There is absolutely no question but that the Basques are hospitable when occasion arises, and this in spite of their aloofness. In this respect they are like the Arabs of the desert. And also like the Hebrews, the Basques are very jealous of their nationality, and have a strong repugnance against alliances and marriages with strangers. The activity and the agility of the Basques is proverbial, in fact a proverb has grown out of it. "_Leger comme un Basque_," is a saying known all over France. The Basque loves games and dances of all sorts, and he "makes the fête" with an agility and a passion not known of any other people to a more noticeable extent. A fête to the Basque, be it local or national, is not a thing to be lightly put aside. He makes a business of it, and expects every one else to do the same. There is no room for onlookers, and if a tourney at _pelota_--now become the new sport of Paris--is on, it is not the real thing at all unless all have a hand in it in turn. There are other _pelota_ tourneys got up at Biarritz, Bayonne and Feuntarrabia for strangers, but the mountain Basque has contempt for both the players and the audience. What he would think of a sixty or eighty thousand crowd at a football or a cricket game is too horrible for words. _Pelota Basque_ has its home in the Basque country, both in the French and Spanish provinces, and the finest players of _pelota_ come from here. _Pelota Basque_ is played in various parts of Spain, as well as _pelota_ which is played with the three walls and the open hand, and thus the two games are found in the same country at the same time, though differing to no small extent. It is to be regretted that there is not more literature connected with the game. The history of ball games is always interesting, and _pelota_ is without doubt worthy of almost as much research as has been expended on the history of tennis. In Spain _pelota_ is largely played at San Sebastian, Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona. There are three walls, and the game is played by four players, two on each side. Before the three-wall game was ever thought of, _Pelota Basque_ was played in the principal cities of the Basque country, and it is still played on one wall in such cities as St. Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz, Cambo, Dax, Mauléon, Bordeaux, and even at Paris, and is recognized as the superior variety. This was explained over the signatures of a group of professional players who introduced the game to Paris as follows:-- [Illustration: _The Game of Pelota_]