r feet firmly, to save themselves from being swept
bodily away, and the roar of the chafing pebbles comes up to us like the
tramp of a charging squadron.

In the midst of the din and hurly-burly, the lashing water, and the
blinding spray, a terrible thought suddenly occurs to me. "By Jove! all
my sugar's in the bottom of my store chest. It'll be all melted, to a
certainty."

"Shouldn't wonder," remarks my friend, with that quiet fortitude
wherewith men are wont to bear the misfortunes of other people.
"However, you can get some more at Samarcand; and, after all, a trunk
lined with sugar will be worth exhibiting at home--if you ever get
there."

For the next few minutes it is "touch and go" with us; but even among
Asiatics nothing can be spun out forever. Little by little the water
grows shallower, the ground firmer, the strain less and less violent,
till at length we come out upon dry land once more, decant the contents
of the arba back into the cart, reward our pilots, and are off again.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

THE TUG OF WAR

This is an old English game, which has become a favorite athletic
exercise in almost all countries, as a trial of strength and endurance.
In England it used to be called "French and English," from the ancient
rivalry that existed between the two nationalities. Our picture shows
how the game is played. Care should be taken to have a stout rope, and
the players should be divided so that each party may as nearly as
possible be of equal strength. The party that pulls the other over a
line marked on the ground between them is the winner in the game.
Sometimes a string is tied on the rope, and when the game begins this
string should be directly over the dividing line. It often happens that
the parties are so evenly matched that neither can pull the string more
than an inch or two over the line; and then it becomes a trial of
endurance, and the question is which side can hold out the longer.

Among the Burmese the "tug of war" is a part of the religious ceremonies
held when there is a scarcity of rain. Instead of rope, long, slender
canes are twisted together, and spokes are thrust through to give a firm
hold. The sides are taken by men from different quarters of a town, or
from different villages. Each side is marshalled by two drums and a
harsh wind-instrument, which make a hideous noise. A few priests are
generally seen squatting on the ground near by, chewing the betel-nut