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The Penihings have a game called ot-tjin which I also observed in other Bornean tribes, and which to some extent is practised by the Malays. This game, generally known among scientific men by the name mancala, is of the widest distribution. Every country that the Arabs have touched has it, and it is found practically in every African tribe.
An essential of the game is an oblong block of heavy wood which on its upper surface is provided with two rows of shallow holes, ten in each row, also a larger one at each end. The implement is called tu-tung ot-tjin, as is also both of the large single holes at the ends. There are two players who sit opposite each other, each controlling ten holes.
It is very common in the coffee houses of Jerusalem and Damascus. A comprehensive account of the game mancala is given by Mr. Stewart Culin, the eminent authority on games, in the Report of the U.S. National Museum for 1894, pages 595-607. With the Penihings the complete name is aw-li on-nam ot-tjin, meaning: playon-nam fish.
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