It is a remarkable fact, says the London Times, that a taste for gaming appears in some cases to pervade a whole people, and to become one of the chief national characteristics. Nowhere is this more manifest than among the inhabitants of the Asiatic Islands. Games of hazard are the favorites of these islanders. Some of them they have learned from the Chinese, the most debauched of gamesters, and others of the Portuguese. The only game of hazard of native origin, among the Japanese, consists in guessing the number of a certain kind of beans which the players hold in their hands. But of all the species of gaming that to which the Indian islanders are most fondly addicted is betting on the issue of the combat of puguacious animals, and particlarly the cock. The breed in highest estimation is the produce of Celebes. The people of Java fight their cocks without spurs; but the Maylays and natives of Celebes with an artificial spur, in the shape of a small scythe which, notwithstanding its barbarous appearance, is in reality less destructive than the contrivance employed among ourselves.
    Quail fighting also is extremely common in Java. The most famous breed of this bird is found in the island of Lombok; it is a singular fact that the female is used in these bitter but bloodless combats, the male being comparatively small and timid. Neither do the Javanese hesitate to bet considerable sums on a battle between two crickets, which are excited to the conflict by the titilation of a bladde of grass judiciously applied to their noses.
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