Caber

Caber, TOSSING THE, a Scottish athletic exercise or feat, in which a large beam or young tree, heavier at one end than the other, is held perpendicularly balanced against the chest, small end downward, and tossed so as to fall on the heavy end and turn over, the farthest toss and straightest fall winning. Competitions where the powers of the opponents are unknown are generally started with a caber of 24 or 25 feet, from which the thick end is sawn off by degrees, until the proper length is got at. The thin end, held in the hand, should be not more than 3 inches in diameter; the average length of a good larch caber is about 21 feet.