Squails
In some places the game of Squails bears the name of Trails. It is an amusing round game, which can be played on any ordinary table by two or more players of an even number—not, however, exceeding eight. Each player is furnished with an equal number of coloured wooden pieces or discs, which are called squails, and these the player has to place at the edge of the table, half over the edge, and strike them with the open palm of the hand towards a small medal placed in the centre.
The players should be divided into sides, and one from each side should alternately strike a squail towards the medal. An imaginary circle should be drawn round the central medal, into which, if it is knocked out during the play, it must be replaced. The object of the game is to secure for one’s own side the largest number of squails near to the central medal, and to obtain that it is legitimate not only to shove one’s own squail towards the centre, but also to knock an opponent’s squail away or a partner’s squail near to the medal.
The game of Squails, for a year or two after its introduction, seemed in a fair way to rank among the most popular round table games, but it soon died out and is now but little played. It deserves, however, much more notice than it usually receives, and we would recommend it as a great improvement on most of the elaborate toy games that are patronised so extensively. A set of squails costs but a trifling sum.