This is a very simple sport, but necessarily restricted to those spots where there is a river, or a pond of some magnitude.
It consists in throwing oyster-shells, flat stones, or broken tiles along the water, so as to make them hop as often as possible.
One hop is called Dick, the second Duck, and the third Drake. The sea-shore is a capital place for this sport, as, if the player can only succeed in making the stone touch the top of a wave, it is tolerably certain to make a succession of hops from wave to wave.
If a rifle-bullet is shot along the water, it will go a great distance, making very long hops, and splashing up the water at every bound. In war, this method of firing at an enemy that lies low is extensively made use of, and is called “ricochet practice.”
It is also much used in naval warfare.
Excerpt from the book:
EVERY BOY’S BOOK: A COMPLETE ENCYCLOPÆDIA OF SPORTS AND AMUSEMENTS.
EDITED BY EDMUND ROUTLEDGE.
With more than Six Hundred Illustrations
FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS.
LONDON: GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS,
THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE.
NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET.
1869.
You must be logged in to post a comment.