The Mexicans had one singular law in their play with the ball. In the walls of the court where they played, certain ​stones like mill-stones were fixed, with a hole in the middle, just large enough to let the ball pass through; and whoever drove it through, which required great skill, and was, of course, rarely effected, won the cloaks of the lookers-on. They, therefore, took to their heels to save their cloaks, and others pursued to catch them, which was a new source of amusement.