The Devil's picture-booksVan Rensselaer, John King, Mrs.
History
The Devil's picture-books
Van Rensselaer, John King, Mrs.
Playing cards -- History
The suit of Figures has eight sticks. The first one is a man
crowned, and holding in his right hand a fan, which seems to be a
strange attribute when the climate of Queen Charlotte’s Islands is
considered. The carving on the second cube resembles that of a man
seated, and leaning his chin on his hands, his elbows resting on his
knees. Two semicircles over the head may represent a hat; fifteen
notches placed on each side of this figure may show its value. Number
three displays a seated figure, with what seems to be the soles of its
feet turned outward; four circles cut beside the figure may denote its
worth. The fourth cube represents a seated figure in profile, with one
hand spread out to show the thumb and four fingers. This stick has
no marks to denote its value, unless four notches deeply cut in its
back may take their place. The fifth stick is an interesting one, as
it seems intended to show both the face and back of the figure. Over
the head are two semicircles resembling those on number two. The hands
hang on each side, each one having but three fingers and a thumb. The
carvings on number six contain devices which resemble the lotus-flower.
In a circle is a human face, the head surmounted by the semicircular
cap. Number seven shows two grinning faces without bodies, but with
arms and large hands displayed with the palms out. Two large chevrons
divide these devices, which are cut across the stick, and not, as the
others are, up and down its length. The eighth carving represents a
hand with four well-shaped fingers and a thumb. Certain notches and
cuts which surround the hand are undecipherable.
[Illustration: Plate 20.]
The eight succeeding cubes contain strange devices, which seem to
represent fingers, eyes, teeth, etc., but which are confused and
meaningless to the uninitiated. Number seventeen, on the contrary,
shows a spirited and lifelike carving of a beaver; and the next one
a strange-looking monster, with a large mouth and huge teeth. The
nineteenth cube has on it the head of some unrecognizable beast with a
very long snout; and the twentieth, a ferocious-looking, large-mouthed
animal. In cubes twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, and twenty-four
the carvings resemble fish; twenty-two, in particular, shows a
clever representation of a huge fish, and also a duck. Twenty-five,
twenty-six, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight call to mind birds; the
twenty-sixth cube, in particular, showing most plainly the head, wings,
and claws of what may be intended for an eagle. The stick which is
numbered twenty-eight has on it a carving of a bird perched beside a
nest which contains four fledglings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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