It is no broader than a stovepipe, and is about as long as a man's arm.

The opposing surface is not flat, but slopes away from the centerline like a boat's bow.

The difficulty about a cricket-ball that has been thrown with a scientific "twist" is, that it suddenly changes it course when it is close to its target and comes straight for the mark when apparently it was going overhead or to one side.

I should not be able to protect myself from such balls for half-an-hour, or less.
Mr.Chauncy once saw "a little native man" throw a cricket-ball 119 yards.

This is said to beat the English professional record by thirteen yards.
We have all seen the circus-man bound into the air from a spring-board and make a somersault over eight horses standing side by side.