"AERIAL POLO."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 3, 3 January 1903, Page 4 (Supplement)

"AERIAL POLO."

A QUEER SPORT ON A PACIFIC ISLAND.

It became an amusing aversion to oererturn the large flat stones beneath which he ra s werf hiding in solid masses and crafty birds were apt to learn that i^ r,d ,e bT c .L l<, a .7°w?s USA™? £ ?" w lng for disputed possession. One form of this sport, a sort of aerial polo which seemed to be as good fun for the birds as tor the observers, consisted in TOSSING TWO HATS INTO THE AIR at the same moment, not singly and apart but tied together with about six feet of St lnsUnt7y the birds made a dash for the rats and the successful winner of the first prize went sailing off with one rat in his bill and the other swinging in the air beDeath until snatched by the second winner, when, after a quick, sharp struggle and "a: taut strain on the cord, the bird with the weaker hold was compelled to let go, which again opened the game to all pursuers. This then went on as a continuous performance, with somewhat Jonahlike but rapidly repeated disappearances and reappearances of the litlte rats, swatlowed and reluctantly disgorged by the birds in quick succession, until the flock, thoroughly exhausted by their impetuous flight and extraordinary exercise, alighted on the ground for a short truce, when the two temporary stakeholders would be found sitting face to face, keenly eyeing each other from opposite ends of string still connecting them, each anxiously on the sharp lookout for sudden jerks and unpleasant surprises, while an the other pursuers gathered around in a ring, waiting for the two prize birds to fly. The general aspect of all participants seemed to verify the familiar adage that the pleasure is not in the game, but in the chase.—From "Our Equatorial Islands," by James D. Hague, in the "September Century."