40 THE LUSHEI CLANS CH.II

Boys and yonng men are very proficient with the pellet bow,
and many a bird and squirrel falls victim to the sun-dried
pellets shot from their bamboo bows, with strings of cane. The
other amusements of the children consist chiefly in imitating
their elders, the building of model houses forming a favourite
pastime. Swinging is also popular, the swing consisting of a
creeper suspended from the branch of a tree or from two poles
stuck in the ground and tied together at the top. The swinger
holds on to the end of the creeper, or places one leg through a
loop, or sits astride a big knot tied at the end of it.