle between strength and skill: the Oppidans have a large choice of material, and can select 'walls' of weight (hence in this case the reversal of the proverb 'the weak go to the wall'), while the Collegers have the pick of fewer but more experienced players. It is in Cala play that the Collegers generally have the advantage, for though strength and weight are here valuable, skill and experience are invaluable. Cala' requires explanation. At the upper end of the ground, some twenty feet from the cross-wall, is a white line drawn down the wall; this makes Good Cala;' 'Bad Cala' is divided off by a similar white mark at the other end. All scoring takes place in 'Cala.' To quote the rules: A shy is got within the Cala-line when a player touches the ball with his hand (the ball being supported against the wall, off the ground and below the knee) and claims the 'shy' with the words 'got it.' The Cala bully' is quite a different formation from the ordinary 'bully,' but its intricacies are too many to be explained in this article. Suffice it to say that the general object of one side. is to get a shy' in the manner already described, of the stopping' side to 'foot' the ball out behind their bully' to the behind, who sends it away as far as possible. When, however, a shy' is claimed, the 'bully' breaks at once, and subsequently reforms where the claim was made. If the shy' is allowed the player who touches it throws it at the goal (in 'Good Cala' the doorway, and in 'Bad Cala' marked on a tree). A goal is very seldom obtained and counts more than any number of 'shies.' The game allows everyone endless opportunities to distinguish-and disgrace himself. The behinds especially have to be very quick and prepared to kick at once, and kick with care; 'slow but sure may answer in the ' bully' but must never be the motto of a behind. He very seldom gets a clear kick; for the ball is almost always followed by a charge, and consequently has to be raised

over the players-no easy matter when a moment's delay is fatal -and, moreover, it must always be sent over the line. Again, he has to be ready to stop a rush by throwing himself on the ball and keeping it in to the wall till his 'bully' gather round him. The aim of the bully' and the 'outsides' is to get past or through their opponents, and then kick before the behinds can get the ball. And therein lies the difficulty; often and often a player works himself through the 'bully,' but, as he frees himself, for a moment loses control of the ball; the behind gets it, away it goes, and with it the opportunity he has been waiting for so

long. No player is allowed to touch the ball with his hands, except the behinds, who are allowed to catch it full pitch and drop-kick. When the outsides' are weak, the 'bully' will sometimes 'hold' for a considerable time: this is effected by a wall' or succession of walls' getting the ball between their feet and holding it against all comers. One player used to turn this comparative inaction to good use: after ten minutes he would emerge from a hot and oppressive bully' with a contented smile, and inform us that he had done 'two stanzas that time;' in this way during the hour's play he finished his copy of Latin verses, much