One day I observed a stone near the village of Pakhalkudr, and, asking whether it was for tip-cat, was told of a different game. If a man jumped high enough at the stone, he could see the top of a certain hill. On jumping at the stone I could not see the hill, but by going a little way back, I found that it became visible, and as far as I could judge, the jump necessary at the stone would be a possible though a good performance.
At many villages there is a large globular stone called tukitthkars (lifted stone) and in another of the Toda games this stone is lifted. A man should be able to lift it to the shoulder, but this can now rarely, if ever, be done, and some of the stones can only be lifted a little way from the ground. Mr. Thurston saw the stone at Nòdrs lifted as high as the pit of the stomach. These stones seem to afford clear evidence of the degeneration of the Todas in physical strength. There is little doubt that they could be lifted much better by the Todas of a generation or two ago. Thus there is a stone at Nidrsi which was brought by the grandfather of Kudrmaskutan (43) in the pocket of his putkuli from a place called Attibadi at a considerable distance from Nidrsi. At the present time no Toda can do more than lift the stone a little way from the ground. The tukitthkars may not be lifted either on the madnol or the palinol. Feasts are prohibited on these days, and it is probable that the stone was often lifted on festive occasions. There is evidence that, in some places at any rate, the stone has acquired in some degree a sacred character. Thus, at the village of Kiudr, one of the most sacred of Toda dairies, the tukitthkars lies on a raised wall surrounding the dairy and in this situation would most certainly acquire some of the sanctity of its surroundings.
The Todas are very interested in athletic feats performed by any of their number and sometimes put up memorials of such feats. Thus, at Pishkwosht there are two stones marking the distance once jumped by a Toda. Such an athletic feat may be made the subject of a bet. Thus, four generations ago, one of the ancestors of Kudrmaskutan (43) jumped a stream called Kavageir, winning eighteen nakh (three-year-old [[598]]buffaloes) from a Badaga by doing so. Bets of this kind are probably only made with Badagas, and betting is almost certainly not properly a Toda custom.
In addition to developed games, the Todas, and especially the children, often play with mimic representations of objects from practical life. Near the villages I have seen small artificial buffalo-pens and fireplaces made by the children in sport. On the hill of Mirson, where the chief council used to be held, I found a small pen, well built and with a gate, and was assured that it was made in sport by the children only a few years ago. This hill is one on which there are many cairns and such mimic representations may possibly mystify some future archæologist.
The commonest toys with which the children play are little imitation buffalo horns made of wood (see [Fig. 35]). In the legend, the boy Kuzkarv played with such horns, and even little children in arms may be seen fondling these play-things. The horns are burnt with the body at the funeral ceremonies, but only at those of males, though this rule was infringed at the funeral of Sinerani. In the funeral lament for his wife Teitnir speaks of their playing with imitation horns and imitation bracelets, so that adults evidently amuse themselves in this way as well as children.
Another imitation sport I have often seen is that of boys or youths hanging on the horns and round the necks of buffaloes exactly as is done when catching the animals at the funeral ceremonies. The skill shown at these ceremonies is probably the result of long practice in play of this kind.
Nearly all these games are connected in some way with the buffalo or the dairy, in some cases only remotely, as when the menkars of Nòdrs is used for the narthpimi game, while the tukitthkars may be kept by the dairy. Only one of the games so far described is wholly unconnected with the dairy, and this, the eln game, has a name which suggests that it has been borrowed.
Though the Todas have, as we see, a fair number of games, they are not much given to playing them. I never saw one of the more developed games in progress, and this formed a great contrast to my previous ethnological experience [[599]]in Torres Straits, where hardly a day would pass without seeing games being played.
The chief interest in the case of the Todas is the clear evidence they give of games arising owing to the sportive imitation by children of the more serious occupations of their elders. In some of these cases the games so arising are useful in providing the younger members of the community with practice in feats which they will in later life be called upon to perform.