While the Virginia riflemen were in camp at the siege of Boston there was a practice which served both as a source of amusement and as a display of marksmanship. There were two brothers, one of whom would place a board five inches wide and seven inches long with a bit of white paper in the middle of it about the size of a dollar, between his knees while the other at about sixty yards distance would shoot eight bullets through it without injuring the brother.[122] The duel was another common practice which seemed to furnish amusement besides deciding the honor of some individual.[123] Hunting, too, was a means of cheering the dreary days, but this too was often "Killing two birds with one stone", for often the soldiers went hunting to provide the regular rations, but at other times it was done just for the sake of the sport to be found in it. The following is taken from a New York paper of December 12, 1785. "A Fox hunt. The Gentlemen of the army with a number of the most respectable inhabitants of Ulsler and Orange purpose a Fox Hunt on the twenty third day of this instant to which all Gentlemen are invited with their hounds and their horses. The game is plenty and it is hoped the sport will be pleasant * * * "[124]. Along with the hunting frays went fishing[125] and nutting[126] trips which added a little variety to the ordinary camp scenes. There were several days celebrated by the Americans at that time which meant a holiday for the soldier with perhaps an extra allowance of rum[127] or meat. Some of those days were Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, May day, Commemoration of the French Alliance, or a celebration following a victory. The celebration usually consisted of a parade, a sermon by the chaplain followed by a banquet and perhaps a dance for the officers, and extra rations for the privates.[128] Another celebration mentioned by several diaries and one which seemed to be a joyful occasion was as one writer said "and (we) convert(ed) the evening to celebrate as usual wives and sweethearts which we do in plenty of grog".[129] There were a few games which served to shorten some of the long dreary days for the soldier, some of them were; fives,[130] shinny,[131] goal,[132] ball[133] and a kind of football.[134] No description of the above games has been found, but to judge by the context they were all outdoor games.