+-------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Notes: The original uses a | | special character of an "n" with a macron, | | represented here by "ñ". | | | | The verses in the section on GESTURES OF ACTORS | | are loosely quoted from "The Rosciad" by | | Charles Churchill, which more accurately reads: | | | | "When to enforce some very tender part, | | The right hand slips by instinct on the heart, | | His soul, of every other thought bereft, | | Is anxious only where to place the left;" | +-------------------------------------------------+

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY. 

J. W. POWELL, DIRECTOR. 

SIGN LANGUAGE

AMONG

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS

COMPARED WITH THAT AMONG OTHER PEOPLES AND DEAF-MUTES. 

BY

GARRICK MALLERY. 

 * * * * *

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

 FIG. PAGE

 61. Affirmation, approving. Old Roman 286 62. Approbation. Neapolitan 286 63. Affirmation, approbation. N. A. Indian 286 64. Group. Old Greek. Facing 289 65. Negation. Dakota 290 66. Love. Modern Neapolitan 290 67. Group. Old Greek. Facing 290 68. Hesitation. Neapolitan 291 69. Wait. N. A. Indian 291 70. Question, asking. Neapolitan 291 71. Tell me. N. A. Indian 291 72. Interrogation. Australian 291 73. Pulcinella 292 74. Thief. Neapolitan 292 75. Steal. N. A. Indian 293 76. Public writer. Neapolitan group. Facing 296 77. Money. Neapolitan 297 78. "Hot Corn. " Neapolitan Group. Facing 297 79. "Horn" sign. Neapolitan 298 80. Reproach. Old Roman 298 81. Marriage contract. Neapolitan group. Facing 298 82. Negation. Pai-Ute sign 299 83. Coming home of bride. Neapolitan group. Facing 299 84. Pretty. Neapolitan 300 85. "Mano in fica. " Neapolitan 300 86. Snapping the fingers. Neapolitan 300 87. Joy, acclamation 300 88. Invitation to drink wine 300 89. Woman's quarrel. Neapolitan Group. Facing 301 90. Chestnut vender. Facing 301 91. Warning. Neapolitan 302 92. Justice. Neapolitan 302 93. Little. Neapolitan 302 94. Little. N. A. Indian 302 95. Little. N. A. Indian 302 96. Demonstration. Neapolitan 302 97. "Fool. " Neapolitan 303 98. "Fool. " Ib. 303 99. "Fool. " Ib. 303 100. Inquiry. Neapolitan 303 101. Crafty, deceitful. Neapolitan 303 102. Insult. Neapolitan 304 103. Insult. Neapolitan 304 104. Silence. Neapolitan 304 105. Child. Egyptian hieroglyph 304 106. Negation. Neapolitan 305 107. Hunger. Neapolitan 305 108. Mockery. Neapolitan 305 109. Fatigue. Neapolitan 305 110. Deceit. Neapolitan 305 111. Astuteness, readiness. Neapolitan 305 112. Tree. Dakota, Hidatsa 343 113. To grow. N. A. Indian 343 114. Rain. Shoshoni, Apache 344 115. Sun. N. A. Indian 344 116. Sun. Cheyenne 344 117. Soldier. Arikara 345 118. No, negation. Egyptian 355 119. Negation. Maya 356 120. Nothing. Chinese 356 121. Child. Egyptian figurative 356 122. Child. Egyptian linear 356 123. Child. Egyptian hieratic 356 124. Son. Ancient Chinese 356 125. Son. Modern Chinese 356 126. Birth. Chinese character 356 127. Birth. Dakota 356 128. Birth, generic. N. A. Indians 357 129. Man. Mexican 357 130. Man. Chinese character 357 131. Woman. Chinese character 357 132. Woman. Ute 357 133. Female, generic. Cheyenne 357 134. To give water. Chinese character 357 135. Water, to drink. N. A. Indian 357 136. Drink. Mexican 357 137. Water. Mexican 357 138. Water, giving. Egypt 358 139. Water. Egyptian 358 140. Water, abbreviated 358 141. Water. Chinese character 358 142. To weep. Ojibwa pictograph 358 143. Force, vigor. Egyptian 358 144. Night. Egyptian 358 145. Calling upon. Egyptian figurative 359 146. Calling upon. Egyptian linear 359 147. To collect, to unite. Egyptian 359 148. Locomotion. Egyptian figurative 359 149. Locomotion. Egyptian linear 359 150. Shuⁿ'-ka Lu'-ta. Dakota 365 151. "I am going to the east. " Abnaki 369 152. "Am not gone far. " Abnaki 369 153. "Gone far. " Abnaki 370 154. "Gone five days' journey. " Abnaki 370 155. Sun. N. A. Indian 370 156. Sun. Egyptian 370 157. Sun. Egyptian 370 158. Sun with rays. Ib. 371 159. Sun with rays. Ib. 371 160. Sun with rays. Moqui pictograph 371 161. Sun with rays. Ib. 371 162. Sun with rays. Ib. 371 163. Sun with rays. Ib. 371 164. Star. Moqui pictograph 371 165. Star. Moqui pictograph 371 166. Star. Moqui pictograph 371 167. Star. Moqui pictograph 371 168. Star. Peruvian pictograph 371 169. Star. Ojibwa pictograph 371 170. Sunrise. Moqui do. 371 171. Sunrise. Ib. 371 172. Sunrise. Ib. 371 173. Moon, month. Californian pictograph 371 174. Pictograph, including sun. Coyotero Apache 372 175. Moon. N. A. Indian 372 176. Moon. Moqui pictograph 372 177. Moon. Ojibwa pictograph 372 178. Sky. Ib. 372 179. Sky. Egyptian character 372 180. Clouds. Moqui pictograph 372 181. Clouds. Ib. 372 182. Clouds. Ib. 372 183. Cloud. Ojibwa pictograph 372 184. Rain. New Mexican pictograph 373 185. Rain. Moqui pictograph 373 186. Lightning. Moqui pictograph 373 187. Lightning. Ib. 373 188. Lightning, harmless. Pictograph at Jemez, N. M. 373 189. Lightning, fatal. Do. 373 190. Voice. "The-Elk-that-hollows-walking" 373 191. Voice. Antelope. Cheyenne drawing 373 192. Voice, talking. Cheyenne drawing 374 193. Killing the buffalo. Cheyenne drawing 375 194. Talking. Mexican pictograph 376 195. Talking, singing. Maya character 376 196. Hearing ears. Ojibwa pictograph 376 197. "I hear, but your words are from a bad heart. " Ojibwa 376 198. Hearing serpent. Ojibwa pictograph 376 199. Royal edict. Maya 377 200. To kill. Dakota 377 201. "Killed Arm. " Dakota 377 202. Pictograph, including "kill. " Wyoming Ter. 378 203. Pictograph, including "kill. " Wyoming Ter. 378 204. Pictograph, including "kill. " Wyoming Ter. 379 205. Veneration. Egyptian character 379 206. Mercy. Supplication, favor. Egyptian 379 207. Supplication. Mexican pictograph 380 208. Smoke. Ib. 380 209. Fire. Ib. 381 210. "Making medicine. " Conjuration. Dakota 381 211. Meda. Ojibwa pictograph 381 212. The God Knuphis. Egyptian 381 213. The God Knuphis. Ib. 381 214. Power. Ojibwa pictograph 381 215. Meda's Power. Ib. 381 216. Trade pictograph 382 217. Offering. Mexican pictograph 382 218. Stampede of horses. Dakota 382 219. Chapultepec. Mexican pictograph 383 220. Soil. Ib. 383 221. Cultivated soil. Ib. 383 222. Road, path. Ib. 383 223. Cross-roads and gesture sign. Mexican pictograph 383 224. Small-pox or measles. Dakota 383 225. "No thoroughfare. " Pictograph 383 226. Raising of war party. Dakota 384 227. "Led four war parties. " Dakota drawing 384 228. Sociality. Friendship. Ojibwa pictograph 384 229. Peace. Friendship. Dakota 384 230. Peace. Friendship with whites. Dakota 385 231. Friendship. Australian 385 232. Friend. Brulé Dakota 386 233. Lie, falsehood. Arikara 393 234. Antelope. Dakota 410 235. Running Antelope. Personal totem 410 236. Bad. Dakota 411 237. Bear. Cheyenne 412 238. Bear. Kaiowa, etc. 413 239. Bear. Ute 413 240. Bear. Moqui pictograph 413 241. Brave. N. A. Indian 414 242. Brave. Kaiowa, etc. 415 243. Brave. Kaiowa, etc. 415 244. Chief. Head of tribe. Absaroka 418 245. Chief. Head of tribe. Pai-Ute 418 246. Chief of a band. Absaroka and Arikara 419 247. Chief of a band. Pai-Ute 419 248. Warrior. Absaroka, etc. 420 249. Ojibwa gravestone, including "dead" 422 250. Dead. Shoshoni and Banak 422 251. Dying. Kaiowa, etc. 424 252. Nearly dying. Kaiowa 424 253. Log house. Hidatsa 428 254. Lodge. Dakota 430 255. Lodge. Kaiowa, etc. 431 256. Lodge. Sahaptin 431 257. Lodge. Pai-Ute 431 258. Lodge. Pai-Ute 431 259. Lodge. Kutchin 431 260. Horse. N. A. Indian 434 261. Horse. Dakota 434 262. Horse. Kaiowa, etc. 435 263. Horse. Caddo 435 264. Horse. Pima and Papago 435 265. Horse. Ute 435 266. Horse. Ute 435 267. Saddling a horse. Ute 437 268. Kill. N. A. Indian 438 269. Kill. Mandan and Hidatsa 439 270. Negation. No. Dakota 441 271. Negation. No. Pai-Ute 442 272. None. Dakota 443 273. None. Australian 444 274. Much, quantity. Apache 447 275. Question. Australian 449 276. Soldier. Dakota and Arikara 450 277. Trade. Dakota 452 278. Trade. Dakota 452 279. Buy. Ute 453 280. Yes, affirmation. Dakota 456 281. Absaroka tribal sign. Shoshoni 458 282. Apache tribal sign. Kaiowa, etc. 459 283. Apache tribal sign. Pima and Papago 459 284. Arikara tribal sign. Arapaho and Dakota 461 285. Arikara tribal sign. Absaroka 461 286. Blackfoot tribal sign. Dakota 463 287. Blackfoot tribal sign. Shoshoni 464 288. Caddo tribal sign. Arapaho and Kaiowa 464 289. Cheyenne tribal sign. Arapaho and Cheyenne 464 290. Dakota tribal sign. Dakota 467 291. Flathead tribal sign. Shoshoni 468 292. Kaiowa tribal sign. Comanche 470 293. Kutine tribal sign. Shoshoni 471 294. Lipan tribal sign. Apache 471 295. Pend d'Oreille tribal sign. Shoshoni 473 296. Sahaptin or Nez Percé tribal sign. Comanche 473 297. Shoshoni tribal sign. Shoshoni 474 298. Buffalo. Dakota 477 299. Eagle Tail. Arikara 477 300. Eagle Tail. Moqui pictograph 477 301. Give me. Absaroka 480 302. Counting. How many? Shoshoni and Banak 482 303. I am going home. Dakota 485 304. Question. Apache 486 305. Shoshoni tribal sign. Shoshoni 486 306. Chief. Shoshoni 487 307. Cold, winter, year. Apache 487 308. "Six. " Shoshoni 487 309. Good, very well. Apache 487 310. Many. Shoshoni 488 311. Hear, heard. Apache 488 312. Night. Shoshoni 489 313. Rain. Shoshoni 489 314. See each other. Shoshoni 490 315. White man, American. Dakota 491 316. Hear, heard. Dakota 492 317. Brother. Pai-Ute 502 318. No, negation. Pai-Ute 503 319. Scene of Na-wa-gi-jig's story. Facing 508 320. We are friends. Wichita 521 321. Talk, talking. Wichita 521 322. I stay, or I stay right here. Wichita 521 323. A long time. Wichita 522 324. Done, finished. Do. 522 325. Sit down. Australian 523 326. Cut down. Wichita 524 327. Wagon. Wichita 525 328. Load upon. Wichita 525 329. White man; American. Hidatsa 526 330. With us. Hidatsa 526 331. Friend. Hidatsa 527 332. Four. Hidatsa 527 333. Lie, falsehood. Hidatsa 528 334. Done, finished. Hidatsa 528 335. Peace, friendship. Hualpais. Facing 530 336. Question, ans'd by tribal sign for Pani. Facing 531 337. Buffalo discovered. Dakota. Facing 532 338. Discovery. Dakota. Facing 533 339. Success of war party. Pima. Facing 538 340. Outline for arm positions, full face 545 341. Outline for arm positions, profile 545 342a. Types of hand positions, A to L 547 342b. Types of hand positions, M to Y 548 343. Example. To cut with an ax 550 344. Example. A lie 550 345. Example. To ride 551 346. Example. I am going home 551

 * * * * *

SIGN LANGUAGE

AMONG

NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS

COMPARED WITH THAT AMONG OTHER PEOPLES AND DEAF-MUTES. 

 * * * * *

BY GARRICK MALLERY. 

 * * * * *

INTRODUCTORY. 

During the past two years the present writer has devoted the intervalsbetween official duties to collecting and collating materials forthe study of sign language. As the few publications on the generalsubject, possessing more than historic interest, are meager in detailsand vague in expression, original investigation has been necessary. The high development of communication by gesture among the tribesof North America, and its continued extensive use by many of them, naturally directed the first researches to that continent, with theresult that a large body of facts procured from collaborators andby personal examination has now been gathered and classified. Acorrespondence has also been established with many persons in otherparts of the world whose character and situation rendered it probablethat they would contribute valuable information. The success ofthat correspondence has been as great as could have been expected, considering that most of the persons addressed were at distant pointssometimes not easily accessible by mail. As the collection of factsis still successfully proceeding, not only with reference to foreignpeoples and to deaf-mutes everywhere, but also among some Americantribes not yet thoroughly examined in this respect, no exposition ofthe subject pretending to be complete can yet be made. In complying, therefore, with the request to prepare the present paper, it isnecessary to explain to correspondents and collaborators whom it mayreach, that this is not the comprehensive publication by the Bureauof Ethnology for which their assistance has been solicited. With thisexplanation some of those who have already forwarded contributionswill not be surprised at their omission, and others will not desistfrom the work in which they are still kindly engaged, under theimpression that its results will not be received in time to meet withwelcome and credit. On the contrary, the urgent appeal for aid beforeaddressed to officers of the Army and Navy of this and other nations, to missionaries, travelers, teachers of deaf-mutes, and philologistsgenerally, is now with equal urgency repeated. It is, indeed, hopedthat the continued presentation of the subject to persons eitherhaving opportunity for observation or the power to favor withsuggestions may, by awakening some additional interest in it, securenew collaboration from localities still unrepresented. 

It will be readily understood by other readers that, as the limitsassigned to this paper permit the insertion of but a small part of thematerial already collected and of the notes of study made uponthat accumulation, it can only show the general scope of the workundertaken, and not its accomplishment. Such extracts from thecollection have been selected as were regarded as most illustrative, and they are preceded by a discussion perhaps sufficient to besuggestive, though by no means exhaustive, and designed to be forpopular, rather than for scientific use. In short, the direction tosubmit a progress-report and not a monograph has been complied with. 

DIVISIONS OF GESTURE SPEECH. 

These are corporeal motion and facial expression. An attempt has beenmade by some writers to discuss these general divisions separately, and its success would be practically convenient if it were alwaysunderstood that their connection is so intimate that they can neverbe altogether severed. A play of feature, whether instinctive orvoluntary, accentuates and qualifies all motions intended to serveas signs, and strong instinctive facial expression is generallyaccompanied by action of the body or some of its members. But, sofar as a distinction can be made, expressions of the features are theresult of emotional, and corporeal gestures, of intellectual action. The former in general and the small number of the latter thatare distinctively emotional are nearly identical among men fromphysiological causes which do not affect with the same similaritythe processes of thought. The large number of corporeal gesturesexpressing intellectual operations require and admit of more varietyand conventionality. Thus the features and the body among all mankindact almost uniformly in exhibiting fear, grief, surprise, and shame, but all objective conceptions are varied and variously portrayed. Evensuch simple indications as those for "no" and "yes" appear in severaldiffering motions. While, therefore, the terms sign language andgesture speech necessarily include and suppose facial expression whenemotions are in question, they refer more particularly to corporealmotions and attitudes. For this reason much of the valuablecontribution of DARWIN in his _Expression of the Emotions in Man andAnimals_ is not directly applicable to sign language. His analysisof emotional gestures into those explained on the principles ofserviceable associated habits, of antithesis, and of the constitutionof the nervous system, should, nevertheless, always be remembered. Even if it does not strictly embrace the class of gestures whichform the subject of this paper, and which often have an immediatepantomimic origin, the earliest gestures were doubtless instinctiveand generally emotional, preceding pictorial, metaphoric, and, stillsubsequent, conventional gestures even, as, according to DARWIN'scogent reasoning, they preceded articulate speech. 

While the distinction above made between the realm of facial play andthat of motions of the body, especially those of the arms and hands, is sufficiently correct for use in discussion, it must be admittedthat the features do express intellect as well as emotion. Thewell-known saying of Charles Lamb that "jokes came in with thecandles" is in point, but the most remarkable example of conveyingdetailed information without the use of sounds, hands, or arms, is given by the late President T. H. Gallaudet, the distinguishedinstructor of deaf-mutes, which, to be intelligible, requires to bequoted at length:

"One day, our distinguished and lamented historical painter, Col. JohnTrumbull, was in my school-room during the hours of instruction, and, on my alluding to the tact which the pupil referred to had of readingmy face, he expressed a wish to see it tried. I requested him toselect any event in Greek, Roman, English, or American history of ascenic character, which would make a striking picture on canvas, andsaid I would endeavor to communicate it to the lad. 'Tell him, ' saidhe, 'that Brutus (Lucius Junius) condemned his two sons to death forresisting his authority and violating his orders. '

"I folded my arms in front of me, and kept them in that position, to preclude the possibility of making any signs or gestures, or ofspelling any words on my fingers, and proceeded, as best I could, bythe expression of my countenance, and a few motions of my head andattitudes of the body, to convey the picture in my own mind to themind of my pupil. 

"It ought to be stated that he was already acquainted with the fact, being familiar with the leading events in Roman history. But when Ibegan, he knew not from what portion of history, sacred or profane, ancient or modern, the fact was selected. From this wide range, my delineation on the one hand and his ingenuity on the other hadto bring it within the division of Roman history, and, still moreminutely, to the particular individual and transaction designated byColonel Trumbull. In carrying on the process, I made no use whateverof any arbitrary, conventional look, motion, or attitude, beforesettled between us, by which to let him understand what I wished tocommunicate, with the exception of a single one, if, indeed, it oughtto be considered such. 

"The usual sign, at that time, among the teachers and pupils, fora Roman, was portraying an aquiline nose by placing the forefinger, crooked, in front of the nose. As I was prevented from using my fingerin this way, and having considerable command over the muscles of myface, I endeavored to give my nose as much of the aquiline form aspossible, and succeeded well enough for my purpose. .. . 

"The outlines of the process were the following:

"A stretching and stretching gaze eastward, with an undulating motionof the head, as if looking across and beyond the Atlantic Ocean, to denote that the event happened, not on the western, but easterncontinent. This was making a little progress, as it took the subjectout of the range of American history. 

"A turning of the eyes upward and backward, with frequently-repeatedmotions of the head backward, as if looking a great way back in pasttime, to denote that the event was one of ancient date. 

"The aquiline shape of the nose, already referred to, indicating thata Roman was the person concerned. It was, of course, an old Roman. 

"Portraying, as well as I could, by my countenance, attitude, andmanner an individual high in authority, and commanding others, as ifhe expected to be obeyed. 

"Looking and acting as if I were giving out a specific order to manypersons, and threatening punishment on those who should resist myauthority, even the punishment of death. 

"Here was a pause in the progress of events, which I denoted bysleeping as it were during the night and awakening in the morning, anddoing this several times, to signify that several days had elapsed. 

"Looking with deep interest and surprise, as if at a single personbrought and standing before me, with an expression of countenanceindicating that he had violated the order which I had given, and thatI knew it. Then looking in the same way at another person near him asalso guilty. Two offending persons were thus denoted. 

"Exhibiting serious deliberation, then hesitation, accompanied withstrong conflicting emotions, producing perturbation, as if I knew nothow to feel or what to do. 

"Looking first at one of the persons before me, and then at the other, and then at both together, _as a father would look_, indicating hisdistressful parental feelings under such afflicting circumstances. 

"Composing my feelings, showing that a change was coming over me, andexhibiting towards the imaginary persons before me the decided look ofthe inflexible commander, who was determined and ready to order themaway to execution. Looking and acting as if the tender and forgivingfeelings of _the father_ had again got the ascendency, and as if I wasabout to relent and pardon them. 

"These alternating states of mind I portrayed several times, to makemy representations the more graphic and impressive. 

"At length the father yields, and the stern principle of justice, asexpressed in my countenance and manners, prevails. My look and actiondenote the passing of the sentence of death on the offenders, and theordering them away to execution. 

 * * * * *

"He quickly turned round to his slate and wrote a correct and completeaccount of this story of Brutus and his two sons. "

 * * * * *

While it appears that the expressions of the features are not confinedto the emotions or to distinguishing synonyms, it must be rememberedthat the meaning of the same motion of hands, arms, and fingers isoften modified, individualized, or accentuated by associated facialchanges and postures of the body not essential to the sign, whichemotional changes and postures are at once the most difficult todescribe and the most interesting when intelligently reported, notonly because they infuse life into the skeleton sign, but because theymay belong to the class of innate expressions. 

THE ORIGIN OF SIGN LANGUAGE. 

In observing the maxim that nothing can be thoroughly understoodunless its beginning is known, it becomes necessary to examine intothe origin of sign language through its connection with that of oralspeech. In this examination it is essential to be free from the vaguepopular impression that some oral language, of the general characterof that now used among mankind, is "natural" to mankind. It will beadmitted on reflection that all oral languages were at some past timefar less serviceable to those using them than they are now, and aseach particular language has been thoroughly studied it has becomeevident that it grew out of some other and less advanced form. Inthe investigation of these old forms it has been so difficult toascertain how any of them first became a useful instrument ofinter-communication that many conflicting theories on this subjecthave been advocated. 

Oral language consists of variations and mutations of vocal soundsproduced as signs of thought and emotion. But it is not enough thatthose signs should be available as the vehicle of the producer's ownthoughts. They must be also efficient for the communication of suchthoughts to others. It has been, until of late years, generally heldthat thought was not possible without oral language, and that, as manwas supposed to have possessed from the first the power of thought, healso from the first possessed and used oral language substantiallyas at present. That the latter, as a special faculty, formed themain distinction between man and the brutes has been and still isthe prevailing doctrine. In a lecture delivered before the BritishAssociation in 1878 it was declared that "animal intelligence isunable to elaborate that class of abstract ideas, the formation ofwhich depends upon the faculty of speech. " If instead of "speech" theword "utterance" had been used, as including all possible modes ofintelligent communication, the statement might pass without criticism. But it may be doubted if there is any more necessary connectionbetween abstract ideas and sounds, the mere signs of thought, thatstrike the ear, than there is between the same ideas and signsaddressed only to the eye. 

The point most debated for centuries has been, not whether therewas any primitive oral language, but what that language was. Someliteralists have indeed argued from the Mosaic narrative that becausethe Creator, by one supernatural act, with the express purpose toform separate peoples, had divided all tongues into their presentvarieties, and could, by another similar exercise of power, obliterateall but one which should be universal, the fact that he had notexercised that power showed it not to be his will that any man towhom a particular speech had been given should hold intercourse withanother miraculously set apart from him by a different speech. By thisreasoning, if the study of a foreign tongue was not impious, it wasat least clear that the primitive language had been taken away as adisciplinary punishment, as the Paradisiac Eden had been earlier lost, and that, therefore, the search for it was as fruitless as to attemptthe passage of the flaming sword. More liberal Christians have beendisposed to regard the Babel story as allegorical, if not mythical, and have considered it to represent the disintegration of tonguesout of one which was primitive. In accordance with the advance oflinguistic science they have successively shifted back the postulatedprimitive tongue from Hebrew to Sanscrit, then to Aryan, and now seekto evoke from the vasty deeps of antiquity the ghosts of other rivalclaimants for precedence in dissolution. As, however, the languages ofman are now recognized as extremely numerous, and as the very soundsof which these several languages are composed are so different thatthe speakers of some are unable to distinguish with the ear certainsounds in others, still less able to reproduce them, the search forone common parent language is more difficult than was supposed bymediæval ignorance. 

The discussion is now, however, varied by the suggested possibilitythat man at some time may have existed without any oral language. Itis conceded by some writers that mental images or representations canbe formed without any connection with sound, and may at least servefor thought, though not for expression. It is certain that concepts, however formed, can be expressed by other means than sound. One modeof this expression is by gesture, and there is less reason to believethat gestures commenced as the interpretation of, or substitute forwords than that the latter originated in, and served to translategestures. Many arguments have been advanced to prove that gesturelanguage preceded articulate speech and formed the earliest attemptat communication, resulting from the interacting subjective andobjective conditions to which primitive man was exposed. Some of thefacts on which deductions have been based, made in accordance withwell-established modes of scientific research from study of the loweranimals, children, idiots, the lower types of mankind, and deaf-mutes, will be briefly mentioned. 

_GESTURES OF THE LOWER ANIMALS. _

Emotional expression in the features of man is to be considered inreference to the fact that the special senses either have their seatin, or are in close relation to the face, and that so large a numberof nerves pass to it from the brain. The same is true of the loweranimals, so that it would be inferred, as is the case, that the facesof those animals are also expressive of emotion. There is also noticedamong them an exhibition of emotion by corporeal action. This is theclass of gestures common to them with the earliest made by man, asabove mentioned, and it is reasonable to suppose that those were madeby man at the time when, if ever, he was, like the animals, destituteof articulate speech. The articulate cries uttered by some animals, especially some birds, are interesting as connected with the principleof imitation to which languages in part owe their origin, but in thecases of forced imitation, the mere acquisition of a vocal trick, they only serve to illustrate that power of imitation, and are withoutsignificance. Sterne's starling, after his cage had been opened, wouldhave continued to complain that he could not get out. If the bird haduttered an instinctive cry of distress when in confinement and a noteof joy on release, there would have been a nearer approach to languagethan if it had clearly pronounced many sentences. Such notes andcries of animals, many of which are connected with reproduction andnutrition, are well worth more consideration than can now be given, but regarding them generally it is to be questioned if they are soexpressive as the gestures of the same animals. It is contended thatthe bark of a dog is distinguishable into fear, defiance, invitation, and a note of warning, but it also appears that those notes have beenknown only since the animal has been domesticated. The gestures ofthe dog are far more readily distinguished than his bark, as in hispreparing for attack, or caressing his master, resenting an injury, begging for food, or simply soliciting attention. The chief modernuse of his tail appears to be to express his ideas and sensations. Butsome recent experiments of Prof. A. GRAHAM BELL, no less eminent fromhis work in artificial speech than in telephones, shows that animalsare more physically capable of pronouncing articulate sounds than hasbeen supposed. He informed the writer that he recently succeeded bymanipulation in causing an English terrier to form a number of thesounds of our letters, and particularly brought out from it the words"How are you, Grandmamma?" with distinctness. This tends to provethat only absence of brain power has kept animals from acquiring truespeech. The remarkable vocal instrument of the parrot could be used insignificance as well as in imitation, if its brain had been developedbeyond the point of expression by gesture, in which latter the bird isexpert. 

The gestures of monkeys, whose hands and arms can be used, are nearlyakin to ours. Insects communicate with each other almost entirely bymeans of the antennæ. Animals in general which, though not deaf, cannot be taught by sound, frequently have been by signs, and probablyall of them understand man's gestures better than his speech. Theyexhibit signs to one another with obvious intention, and they alsohave often invented them as a means of obtaining their wants from man. 

_GESTURES OF YOUNG CHILDREN. _

The wishes and emotions of very young children are conveyed in asmall number of sounds, but in a great variety of gestures and facialexpressions. A child's gestures are intelligent long in advance ofspeech; although very early and persistent attempts are made to giveit instruction in the latter but none in the former, from the timewhen it begins _risu cognoscere matrem_. It learns words only as theyare taught, and learns them through the medium of signs which are notexpressly taught. Long after familiarity with speech, it consultsthe gestures and facial expressions of its parents and nurses asif seeking thus to translate or explain their words. These factsare important in reference to the biologic law that the order ofdevelopment of the individual is the same as that of the species. 

Among the instances of gestures common to children throughout theworld is that of protruding the lips, or pouting, when somewhat angryor sulky. The same gesture is now made by the anthropoid apes and isfound strongly marked in the savage tribes of man. It is noticed byevolutionists that animals retain during early youth, and subsequentlylose, characters once possessed by their progenitors when adult, andstill retained by distinct species nearly related to them. 

The fact is not, however, to be ignored that children invent words aswell as signs with as natural an origin for the one as for the other. An interesting case was furnished to the writer by Prof. BELL of aninfant boy who used a combination of sounds given as "nyum-nyum, "an evident onomatope of gustation, to mean "good, " and not only inreference to articles of food relished but as applied to persons ofwhom the child was fond, rather in the abstract idea of "niceness"in general. It is a singular coincidence that a bright young girl, a friend of the writer, in a letter describing a juvenile feast, invented the same expression, with nearly the same spelling, ascharacteristic of her sensations regarding the delicacies provided. The Papuans met by Dr. Comrie also called "eating" _nam-nam_. But theevidence of all such cases of the voluntary use of articulate speechby young children is qualified by the fact that it has been inheritedfrom very many generations, if not quite so long as the faculty ofgesture. 

_GESTURES IN MENTAL DISORDER. _

The insane understand and obey gestures when they have no knowledgewhatever of words. It is also found that semi-idiotic children whocannot be taught more than the merest rudiments of speech, can receivea considerable amount of information through signs, and can expressthemselves by them. Sufferers from aphasia continue to use appropriategestures after their words have become uncontrollable. It is furthernoticeable in them that mere ejaculations, or sounds which are onlythe result of a state of feeling, instead of a desire to expressthought, are generally articulated with accuracy. Patients who havebeen in the habit of swearing preserve their fluency in that divisionof their vocabulary. 

_UNINSTRUCTED DEAF-MUTES. _

The signs made by congenital and uninstructed deaf-mutes to be nowconsidered are either strictly natural signs, invented by themselves, or those of a colloquial character used by such mutes whereassociated. The accidental or merely suggestive signs peculiar tofamilies, one member of which happens to be a mute, are too muchaffected by the other members of the family to be of certainvalue. Those, again, which are taught in institutions have becomeconventional and designedly adapted to translation into oral speech, although founded by the abbé de l'Épée, followed by the abbé Sicard, in the natural signs first above mentioned. 

A great change has doubtless occurred in the estimation of congenitaldeaf-mutes since the Justinian Code, which consigned them forever tolegal infancy, as incapable of intelligence, and classed them with theinsane. Yet most modern writers, for instance Archbishop Whately andMax Müller, have declared that deaf-mutes could not think until afterhaving been instructed. It cannot be denied that the deaf-mute thinksafter his instruction either in the ordinary gesture signs or inthe finger alphabet, or more lately in artificial speech. By thisinstruction he has become master of a highly-developed language, suchas English or French, which he can read, write, and actually talk, but that foreign language he has obtained through the medium of signs. This is a conclusive proof that signs constitute a real language andone which admits of thought, for no one can learn a foreign languageunless he had some language of his own, whether by descent oracquisition, by which it could be translated, and such translationinto the new language could not even be commenced unless the mind hadbeen already in action and intelligently using the original languagefor that purpose. In fact the use by deaf-mutes of signs originatingin themselves exhibits a creative action of mind and innate facultyof expression beyond that of ordinary speakers who acquired languagewithout conscious effort. The thanks of students, both of philologyand psychology, are due to Prof. SAMUEL PORTER, of the National DeafMute College, for his response to the question, "Is thought possiblewithout language?" published in the _Princeton Review_ for January, 1880. 

With regard to the sounds uttered by deaf-mutes, the same explanationof heredity may be made as above, regarding the words invented byyoung children. Congenital deaf-mutes at first make the same soundsas hearing children of the same age, and, often being susceptibleto vibrations of the air, are not suspected of being deaf. When thataffliction is ascertained to exist, all oral utterances from thedeaf-mute are habitually repressed by the parents. 

_GESTURES OF THE BLIND. _

The facial expressions and gestures of the congenitally blind areworthy of attention. The most interesting and conclusive examplescome from the case of Laura Bridgman, who, being also deaf, could notpossibly have derived them by imitation. When a letter from a belovedfriend was communicated to her by gesture-language, she laughedand clapped her hands. A roguish expression was given to her face, concomitant with the emotion, by her holding the lower lip by theteeth. She blushed, shrugged her shoulders, turned in her elbows, andraised her eye-brows under the same circumstances as other people. In amazement, she rounded and protruded the lips, opened them, andbreathed strongly. It is remarkable that she constantly accompaniedher "yes" with the common affirmative nod, and her "no" with ournegative shake of the head, as these gestures are by no meansuniversal and do not seem clearly connected with emotion. This, possibly, may be explained by the fact that her ancestors for manygenerations had used these gestures. A similar curious instance ismentioned by Cardinal Wiseman (_Essays_, III, 547, _London_, 1853) ofan Italian blind man, the appearance of whose eyes indicated that hehad never enjoyed sight, and who yet made the same elaborate gesturesmade by the people with whom he lived, but which had been used by themimmemorially, as correctly as if he had learned them by observation. 

_LOSS OF SPEECH BY ISOLATION. _

When human beings have been long in solitary confinement, beenabandoned, or otherwise have become isolated from their fellows, theyhave lost speech either partially or entirely, and required to haveit renewed through gestures. There are also several recorded cases ofchildren, born with all their faculties, who, after having been lostor abandoned, have been afterwards found to have grown up possessedof acute hearing, but without anything like human speech. One of thesewas Peter, "the Wild Boy, " who was found in the woods of Hanover in1726, and taken to England, where vain attempts were made to teach himlanguage, though he lived to the age of seventy. Another was a boy oftwelve, found in the forest of Aveyron, in France, about the beginningof this century, who was destitute of speech, and all efforts to teachhim failed. Some of these cases are to be considered in connectionwith the general law of evolution, that in degeneration the lastand highest acquirements are lost first. When in these the effortat acquiring or re-acquiring speech has been successful, it has beenthrough gestures, in the same manner as missionaries, explorers, and shipwrecked mariners have become acquainted with tongues beforeunknown to themselves and sometimes to civilization. All persons insuch circumstances are obliged to proceed by pointing to objects andmaking gesticulations, at the same time observing what articulatesounds were associated with those motions by the persons addressed, and thus vocabularies and lists of phrases were formed. 

_LOW TRIBES OF MAN. _

Apart from the establishment of a systematic language of signs underspecial circumstances which have occasioned its development, thegestures of the lower tribes of men may be generally classed under theemotional or instinctive division, which can be correlated with thoseof the lower animals. This may be illustrated by the modes adopted toshow friendship in salutation, taking the place of our shaking hands. Some Pacific Islanders used to show their joy at meeting friends bysniffing at them, after the style of well-disposed dogs. The Fuegianspat and slap each other, and some Polynesians stroke their own faceswith the hand or foot of the friend. The practice of rubbing orpressing noses is very common. It has been noticed in the LaplandAlps, often in Africa, and in Australia the tips of the noses arepressed a long time, accompanied with grunts of satisfaction. Pattingand stroking different parts of the body are still more frequent, andprevailed among the North American Indians, though with the latterthe most common expression was hugging. In general, the civilitiesexchanged are similar to those of many animals. 

_GESTURES AS AN OCCASIONAL RESOURCE. _

Persons of limited vocabulary, whether foreigners to the tongueemployed or native, but not accomplished in its use, even in the midstof a civilization where gestures are deprecated, when at fault forwords resort instinctively to physical motions that are not wild normeaningless, but picturesque and significant, though perhaps madeby the gesturer for the first time. An uneducated laborer, ifgood-natured enough to be really desirous of responding to a requestfor information, when he has exhausted his scanty stock of words willeke them out by original gestures. While fully admitting the advice toCoriolanus--

 Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant More learned than the ears--

it may be paraphrased to read that the hands of the ignorant aremore learned than their tongues. A stammerer, too, works his arms andfeatures as if determined to get his thoughts out, in a manner notonly suggestive of the physical struggle, but of the use of gesturesas a hereditary expedient. 

_GESTURES OF FLUENT TALKERS. _

The same is true of the most fluent talkers on occasions when theexact vocal formula desired does not at once suggest itself, or isunsatisfactory without assistance from the physical machinery notembraced in the oral apparatus. The command of a copious vocabularycommon to both speaker and hearer undoubtedly tends to a phlegmaticdelivery and disdain of subsidiary aid. An excited speaker will, however, generally make a free use of his hands without regard toany effect of that use upon auditors. Even among the gesture-hatingEnglish, when they are aroused from torpidity of manner, the hands areinvoluntarily clapped in approbation, rubbed with delight, wrung indistress, raised in astonishment, and waved in triumph. The fingersare snapped for contempt, the forefinger is vibrated to reprove orthreaten, and the fist shaken in defiance. The brow is contracted withdispleasure, and the eyes winked to show connivance. The shouldersare shrugged to express disbelief or repugnance, the eyebrowselevated with surprise, the lips bitten in vexation and thrust out insullenness or displeasure, while a higher degree of anger is shownby a stamp of the foot. Quintilian, regarding the subject, however, not as involuntary exhibition of feeling and intellect, but forillustration and enforcement, becomes eloquent on the variety ofmotions of which the hands alone are capable, as follows:

"The action of the other parts of the body assists the speaker, butthe hands (I could almost say) speak themselves. By them do wenot demand, promise, call, dismiss, threaten, supplicate, expressabhorrence and terror, question and deny? Do we not by them expressjoy and sorrow, doubt, confession, repentance, measure, quantity, number, and time? Do they not also encourage, supplicate, restrain, convict, admire, respect? and in pointing out places and persons dothey not discharge the office of adverbs and of pronouns?"

Voss adopts almost the words of Quintilian, "_Manus non modo loquentemadjuvant, sed ipsæ pene loqui videntur_, " while Cresollius calls thehand "the minister of reason and wisdom . .. Without it there is noeloquence. "

_INVOLUNTARY RESPONSE TO GESTURES. _

Further evidence of the unconscious survival of gesture language isafforded by the ready and involuntary response made in signs to signswhen a man with the speech and habits of civilization is brought intoclose contact with Indians or deaf-mutes. Without having ever beforeseen or made one of their signs, he will soon not only catch themeaning of theirs, but produce his own, which they will likewisecomprehend, the power seemingly remaining latent in him until calledforth by necessity. 

_NATURAL PANTOMIME. _

In the earliest part of man's history the subjects of his discoursemust have been almost wholly sensuous, and therefore readily expressedin pantomime. Not only was pantomime sufficient for all the actualneeds of his existence, but it is not easy to imagine how he couldhave used language such as is now known to us. If the best Englishdictionary and grammar had been miraculously furnished to him, together with the art of reading with proper pronunciation, the giftwould have been valueless, because the ideas expressed by the wordshad not yet been formed. 

That the early concepts were of a direct and material character isshown by what has been ascertained of the roots of language, and theredoes not appear to be much difficulty in expressing by other thanvocal instrumentality all that could have been expressed by thoseroots. Even now, with our vastly increased belongings of externallife, avocations, and habits, nearly all that is absolutely necessaryfor our physical needs can be expressed in pantomime. Far beyond themere signs for eating, drinking, sleeping, and the like, any one willunderstand a skillful representation in signs of a tailor, shoemaker, blacksmith, weaver, sailor, farmer, or doctor. So of washing, dressing, shaving, walking, driving, writing, reading, churning, milking, boiling, roasting or frying, making bread or preparingcoffee, shooting, fishing, rowing, sailing, sawing, planing, boring, and, in short, an endless list. 

Max Müller properly calls touch, scent, and taste the palaioteric, and sight and hearing the neoteric senses, the latter of whichoften require to be verified by the former. Touch is the lowest inspecialization and development, and is considered to be the oldest ofthe senses, the others indeed being held by some writers to be onlyits modifications. Scent, of essential importance to many animals, haswith man almost ceased to be of any, except in connection with taste, which he has developed to a high degree. Whether or not sight precededhearing in order of development, it is difficult, in conjecturing thefirst attempts of man or his hypothetical ancestor at the expressioneither of percepts or concepts, to connect vocal sounds with anylarge number of objects, but it is readily conceivable that thecharacteristics of their forms and movements should have beensuggested to the eye--fully exercised before the tongue--so soonas the arms and fingers became free for the requisite simulationor portrayal. There is little distinction between pantomime and adeveloped sign language, in which thought is transmitted rapidly andcertainly from hand to eye as it is in oral speech from lips toear; the former is, however, the parent of the latter, which is moreabbreviated and less obvious. Pantomime acts movements, reproducesforms and positions, presents pictures, and manifests emotions withgreater realization than any other mode of utterance. It may readilybe supposed that a troglodyte man would desire to communicate thefinding of a cave in the vicinity of a pure pool, circled with softgrass, and shaded by trees bearing edible fruit. No sound of nature isconnected with any of those objects, but the position and size of thecave, its distance and direction, the water, its quality, and amount, the verdant circling carpet, and the kind and height of the treescould have been made known by pantomime in the days of the mammoth, if articulate speech had not then been established, as Indians ordeaf-mutes now communicate similar information by the same agency. 

The proof of this fact, as regards deaf-mutes, will hardly bedemanded, as their expressive pantomime has been so often witnessed. That of the North American Indians, as distinct from the signs whichare generally its abbreviations, has been frequently described ingeneral terms, but it may be interesting to present two instances fromremote localities. 

A Maricopa Indian, in the present limits of Arizona, was offered anadvantageous trade for his horse, whereupon he stretched himself onhis horse's neck, caressed it tenderly, at the same time shutting hiseyes, meaning thereby that no offer could tempt him to part with hischarger. 

An A-tco-mâ-wi or Pit River Indian, in Northeastern California, toexplain the cause of his cheeks and forehead being covered with tar, represented a man falling, and, despite his efforts to save him, trembling, growing pale (pointing from his face to that of a whiteman), and sinking to sleep, his spirit winging its way to the skies, which he indicated by imitating with his hands the flight of a birdupwards, his body sleeping still upon the river bank, to which hepointed. The tar upon his face was thus shown to be his dress ofmourning for a friend who had fallen and died. 

Several descriptions of pure pantomime, intermixed with the moreconventionalized signs, will be found in the present paper. Inespecial, reference is made to the Address of Kin Chē-ĕss, Nátci's Narrative, the Dialogue between Alaskan Indians, andNa-wa-gi-jig's Story. 

SOME THEORIES UPON PRIMITIVE LANGUAGE. 

Cresollius, writing in 1620, was strongly in favor of givingprecedence to gesture. He says, "Man, full of wisdom and divinity, could have appeared nothing superior to a naked trunk or block had henot been adorned with the hand as the interpreter and messenger ofhis thoughts. " He quotes with approval the brother of St. Basil indeclaring that had men been formed without hands they would never havebeen endowed with an articulate voice, and concludes: "Since, then, nature has furnished us with two instruments for the purpose ofbringing into light and expressing the silent affections of themind, language and the hand, it has been the opinion of learned andintelligent men that the former would be maimed and nearly uselesswithout the latter; whereas the hand, without the aid of language, hasproduced many and wonderful effects. "

Rabelais, who incorporated into his satirical work much true learningand philosophy, makes his hero announce the following opinion:

"Nothing less, quoth Pantagruel [Book iii, ch. Xix], do I believe thanthat it is a mere abusing of our understandings to give credit tothe words of those who say that there is any such thing as a naturallanguage. All speeches have had their primary origin from thearbitrary institutions, accords, and agreements of nations in theirrespective condescendments to what should be noted and betokenedby them. An articulate voice, according to the dialecticians, hathnaturally no signification at all; for that the sense and meaningthereof did totally depend upon the good will and pleasure of thefirst deviser and imposer of it. "

Max Müller, following Professor Heyse, of Berlin, published aningenious theory of primitive speech, to the effect that man had acreative faculty giving to each conception, as it thrilled through hisbrain for the first time, a special phonetic expression, which facultybecame extinct when its necessity ceased. This theory, which makeseach radical of language to be a phonetic type rung out from theorganism of the first man or men when struck by an idea, has beenhappily named the "ding-dong" theory. It has been abandoned mainlythrough the destructive criticisms of Prof. W. D. WHITNEY, of YaleCollege. One lucid explanation by the latter should be speciallynoted: "A word is a combination of sounds which by a series ofhistorical reasons has come to be accepted and understood in a certaincommunity as the sign of a certain idea. As long as they so acceptand understand it, it has existence; when everyone ceases to use andunderstand it, it ceases to exist. "

Several authors, among them Kaltschmidt, contend that there wasbut one primitive language, which was purely onomatopoeic, thatis, imitative of natural sounds. This has been stigmatized as the"bow-wow" theory, but its advocates might derive an argument from theepithet itself, as not only our children, but the natives of Papua, call the dog a "bow-wow. " They have, however, gone too far inattempting to trace back words in their shape as now existing to anynatural sounds instead of confining that work to the roots from whichthe words have sprung. 

Another attempt has been made, represented by Professor Noiré, toaccount for language by means of interjectional cries. This Max Müllerrevengefully styled the "pooh-pooh" theory. In it is included therhythmical sounds which a body of men make seemingly by a commonimpulse when engaged in a common work, such as the cries of sailorswhen hauling on a rope or pulling an oar, or the yell of savages in anattack. It also derives an argument from the impulse of life by whichthe child shouts and the bird sings. There are, however, very feweither words or roots of words which can be proved to have thatderivation. 

Professor SAYCE, in his late work, _Introduction to the Science ofLanguage, London_, 1880, gives the origin of language in gestures, in onomatopoeia, and to a limited extent in interjectional cries. He concludes it to be the ordinary theory of modern comparativephilologists that all languages are traced back to a certain numberof abstract roots, each of which was a sort of sentence in embryo, and while he does not admit this as usually presented, he believesthat there was a time in the history of speech, when the articulateor semi-articulate sounds uttered by primitive men were made thesignificant representations of thought by the gestures with whichthey were accompanied. This statement is specially gratifying to thepresent writer as he had advanced much the same views in his firstpublication on the subject in the following paragraph, now reproducedwith greater confidence:

"From their own failures and discordancies, linguistic scholars haverecently decided that both the 'bow-wow' and the 'ding-dong' theoriesare unsatisfactory; that the search for imitative, onomatopoeic, anddirectly expressive sounds to explain the origin of human speech hasbeen too exclusive, and that many primordial roots of language havebeen founded in the involuntary sounds accompanying certain actions. As, however, the action was the essential, and the consequentor concomitant sound the accident, it would be expected that arepresentation or feigned reproduction of the action would have beenused to express the idea before the sound associated with thataction could have been separated from it. The visual onomatopoeia ofgestures, which even yet have been subjected to but slight artificialcorruption, would therefore serve as a key to the audible. It is alsocontended that in the pristine days, when the sounds of the only wordsyet formed had close connection with objects and the ideas directlyderived from them, signs were as much more copious for communicationthan speech, as the sight embraces more and more distinctcharacteristics of objects than does the sense of hearing. "

_CONCLUSIONS. _

The preponderance of authority is in favor of the view that man, whenin the possession of all his faculties, did not choose between voiceand gesture, both being originally instinctive, as they both are now, and never, with those faculties, was in a state where the one was usedto the absolute exclusion of the other. The long neglected work ofDalgarno, published in 1661, is now admitted to show wisdom when hesays: "_non minus naturale fit homini communicare in_ Figuris _quam_Sonis: _quorum utrumque dico homini_ naturale. " With the voice manat first imitated the few sounds of nature, while with gesture heexhibited actions, motions, positions, forms, dimensions, directions, and distances, and their derivatives. It would appear from thisunequal division of capacity that oral speech remained rudimentarylong after gesture had become an art. With the concession of allpurely imitative sounds and of the spontaneous action of the vocalorgans under excitement, it is still true that the connection betweenideas and words generally depended upon a compact between thespeaker and hearer which presupposes the existence of a prior mode ofcommunication. That was probably by gesture, which, in the appositephrase of Professor SAYCE, "like the rope-bridges of the Himalayas orthe Andes, formed the first rude means of communication between manand man. " At the very least it may be gladly accepted provisionally asa clue leading out of the labyrinth of philologic confusion. 

For the purpose of the present paper there is, however, no need of anabsolute decision upon the priority between communication of ideas bybodily motion and by vocal articulation. It is enough to admit thatthe connection between them was so early and intimate that gestures, in the wide sense indicated of presenting ideas under physical forms, had a direct formative effect upon many words; that they exhibit theearliest condition of the human mind; are traced from the remotestantiquity among all peoples possessing records; are generallyprevalent in the savage stage of social evolution; survive agreeablyin the scenic pantomime, and still adhere to the ordinary speech ofcivilized man by motions of the face, hands, head, and body, ofteninvoluntary, often purposely in illustration or for emphasis. 

It may be unnecessary to explain that none of the signs to bedescribed, even those of present world-wide prevalence, are presentedas precisely those of primitive man. Signs as well as words, animals, and plants have had their growth, development, and change, theirbirths and deaths, and their struggle for existence with survival ofthe fittest. It is, however, thought probable from reasons hereinaftermentioned that their radicals can be ascertained with more precisionthan those of words. 

HISTORY OF GESTURE LANGUAGE. 

There is ample evidence of record, besides that derived from othersources, that the systematic use of gesture speech was of greatantiquity. Livy so declares, and Quintilian specifies that the "_lexgestus . .. Ab illis temporibus heroicis orta est_. " Plato classed itspractice among civil virtues, and Chrysippus gave it place among theproper education of freemen. Athenæus tells that gestures were evenreduced to distinct classification with appropriate terminology. Theclass suited to comedy was called Cordax, that to tragedy Eumelia, andthat for satire Sicinnis, from the inventor Sicinnus. Bathyllus fromthese formed a fourth class, adapted to pantomime. This system appearsto have been particularly applicable to theatrical performances. Quintilian, later, gave most elaborate rules for gestures in oratory, which are specially noticeable from the importance attached to themanner of disposing the fingers. He attributed to each particulardisposition a significance or suitableness which are not now obvious. Some of them are retained by modern orators, but without the same, orindeed any, intentional meaning, and others are wholly disused. 

[Illustration: Fig. 61. ]

The value of these digital arrangements is, however, shown by theiruse among the modern Italians, to whom they have directly descended. From many illustrations of this fact the following is selected. Fig. 61 is copied from Austin's _Chironomia_ as his graphic execution ofthe gesture described by Quintilian: "The fore finger of the righthand joining the middle of its nail to the extremity of its own thumb, and moderately extending the rest of the fingers, is graceful in_approving_. " Fig. 62 is taken from De Jorio's plates and descriptionsof the gestures among modern Neapolitans, with the same idea ofapprobation--"good. " Both of these may be compared with Fig. 63, acommon sign among the North American Indians to express affirmationand approbation. With the knowledge of these details it is possible tobelieve the story of Macrobius that Cicero used to vie with Roscius, the celebrated actor, as to which of them could express a sentimentin the greater variety of ways, the one by gesture and the other byspeech, with the apparent result of victory to the actor who was sosatisfied with the superiority of his art that he wrote a book on thesubject. 

[Illustration: Fig. 62. ]

Gestures were treated of with still more distinction as connectedwith pantomimic dances and representations. Æschylus appears tohave brought theatrical gesture to a high degree of perfection, butTelestes, a dancer employed by him, introduced the dumb show, a dancewithout marked dancing steps, and subordinated to motions of thehands, arms, and body, which is dramatic pantomime. He was so greatan artist, says Athenæus, that when he represented the _Seven beforeThebes_ he rendered every circumstance manifest by his gestures alone. From Greece, or rather from Egypt, the art was brought to Rome, andin the reign of Augustus was the great delight of that Emperor and hisfriend Mæcenas. Bathyllus, of Alexandria, was the first to introduceit to the Roman public, but he had a dangerous rival in Pylades. Thelatter was magnificent, pathetic, and affecting, while Bathylluswas gay and sportive. All Rome was split into factions about theirrespective merits. Athenæus speaks of a distinguished performer of hisown time (he died A. D. 194) named Memphis, whom he calls the "dancingphilosopher, " because he showed what the Pythagorean philosophy coulddo by exhibiting in silence everything with stronger evidence thanthey could who professed to teach the arts of language. In thereign of Nero, a celebrated pantomimist who had heard that the cynicphilosopher Demetrius spoke of the art with contempt, prevailed uponhim to witness his performance, with the result that the cynic, moreand more astonished, at last cried out aloud, "Man, I not only see, but I hear what you do, for to me you appear to speak with yourhands!"

[Illustration: Fig. 63. ]

Lucian, who narrates this in his work _De Saltatione_, gives anothertribute to the talent of, perhaps, the same performer. A barbarianprince of Pontus (the story is told elsewhere of Tyridates, King ofArmenia), having come to Rome to do homage to the Emperor Nero, andbeen taken to see the pantomimes, was asked on his departure bythe Emperor what present he would have as a mark of his favor. Thebarbarian begged that he might have the principal pantomimist, andupon being asked why he made such an odd request, replied that he hadmany neighbors who spoke such various and discordant languages that hefound it difficult to obtain any interpreter who could understandthem or explain his commands; but if he had the dancer he could by hisassistance easily make himself intelligible to all. 

While the general effect of these pantomimes is often mentioned, thereremain but few detailed descriptions of them. Apuleius, however, in the tenth book of his _Metamorphosis_ or "Golden Ass, " givessufficient details of the performance of the Judgment of Paris toshow that it strongly resembled the best form of ballet opera knownin modern times. These exhibitions were so greatly in favor that, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, there were in Rome in the year 190six thousand persons devoted to the art, and that when a famine ragedthey were all kept in the city, though besides all the strangers allthe philosophers were forced to leave. Their popularity continueduntil the sixth century, and it is evident from a decree ofCharlemagne that they were not lost, or at least, had been revived inhis time. Those of us who have enjoyed the performance of the originalRavel troupe will admit that the art still survives, though not withthe magnificence or perfection, especially with reference to serioussubjects, which it exhibited in the age of imperial Rome. 

Early and prominent among the post-classic works upon gesture is thatof the venerable Bede (who flourished A. D. 672-735) _De Loquelâ perGestum Digitorum, sive de Indigitatione_. So much discussion hadindeed been carried on in reference to the use of signs for thedesideratum of a universal mode of communication, which also wasdesigned to be occult and mystic, that Rabelais, in the beginning ofthe sixteenth century, who, however satirical, never spent his forceupon matters of little importance, devotes much attention to it. Hemakes his English philosopher, Thaumast "The Wonderful" declare, "Iwill dispute by signs only, without speaking, for the matters are soabstruse, hard, and arduous, that words proceeding from the mouth ofman will never be sufficient for unfolding of them to my liking. "

The earliest contributions of practical value connected with thesubject were made by George Dalgarno, of Aberdeen, in two works, onepublished in London, 1661, entitled _Ars Signorum, vulgo characteruniversalis et lingua philosophica_, and the other printed at Oxford, 1680, entitled, _Didascalocophus, or the Deaf and Dumb Man'sTutor_. He spent his life in obscurity, and his works, though he wasincidentally mentioned by Leibnitz under the name of "M. Dalgarus, "passed into oblivion. Yet he undoubtedly was the precursor of BishopWilkins in his _Essay toward a Real Character and a PhilosophicalLanguage_, published in London, 1668, though indeed the first idea wasfar older, it having been, as reported by Piso, the wish of Galen thatsome way might be found out to represent things by such peculiar signsand names as should express their natures. Dalgarno's ideas respectingthe education of the dumb were also of the highest value, and thoughthey were too refined and enlightened to be appreciated at the periodwhen he wrote, they probably were used by Dr. Wallis if not by Sicard. Some of his thoughts should be quoted: "As I think the eye to be asdocile as the ear; so neither see I any reason but the hand might bemade as tractable an organ as the tongue; and as soon brought to form, if not fair, at least legible characters, as the tongue to imitateand echo back articulate sounds. " A paragraph prophetic of the latesuccess in educating blind deaf-mutes is as follows: "The soul canexert her powers by the ministry of any of the senses: and, therefore, when she is deprived of her principal secretaries, the eye and theear, then she must be contented with the service of her lackeys andscullions, the other senses; which are no less true and faithfulto their mistress than the eye and the ear; but not so quick fordispatch. "

In his division of the modes of "expressing the inward emotions byoutward and sensible signs" he relegates to physiology cases "whenthe internal passions are expressed by such external signs as have anatural connection, by way of cause and effect, with the passionthey discover, as laughing, weeping, frowning, &c. , and this way ofinterpretation being common to the brute with man belongs to naturalphilosophy. And because this goes not far enough to serve the rationalsoul, therefore, man has invented Sematology. " This he divides intoPneumatology, interpretation by sounds conveyed through the ear;Schematology, by figures to the eye, and Haptology, by mutualcontact, skin to skin. Schematology is itself divided into Typology orGrammatology, and Cheirology or Dactylology. The latter embraces"the transient motions of the fingers, which of all other ways ofinterpretation comes nearest to that of the tongue. "

As a phase in the practice of gestures in lieu of speech must bementioned the code of the Cistercian monks, who were vowed to silenceexcept in religious exercises. That they might literally observe theirvows they were obliged to invent a system of communication by signs, alist of which is given by Leibnitz, but does not show much ingenuity. 

A curious description of the speech of the early inhabitants ofthe world, given by Swedenborg in his _Arcana Coelestia_, published1749-1756, may be compared with the present exhibitions of deaf-mutesin institutions for their instruction. He says it was not articulatelike the vocal speech of our time, but was tacit, being produced notby external respiration, but by internal. They were able to expresstheir meaning by slight motions of the lips and corresponding changesof the face. 

[Illustration: Fig. 64. --Group from an ancient Greek vase. ]

Austin's comprehensive work, _Chironomia, or a Treatise on RhetoricalDelivery, London_, 1806, is a repertory of information for all writerson gesture, who have not always given credit to it, as well as on allbranches of oratory. This has been freely used by the present writer, as has also the volume by the canon Andrea de Jorio, _La Mimica degliAntichi investigata nel Gestire Napoletano, Napoli_, 1832. The canon'schief object was to interpret the gestures of the ancients as shownin their works of art and described in their writings, by the moderngesticulations of the Neapolitans, and he has proved that the generalsystem of gesture once prevailing in ancient Italy is substantiallythe same as now observed. With an understanding of the existinglanguage of gesture the scenes on the most ancient Greek vasesand reliefs obtain a new and interesting significance and form aconnecting link between the present and prehistoric times. Two ofDe Jorio's plates are here reproduced, Figs. 64 and 67, with suchexplanation and further illustration as is required for the presentsubject. 

The spirited figures upon the ancient vase, Fig. 64, are red upon ablack ground and are described in the published account in French ofthe collection of Sir John Coghill, Bart. , of which the following is afree translation:

Dionysos or Bacchus is represented with a strong beard, his head girtwith the credemnon, clothed in a long folded tunic, above which is anample cloak, and holding a thyrsus. Under the form of a satyr, Comus, or the genius of the table, plays on the double flute and tries toexcite to the dance two nymphs, the companions of Bacchus--Galené, Tranquility, and Eudia, Serenity. The first of them is dressed ina tunic, above which is a fawn skin, holding a tympanum or classicdrum on which she is about to strike, while her companion marks thetime by a snapping of the fingers, which custom the author of thecatalogue wisely states is still kept up in Italy in the dance of thetarantella. The composition is said to express allegorically that pureand serene pleasures are benefits derived from the god of wine. 

[Illustration: Fig. 65. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 66. ]

This is a fair example of the critical acumen of art-commentators. The gestures of the two nymphs are interesting, but on very slightexamination it appears that those of Galené have nothing to do withbeat of drum, nor have those of Eudia any connection with music, though it is not so clear what is the true subject under discussion. Aided, however, by the light of the modern sign language of Naples, there seems to be by no means serenity prevailing, but a quarrelbetween the ladies, on a special subject which is not necessarilypure. The nymph at the reader's left fixes her eyes upon her companionwith her index in the same direction, clearly indicating, _thou. _ Thatthe address is reproachful is shown from her countenance, but withgreater certainty from her attitude and the corresponding one of hercompanion, who raises both her hands in surprise accompanied withnegation. The latter is expressed by the right hand raised towardthe shoulder, with the palm opposed to the person to whom response ismade. This is the rejection of the idea presented, and is expressed bysome of our Indians, as shown in Fig. 65. A sign of the Dakota tribeof Indians with the same signification is given in Fig. 270, page 441, _infra_. At the same time the upper part of the nymph's body is drawnbackward as far as the preservation of equilibrium permits. So areproach or accusation is made on the one part, and denied, whethertruthfully or not, on the other. Its subject also may be ascertained. The left hand of Eudia is not mute; it is held towards her rival withthe balls of the index and thumb united, the modern Neapolitan signfor _love_, which is drawn more clearly in Fig. 66. It is called thekissing of the thumb and finger, and there is ample authority to showthat among the ancient classics it was a sign of marriage. St. Jerome, quoted by Vincenzo Requena, says: "_Nam et ipsa digitorum conjunctio, et quasi molli osculo se complectans et foederans, maritum pingit etconjugem_;" and Apuleius clearly alludes to the same gesture as usedin the adoration of Venus, by the words "_primore digito in erectumpollicem residente_. " The gesture is one of the few out of thelarge number described in various parts of Rabelais' great work, thesignificance of which is explained. It is made by Naz-de-cabre orGoat's Nose (_Pantagruel_, Book III, Ch. XX), who lifted up into theair his left hand, the whole fingers whereof he retained fistwaysclosed together, except the thumb and the forefinger, whose nailshe softly joined and coupled to one another. "I understand, quothPantagruel, what he meaneth by that sign. It denotes marriage. " Thequarrel is thus established to be about love; and the fluting satyrseated between the two nymphs, behind whose back the accusation isfurtively made by the jealous one, may well be the object concerningwhom jealousy is manifested. Eudia therefore, instead of "serenely"marking time for a "tranquil" tympanist, appears to be crying, "Galené! you bad thing! you are having, or trying to have, an affairwith my Comus!"--an accusation which this writer verily believes tohave been just. The lady's attitude in affectation of surprised denialis not that of injured innocence. 

 * * * * *

[Illustration: Fig. 67. --Group from a vase in the Homeric Gallery. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 68. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 69. ]

Fig. 67, taken from a vase in the Homeric Gallery, is rich in naturalgestures. Without them, from the costumes and attitudes it is easyto recognize the protagonist or principal actor in the group, and itsgeneral subject. The warrior goddess Athené stands forth in the midstof what appears to be a council of war. After the study of moderngesture speech, the votes of each member of the council, with thedegree of positiveness or interest felt by each, can be ascertained. Athené in animated motion turns her eyes to the right, and extendsher left arm and hand to the left, with her right hand brandishing alance in the same direction, in which her feet show her to be ready tospring. She is urging the figures on her right to follow her at onceto attempt some dangerous enterprise. Of these the elderly man, who iscalmly seated, holds his right hand flat and reversed, and suspendedslightly above his knee. This probably is the ending of the modernNeapolitan gesture, Fig. 68, which signifies hesitation, advice topause before hasty action, "go slowly, " and commences higher with agentle wavering movement downward. This can be compared with the signof some of our Indians, Fig. 69, for _wait! slowly!_ The female figureat the left of the group, standing firmly and decidedly, raises herleft hand directed to the goddess with the palm vertical. If thisis supposed to be a stationary gesture it means, "_wait! stop!_" Itmay, however, be the commencement of the last mentioned gesture, "_goslow_. "

[Illustration: Fig. 70. ]

Both of these members of the council advise delay and express doubt ofthe propriety of immediate action. 

[Illustration: Fig. 71. ]

The sitting warrior on the left of Athené presents his left hand flatand carried well up. This position, supposed to be stationary, nowmeans to _ask, inquire_, and it may be that he inquires of the otherveteran what reasons he can produce for his temporizing policy. Thismay be collated with the modern Neapolitan sign for _ask_, Fig. 70, and the common Indian sign for "_tell me!_" Fig. 71. In connectionwith this it is also interesting to compare the Australian sign forinterrogation, Fig. 72, and also the Comanche Indian sign for _giveme_, Fig. 301, page 480, _infra_. If, however, the artist had theintention to represent the flat hand as in motion from below upward, as is probable from the connection, the meaning is _much, greatly_. He strongly disapproves the counsel of the opposite side. Our Indiansoften express the idea of quantity, _much_, with the same conceptionof comparative height, by an upward motion of the extended palm, butwith them the palm is held downward. The last figure to the right, by the action of his whole body, shows his rejection of the proposeddelay, and his right hand gives the modern sign of combined surpriseand reproof. 

[Illustration: Fig. 72. ]

It is interesting to note the similarity of the merely emotionalgestures and attitudes of modern Italy with those of the classics. ThePulcinella, Fig. 73, for instance, drawn from life in the streets ofNaples, has the same pliancy and _abandon_ of the limbs as appears inthe supposed foolish slaves of the Vatican Terence. 

[Illustration: Fig. 73. ]

In close connection with this branch of the study reference must bemade to the gestures exhibited in the works of Italian art only modernin comparison with the high antiquity of their predecessors. A goodinstance is in the Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci, painted towardthe close of the fifteenth century, and to the figure of Judasas there portrayed. The gospel denounces him as a thief, which isexpressed in the painting by the hand extended and slightly curved;imitative of the pilferer's act in clutching and drawing towardhim furtively the stolen object, and is the same gesture that nowindicates _theft_ in Naples, Fig. 74, and among some of the NorthAmerican Indians, Fig. 75. The pictorial propriety of the sign ispreserved by the apparent desire of the traitor to obtain the onewhite loaf of bread on the table (the remainder being of coarserquality) which lies near where his hand is tending. Raffaelle wasequally particular in his exhibition of gesture language, evenunto the minutest detail of the arrangement of the fingers. It istraditional that he sketched the Madonna's hands for the Spasimo diSicilia in eleven different positions before he was satisfied. 

[Illustration: Fig. 74. ]

No allusion to the bibliography of gesture speech, however slight, should close without including the works of Mgr. D. De Haerne, who has, as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, inaddition to his rank in the Roman Catholic Church, been active inpromoting the cause of education in general, and especially that ofthe deaf and dumb. His admirable treatise _The Natural Language ofSigns_ has been translated and is accessible to American readers inthe _American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb_, 1875. In that valuableserial, conducted by Prof. E. A. FAY, of the National Deaf Mute Collegeat Washington, and now in its twenty-sixth volume, a large amount ofthe current literature on the subject indicated by its title can befound. 

[Illustration: Fig. 75. ]

MODERN USE OF GESTURE SPEECH. 

Dr. TYLOR says (_Early History of Mankind_, 44): "We cannot lay downas a rule that gesticulation decreases as civilization advances, andsay, for instance, that a Southern Frenchman, because his talk isillustrated with gestures as a book with pictures, is less civilizedthan a German or Englishman. " This is true, and yet it is almostimpossible for persons not accustomed to gestures to observe themwithout associating the idea of low culture. Thus in Mr. Darwin'ssumming up of those characteristics of the natives of Tierradel Fuego, which rendered it difficult to believe them to befellow-creatures, he classes their "violent gestures" with theirfilthy and greasy skins, discordant voices, and hideous faces bedaubedwith paint. This description is quoted by the Duke of Argyle in his_Unity of Nature_ in approval of those characteristics as evidence, ofthe lowest condition of humanity. 

Whether or not the power of the visible gesture relative to, andits influence upon the words of modern oral speech are in inverseproportion to the general culture, it seems established that they donot bear that or any constant proportion to the development of theseveral languages with which gesture is still more or less associated. The statement has frequently been made that gesture is yet to somehighly-advanced languages a necessary modifying factor, and thatonly when a language has become so artificial as to be completelyexpressible in written signs--indeed, has been remodeled through theirlong familiar use--can the bodily signs be wholly dispensed with. Theevidence for this statement is now doubted, and it is safer toaffirm that a common use of gesture depends more upon the sociologicconditions of the speakers than upon the degree of copiousness oftheir oral speech. 

USE BY OTHER PEOPLES THAN NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 

The nearest approach to a general rule which it is now proposed tohazard is that where people speaking precisely the same dialect arenot numerous, and are thrown into constant contact on equal terms withothers of differing dialects and languages, gesture is necessarilyresorted to for converse with the latter, and remains for anindefinite time as a habit or accomplishment among themselves, while large bodies enjoying common speech, and either isolated fromforeigners, or, when in contact with them, so dominant as to compelthe learning and adoption of their own tongue, become impassive in itsdelivery. The ungesturing English, long insular, and now rulerswhen spread over continents, may be compared with the profuselygesticulating Italians dwelling in a maze of dialects and subject forcenturies either to foreign rule or to the influx of strangers on whomthey depended. So common is the use of gestures in Italy, especiallyamong the lower and uneducated classes, that utterance without themseems to be nearly impossible. The driver or boatman will often, on being addressed, involuntarily drop the reins or oars, at therisk of a serious accident, to respond with his arms and fingersin accompaniment of his tongue. Nor is the habit confined to theuneducated. King Ferdinand returning to Naples after the revolt of1821, and finding that the boisterous multitude would not allow hisvoice to be heard, resorted successfully to a royal address in signs, giving reproaches, threats, admonitions, pardon, and dismissal, tothe entire satisfaction of the assembled lazzaroni. The medium, thoughprobably not the precise manner of its employment, recalls Lucan'saccount of the quieting of an older tumult--

 tumultum Composuit vultu, dextraque silentia fecit. 

This rivalry of Punch would, in London, have occasioned measurelessridicule and disgust. The difference in what is vaguely styledtemperament does not wholly explain the contrast between the twopeoples, for the performance was creditable both to the readiness ofthe King in an emergency and to the aptness of his people, the maindistinction being that in Italy there was in 1821, and still is, arecognized and cultivated language of signs long disused in GreatBritain. In seeking to account for this it will be remembered that theItalians have a more direct descent from the people who, as has beenabove shown, in classic times so long and lovingly cultivated gestureas a system. They have also had more generally before their eyes theartistic relics in which gestures have been preserved. 

It is a curious fact that some English writers, notably Addison(_Spectator_, 407), have contended that it does not suit the geniusof that nation to use gestures even in public speaking, against whichdoctrine Austin vigorously remonstrates. He says: "There may possiblybe nations whose livelier feelings incline them more to gesticulationthan is common among us, as there are also countries in which plantsof excellent use to man grow spontaneously; these, by care andculture, are found to thrive also in colder countries. "

It is in general to be remarked that as the number of dialects in anydistrict decreases so will the gestures, though doubtless there isalso weight in the fact not merely that a language has been reduced toand modified by writing, but that people who are accustomed generallyto read and write, as are the English and Germans, will after a timethink and talk as they write, and without the accompaniments stillpersistent among Hindus, Arabs, and the less literate of Europeannations. 

The fact that in the comparatively small island of Sicily gesturelanguage has been maintained until the present time in a perfectionnot observed elsewhere in Europe must be considered in connection withthe above remark on England's insularity, and it must also be admittedthat several languages have prevailed in the latter, still leavingdialects. This apparent similarity of conditions renders the contrastas regards use of gestures more remarkable, yet there are some reasonsfor their persistence in Sicily which apply with greater force thanto Great Britain. The explanation, through mere tradition, is that thecommon usage of signs dates from the time of Dionysius, the tyrant ofSyracuse, who prohibited meetings and conversation among his subjects, under the direst penalties, so that they adopted that expedient tohold communication. It would be more useful to consider the peculiarhistory of the island. The Sicanians being its aborigines it wascolonized by Greeks, who, as the Romans asserted, were still more aptat gesture than themselves. This colonization was also by separatebands of adventurers from several different states of Greece, so thatthey started with dialects and did not unite in a common or nationalorganization, the separate cities and their territories being governedby oligarchies or tyrants frequently at war with each other, until, in the fifth century B. C. , the Carthaginians began to contribute a newadmixture of language and blood, followed by Roman, Vandal, Gothic, Herulian, Arab, and Norman subjugation. Thus some of the conditionsabove suggested have existed in this case, but, whatever theexplanation, the accounts given by travelers of the extent to whichthe language of signs has been used even during the present generationare so marvelous as to deserve quotation. The one selected is fromthe pen of Alexandre Dumas, who, it is to be hoped, did not carry hisgenius for romance into a professedly sober account of travel:

"In the intervals of the acts of the opera I saw lively conversationscarried on between the orchestra and the boxes. Arami, in particular, recognized a friend whom he had not seen for three years, and whorelated to him, by means of his eyes and his hands, what, to judge bythe eager gestures of my companion, must have been matters of greatinterest. The conversation ended, I asked him if I might know withoutimpropriety what was the intelligence which had seemed to interesthim so deeply. 'O, yes, ' he replied, 'that person is one of my goodfriends, who has been away from Palermo for three years, and he hasbeen telling me that he was married at Naples; then traveled withhis wife in Austria and in France; there his wife gave birth to adaughter, whom he had the misfortune to lose; he arrived by steamboatyesterday, but his wife had suffered so much from sea-sickness thatshe kept her bed, and he came alone to the play. ' 'My dear friend, 'said I to Arami, 'if you would have me believe you, you must grantme a favor. ' 'What is it?' said he. 'It is, that you do not leave meduring the evening, so that I may be sure you give no instructions toyour friend, and when we join him, that you ask him to repeat aloudwhat he said to you by signs. ' 'That I will, ' said Arami. The curtainthen rose; the second act of Norma was played; the curtain falling, and the actors being recalled, as usual, we went to the side-room, where we met the traveler. 'My dear friend, ' said Arami, 'I did notperfectly comprehend what you wanted to tell me; be so good as torepeat it. ' The traveler repeated the story word for word, and withoutvarying a syllable from the translation, which Arami had made of hissigns; it was marvelous indeed. 

"Six weeks after this, I saw a second example of this faculty of mutecommunication. This was at Naples. I was walking with a young manof Syracuse. We passed by a sentinel. The soldier and my companionexchanged two or three grimaces, which at another time I should noteven have noticed, but the instances I had before seen led me to giveattention. 'Poor fellow, ' sighed my companion. 'What did he say toyou?' I asked. 'Well, ' said he, 'I thought that I recognized him asa Sicilian, and I learned from him, as we passed, from what place hecame; he said he was from Syracuse, and that he knew me well. ThenI asked him how he liked the Neapolitan service; he said he did notlike it at all, and if his officers did not treat him better he shouldcertainly finish by deserting. I then signified to him that if he evershould be reduced to that extremity, he might rely upon me, and thatI would aid him all in my power. The poor fellow thanked me with allhis heart, and I have no doubt that one day or other I shall see himcome. ' Three days after, I was at the quarters of my Syracusan friend, when he was told that a man asked to see him who would not give hisname; he went out and left me nearly ten minutes. 'Well, ' said he, on returning, 'just as I said. ' 'What?' said I. 'That the poor fellowwould desert. '"

After this there is an excuse for believing the tradition that therevolt called "the Sicilian Vespers, " in 1282, was arranged throughoutthe island without the use of a syllable, and even the day and hourfor the massacre of the obnoxious foreigners fixed upon by signs only. Indeed, the popular story goes so far as to assert that all this wasdone by facial expression, without even manual signs. 

NEAPOLITAN SIGNS. 

It is fortunately possible to produce some illustrations of the modernNeapolitan sign language traced from the plates of De Jorio, withtranslations, somewhat condensed, of his descriptions and remarks. 

[Illustration: Fig. 76. --Neapolitan public letter-writer and clients. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 77. ]

In Fig. 76 an ambulant secretary or public writer is seated at hislittle table, on which are the meager tools of his trade. He wearsspectacles in token that he has read and written much, and has oneseat at his side to accommodate his customers. On this is seated amarried woman who asks him to write a letter to her absent husband. The secretary, not being told what to write about, without surprise, but somewhat amused, raises his left hand with the ends of the thumband finger joined, the other fingers naturally open, a common sign for_inquiry_. "What shall the letter be about?" The wife, not being readyof speech, to rid herself of the embarrassment, resorts to the mimicart, and, without opening her mouth, tells with simple gestures allthat is in her mind. Bringing her right hand to her heart, with acorresponding glance of the eyes she shows that the theme is to be_love_. For emphasis also she curves the whole upper part of her bodytowards him, to exhibit the intensity of her passion. To complete themimic story, she makes with her left hand the sign of _asking_ forsomething, which has been above described (see page 291). The letter, then, is to assure her husband of her love and to beg him to return itwith corresponding affection. The other woman, perhaps her sister, whohas understood the whole direction, regards the request as silly andfruitless and is much disgusted. Being on her feet, she takes a steptoward the wife, who she thinks is unadvised, and raises her left handwith a sign of disapprobation. This position of the hand is describedin full as open, raised high, and oscillated from right to left. Several of the Indian signs have the same idea of oscillation ofthe hand raised, often near the head, to express _folly, fool_. Sheclearly says, "What a thing to ask! what a fool you are!" and at thesame time makes with the right hand the sign of _money_. This is madeby the extremities of the thumb and index rapidly rubbed against eachother, and is shown more clearly in Fig. 77. It is taken from thehandling and counting of coin. This may be compared with an Indiansign, see Fig. 115, page 344. 

So the sister is clearly disapproving with her left hand and with herright giving good counsel, as if to say, in the combination, "What afool you are to ask for his love; you had better ask him to send yousome money. "

 * * * * *

[Illustration: Fig. 78. --Neapolitan hot-corn vender. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 79. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 80. ]

In Naples, as in American cities, boiled ears of green corn are vendedwith much outcry. Fig. 78 shows a boy who is attracted by the localcry "_Pollanchelle tenerelle!_" and seeing the sweet golden ears stillboiling in the kettle from which steams forth fragrance, has an ardentdesire to taste the same, but is without a _soldo_. He tries begging. His right open hand is advanced toward the desired object with thesign of _asking_ or _begging_, and he also raises his left forefingerto indicate the number one--"Pretty girl, please only give me one!"The pretty girl is by no means cajoled, and while her left hand holdsthe ladle ready to use if he dares to touch her merchandise, shereplies by gesture "_Te voglio dà no cuorno!_" freely translated, "I'll give you one _in a horn!_" This gesture is drawn, with cleareroutline in Fig. 79, and has many significations, according to thesubject-matter and context, and also as applied to different parts ofthe body. Applied to the head it has allusion, descending from highantiquity, to a marital misfortune which was probably common inprehistoric times as well as the present. It is also often used as anamulet against the _jettatura_ or evil eye, and misfortune in general, and directed toward another person is a prayerful wish for his or herpreservation from evil. This use is ancient, as is shown on medalsand statues, and is supposed by some to refer to the horns of animalsslaughtered in sacrifice. The position of the fingers, Fig. 80, isalso given as one of Quintilian's oratorical gestures by the words"_Duo quoque medii sub pollicem veniunt_, " and is said by him to bevehement and connected with reproach or argument. In the present case, as a response to an impertinent or disagreeable petition, it simplymeans, "instead of giving what you ask, I will give you nothing butwhat is vile and useless, as horns are. "

 * * * * *

Fig. 81 tells a story which is substantially the foundation of theslender plot of most modern scenic pantomimes preliminary to thebursting forth from their chrysalides of Harlequin, Columbine, Pantaloon, and company. A young girl, with the consent of her parents, has for some time promised her hand to an honest youth. The oldmother, in despite of her word, has taken a caprice to give herdaughter to another suitor. The father, though much under the sway ofhis spouse, is in his heart desirous to keep his engagement, and hascalled in the notary to draw the contract. At this moment the scenebegins, the actors of which, for greater perspicuity and brevity, maybe provided with stage names as follows:

 Cecca, diminutive for Francisca, the mother of-- Nanella, diminutive of Antoniella, the betrothed of-- Peppino, diminutive of Peppe, which is diminutive of Giuseppe. Pasquale, husband of Cecca and father of Nanella. Tonno, diminutive of Antonio, favored by Cecca. D. Alfonso, notary. 

[Illustration: Fig. 81. --Disturbance at signing of Neapolitan marriagecontract. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 82. ]

Cecca tries to pick a quarrel with Peppino, and declares thatthe contract shall not be signed. He reminds her of her promise, and accuses her of breach of faith. In her passion she callson her daughter to repudiate her lover, and casting her armsaround her, commands her to make the sign of breaking offfriendship--"_scocchiare_"--which, she has herself made to Peppino, and which consists in extending the hand with the joined ends offinger and thumb before described, see Fig. 66, and then separatingthem, thus breaking the union. This the latter reluctantly pretendsto do with one hand, yet with the other, which is concealed from herirate mother's sight, shows her constancy by continuing with emphaticpressure the sign of _love_. According to the gesture vocabulary, onthe sign _scocchiare_ being made to a person who is willing to acceptthe breach of former affection, he replies in the same manner, orstill more forcibly by inserting the index of the other hand betweenthe index and thumb of the first, thus showing the separation by thepresence of a material obstacle. Simply refraining from holding outthe hand in any responsive gesture is sufficient to indicate thatthe breach is not accepted, but that the party addressed desires tocontinue in friendship instead of resolving into enmity. This weakand inactive negative, however, does not suit Peppino's vivacity, who, placing his left hand on his bosom, makes, with his right, one of thesigns for emphatic negation. This consists of the palm turned to theperson addressed with the index somewhat extended and separated fromthe other fingers, the whole hand being oscillated from right to left. This gesture appears on ancient Greek vases, and is compound, theindex being demonstrative and the negation shown by the horizontaloscillation, the whole being translatable as, "That thing I want not, won't have, reject. " The sign is virtually the same as that made byArapaho and Cheyenne Indians (see EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY, page 440, _infra_. ). The conception of oscillation to show negation also appearswith different execution in the sign of the Jicarilla Apaches and thePai-Utes, Fig. 82. The same sign is reported from Japan, in the samesense. 

[Illustration: Fig. 83. --Coming home of Neapolitan bride. ]

Tonno, in hopes that the quarrel is definitive, to do his part instopping the ceremony, proceeds to blow out the three lighted candles, which are an important traditional feature of the rite. The good oldman Pasquale, with his hands extended, raised in surprised displeasureand directed toward the insolent youth, stops his attempt. The veterannotary, familiar with such quarrels in his experience, smiles at thisone, and, continuing in his quiet attitude, extends his right handplacidly to Peppino with the sign of _adagio_, before described, seeFig. 68, advising him not to get excited, but to persist quietly, andall would be well. 

 * * * * *

Fig. 83 portrays the first entrance of a bride to her husband'shouse. She comes in with a tender and languid mien, her pendentarms indicating soft yielding, and the right hand loosely holds ahandkerchief, ready to apply in case of overpowering emotion. She is, or feigns to be, so timid and embarrassed as to require support bythe arm of a friend who introduces her. She is followed by a malefriend of the family, whose joyful face is turned toward supposedby-standers, right hand pointing to the new acquisition, while withhis left he makes the sign of horns before described, see Fig. 79, which in this connection is to wish prosperity and avert misfortune, and is equivalent to the words in the Neapolitan dialect, "_Mal'uocchie non nce pozzano_"--may evil eyes never have power overher. 

[Illustration: Fig. 84. ]

The female confidant, who supports and guides her embarrassedfriend with her right arm, brings her left hand into the sign of_beautiful_--"See what a beauty she is!" This sign is made by thethumb and index open and severally lightly touching each side of thelower cheek, the other fingers open. It is given on a larger scale andslightly varied in Fig. 84, evidently referring to a fat and roundedvisage. Almost the same sign is made by the Ojibwas of Lake Superior, and a mere variant of it is made by the Dakotas--stroking the cheeksalternately down to the tip of the chin with the palm or surface ofthe extended fingers. 

[Illustration: Fig. 85. ]

The mother-in-law greets the bride by making the sign _mano in fica_with her right hand. This sign, made with the hand clenched andthe point of the thumb between and projecting beyond the fore andmiddle fingers, is more distinctly shown in Fig. 85. It has a veryancient origin, being found on Greek antiques that have escaped thedestruction of time, more particularly in bronzes, and undoubtedlyrefers to the _pudendum muliebre_. It is used offensively andironically, but also--which is doubtless the case in this instance--asan invocation or prayer against evil, being more forcible than thehorn-shaped gesture before described. With this sign the Indian signfor _female_, see Fig. 132, page 357, _infra_, may be compared. 

The mother-in-law also places her left hand hollowed in front of herabdomen, drawing with it her gown slightly forward, thereby making apantomimic representation of the state in which "women wish to be wholove their lords"; the idea being plainly an expressed hope that thehousehold will be blessed with a new generation. 

[Illustration: Fig. 86. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 87. ]

Next to her is a hunchback, who is present as a familiar clown ormerrymaker, and dances and laughs to please the company, at the sametime snapping his fingers. Two other illustrations of this action, themiddle finger in one leaving and in the other having left the thumband passed to its base, are seen in Figs. 86, 87. This gesture byitself has, like others mentioned, a great variety of significations, but here means _joy_ and acclamation. It is frequently used among usfor subdued applause, less violent than clapping the two hands, butstill oftener to express negation with disdain, and also carelessness. Both these uses of it are common in Naples, and appear in Etruscanvases and Pompeian paintings, as well as in the classic authors. Thesignificance of the action in the hand of the contemporary statue ofSardanapalus at Anchiale is clearly _worthlessness_, as shown by theinscription in Assyrian, "Sardanapalus, the son of Anacyndaraxes, built in one day Anchiale and Tarsus. Eat, drink, play; the rest isnot worth _that_!"

[Illustration: Fig. 88. ]

The bridegroom has left his mother to do the honors to the bride, andhimself attends to the rest of the company, inviting one of them todrink some wine by a sign, enlarged in Fig. 88, which is not merelypointing to the mouth with the thumb, but the hand with the incurvedfingers represents the body of the common glass flask which theNeapolitans use, the extended thumb being its neck; the invitation istherefore specially to drink wine. The guest, however, responds bya very obvious gesture that he don't wish anything to drink, but hewould like to eat some macaroni, the fingers being disposed as ifhandling that comestible in the fashion of vulgar Italians. If theidea were only to eat generally, it would have been expressed by thefingers and thumb united in a point and moved several times near andtoward the mouth, not raised above it, as is necessary for suspendingthe strings of macaroni. 

[Illustration: Fig. 89. --Quarrel between Neapolitan women. ]

In Fig. 89 the female in the left of the group is much disgusted atseeing one of her former acquaintances, who has met with good fortune, promenade in a fine costume with her husband. Overcome with jealousy, she spreads out her dress derisively on both sides, in imitation ofthe hoop-skirts once worn by women of rank, as if to say "So you areplaying the great lady!" The insulted woman, in resentment, makes withboth hands, for double effect, the sign of horns, before described, which in this case is done obviously in menace and imprecation. Thehusband is a pacific fellow who is not willing to get into a woman'squarrel, and is very easily held back by a woman and small boy whohappen to join the group. He contents himself with pretending to be ina great passion and biting his finger, which gesture may be collatedwith the emotional clinching of the teeth and biting the lips inanger, common to all mankind. 

[Illustration: Fig. 90. --The cheating Neapolitan chestnut huckster. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 91. ]

In Fig. 90 a contadina, or woman from the country, who has come to thecity to sell eggs (shown to be such by her head-dress, and the form ofthe basket which she has deposited on the ground), accosts a vender ofroast chestnuts and asks for a measure of them. The chestnut huckstersays they are very fine and asks a price beyond that of the market;but a boy sees that the rustic woman is not sharp in worldly mattersand desires to warn her against the cheat. He therefore, at the momentwhen he can catch her eye, pretending to lean upon his basket, andmoving thus a little behind the huckster, so as not to be seen, pointshim out with his index finger, and lays his left forefinger under hiseye, pulling down the skin slightly, so as to deform the regularityof the lower eyelid. This is a _warning against a cheat_, shown moreclearly in Fig. 91. This sign primarily indicates a squinting person, and metaphorically one whose looks cannot be trusted, even as ina squinting person you cannot be certain in which direction he islooking. 

[Illustration: Fig. 92. ]

Fig. 92 shows the extremities of the index and thumb closely joined inform of a cone, and turned down, the other fingers held at pleasure, and the hand and arm advanced to the point and held steady. Thissignifies _justice_, a just person, that which is just and right. Thesame sign may denote friendship, a menace, which specifically is thatof being brought to justice, and snuff, i. E. Powdered tobacco; but theexpression of the countenance and the circumstance of the use of thesign determine these distinctions. Its origin is clearly the balanceor emblem of justice, the office of which consists in ascertainingphysical weight, and thence comes the moral idea of distinguishingclearly what is just and accurate and what is not. The hand ispresented in the usual manner of holding the balance to weigharticles. 

[Illustration: Fig. 93. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 94. ]

Fig. 93 signifies _little, small_, both as regards the size ofphysical objects or figuratively, as of a small degree of talent, affection, or the like. It is made either by the point of the thumbplaced under the end of the index (a), or _vice versa_ (b), and theother fingers held at will, but separated from those mentioned. Theintention is to exhibit a small portion either of the thumb orindex separated from the rest of the hand. The gesture is found inHerculanean bronzes, with obviously the same signification. Thesigns made by some tribes of Indians for the same conception are verysimilar, as is seen by Figs. 94 and 95. 

[Illustration: Fig. 95. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 96. ]

Fig. 96 is simply the index extended by itself. The other fingers aregenerally bent inwards and pressed down by the thumb, as mentioned byQuintilian, but that is not necessary to the gesture if the forefingeris distinctly separated from the rest. It is most commonly used forindication, pointing out, as it is over all the world, from whichcomes the name index, applied by the Romans as also by us, to theforefinger. In different relations to the several parts of thebody and arm positions it has many significations, e. G. , attention, meditation, derision, silence, number, and demonstration in general. 

[Illustration: Fig. 97. ]

Fig. 97 represents the head of a jackass, the thumbs being the ears, and the separation of the little from the third fingers showing thejaws. 

[Illustration: Fig. 98. ]

Fig. 98 is intended to portray the head of the same animal in a frontview, the hands being laid upon each other, with thumbs extending oneach side to represent the ears. In each case the thumbs are generallymoved forward and back, in the manner of the quadruped, which, withoutmuch apparent reason, has been selected as the emblem of stupidity. The sign, therefore, means _stupid, fool_. Another mode of executingthe same conception--the ears of an ass--is shown in Fig. 99, wherethe end of the thumb is applied to the ear or temple and the handis wagged up and down. Whether the ancient Greeks had the same lowopinion of the ass as is now entertained is not clear, but theyregarded long ears with derision, and Apollo, as a punishment to Midasfor his foolish decision, bestowed on him the lengthy ornaments of thepatient beast. 

[Illustration: Fig. 99. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 100. ]

Fig. 100 is the fingers elongated and united in a point, turnedupwards. The hand is raised slightly toward the face of the gesturerand shaken a few times in the direction of the person conversed with. This is _inquiry_, not a mere interrogative, but to express that theperson addressed has not been clearly understood, perhaps from thevagueness or diffusiveness of his expressions. The idea appears tosuggest the gathering of his thoughts together into one distinctexpression, or to be _pointed_ in what he wishes to say. 

_Crafty, deceitful_, Fig. 101. The little fingers of both reversedhands are hooked together, the others open but slightly curved, and, with the hands, moved several times to the right and left. The gestureis intended to represent a crab and the tortuous movements of thecrustacean, which are likened to those of a man who cannot be dependedon in his walk through life. He is not straight. 

[Illustration: Fig. 101. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 102. ]

Figs. 102 and 103 are different positions of the hand in which theapproximating thumb and forefinger form a circle. This is the direstinsult that can be given. The amiable canon De Jorio only hints atits special significance, but it may be evident to persons aware of apractice disgraceful to Italy. It is very ancient. 

[Illustration: Fig. 104. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 103. ]

Fig. 104 is easily recognized as a request or command to be _silent_, either on the occasion or on the subject. The mouth, supposed to beforcibly closed, prevents speaking, and the natural gesture, as mightbe supposed, is historically ancient, but the instance, frequentlyadduced from the attitude of the god Harpokrates, whose finger is onhis lips, is an error. The Egyptian hieroglyphists, notably in thedesignation of Horus, their dawn-god, used the finger in or on thelips for "child. " It has been conjectured in the last instance thatthe gesture implied, not the mode of taking nourishment, but inabilityto speak--_in-fans_. This conjecture, however, was only made toexplain the blunder of the Greeks, who saw in the hand placedconnected with the mouth in the hieroglyph of Horus (the) son, "Hor-(p)-chrot, " the gesture familiar to themselves of a finger onthe lips to express "silence, " and so, mistaking both the name and thecharacterization, invented the God of Silence, Harpokrates. A carefulexamination of all the linear hieroglyphs given by Champollion(_Dictionnaire Egyptien_) shows that the finger or the hand to themouth of an adult (whose posture is always distinct from that ofa child) is always in connection with the positive ideas of voice, mouth, speech, writing, eating, drinking, &c. , and never with thenegative idea of silence. The special character for _child_, Fig. 105, always has the above-mentioned part of the sign with reference tonourishment from the breast. 

[Illustration: Fig. 105. ]

Fig. 106 is a forcible _negation_. The outer ends of the fingersunited in a point under the chin are violently thrust forward. Thisis the rejection of an idea or proposition, the same conception beingexecuted in several different modes by the North American Indians. 

[Illustration: Fig. 106. ]

Fig. 107 signifies _hunger_, and is made by extending the thumband index under the open mouth and turning them horizontally andvertically several times. The idea is emptiness and desire to befilled. It is also expressed by beating the ribs with the flat hands, to show that the sides meet or are weak for the want of somethingbetween them. 

[Illustration: Fig. 107. ]

Fig. 108 is made in mocking and ridicule. The open and oscillatinghand touches the point of the nose with that of the thumb. It has theparticular sense of stigmatizing the person addressed or in questionas a dupe. A credulous person is generally imagined with a gapingmouth and staring eyes, and as thrusting forward his face, withpendant chin, so that the nose is well advanced and therefore mostprominent in the profile. A dupe is therefore called _naso lungo_or long-nose, and with Italian writers "_restare con un palmo dinaso_"--to be left with a palm's length of nose--means to have metwith loss, injury, or disappointment. 

[Illustration: Fig. 108. ]

The thumb stroking the forehead from one side to the other, Fig. 109, is a natural sign of _fatigue_, and of the physical toil that producesfatigue. The wiping off of perspiration is obviously indicated. Thisgesture is often used ironically. 

[Illustration: Fig. 109. ]

As a _dupe_ was shown above, now the _duper_ is signified, by Fig. 110. The gesture is to place the fingers between the cravat and theneck and rub the latter with the back of the hand. The idea is thatthe deceit is put within the cravat, taken in and down, similar to ourphrase to "swallow" a false and deceitful story, and a "cram" is alsoan English slang word for an incredible lie. The conception of theslang term is nearly related to that of the Neapolitan sign, viz. , theartificial enlargement of the oesophagus of the person victimized oron whom imposition is attempted to be practiced, which is necessary totake it down. 

[Illustration: Fig. 110. ]

Fig. 111 shows the ends of the index and thumb stroking the two sidesof the nose from base to point. This means _astute, attentive, ready_. Sharpness of the nasal organ is popularly associated with subtletyand finesse. The old Romans by _homo emunctæ naris_ meant an acuteman attentive to his interests. The sign is often used in a bad sense, then signifying _too_ sharp to be trusted. 

[Illustration: Fig. 111. ]

This somewhat lengthy but yet only partial list of Neapolitangesture-signs must conclude with one common throughout Italy, and alsoamong us with a somewhat different signification, yet perhaps alsoderived from classic times. To express suspicion of a person theforefinger of the right hand is placed upon the side of the nose. Itmeans _tainted_, not sound. It is used to give an unfavorable reportof a person inquired of and to warn against such. 

 * * * * *

The Chinese, though ready in gesticulation and divided by dialects, do not appear to make general use of a systematic sign language, butthey adopt an expedient rendered possible by the peculiarity of theirwritten characters, with which a large proportion of their adultsare acquainted, and which are common in form to the whole empire. Theinhabitants of different provinces when meeting, and being unable toconverse orally, do not try to do so, but write the characters of thewords upon the ground or trace them on the palm of the hand or in theair. Those written characters each represent words in the same manneras do the Arabic or Roman numerals, which are the same to Italians, Germans, French, and English, and therefore intelligible, but ifexpressed in sound or written in full by the alphabet, would not bemutually understood. This device of the Chinese was with less apparentnecessity resorted to in the writer's personal knowledge betweena Hungarian who could talk Latin, and a then recent graduate fromcollege who could also do so to some extent, but their pronunciationwas so different as to occasion constant difficulty, so they bothwrote the words on paper, instead of attempting to speak them. 

The efforts at intercommunication of all savage and barbarian tribes, when brought into contact with other bodies of men not speakingan oral language common to both, and especially when uncivilizedinhabitants of the same territory are separated by many linguisticdivisions, should in theory resemble the devices of the North AmericanIndians. They are not shown by published works to prevail in theEastern hemisphere to the same extent and in the same manner asin North America. It is, however, probable that they exist in manylocalities, though not reported, and also that some of them surviveafter partial or even high civilization has been attained, andafter changed environment has rendered their systematic employmentunnecessary. Such signs may be, first, unconnected with existingoral language, and used in place of it; second, used to explain oraccentuate the words of ordinary speech, or third, they may consistof gestures, emotional or not, which are only noticed in oratoryor impassioned conversation, being, possibly, survivals of a formergesture language. 

From correspondence instituted it may be expected that a considerablecollection of signs will be obtained from West and South Africa, India, Arabia, Turkey, the Fiji Islands, Sumatra, Madagascar, Ceylon, and especially from Australia, where the conditions are similarin many respects to those prevailing in North America prior to theColumbian discovery. In the _Aborigines of Victoria, Melbourne_, 1878, by R. Brough Smythe, the author makes the following curiousremarks: "It is believed that they have several signs, known only tothemselves, or to those among the whites who have had intercoursewith them for lengthened periods, which convey information readilyand accurately. Indeed, because of their use of signs, it is the firmbelief of many (some uneducated and some educated) that the natives ofAustralia are acquainted with the secrets of Freemasonry. "

In the _Report of the cruise of the United States Revenue steamerCorwin in the Arctic Ocean, Washington_, 1881, it appears thatthe Innuits of the northwestern extremity of America use signscontinually. Captain Hooper, commanding that steamer, is reportedby Mr. Petroff to have found that the natives of Nunivak Island, onthe American side, below Behring Strait, trade by signs with thoseof the Asiatic coast, whose language is different. Humboldt in hisjourneyings among the Indians of the Orinoco, where many smallisolated tribes spoke languages not understood by any other, found thelanguage of signs in full operation. Spix and Martius give a similaraccount of the Puris and Coroados of Brazil. 

 * * * * *

It is not necessary to enlarge under the present heading upon thesigns of deaf-mutes, except to show the intimate relation between signlanguage as practiced by them and the gesture signs, which, evenif not "natural, " are intelligible to the most widely separated ofmankind. A Sandwich Islander, a Chinese, and the Africans from theslaver Amistad have, in published instances, visited our deaf-muteinstitutions with the same result of free and pleasurable intercourse;and an English deaf-mute had no difficulty in conversing withLaplanders. It appears, also, on the authority of Sibscota, whosetreatise was published in 1670, that Cornelius Haga, ambassador ofthe United Provinces to the Sublime Porte, found the Sultan's mutesto have established a language among themselves in which theycould discourse with a speaking interpreter, a degree of ingenuityinterfering with the object of their selection as slaves unable torepeat conversation. A curious instance has also been reported to thewriter of operatives in a large mill where the constant rattling ofthe machinery rendered them practically deaf during the hours of workand where an original system of gestures was adopted. 

In connection with the late international convention, at Milan, ofpersons interested in the instruction of deaf-mutes which, in theenthusiasm of the members for the new system of artificial articulatespeech, made war upon all gesture-signs, it is curious that suchprohibition of gesture should be urged regarding mutes when it wasprevalent to so great an extent among the speaking people of thecountry where the convention was held, and when the advocates of itwere themselves so dependent on gestures to assist their own oratoryif not their ordinary conversation. Artificial articulation surelyneeds the aid of significant gestures more, when in the highestperfection to which it can attain, than does oral speech in its ownhigh development. The use of artificial speech is also necessarilyconfined to the oral language acquired by the interlocutors and throwsaway the advantage of universality possessed by signs. 

_USE BY MODERN ACTORS AND ORATORS. _

Less of practical value can be learned of sign language, considered asa system, from the study of gestures of actors and orators than wouldappear without reflection. The pantomimist who uses no words whateveris obliged to avail himself of every natural or imagined connectionbetween thought and gesture, and, depending wholly on the latter, makes himself intelligible. On the stage and the rostrum words arethe main reliance, and gestures generally serve for rhythmic movementand to display personal grace. At the most they give the appropriaterepresentation of the general idea expressed by the words, but do notattempt to indicate the idea itself. An instance is recorded ofthe addition of significance to gesture when it is employed by thegesturer, himself silent, to accompany words used by another. LiviusAndronicus, being hoarse, obtained permission to have his part sung byanother actor while he continued to make the gestures, and he didso with much greater effect than before, as Livy, the historian, explains, because he was not impeded by the exertion of the voice;but the correct explanation probably is, because his attention wasdirected to ideas, not mere words. 

GESTURES OF ACTORS. 

To look at the performance of a play through thick glass or withclosed ears has much the same absurd effect that is produced byalso stopping the ears while at a ball and watching the apparentlyobjectless capering of the dancers, without the aid of musicalaccompaniment. Diderot, in his _Lettre sur les sourds muets_, giveshis experience as follows:

"I used frequently to attend the theater and I knew by heart mostof our good plays. Whenever I wished to criticise the movements andgestures of the actors I went to the third tier of boxes, for thefurther I was from them the better I was situated for this purpose. As soon as the curtain rose, and the moment came when the otherspectators disposed themselves to listen, I put my fingers into myears, not without causing some surprise among those who surrounded me, who, not understanding, almost regarded me as a crazy man who hadcome to the play only not to hear it. I was very little embarrassed bytheir comments, however, and obstinately kept my ears closed as longas the action and gestures of the players seemed to me to accord withthe discourse which I recollected. I listened only when I failed tosee the appropriateness of the gestures. . There are few actors capableof sustaining such a test, and the details into which I could enterwould be mortifying to most of them. "

It will be noticed that Diderot made this test with regard to theappropriate gestural representation of plays that he knew by heart, but if he had been entirely without any knowledge of the plot, thedifficulty in his comprehending it from gestures alone would have beenenormously increased. When many admirers of Ristori, who were whollyunacquainted with the language in which her words were delivered, declared that her gesture and expression were so perfect that theyunderstood every sentence, it is to be doubted if they would have beenso delighted if they had not been thoroughly familiar with the plotsof Queen Elizabeth and Mary Stuart. This view is confirmed by the caseof a deaf-mute, told to the writer by Professor FAY, who had preparedto enjoy Ristori's acting by reading in advance the advertised play, but on his reaching the theater another play was substituted and hecould derive no idea from its presentation. The experience of thepresent writer is that he could gain very little meaning in detail outof the performance at a Chinese theater, where there is much moretrue pantomime than in the European, without a general notion of thesubject as conveyed from time to time by an interpreter. A crucialtest on this subject was made at the representation at Washington, in April, 1881, of _Frou-Frou_ by Sarah Bernhardt and the excellentFrench company supporting her. Several persons of special intelligenceand familiar with theatrical performances, but who did not understandspoken French, and had not heard or read the play before or even seenan abstract of it, paid close attention to ascertain what they couldlearn of the plot and incidents from the gestures alone. This could bedetermined in the special play the more certainly as it is not foundedon historic events or any known facts. The result was that from theentrance of the heroine during the first scene in a peacock-blueriding habit to her death in a black walking-suit, three hours or fiveacts later, none of the students formed any distinct conception of theplot. This want of apprehension extended even to uncertainty whether_Gilberte_ was married or not; that is, whether her adventures werethose of a disobedient daughter or a faithless wife, and, if married, which of the half dozen male personages was her husband. There weregestures enough, indeed rather a profusion of them, and they werethoroughly appropriate to the words (when those were understood) inwhich fun, distress, rage, and other emotions were expressed, but inno cases did they interpret the motive for those emotions. They werethe dressing for the words of the actors as the superb millinerywas that of their persons, and perhaps acted as varnish to bring outdialogues and soliloquies in heightened effect. But though varnish canbring into plainer view dull or faded characters, it cannot introduceinto them significance where none before existed. The simple fact wasthat the gestures of the most famed histrionic school, the ComédieFrançaise, were not significant, far less self-interpreting, andthough praised as the perfection of art, have diverged widelyfrom nature. It thus appears that the absence of absoluteself-interpretation by gesture is by no means confined to the lowergrade of actors, such as are criticised in the old lines:

 When to enforce some very tender part His left hand sleeps by instinct on the heart; His soul, of every other thought bereft, Seems anxious only--where to place the left!

Without relying wholly upon the facts above mentioned, it will beadmitted upon reflection that however numerous and correct may bethe actually significant gestures made by a great actor in therepresentation of his part, they must be in small proportion to thenumber of gestures not at all significant, and which are no lessnecessary to give to his declamation precision, grace, and force. Significant gestures on the stage may be regarded in the nature ofhigh seasoning and ornamentation, which by undue use defeat theirobject and create disgust. Histrionic perfection is, indeed, moreshown in the slight shades of movement of the head, glances of theeye, and poises of the body than in violent attitudes; but theseslight movements are wholly unintelligible without the words utteredwith them. Even in the expression of strong emotion the same gesturewill apply to many and utterly diverse conditions of fact. Thegreatest actor in telling that his father was dead can convey hisgrief with a shade of difference from that which he would use ifsaying that his wife had run away, his son been arrested for murder, or his house burned down; but that shade would not without wordsinform any person, ignorant of the supposed event, which of the fourmisfortunes had occurred. A true sign language, however, would fullyexpress the exact circumstances, either with or without any exhibitionof the general emotion appropriate to them. 

Even among the best sign-talkers, whether Indian or deaf-mute, itis necessary to establish some _rapport_ relating to theme orsubject-matter, since many gestures, as indeed is the case in aless degree with spoken words, have widely different significations, according to the object of their exhibition, as well as the context. Panurge (_Pantagruel_, Book III, ch. Xix) hits the truth upon thispoint, however ungallant in his application of it to the fair sex. He is desirous to consult a dumb man, but says it would be uselessto apply to a woman, for "whatever it be that they see they do alwaysrepresent unto their fancies, and imagine that it hath some relationto love. Whatever signs, shows, or gestures we shall make, or whateverour behavior, carriage, or demeanor shall happen to be in theirview and presence, they will interpret the whole in reference toandrogynation. " A story is told to the same point by Guevara, in hisfabulous life of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. A young Roman gentlemanencountering at the foot of Mount Celion a beautiful Latin lady, whofrom her very cradle had been deaf and dumb, asked her in gesture whatsenators in her descent from the top of the hill she had met with, going up thither. She straightway imagined that he had fallen in lovewith her and was eloquently proposing marriage, whereupon she at oncethrew herself into his arms in acceptance. The experience of travelerson the Plains is to the same general effect, that signs commonly usedto men are understood by women in a sense so different as to occasionembarrassment. So necessary was it to strike the mental key-noteof the spectators by adapting their minds to time, place, andcircumstance, that even in the palmiest days of pantomime it wascustomary for the crier to give some short preliminary explanationof what was to be acted, which advantage is now retained by ourplay-bills, always more specific when the performance is in a foreignlanguage, unless, indeed, the management is interested in the sale oflibrettos. 

GESTURES OF OUR PUBLIC SPEAKERS. 

If the scenic gestures are so seldom significant, those appropriate tooratory are of course still less so. They require energy, variety, andprecision, but also a degree of simplicity which is incompatible withthe needs of sign language. As regards imitation, they are restrainedwithin narrow bounds and are equally suited to a great variety ofsentiments. Among the admirable illustrations in Austin's _Chironomia_of gestures applicable to the several passages in Gay's "Miser andPlutus" one is given for "But virtue's sold" which is perfectlyappropriate, but is not in the slightest degree suggestive eitherof virtue or of the transaction of sale. It could be used for anindefinite number of thoughts or objects which properly excitedabhorrence, and therefore without the words gives no specialinterpretation. Oratorical delivery demands general grace--cannot relyupon the emotions of the moment for spontaneous appropriateness, andtherefore requires preliminary study and practice, such as are appliedto dancing and fencing with a similar object; indeed, accomplishmentin both dancing and fencing has been recommended as of use toall orators. In reference to this subject a quotation from LordChesterfield's letters is in place: "I knew a young man, who, being just elected a member of Parliament, was laughed at for beingdiscovered, through the key-hole of his chamber door, speaking tohimself in the glass and forming his looks and gestures. I could notjoin in that laugh, but, on the contrary, thought him much wiser thanthose that laughed at him, for he knew the importance of those littlegraces in a public assembly and they did not. "

OUR INDIAN CONDITIONS FAVORABLE TO SIGN LANGUAGE. 

In no other thoroughly explored part of the world has there been foundspread over so large a space so small a number of individuals dividedby so many linguistic and dialectic boundaries as in North America. Many wholly distinct tongues have for an indefinitely long time beenconfined to a few scores of speakers, verbally incomprehensible toall others on the face of the earth who did not, from some rarelyoperating motive, laboriously acquire their language. Even when theAmerican race, so styled, flourished in the greatest population ofwhich we have any evidence (at least according to the published viewsof the present writer, which seem to have been generally accepted), the immense number of languages and dialects still preserved, or knownby early recorded fragments to have once existed, so subdivided itthat only the dwellers in a very few villages could talk together withease. They were all interdistributed among unresponsive vernaculars, each to the other being _bar-bar-ous_ in every meaning of the term. The number of known stocks or families of Indian languages within theterritory of the United States amounts now to sixty-five, and thesediffer among themselves as radically as each differs from the Hebrew, Chinese, or English. In each of these linguistic families there areseveral, sometimes as many as twenty, separate languages, which alsodiffer from each other as much as do the English, French, German, andPersian divisions of the Aryan linguistic stock. 

The use of gesture-signs, continued, if not originating, in necessityfor communication with the outer world, became entribally convenientfrom the habits of hunters, the main occupation of all savages, depending largely upon stealthy approach to game, and from the soleform of their military tactics--to surprise an enemy. In the stillexpanse of virgin forests, and especially in the boundless solitudesof the great plains, a slight sound can be heard over a large area, that of the human voice being from its rarity the most startling, so that it is now, as it probably has been for centuries, a commonprecaution for members of a hunting or war party not to speak togetherwhen on such expeditions, communicating exclusively by signs. Theacquired habit also exhibits itself not only in formal oratory andin impassioned or emphatic conversation, but also as a picturesqueaccompaniment to ordinary social talk. Hon. LEWIS H. MORGAN mentionsin a letter to this writer that he found a silent but happy familycomposed of an Atsina (commonly called Gros Ventre of the Prairie)woman, who had been married two years to a Frenchman, during whichtime they had neither of them attempted to learn each other'slanguage; but the husband having taken kindly to the language ofsigns, they conversed together by that means with great contentment. It is also often resorted to in mere laziness, one gesture savingmany words. The gracefulness, ingenuity, and apparent spontaneity ofthe greater part of the signs can never be realized until actuallywitnessed, and their beauty is much heightened by the free play towhich the arms of these people are accustomed, and the small andwell-shaped hands for which they are remarkable. Among them can seldombe noticed in literal fact--

 The graceless action of a heavy hand--

which the Bastard metaphorically condemns in King John. 

The conditions upon which the survival of sign language amongthe Indians has depended is well shown by those attending itsdiscontinuance among certain tribes. 

Many instances are known of the discontinuance of gesture speech withno development in the native language of the gesturers, but from theinvention for intercommunication of one used in common. The Kalapuyasof Southern Oregon until recently used a sign language, but havegradually adopted for foreign intercourse the composite tongue, commonly called the Tsinuk or Chinook jargon, which probably arose fortrade purposes on the Columbia River before the advent of Europeans, founded on the Tsinuk, Tsihali, Nutka, &c. , but now enriched byEnglish and French terms, and have nearly forgotten their old signs. The prevalence of this mongrel speech, originating in the same causesthat produced the pigeon-English or _lingua-franca_ of the Orient, explains the marked scantiness of sign language among the tribes ofthe Northwest coast. 

Where the Chinook jargon has not extended on the coast to the North, the Russian language commences, used in the same manner, but ithas not reached so deeply into the interior of the continent as theChinook, which has been largely adopted within the region bounded bythe eastern line of Oregon and Washington, and has become known evento the Pai-Utes of Nevada. The latter, however, while using it withthe Oregonian tribes to their west and north, still keep up signlanguage for communication with the Banaks, who have not become sofamiliar with the Chinook. The Alaskan tribes on the coast also usedsigns not more than a generation ago, as is proved by the fact thatsome of the older men can yet converse by this means with the nativesof the interior, whom they occasionally meet. Before the advent ofthe Russians the coast tribes traded their dried fish and oil for theskins and paints of the eastern tribes by visiting the latter, whomthey did not allow to come to the coast, and this trade was conductedmainly in sign language. The Russians brought a better market, sothe travel to the interior ceased, and with it the necessity for thesigns, which therefore gradually died out, and are little known tothe present generation on the coast, though still continuing in theinterior, where the inhabitants are divided by dialects. 

No explanation is needed for the disuse of a language of signs forthe special purpose now in question when the speech of surroundingcivilization is recognized as necessary or important to be acquired, and gradually becomes known as the best common medium, even before itis actually spoken by many individuals of the several tribes. Whenit has become general, signs, as systematically employed before, gradually fade away. 

THEORIES ENTERTAINED RESPECTING INDIAN SIGNS. 

In this paper it is not designed to pronounce upon theories, andcertainly none will be advocated in a spirit of dogmatism. The writerrecognizes that the subject in its novelty specially requires anobjective and not a subjective consideration. His duty is to collectthe facts as they are, and this as soon as possible, since everyyear will add to the confusion and difficulty. After the facts areestablished the theories will take care of themselves, and their finalenunciation will be in the hands of men more competent than the writerwill ever pretend to be, although his knowledge, after careful studyof all data attainable, may be considerably increased. The merecollection of facts, however, cannot be prosecuted to advantagewithout predetermined rules of judgment, nor can they be classified atall without the adoption of some principle which involves a tentativetheory. More than a generation ago Baader noticed that scientificobservers only accumulated great masses of separate facts withoutestablishing more connection between them than an arbitrary andimperfect classification; and before him Goethe complained of theindisposition of students of nature to look upon the universe as awhole. But since the great theory of evolution has been brought togeneral notice no one will be satisfied at knowing a fact without alsotrying to establish its relation to other facts. Therefore a workinghypothesis, which shall not be held to with tenacity, is not onlyallowable but necessary. It is also important to examine with properrespect the theories advanced by others. Some of these, suggested inthe few publications on the subject and also by correspondents, willbe mentioned. 

_NOT CORRELATED WITH MEAGERNESS OF LANGUAGE. _

The story has been told by travelers in many parts of the world thatvarious languages cannot be clearly understood in the dark by theirpossessors, using their mother tongue between themselves. The evidencefor this anywhere is suspicious; and when it is asserted, as itoften has been, in reference to some of the tribes of North AmericanIndians, it is absolutely false, and must be attributed to the errorof travelers who, ignorant of the dialect, never see the nativesexcept when trying to make themselves intelligible to their visitorsby a practice which they have found by experience to have beensuccessful with strangers to their tongue, or perhaps when they areguarding against being overheard by others. Captain Burton, in his_City of the Saints_, specially states that the Arapahos possess avery scanty vocabulary, pronounced in a quasi-unintelligible way, andcan hardly converse with one another in the dark. The truth is thattheir vocabulary is by no means scanty, and they do converse with eachother with perfect freedom without any gestures when they so please. The difficulty in speaking or understanding their language is in thelarge number of guttural and interrupted sounds which are not helpedby external motions of the mouth and lips in articulation, and thelight gives little advantage to its comprehension so far as concernsthe vocal apparatus, which, in many languages, can be seen as wellas heard, as is proved by the modern deaf-mute practice of artificialspeech. The corresponding story that no white man ever learned Arapahois also false. A member of Frémont's party so long ago as 1842 spokethe language. Burton in the same connection gives a story "of aman who, being sent among the Cheyennes to qualify himself forinterpreting, returned in a week and proved his competency; all hedid, however, was to go through the usual pantomime with a runningaccompaniment of grunts. " And he might as well have omitted thegrunts, for he obviously only used sign language. Lieutenant Abert, in1846-'47, made much more sensible remarks from his actual observationthan Captain Burton repeated at second-hand from a Mormon met byhim at Salt Lake. He said: "Some persons think that it [the Cheyennelanguage] would be incomplete without gesture, because the Indians usegestures constantly. But I have been assured that the language is initself capable of bodying forth any idea to which one may wish to giveutterance. "

In fact, individuals of those American tribes specially instanced inthese reports as unable to converse without gesture, often, in theirdomestic _abandon_, wrap themselves up in robes or blankets with onlybreathing holes before the nose, so that no part of the body is seen, and chatter away for hours, telling long stories. If in daylightthey thus voluntarily deprive themselves of the possibility of makingsigns, it is clear that their preference for talks around the fire atnight is explicable by very natural reasons wholly distinct from theone attributed. The inference, once carelessly made from the free useof gesture by some of the Shoshonian stock, that their tongue was toomeager for use without signs, is refuted by the now ascertained factthat their vocabulary is remarkably copious and their parts of speechbetter differentiated than those of many people on whom no suchstigma has been affixed. The proof of this was seen in the writer'sexperience, when Ouray, the head chief of the Utes, was at Washington, in the early part of 1880, and after an interview with the Secretaryof the Interior made report of it to the rest of the delegation whohad not been present. He spoke without pause in his own language fornearly an hour, in a monotone and without a single gesture. The reasonfor this depressed manner was undoubtedly because he was very sad atthe result, involving loss of land and change of home; but the factremains that full information was communicated on a complicatedsubject without the aid of a manual sign, and also without evensuch change of inflection of voice as is common among Europeans. Alltheories based upon the supposed poverty of American languages must beabandoned. 

The grievous accusation against foreign people that they have nointelligible language is venerable and general. With the Greeksthe term [Greek: aglossos], "tongueless, " was used synonymous with[Greek: barbaros], "barbarian" of all who were not Greek. The name"Slav, " assumed by a grand division of the Aryan family, means "thespeaker, " and is contradistinguished from the other peoples of theworld, such as the Germans, who are called in Russian "Njemez, " that is, "speechless. " In Isaiah (xxxiii, 19) the Assyrians are called a people"of a stammering tongue, that one cannot understand. " The common use ofthe expression "tongueless" and "speechless, " so applied, has probablygiven rise, as TYLOR suggests, to the mythical stories of actuallyspeechless tribes of savages, and the considerations and instancesabove presented tend to discredit the many other accounts of languageswhich are incomplete without the help of gesture. The theory that signlanguage was in whole or in chief the original utterance of mankindwould be strongly supported by conclusive evidence to the truth of suchtravelers' tales, but does not depend upon them. Nor, considering theimmeasurable period during which, in accordance with modern geologicviews, man has been on the earth, is it probable that any existingraces can be found in which speech has not obviated the absolutenecessity for gesture in communication among themselves. The signssurvive for convenience, used together with oral language, and forspecial employment when language is unavailable. 

A comparison sometimes drawn between sign language and that of ourIndians, founded on the statement of their common poverty in abstractexpressions, is not just to either. This paper will be written invain if it shall not suggest the capacities of gesture speech in thatregard, and a deeper study into Indian tongues has shown that they areby no means so confined to the concrete as was once believed. 

_ITS ORIGIN FROM ONE TRIBE OR REGION. _

Col. Richard I. Dodge, United States Army, whose long experience amongthe Indians entitles his opinion to great respect, says in a letter:

"The embodiment of signs into a systematic language is, I believe, confined to the Indians of the Plains. Contiguous tribes gain, hereand there, a greater or less knowledge of this language; these againextend the knowledge, diminished and probably perverted, to theirneighbors, until almost all the Indian tribes of the United Stateseast of the Sierras have some little smattering of it. The PlainsIndians believe the Kiowas to have invented the sign language, andthat by them its use was communicated to other Plains tribes. If thisis correct, analogy would lead us to believe that those tribes mostnearly in contact with the Kiowas would use it most fluently andcorrectly, the knowledge becoming less as the contact diminishes. Thus the Utes, though nearly contiguous (in territory) to the PlainsIndians, have only the merest 'picked up' knowledge of this language, and never use it among themselves, simply because, they and the Plainstribes having been, since the memory of their oldest men, in a chronicstate of war, there has been no social contact. "

In another communication Colonel Dodge is still more definite:

"The Plains Indians themselves believe the sign language was inventedby the Kiowas, who holding an intermediate position between theComanches, Tonkaways, Lipans, and other inhabitants of the vastplains of Texas, and the Pawnees, Sioux, Blackfeet, and other northerntribes, were the general go-betweens, trading with all, making peaceor war with or for any or all. It is certain that the Kiowas are atpresent more universally proficient in this language than any otherPlains tribe. It is also certain that the tribes farthest away fromthem and with whom they have least intercourse use it with leastfacility. "

Dr. William H. Corbusier, assistant surgeon United States Army, avalued contributor, gives information as follows:

"The traditions of the Indians point toward the south as the directionfrom which the sign language came. They refer to the time when theydid not use it; and each tribe say they learned it from those southof them. The Comanches, who acquired it in Mexico, taught it to theArapahoes and Kiowas, and from these the Cheyennes learned it. TheSioux say that they had no knowledge of it before they crossed theMissouri River and came in contact with the Cheyennes, but have quiterecently learned it from them. It would thus appear that the PlainsIndians did not invent it, but finding it adapted to their wantsadopted it as a convenient means of communicating with those whoselanguage they did not understand, and it rapidly spread from tribeto tribe over the Plains. As the sign language came from Mexico, the Spaniards suggest themselves as the introducers of it on thiscontinent. They are adepts in the use of signs. Cortez as he marchedthrough Mexico would naturally have resorted to signs in communicatingwith the numerous tribes with which he came in contract. Finding themvery necessary, one sign after another would suggest itself and beadopted by Spaniards and Indians, and, as the former advanced, onetribe after another would learn to use them. The Indians on thePlains, finding them so useful, preserved them and each tribe modifiedthem to suit their convenience, but the signs remained essentiallythe same. The Shoshones took the sign language with them as they movednorthwest, and a few of the Piutes may have learned it from them, butthe Piutes as a tribe do not use it. "

Mr. Ben. Clarke, the respected and skillful interpreter at Fort Renowrites to the same general effect:

"The Cheyennes think that the sign language used by the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Ogallala and Brulé Sioux, Kiowas, and Comanches originatedwith the Kiowas. It is a tradition that, many years ago, when theNorthern Indians were still without horses, the Kiowas often raidedamong the Mexican Indians and captured droves of horses on thesetrips. The Northern Plains Indians used to journey to them and tradefor horses. The Kiowas were already proficient in signs, and theothers learned from them. It was the journeying to the South thatfinally divided the Cheyennes, making the Northern and SouthernCheyennes. The same may be said of the Arapahoes. That the Kiowas werethe first sign talkers is only a tradition, but as a tribe they arenow considered to be the best or most thorough of the Plains Indians. "

Without engaging in any controversy on this subject it may be noticedthat the theory advanced supposes a comparatively recent origin ofsign language from one tribe and one region, whereas, so far as can betraced, the conditions favorable to a sign language existed very longago and were co-extensive with the territory of North America occupiedby any of the tribes. To avoid repetition reference is made to thediscussion below under the heads of universality, antiquity, identity, and permanence. At this point it is only desired to call attentionto the ancient prevalence of signs among tribes such as the Iroquois, Wyandot, Ojibwa, and at least three generations back among the Creesbeyond our northern boundary and the Mandans and other far-northernDakotas, not likely at that time to have had communication, eventhrough intertribal channels, with the Kaiowas. It is also difficultto understand how their signs would have in that manner reachedthe Kutchin of Eastern Alaska and the Kutine and Selish of BritishColumbia, who use signs now. At the same time due consideration mustbe given to the great change in the intercommunication of tribes, produced by the importation of the horse, by which the habits ofthose Indians now, but not very anciently, inhabiting the Plains wereentirely changed. It is probable that a sign language before existingbecame, contemporaneously with nomadic life, cultivated and enriched. 

As regards the Spanish origin suggested, there is ample evidence thatthe Spaniards met signs in their early explorations north of and inthe northern parts of Mexico, and availed themselves of them but didnot introduce them. It is believed also that the elaborate picturewriting of Mexico was founded on gesture signs. 

With reference to the statement that the Kaiowas are the most expertsign talkers of the Plains, a number of authorities and correspondentsgive the precedence to the Cheyennes, and an equal number to theArapahos. Probably the accident of meeting specially skillful talkersin the several tribes visited influences such opinions. 

The writer's experience, both of the Utes and Pai-Utes, is differentfrom the above statement respecting the absence of signs among them. They not only use their own signs but fully understand the differencebetween the signs regarded as their own and those of the Kaiowas. Onspecial examination they understood some of the latter only as wordsof a foreign language interpolated in an oral conversation would becomprehended from the context, and others they would recognize ashaving seen before among other tribes without adoption. The same istrue regarding the Brulé Sioux, as was clearly expressed by MedicineBull, their chief. The Pimas, Papagos, and Maricopas examined had acopious sign language, yet were not familiar with many Kaiowa signspresented to them. 

Instead of referring to a time past when they did not use signs, theIndians examined by the writer and by most of his correspondentsspeak of a time when they and their fathers used it more freelyand copiously than at present, its disuse being from causes beforementioned. It, however, may be true in some cases that a tribe, havingbeen for a long time in contact only with others the dialect of whichwas so nearly akin as to be comprehensible, or from any reason beingseparated from those of a strange speech, discontinued sign languagefor a time, and then upon migration or forced removal came intocircumstances where it was useful, and revived it. It is asserted thatsome of the Muskoki and the Ponkas now in the Indian Territory neversaw sign language until they arrived there. Yet there is some evidencethat the Muskoki did use signs a century ago, and some of the Ponkasstill remaining on their old homes on the Missouri remember it andhave given their knowledge to an accurate correspondent, Rev. J. O. Dorsey, though for many years they have not been in circumstances torequire its employment. 

Perhaps the most salutary criticism to be offered regarding the theorywould be in the form of a query whether sign language has ever beeninvented by any one body of people at any one time, and whether it isnot simply a phase in evolution, surviving and reviving when needed. Criticism on this subject is made reluctantly, as it would be highlyinteresting to determine that sign language on this continent camefrom a particular stock, and to ascertain that stock. Such researchwould be similar to that into the Aryan and Semitic sources towhich many modern languages have been traced backwards from existingvarieties, and if there appear to be existing varieties in signs theirroots may still be found to be _sui generis_. The possibility that thediscrepancy between signs was formerly greater than at present willreceive attention in discussing the distinction between the identityof signs and their common use as an art. It is sufficient to addnow that not only does the burden of proof rest unfavorably uponthe attempt to establish one parent stock for sign language in NorthAmerica, but it also comes under the stigma now fastened upon theimmemorial effort to name and locate the original oral speech of man. It is only next in difficulty to the old persistent determinationto decide upon the origin of the whole Indian "race, " in which mostpeoples of antiquity in the eastern hemisphere, including thelost tribes of Israel, the Gipsies, and the Welsh, have figuredconspicuously as putative parents. 

_IS THE INDIAN SYSTEM SPECIAL AND PECULIAR?_

This inquiry is closely connected with the last. If the system ofsigns was invented here in the correct sense of that term, and by aknown and existing tribe, it is probable that it would not befound prevailing in any important degree where the influence of theinventors could not readily have penetrated. An affirmative answerto the question also presupposes the same answer to another question, viz, whether there is any one uniform system among the North AmericanIndians which can therefore be compared with any other system. Thislast inquiry will be considered in its order. In comparing the systemas a whole with others, the latter are naturally divided into signs ofspeaking men foreign to America and those of deaf-mutes. 

COMPARISONS WITH FOREIGN SIGNS. 

The generalization of TYLOR that "gesture language is substantiallythe same among savage tribes all over the world, " interpreted by hisremarks in another connection, is understood as referring to theircommon use of signs, and of signs formed on the same principles, butnot of precisely the same signs to express the same ideas. In thissense of the generalization the result of the writer's study not onlysustains it, but shows a surprising number of signs for the same ideawhich are substantially identical, not only among savage tribes, butamong all peoples that use gesture signs with any freedom. Men, ingroping for a mode of communication with each other, and using thesame general methods, have been under many varying conditions andcircumstances which have determined differently many conceptions andtheir semiotic execution, but there have also been many of both whichwere similar. Our Indians have no special superstition concerning theevil-eye like the Italians, nor have they been long familiar with thejackass so as to make him emblematical of stupidity; therefore signsfor these concepts are not cisatlantic, but even in this paper manyare shown which are substantially in common between our Indiansand Italians. The large collection already obtained, but not nowpublished, shows many others identical, not only with those of theItalians and the classic Greeks and Romans, but of other peoples ofthe Old World, both savage and civilized. The generic uniformityis obvious, while the occasion of specific varieties can be readilyunderstood. 

COMPARISON WITH DEAF-MUTE SIGNS. 

The Indians who have been shown over the civilized East have oftensucceeded in holding intercourse, by means of their invention andapplication of principles in what may be called the voiceless motherutterance, with white deaf-mutes, who surely have no semiotic codemore nearly connected with that attributed to the plain-roamersthan is derived from their common humanity. They showed the greatestpleasure in meeting deaf-mutes, precisely as travelers in a foreigncountry are rejoiced to meet persons speaking their language, withwhom they can hold direct communication without the tiresome and oftensuspected medium of an interpreter. When they met together they werefound to pursue the same course as that noticed at the meeting ofdeaf-mutes who were either not instructed in any methodical dialector who had received such instruction by different methods. They oftendisagreed in the signs at first presented, but soon understood them, and finished by adopting some in mutual compromise, which proved to bethose most strikingly appropriate, graceful, and convenient; but therestill remained in some cases a plurality of fitting signs for the sameidea or object. On one of the most interesting of these occasions, atthe Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, in 1873, it wasremarked that the signs of the deaf-mutes were much more readilyunderstood by the Indians, who were Absaroka or Crows, Arapahos, andCheyennes, than were theirs by the deaf-mutes, and that the lattergreatly excelled in pantomimic effect. This need not be surprisingwhen it is considered that what is to the Indian a mere adjunct oraccomplishment is to the deaf-mute the natural mode of utterance, andthat there is still greater freedom from the trammel of translatingwords into action--instead of acting the ideas themselves--when, thesound of words being unknown, they remain still as they originated, but another kind of sign, even after the art of reading is acquired, and do not become entities as with us. The "action, action, action, "of Demosthenes is their only oratory, not the mere heightening of it, however valuable. 

On March 6, 1880, the writer had an interesting experience in takingto the National Deaf-Mute College at Washington seven Utes (whichtribe, according to report, is unacquainted with sign language), amongwhom were Augustin, Alejandro, Jakonik, Severio, and Wash. By the kindattention of President GALLAUDET a thorough test was given, an equalnumber of deaf-mute pupils being placed in communication with theIndians, alternating with them both in making individual signs and intelling narratives in gesture, which were afterwards interpreted inspeech by the Ute interpreter and the officers of the college. Notesof a few of them were taken, as follows:

Among the signs was that for _squirrel_, given by a deaf-mute. Theright hand was placed over and facing the left, and about four inchesabove the latter, to show the height of the animal; then the two handswere held edgewise and horizontally in front, about eight inches apart(showing _length_); then imitating the grasping of a small object andbiting it rapidly with the incisors, the extended index was pointedupward and forward (_in a tree_). 

This was not understood, as the Utes have no sign for the treesquirrel, the arboreal animal not being now found in their region. 

Deaf-mute sign for _jack-rabbit_: The first two fingers of each handextended (the remaining fingers and thumbs closed) were placed oneither side of the head, pointing upward; then arching the hands, palmdown, quick, interrupted, jumping movements forward were made. 

This was readily understood. 

The signs for the following narrative were given by a deaf-mute: Whenhe was a boy he mounted a horse without either bridle or saddle, andas the horse began to go he grasped him by the neck for support; a dogflew at the horse, began to bark, when the rider was thrown off andconsiderably hurt. 

In this the sign for _dog_ was as follows: Pass the arched handforward from the lower part of the face, to illustrate elongated noseand mouth, then with both forefingers extended, remaining fingers andthumbs closed, place them upon either side of the lower jaw, pointingupward, to show lower canines, at the same time accompanying thegesture with an expression of withdrawing the lips so as to show theteeth snarling; then, with the fingers of the right hand extended andseparated throw them quickly forward and slightly upward (_voice_ or_talking_). 

This sign was understood to mean _bear_, as that for _dog_ isdifferent among the Utes, i. E. , by merely showing the height of thedog and pushing the flat hand forward, finger-tips first. 

Another deaf-mute gestured to tell that when he was a boy he went toa melon-field, tapped several melons, finding them to be green orunripe; finally reaching a good one he took his knife, cut a slice, and ate it. A man made his appearance on horseback, entered the patchon foot, found the cut melon, and detecting the thief, threw the melontowards him, hitting him in the back, whereupon he ran away crying. The man mounted and rode off in an opposite direction. 

All of these signs were readily comprehended, although some of theIndians varied very slightly in their translation. 

When the Indians were asked whether, if they (the deaf-mutes) were tocome to the Ute country they would be scalped, the answer was given, "Nothing would be done to you; but we would be friends, " as follows:

The palm of the right hand was brushed toward the right over that ofthe left (_nothing_), and the right hand made to grasp the palm ofthe left, thumbs extended over and lying upon the back of the opposinghand. 

This was readily understood by the deaf-mutes. 

Deaf-mute sign of milking a cow and drinking the milk was fully andquickly understood. 

The narrative of a boy going to an apple-tree, hunting for ripe fruitand filling his pockets, being surprised by the owner and hit upon thehead with a stone, was much appreciated by the Indians and completelyunderstood. 

A deaf-mute asked Alejandro how long it took him to come to Washingtonfrom his country. He replied by placing the index and second finger ofthe right hand astride the extended forefinger (others closed) of theleft; then elevating the fingers of the left hand (except thumb andforefinger) back forward (_three_); then extending the fingers of bothhands and bringing them to a point, thumbs resting on palmar sides andextended, placing the hands in front of the body, the tips oppositethe opposing wrist, and about four inches apart; then, revolving themin imitation of _wheels_, he elevated the extended forefinger ofthe left hand (_one_); then placing the extended flat hands, thumbstouching, the backs sloping downward towards the respective rightand left sides, like the roof of a house; then repeating the sign ofwheels as in the preceding, after which the left hand was extendedbefore the body, fingers toward the right, horizontal, palm down andslightly arched, the right wrist held under it, the fingers extendingupward beyond it, and quickly and repeatedly snapped upward (_smoke_);the last three signs being _covered--wagon--smoke_, i. E. , _cars_; thenelevating four fingers of the left hand (_four_). 

_Translation_. --Traveled three days on horseback, one in a wagon, andfour in the cars. 

The deaf-mutes understood all but the sign for wheel, which they makeas a large circle, with _one_ hand. 

Another example: A deaf-mute pretended to hunt something; found birds, took his bow and arrows and killed several. 

This was fully understood. 

A narrative given by Alejandro was also understood by the deaf-mutes, to the effect that he made search for deer, shot one with a gun, killed and skinned it, and packed it up. 

It will be observed that many of the above signs admitted of and wereexpressed by pantomime, yet that was not the case with all that weremade. President GALLAUDET made also some remarks in gesture which wereunderstood by the Indians, yet were not strictly pantomimic. 

The opinion of all present at the test was that two intelligent mimeswould seldom fail of mutual understanding, their attention beingexclusively directed to the expression of thoughts by the means ofcomprehension and reply equally possessed by both, without the mentalconfusion of conventional sounds only intelligible to one. 

A large collection has been made of natural deaf-mute signs, and alsoof those more conventional, which have been collated with those of theseveral tribes of Indians. Many of them show marked similarity, notonly in principle but often in detail. 

 * * * * *

The result of the studies so far as prosecuted is that what iscalled _the_ sign language of Indians is not, properly speaking, onelanguage, but that it and the gesture systems of deaf-mutes and ofall peoples constitute together one language--the gesture speech ofmankind--of which each system is a dialect. 

_TO WHAT EXTENT PREVALENT AS A SYSTEM. _

The assertion has been made by many writers, and is currently repeatedby Indian traders and some Army officers, that all the tribes of NorthAmerica have long had and still use a _common_ and _identical_sign language, in which they can communicate freely without oralassistance. Although this remarkable statement is at variance withsome of the principles of the formation and use of signs set forthby Dr. E. B. TYLOR, whose admirable chapters on gesture speech in his_Researches into the Early History of Mankind_ have in a great degreeprompted the present inquiries, that eminent authority did not see fitto discredit it. He repeats the report as he received it, in the wordsthat "the same signs serve as a medium of converse from Hudson Bay tothe Gulf of Mexico. " Its truth or falsity can only be established bycareful comparison of lists or vocabularies of signs taken under testconditions at widely different times and places. For this purposelists have been collated by the writer, taken in different parts ofthe country at several dates, from the last century to the last month, comprising together several thousand signs, many of them, however, being mere variants or synonyms for the same object or quality, somebeing repetitions of others and some of small value from uncertaintyin description or authority, or both. 

ONCE PROBABLY UNIVERSAL IN NORTH AMERICA. 

The conclusion reached from the researches made is to the effectthat before the changes wrought by the Columbian discovery the use ofgesture illustrated the remark of Quintilian upon the same subject(l. Xi, c. 3) that "_In tanta per omnes gentes nationesque linguædiversitate hic mihi omnium hominum communis sermo videatur. _"

Quotations may be taken from some old authorities referring to widelyseparated regions. The Indians of Tampa Bay, identified with theTimucua, met by Cabeça de Vaca in 1528, were active in the use ofsigns, and in his journeying for eight subsequent years, probablythrough Texas and Mexico, he remarks that he passed through manydissimilar tongues, but that he questioned and received the answersof the Indians by signs "just as if they spoke our language and wetheirs. " Michaëlius, writing in 1628, says of the Algonkins on or nearthe Hudson River: "For purposes of trading as much was done by signswith the thumb and fingers as by speaking. " In Bossu's _Travelsthrough that part of North America formerly called Louisiana_, _London_, 1771 (Forster's translation), an account is given ofMonsieur de Belle-Isle some years previously captured by the Atak-apa, who remained with them two years and "conversed in their pantomimeswith them. " He was rescued by Governor Bienville and was sufficientlyexpert in the sign language to interpret between Bienville and thetribe. In Bushmann's _Spuren_, p. 424, there is a reference to the"Accocessaws on the west side of the Colorado, two hundred milessouthwest of Nacogdoches, " who use thumb signs which they understand:"_Theilen sich aber auch durch Daum-Zeichen mit, die sie alleverstehen. _"

Omitting many authorities, and for brevity allowing a break in thecontinuity of time, reference may be made to the statement in MajorLong's expedition of 1819, concerning the Arapahos, Kaiowas, Ietans, and Cheyennes, to the effect that, being ignorant of each other'slanguages, many of them when they met would communicate by meansof signs, and would thus maintain a conversation without the leastdifficulty or interruption. A list of the tribes reported upon byPrince Maximilian von Wied-Neuweid, in 1832-'34, appears elsewherein this paper. In Frémont's expedition of 1844 special and repeatedallusion is made to the expertness of the Pai-Utes in signs, which iscontradictory to the statement above made by correspondents. The sameis mentioned regarding a band of Shoshonis met near the summit of theSierra Nevada, and one of "Diggers, " probably Chemehuevas, encounteredon a tributary of the Rio Virgen. 

Ruxton, in his _Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains_, _NewYork_, 1848, p. 278, sums up his experience with regard to the Westerntribes so well as to require quotation: "The language of signs isso perfectly understood in the Western country, and the Indiansthemselves are such admirable pantomimists, that, after a little use, no difficulty whatever exists in carrying on a conversation by sucha channel; and there are few mountain men who are at a loss inthoroughly understanding and making themselves intelligible by signsalone, although they neither speak nor understand a word of the Indiantongue. "

Passing to the correspondents of the writer from remote parts ofNorth America, it is important to notice that Mr. J. W. Powell, Indiansuperintendent, reports the use of sign language among the Kutine, and Mr. James Lenihan, Indian agent, among the Selish, both tribesof British Columbia. The Very Rev. Edward Jacker, while contributinginformation upon the present use of gesture language among the Ojibwasof Lake Superior, mentions that it has fallen into comparative neglectbecause for three generations they had not been in contact withtribes of a different speech. Dr. Francis H. Atkins, acting assistantsurgeon, United States Army, in forwarding a contribution of signsof the Mescalero Apaches remarks: "I think it probable that they haveused sign language rather less than many other Indians. They do notseem to use it to any extent at home, and abroad the only tribes theywere likely to come into contact with were the Navajos, the Lipansof old Mexico, and the Comanches. Probably the last have been almostalone their visiting neighbors. They have also seen the Pueblosa little, these appearing to be, like the Phoenicians of old, thetraders of this region. " He also alludes to the effect of the Spanish, or rather _lingua Mexicana_, upon all the Southern tribes and, indeed, upon those as far north as the Utes, by which recourse to signs is nowrendered less necessary. 

Before leaving this particular topic it is proper to admit that, whilethere is not only recorded testimony to the past use of gesturesigns by several tribes of the Iroquoian and Algonkian families, butevidence that it still remains, it is, however, noticeable that thesefamilies when met by their first visitors do not appear to have oftenimpressed the latter with their reliance upon gesture language to thesame extent as has always been reported of the tribes now and formerlyfound farther inland. An explanation may be suggested from thefact that among those families there were more people dwelling neartogether in communities speaking the same language, though withdialectic peculiarities, than became known later in the farther West, and not being nomadic their intercourse with strange tribes was lessindividual and conversational. Some of the tribes, in especial theIroquois proper, were in a comparatively advanced social condition. AMohawk or Seneca would probably have repeated the arrogance of the oldRomans, whom in other respects they resembled, and compelled personsof inferior tribes to learn his language if they desired to conversewith him, instead of resorting to the compromise of gesturespeech, which he had practiced before the prowess and policy of theconfederated Five Nations had gained supremacy and which was stillused for special purposes between the members of his own tribe. Thestudies thus far pursued lead to the conclusion that at the time ofthe discovery of North America all its inhabitants practiced signlanguage, though with different degrees of expertness, and thatwhile under changed circumstances it was disused by some, others, inespecial those who after the acquisition of horses became nomads ofthe Great Plains, retained and cultivated it to the high developmentnow attained, from which it will surely and speedily decay. 

MISTAKEN DENIAL THAT SIGN LANGUAGE EXISTS. 

The most useful suggestion to persons interested in the collectionof signs is that they shall not too readily abandon the attempt todiscover recollections of them even among tribes long exposedto European influence and officially segregated from others. Theinstances where their existence, at first denied, has been ascertainedare important with reference to the theories advanced. 

Rev. J. Owen Dorsey has furnished a considerable vocabulary of signsfinally procured from the Poncas, although, after residing among themfor years, with thorough familiarity with their language, and afterspecial and intelligent exertion to obtain some of their disusedgesture language, he had before reported it to be entirely forgotten. A similar report was made by two missionaries among the Ojibwas, though other trustworthy authorities have furnished a copious listof signs obtained from that tribe. This is no imputation againstthe missionaries, as in October, 1880, five intelligent Ojibwas fromPetoskey, Mich. , told the writer that they had never heard of gesturelanguage. An interesting letter from Mr. B. O. Williams, sr. , ofOwasso, Mich. , explains the gradual decadence of signs used by theOjibwas in his recollection, embracing sixty years, as chieflyarising from general acquaintance with the English language. Furtherdiscouragement came from an Indian agent giving the decided statement, after four years of intercourse with the Pai-Utes, that no such thingas a communication by signs was known or even remembered by them, which, however, was less difficult to bear because on the day of thereceipt of that well-intentioned missive some officers of the Bureauof Ethnology were actually talking in signs with a delegation of thatvery tribe of Indians then in Washington, from one of whom, Nátci, anarrative printed in this paper (page 500), was received. 

The report from missionaries, army officers, and travelers in Alaskawas unanimous against the existence of a sign language there untilMr. Ivan Petroff, whose explorations had been more extensive, gavethe excellent exposition and dialogue now produced (see page 492). Collections were also obtained from the Apaches and Zuñi, Pimas, Papagos, and Maricopas, after agents and travelers had denied them tobe possessed of any knowledge on the subject. 

For the reasons mentioned under the last heading, little hope wasentertained of procuring a collection from any of the Iroquoian stock, but the intelligent and respectable chief of the Wyandots, Hénto (GrayEyes), came to the rescue. His tribe was moved from Ohio in July, 1843, to the territory now occupied by the State of Kansas, andthen again moved to Indian Territory, in 1870. He asserts that aboutone-third of the tribe, the older portion, know many signs, a partiallist of which he gave with their descriptions. He was sure that thosesigns were used before the removal from Ohio, and he saw them usedalso by Shawnees, Delawares, and Senecas there. 

Unanimous denial of any existence of sign language came from theBritish provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and was followed by thecollection obtained by the Hon. Horatio Hale. His statement of thetime and manner of its being procured by him is not only interestingbut highly instructive:

"The aged Mohawk chief, from whom the information on this subject hasbeen obtained, is commonly known by his English name of JohnSmoke Johnson. 'Smoke' is a rude version of his Indian name, _Sakayenkwaraton_, which may be rendered 'Disappearing Mist. ' It isthe term applied to the haze which rises in the morning of an autumnday, and gradually passes away. Chief Johnson has been for many years'speaker' of the great council of the Six Nations. In former times hewas noted as a warrior, and later has been esteemed one of the mosteloquent orators of his race. At the age of eighty-eight years heretains much of his original energy. He is considered to have a betterknowledge of the traditions and ancient customs of his people thanany other person now living. This superior knowledge was strikinglyapparent in the course of the investigations which were maderespecting the sign language. Two other members of his tribe, well-educated and very intelligent men of middle age, the one a chiefand government interpreter, the other a clergyman now settled over awhite congregation, had both been consulted on the subject and bothexpressed the opinion that nothing of the sign language, properlyspeaking, was known among the Six Nations. They were alike surprisedand interested when the old chief, in their presence, after muchconsideration, gradually drew forth from the stores of his memory theproofs of an accomplishment which had probably lain unused for morethan half a century. "

One of the most conclusive instances of the general knowledge ofsign language, even when seldom used, was shown in the visit of fiveJicarilla Apaches to Washington in April, 1880, under the charge ofDr. Benjamin Thomas, their agent. The latter said he had never heardof any use of signs among them. But it happened that there was adelegation of Absaroka (Crows) at the same hotel, and the two partiesfrom such widely separated regions, not knowing a word of each other'slanguage, immediately began to converse in signs, resulting in adecided sensation. One of the Crows asked the Apaches whether they atehorses, and it happening that the sign for _eating_ was misapprehendedfor that known by the Apaches for _many_, the question was supposedto be whether the latter had many horses, which was answered inthe affirmative. Thence ensued a misunderstanding on the subject ofhippophagy, which was curious both as showing the general use ofsigns as a practice and the diversity in special signs for particularmeanings. The surprise of the agent at the unsuspected accomplishmentof his charges was not unlike that of a hen who, having hatched anumber of duck eggs, is perplexed at the instinct with which the broodtakes to the water. 

The denial of the use of signs is often faithfully though erroneouslyreported from the distinct statements of Indians to that effect. Inthat, as in other matters, they are often provokingly reticent abouttheir old habits and traditions. Chief Ouray asserted to the writer, as he also did to Colonel Dodge, that his people, the Utes, had notthe practice of sign talk, and had no use for it. This was much inthe proud spirit in which an Englishman would have made the samestatement, as the idea involved an accusation against the civilizationof his people, which he wished to appear highly advanced. Still morefrequently the Indians do not distinctly comprehend what is soughtto be obtained. Sometimes, also, the art, abandoned in general, only remains in the memories of a few persons influenced by specialcircumstances or individual fancy. 

In this latter regard a comparison may be made with the old scienceof heraldry, once of practical use and a necessary part of a liberaleducation, of which hardly a score of persons in the United Stateshave any but the vague knowledge that it once existed; yet the unitedmemories of those persons could, in the absence of records, reproduceall essential points on the subject. 

Another cause for the mistaken denial in question must be mentioned. When travelers or sojourners have become acquainted with signs inany one place they may assume that those signs constitute _the_ signlanguage, and if they afterwards meet tribes not at once recognizingthose signs, they remove all difficulty about the theory of a "one andindivisible" sign language by simply asserting that the tribes so metdo not understand _the_ sign language, or perhaps that they do notuse signs at all. This precise assertion has, as above mentioned, beenmade regarding the Utes and Apaches. Of course, also, Indians who havenot been brought into sufficient contact with certain tribes usingdifferent signs, for the actual trial which would probably resultin mutual comprehension, tell the travelers the same story. It isthe venerable one of "[Greek: aglossos], " "Njemez, " "barbarian, " and"stammering, " above noted, applied to the hands instead of the tongue. Thus an observer possessed by a restrictive theory will find no signswhere they are in plenty, while another determined on the universalityand identity of sign language can, as elsewhere explained, produce, from perhaps the same individuals, evidence in his favor from theapparently conclusive result of successful communication. 

PERMANENCE OF SIGNS. 

In connection with any theory it is important to inquire into thepermanence of particular gesture signs to express a special idea orobject when the system has been long continued. Many examples havebeen given above showing that the gestures of classic times are stillin use by the modern Italians with the same signification; indeed thatthe former on Greek vases or reliefs or in Herculanean bronzescan only be interpreted by the latter. In regard to the signs ofinstructed deaf-mutes in this country there appears to be a permanencebeyond expectation. Mr. Edmund Booth, a pupil of the HartfordInstitute half a century ago, and afterwards a teacher, says in the"_Annals_" for April, 1880, that the signs used by teachers and pupilsat Hartford, Philadelphia, Washington, Council Bluffs, and Omaha werenearly the same as he had learned. "We still adhere to the old signfor President from Monroe's three-cornered hat, and for governor wedesignate the cockade worn by that dignitary on grand occasions threegenerations ago. "

The specific comparisons made, especially by Dr. Washington Matthewsand Dr. W. O. Boteler, of the signs reported by the Prince of Wiedin 1832 with those now used by the same tribes from whom he obtainedthem, show a remarkable degree of permanency in many of those thatwere so clearly described by the Prince as to be proper subjects ofany comparison. If they have persisted for half a century their ageis probably much greater. In general it is believed that signs, constituting as they do a natural mode of expression, though enlargingin scope as new ideas and new objects require to be included andthough abbreviated as hereinafter explained, do not readily change intheir essentials. 

The writer has before been careful to explain that he does not presentany signs as precisely those of primitive man, not being so carriedaway by enthusiasm as to suppose them possessed of immutability andimmortality not found in any other mode of human utterance. Yet suchsigns as are generally prevalent among Indian tribes, and also inother parts of the world, must be of great antiquity. The use ofderivative meanings to a sign only enhances this presumption. Atfirst there might not appear to be any connection between the ideas of_same_ and _wife_, expressed by the sign of horizontally extendingthe two forefingers side by side. The original idea was doubtless thatgiven by the Welsh captain in Shakspere's Henry V: "'Tis so like asmy fingers is to my fingers, " and from this similarity comes "equal, ""companion, " and subsequently the close life-companion "wife. " Thesign is used in each of these senses by different Indian tribes, and sometimes the same tribe applies it in all of the senses asthe context determines. It appears also in many lands with all thesignifications except that of "wife. " It is proper here to mentionthat the suggestion of several correspondents that the Indian sign asapplied to "wife" refers to "lying together" is rendered improbableby the fact that when the same tribes desire to express the sexualrelation of marriage it is gestured otherwise. Many signs but littledifferentiated were unstable, while others that have proved the bestmodes of expression have survived as definite and established. Theirprevalence and permanence being mainly determined by the experience oftheir utility, it would be highly interesting to ascertain how long atime was required for a distinctly new conception or execution to gaincurrency, become "the fashion, " so to speak, over a large part of thecontinent, and to be supplanted by a new "mode. " A note may be made inthis connection of the large number of diverse signs for _horse_, allof which must have been invented within a comparatively recent period, and the small variation in the signs for _dog_, which are probablyancient. 

SURVIVAL IN GESTURE. 

Even when the specific practice of sign language has been generallydiscontinued for more than one generation, either from the adoptionof a jargon or from the common use of the tongue of the conqueringEnglish, French, or Spanish, some of the gestures formerly employedas substitutes for words may survive as a customary accompaniment tooratory or impassioned conversation, and, when ascertained, should becarefully noted. An example, among many, may be found in the factthat the now civilized Muskoki or Creeks, as mentioned by Rev. H. F. Buckner, when speaking of the height of children or women, illustratetheir words by holding their hands at the proper elevation, palm up;but when describing the height of "soulless" animals or inanimateobjects, they hold the palm downward. This, when correlated with thedistinctive signs of other Indians, is an interesting case of thesurvival of a practice which, so far as yet reported, the oldest menof the tribe, now living only remember to have once existed. It isprobable that a collection of such distinctive gestures among the mostcivilized Indians would reproduce enough of their ancient system to bevaluable, while possibly the persistent inquirer might in his searchdiscover some of its surviving custodians even among Chabta orCheroki, Innuit or Abnaki, Klamath or Nutka. 

DISTINCTION BETWEEN IDENTITY OF SIGNS AND THEIR USE AS AN ART. 

The general report that there is but one sign language in NorthAmerica, any deviation from which is either blunder, corruption, or adialect in the nature of provincialism, may be examined in referenceto some of the misconceived facts which gave it origin and credence. It may not appear to be necessary that such examination should bedirected to any mode of collecting and comparing signs which wouldamount to their distortion. It is useful, however, to explain thatdistortion would result from following the views of a recent essayist, who takes the ground that the description of signs should be madeaccording to a "mean" or average. There can be no philosophicconsideration of signs according to a "mean" of observations. Theproper object is to ascertain the radical or essential part asdistinct from any individual flourish or mannerism on the one hand, and from a conventional or accidental abbreviation on the other; buta mere average will not accomplish that object. If the hand, beingin any position whatever, is, according to five observations, movedhorizontally one foot to the right, and, according to five otherobservations, moved one foot horizontally to the left, the "mean"or resultant will be that it is stationary, which sign does notcorrespond with any of the ten observations. So if six observationsgive it a rapid motion of one foot to the right and five a rapidmotion of the same distance to the left, the mean or resultant wouldbe somewhat difficult to express, but perhaps would be a slow movementto the right for an inch or two, having certainly no resemblanceeither in essentials or accidents to any of the signs actuallyobserved. In like manner the tail of the written letter "_y_" (which, regarding its mere formation, might be a graphic sign) may have inthe chirography of several persons various degrees of slope, may bea straight line, or looped, and may be curved on either side; but a"mean" taken from the several manuscripts would leave the unfortunateletter without any tail whatever, or travestied as a "_u_" with anamorphous flourish. A definition of the radical form of the letter orsign by which it can be distinguished from any other letter or signis a very different proceeding. Therefore, if a "mean" or resultant ofany number of radically different signs to express the same object oridea, observed either among several individuals of the same tribe oramong different tribes, is made to represent those signs, they areall mutilated and ignored as distinctive signs, though the result maypossibly be made intelligible in practice, according to principlesmentioned in the present paper. The expedient of a "mean" may bepractically useful in the formation of a mere interpreter's jargon, but it elucidates no principle. It is also convenient for any onedetermined to argue for the uniformity of sign language as against thevariety in unity apparent in all the realms of nature. On the "mean"principle, he only needs to take his two-foot rule and arithmeticaltables and make all signs his signs and his signs all signs. Of coursethey are uniform, because he has made them so after the brutal exampleof Procrustes. 

In this connection it is proper to urge a warning that a mere signtalker is often a bad authority upon principles and theories. Hemay not be liable to the satirical compliment of Dickens's "bravecourier, " who "understood all languages indifferently ill"; but manymen speak some one language fluently, and yet are wholly unable toexplain or analyze its words and forms so as to teach it to anotherperson, or even to give an intelligent summary or classificationof their own knowledge. What such a sign talker has learned is bymemorizing, as a child may learn English, and though both the signtalker and the child may be able to give some separate items useful toa philologist or foreigner, such items are spoiled when colored by theattempt of ignorance to theorize. A German who has studied Englishto thorough mastery, except in the mere facility of speech, may ina discussion upon some of its principles be contradicted by any mereEnglish speaker, who insists upon his superior knowledge because heactually speaks the language and his antagonist does not, but thestudent will probably be correct and the talker wrong. It is an oldadage about oral speech that a man who understands but one languageunderstands none. The science of a sign talker possessed by arestrictive theory is like that of Mirabeau, who was greater as anorator than as a philologist, and who on a visit to England gravelyargued that there was something seriously wrong in the British mindbecause the people would persist in saying "give me some bread"instead of "_donnez-moi du pain_, " which was so much easier and morenatural. A designedly ludicrous instance to the same effect was Hood'sarraignment of the French because they called their mothers "mares"and their daughters "fillies. " It is necessary to take with cautionany statement from a person who, having memorized or hashed up anynumber of signs, large or small, has decided in his conceit that thosehe uses are the only genuine Simon Pure, to be exclusively employedaccording to his direction, all others being counterfeits or blunders. His vocabulary has ceased to give the signs of any Indian or body ofIndians whatever, but becomes his own, the proprietorship of which hefights for as if secured by letters-patent. When a sign is contributedby one of the present collaborators, which such a sign talker has notbefore seen or heard of, he will at once condemn it as bad, just as aUnited States Minister to Vienna, who had been nursed in the mongrelDutch of Berks County, Pennsylvania, declared that the people ofGermany spoke very bad German. 

An argument for the uniformity of the signs of our Indians is derivedfrom the fact that those used by any of them are generally understoodby others. But signs may be understood without being identical withany before seen. The entribal as well as intertribal exercise ofIndians for generations in gesture language has naturally producedgreat skill both in expression and reception, so as to render themmeasurably independent of any prior mutual understanding, or what ina system of signals is called preconcert. Two accomplished armysignalists can, after sufficient trial, communicate without havingany code in common between them, one being mutually devised, and thosespecially designed for secrecy are often deciphered. So, if any oneof the more conventional signs is not quickly comprehended, an Indianskilled in the principle of signs resorts to another expression of hisflexible art, perhaps reproducing the gesture unabbreviated and mademore graphic, perhaps presenting either the same or another conceptionor quality of the same object or idea by an original portraiture. 

An impression of the community of signs is the more readily madebecause explorers and officials are naturally brought into contactmore closely with those individuals of the tribes visited who areexperts in sign language than with their other members, and thoseexperts, on account of their skill as interpreters, are selected asguides to accompany the visitors. The latter also seek occasion tobe present when signs are used, whether with or without words, inintertribal councils, and then the same class of experts comprisesthe orators, for long exercise in gesture speech has made the Indianpoliticians, with no special effort, masters of the art acquired byour public speakers only after laborious apprenticeship. The wholetheory and practice of sign language being that all who understand itsprinciples can make themselves mutually intelligible, the fact of theready comprehension and response among all the skilled gesturers givesthe impression of a common code. Furthermore, if the explorer learnto employ with ingenuity the signs used by any of the tribes, he willprobably be understood in any other by the same class of personswho will surround him in the latter, thereby confirming him in the"common" theory. Those of the tribe who are less skilled, but who arenot noticed, might be unable to catch the meaning of signs which havenot been actually taught to them, just as ignorant persons among uscannot derive any sense from newly-coined words or those strangeto their habitual vocabulary, which, though never before heard, linguistic scholars would instantly understand and might afterwardadopt. 

It is also common experience that when Indians find that a sign whichhas become conventional among their tribe is not understood by aninterlocutor, a self-expressive sign is substituted for it, fromwhich a visitor may form the impression that there are no conventionalsigns. It may likewise occur that the self-expressive sign substitutedwill be met with by a visitor in several localities, differentIndians, in their ingenuity, taking the best and the same means ofreaching the exotic intelligence. 

There is some evidence that where sign language is now found amongIndian tribes it has become more uniform than ever before, simplybecause many tribes have for some time past been forced to dwell neartogether at peace. A collection was obtained in the spring of 1880, atWashington, from a united delegation of the Kaiowa, Comanche, Apache, and Wichita tribes, which was nearly uniform, but the individuals whogave the signs had actually lived together at or near Anadarko, IndianTerritory, for a considerable time, and the resulting uniformity oftheir signs might either be considered as a jargon or as the naturaltendency to a compromise for mutual understanding--the unification sooften observed in oral speech, coming under many circumstances out offormer heterogeneity. The rule is that dialects precede languages andthat out of many dialects comes one language. It may be found thatother individuals of those same tribes who have from any causenot lived in the union explained may have signs for the same ideasdifferent from those in the collection above mentioned. This isprobable, because some signs of other representatives of one of thecomponent bodies--Apache--have actually been reported differing fromthose for the same ideas given by the Anadarko group. The uniformityof the signs of those Arapahos, Cheyennes, and Sioux who have beensecluded for years at one particular reservation, so far as could bedone by governmental power, from the outer world, was used in argumentby a correspondent; but some collected signs of other Cheyennes andSioux differ, not only from those on the reservation, but amongeach other. Therefore the signs used in common by the tribes atthe reservation seem to have been modified and to a certain extentunified. 

The result of the collation and analysis of the large number of signscollected is that in numerous instances there is an entire discrepancybetween the signs made by different bodies of Indians to expressthe same idea, and that if any of these are regarded as rigidlydeterminate, or even conventional with a limited range, and usedwithout further devices, they will fail in conveying the desiredimpression to any one unskilled in gesture as an art, who had notformed the same precise conception or been instructed in the arbitrarymotion. Few of the gestures that are found in current use are, intheir origin, conventional. They are only portions, more or lesselaborate, of obvious natural pantomime, and those proving efficientto convey most successfully at any time the several ideas becamethe most widely adopted, liable, however, to be superseded by moreappropriate conceptions and delineations. The skill of any tribe andthe copiousness of its signs are proportioned first to the necessityfor their use, and secondly to the accidental ability of theindividuals in it who act as custodians and teachers, so that theseveral tribes at different times vary in their degree of proficiency, and therefore both the precise mode of semiotic expression and theamount of its general use are always fluctuating. Sign language as aproduct of evolution has been developed rather than invented, and yetit seems probable that each of the separate signs, like the severalsteps that lead to any true invention, had a definite origin arisingout of some appropriate occasion, and the same sign may in thismanner have had many independent origins due to identity in thecircumstances, or if lost, may have been reproduced. 

The process is precisely the same as that observed among deaf-mutes. One of those unfortunate persons, living with his speaking relatives, may invent signs which the latter are taught to understand, thoughstrangers sometimes will not, because they may be by no means thefittest expressions. Should a dozen or more deaf-mutes, possessedonly of such crude signs, come together, they will be able at first tocommunicate only on a few common subjects, but the number of those andthe general scope of expression will be continually enlarged. Each onecommences with his own conception and his own presentment of it, but the universality of the medium used makes it sooner or laterunderstood. This independent development, thus creating diversity, often renders the first interchange of thought between strangersslow, for the signs must be self-interpreting. There can be no naturaluniversal language which is absolute and arbitrary. When used withoutconvention, as sign language alone of all modes of utterance can be, it must be tentative, experimental, and flexible. The mutes will alsoresort to the invention of new signs for new ideas as theyarise, which will be made intelligible, if necessary, through theillustration and definition given by signs formerly adopted, so thatthe fittest signs will be evolved, after rivalry and trial, and willsurvive. But there may not always be such a preponderance of fitnessthat all but one of the rival signs shall die out, and some, beingequal in value to express the same idea or object, will continue tobe used indifferently, or as a matter of individual taste, withoutconfusion. A multiplication of the numbers confined together, eitherof deaf-mutes or of Indians whose speech is diverse, will not decreasethe resulting uniformity, though it will increase both the copiousnessand the precision of the vocabulary. The Indian use of signs, thoughmaintained by linguistic diversities, is not coincident with anylinguistic boundaries. The tendency is to their uniformity amonggroups of people who from any cause are brought into contact with eachother while still speaking different languages. The longer and closersuch contact, while no common tongue is adopted, the greater will bethe uniformity of signs. 

Colonel Dodge takes a middle ground with regard to the identity ofthe signs used by our Indians, comparing it with the dialects andprovincialisms of the English language, as spoken in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. But those dialects are the remains of actuallydiverse languages, which to some speakers have not become integrated. In England alone the provincial dialects are traceable as the legaciesof Saxons, Angles, Jutes, and Danes, with a varying amount of Normaninfluence. A thorough scholar in the composite tongue, nowcalled English, will be able to understand all the dialects andprovincialisms of English in the British Isles, but the uneducatedman of Yorkshire is not able to communicate readily with the equallyuneducated man of Somersetshire. This is the true distinction tobe made. A thorough sign talker would be able to talk with severalIndians who have no signs in common, and who, if their knowledge ofsigns were only memorized, could not communicate together. So also, asan educated Englishman will understand the attempts of a foreigner tospeak in very imperfect and broken English, a good Indian sign expertwill apprehend the feeble efforts of a tyro in gestures. But ColonelDodge's conclusion that there is but one true Indian sign language, just as there is but one true English language, is not proved unlessit can be shown that a much larger proportion of the Indians whouse signs at all, than present researches show to be the case, useidentically the same signs to express the same ideas. It would alsoseem necessary to the parallel that the signs so used should beabsolute, if not arbitrary, as are the words of an oral language, andnot independent of preconcert and self-interpreting at the instant oftheir invention or first exhibition, as all true signs must originallyhave been and still measurably remain. All Indians, as all gesturingmen, have many natural signs in common and many others which are nowconventional. The conventions by which the latter were establishedoccurred during long periods, when the tribes forming them wereso separated as to have established altogether diverse customs andmythologies, and when the several tribes were with such differentenvironment as to have formed varying conceptions needing appropriatesign expression. The old error that the North American Indiansconstitute one homogeneous race is now abandoned. Nearly all thecharacteristics once alleged as segregating them from the rest ofmankind have proved not to belong to the whole of the pre-Columbianpopulation, but only to those portions of it first explored. Thepractice of scalping is not now universal, even among the tribesleast influenced by civilization, if it ever was, and therefore thecultivation of the scalp-lock separated from the rest of the hairof the head, or with the removal of all other hair, is not a generalfeature of their appearance. The arrangement of the hair is sodifferent among tribes as to be one of the most convenient modes fortheir pictorial distinction. The war paint, red in some tribes, wasblack in others; the mystic rites of the calumet were in many regionsunknown, and the use of wampum was by no means extensive. The wigwamis not the type of native dwellings, which show as many differingforms as those of Europe. In color there is great variety, and evenadmitting that the term "race" is properly applied, no competentobserver would characterize it as red, still less copper-colored. Sometribes differ from each other in all respects nearly as much as eitherof them do from the lazzaroni of Naples, and more than either dofrom certain tribes of Australia. It would therefore be expected, as appears to be the case, that the conventional signs of differentstocks and regions differ as do the words of English, French, andGerman, which, nevertheless, have sprung from the same linguisticroots. No one of those languages is a dialect of any of the others;and although the sign systems of the several tribes have greatergeneric unity with less specific variety than oral languages, no oneof them is necessarily the dialect of any other. 

Instead, therefore, of admitting, with present knowledge, that thesigns of our Indians are "identical" and "universal, " it is the moreaccurate statement that the systematic attempt to convey meaning bysigns is universal among the Indians of the Plains, and those stillcomparatively unchanged by civilization. Its successful execution isby an _art_, which, however it may have commenced as an instinctivemental process, has been cultivated, and consists in actually pointingout objects in sight not only for designation, but for application andpredication, and in suggesting others to the mind by action and theairy forms produced by action. To insist that sign language is uniformwere to assert that it is perfect--"That faultless monster that theworld ne'er saw. "

FORCED AND MISTAKEN SIGNS. 

Examination into the identity of signs is complicated by the fact thatin the collection and description of Indian signs there is danger lestthe civilized understanding of them may be mistaken or forced. Theliability to those errors is much increased when the collectionsare not taken directly from the Indians themselves, but are givenas obtained at second-hand from white traders, trappers, andinterpreters, who, through misconception in the beginning and theirown introduction or modification of gestures, have produced a jargonin the sign, as well as in the oral intercourse. An Indian talking insigns, either to a white man or to another Indian using signs which henever saw before, catches the meaning of that which is presented andadapts himself to it, at least for the occasion. Even when he findsthat his interlocutor insists upon understanding and presenting acertain sign in a manner and with a significance widely different fromthose to which he has been accustomed, it is within the very nature, tentative and elastic, of the gesture art--both performers being on anequality--that he should adopt the one that seems to be recognizedor that is pressed upon him, as with much greater difficulty hehas learned and adopted many foreign terms used with whites beforeattempting to acquire their language, but never with his own race. Thus there is now, and perhaps always has been, what may be called a_lingua-franca_, in the sign vocabulary. It is well known that all thetribes of the Plains having learned by experience that white visitorsexpect to receive certain signs really originating with the latter, use them in their intercourse just as they sometimes do the words"squaw" and "papoose, " corruptions of the Algonkian, and once asmeaningless in the present West as the English terms "woman" and"child, " but which the first pioneers, having learned them on theAtlantic coast, insisted upon treating as generally intelligible. 

The perversity in attaching through preconceived views a wrongsignificance to signs is illustrated by an anecdote found in severalversions and in several languages, but repeated as a veritable Scotchlegend by Duncan Anderson, esq. , Principal of the Glasgow Institutionfor the Deaf and Dumb, when he visited Washington in 1853. 

King James I. Of England, desiring to play a trick upon the Spanishambassador, a man of great erudition, but who had a crotchet in hishead upon sign language, informed him that there was a distinguishedprofessor of that science in the university at Aberdeen. Theambassador set out for that place, preceded by a letter from the Kingwith instructions to make the best of him. There was in the townone Geordy, a butcher, blind of one eye, a fellow of much wit anddrollery. Geordy is told to play the part of a professor, with thewarning not to speak a word; is gowned, wigged, and placed in a chairof state, when the ambassador is shown in and they are left alonetogether. Presently the nobleman came out greatly pleased with theexperiment, claiming that his theory was demonstrated. He said: "WhenI entered the room I raised one finger to signify there is one God. Hereplied by raising two fingers to signify that this Being rulesover two worlds, the material and the spiritual. Then I raised threefingers, to say there are three persons in the Godhead. He thenclosed his fingers, evidently to say these three are one. " After thisexplanation on the part of the nobleman the professors sent for thebutcher and asked him what took place in the recitation room. Heappeared very angry and said: "When the crazy man entered the roomwhere I was he raised one finger, as much as to say I had but one eye, and I raised two fingers to signify that I could see out of my one eyeas well as he could out of both of his. When he raised three fingers, as much as to say there were but three eyes between us, I doubled upmy fist, and if he had not gone out of that room in a hurry I wouldhave knocked him down. "

The readiness with which a significance may be found in signs whennone whatever exists is also shown in the great contest narratedby Rabelais between Panurge and the English philosopher, Thaumast, commencing as follows:

"Everybody then taking heed in great silence, the Englishman liftedhis two hands separately, clinching the ends of his fingers in theform that at Chion they call the fowl's tail. Then he struck them, together by the nails four times. Then he opened them and struck oneflat upon the other with a clash once; after which, joining them asabove, he struck twice, and four times afterwards, on opening them. Then he placed them, joined and extended the one above the other, seeming to pray God devoutly. 

"Panurge suddenly moved his right hand in the air, placed theright-hand thumb at the right-hand nostril, holding the four fingersstretched out and arrayed in parallel lines with the point of thenose; shutting the left eye entirely, and winking with the right, making a profound depression with eyebrow and eyelid. Next he raisedaloft the left with a strong clinching and extension of the fourfingers and elevation of the thumb, and held it in line directlycorresponding with the position of the right, the distance between thetwo being a cubit and a half. This done, in the like manner he loweredtowards the ground both hands, and finally held them in the midst asif aiming straight at the Englishman's nose. "

And so on at great length. The whole performance of Panurge was tosave the credit of Pantagruel by making fantastic and mystic motionsin pretended disputation with the signs given by Thaumast in goodfaith. Yet the latter confessed himself conquered, and declared thathe had derived inestimable information from the purposely meaninglessgestures. The satire upon the diverse interpretations of the gesturesof Naz-de-cabre (_Pantagruel_, Book III, chap. Xx) is to the sameeffect, showing it to have been a favorite theme with Rabelais. 

ABBREVIATIONS. 

A lesson was learned by the writer as to the abbreviation of signs, and the possibility of discovering the original meaning of those mostobscure, from the attempts of a Cheyenne to convey the idea of _oldman_. He held his right hand forward, bent at elbow, fingers and thumbclosed sidewise. This not conveying any sense, he found a long stick, bent his back, and supported his frame in a tottering step by thestick held, as was before only imagined. Here at once was decrepit agedependent on a staff. The principle of abbreviation or reduction maybe illustrated by supposing a person, under circumstances forbiddingthe use of the voice, seeking to call attention to a particular birdon a tree, and failing to do so by mere indication. Descriptive signsare resorted to, perhaps suggesting the bill and wings of the bird, its manner of clinging to the twig with its feet, its size by seemingto hold it between the hands, its color by pointing to objects of thesame hue; perhaps by the action of shooting into a tree, picking upthe supposed fallen game, and plucking feathers. These are continueduntil understood, and if one sign or combination of signs proves tobe successful it will be repeated on the next occasion by both personsengaged, and after becoming familiar between them and others will bemore and more abbreviated. Conventionality in signs largely consistsin the form of abbreviation which is agreed upon. When the signs ofthe Indians have from ideographic form thus become demotic, they maybe called conventional, but still not arbitrary. In them, as in allhis actions, man had at the first a definite meaning or purpose, together with method in their subsequent changes or modifications. 

Colonel Dodge gives a clear account of the manner in which anestablished sign is abbreviated in practice, as follows: "There are analmost infinite number and variety of abbreviations. For instance, totell a man to 'talk, ' the most common formal sign is made thus: Holdthe right hand in front of, the back near, the mouth, end of thumb andindex-finger joined into an 'O, ' the outer fingers closed on the palm;throw the hand forward sharply by a quick motion of the wrist, and atthe same time flip forward the index-finger. This may be done once orseveral times. 

"The formal sign to 'cease' or 'stop doing' anything is made bybringing the two hands open and held vertically in front of thebody, one behind the other, then quickly pass one upward, the otherdownward, simulating somewhat the motion of the limbs of a pairof scissors, meaning 'cut it off. ' The latter sign is made inconversation in a variety of ways, but habitually with one hand only. 

"The formal sign to 'stop talking' is first to make the formal signfor 'talk, ' then the formal sign for 'cut;' but this is commonlyabbreviated by first making the formal sign for 'talk' with theright hand, and then immediately passing the same hand, open, fingersextended, downward across and in front of the mouth, 'talk, cut. '

"But though the Plains Indian, if asked for the sign to 'stoptalking, ' will properly give the sign either in its extended orabbreviated form as above, he in conversation abbreviates it so muchfurther that the sign loses almost all resemblance to its former self. Whatever the position of the hand, a turn of the wrist, a flip of theforefinger, and a turn, of the wrist back to its original position isfully equivalent to the elaborate signs. "

It may be added that nearly every sign which to be intelligiblydescribed and as exhibited in full requires the use of both hands, isoutlined, with one hand only, by skillful Indians gesturing betweenthemselves, so as to be clearly understood between them. Two Indians, whose blankets are closely held to their bodies by the left hand, which is necessarily rendered unavailable for gesture, will severallythrust the right from beneath the protecting folds and conversefreely. The same is true when one hand of each holds the bridle of ahorse. 

The Italian signs are also made in such abbreviated forms as to belittle more than hinted at, requiring a perfect knowledge of the fulland original form before the slight and often furtive suggestion of itcan be understood. Deaf-mutes continually seek by tacit agreement toshorten their signs more and more. While the original of each may bepreserved in root or stem, it is only known to the proficient, asthe root or stem of a plant enables botanists, but no others, todistinguish it. Thus the natural character of signs, the universalsignificance which is their peculiarly distinctive feature, mayand often does become lost. From the operation of the principle ofindependent and individual abbreviation inherent in all sign language, without any other cause, that of the Indians must in one or twogenerations have become diverse, even if it had in fact originatedfrom one tribe in which all conceptions and executions were absolute. 

_ARE SIGNS CONVENTIONAL OR INSTINCTIVE?_

There has been much discussion on the question whether gesture signswere originally invented, in the strict sense of that term, or whetherthey result from a natural connection between them and the ideasrepresented by them, that is whether they are conventional orinstinctive. Cardinal Wiseman (_Essays_, III, 537) thinks that theyare of both characters; but referring particularly to the Italiansigns and the proper mode of discovering their meaning, observes thatthey are used primarily with words and from the usual accompaniment ofcertain phrases. "For these the gestures become substitutes, and thenby association express all their meaning, even when used alone. "This would be the process only where systematic gestures had neverprevailed or had been so disused as to be forgotten, and were adoptedafter elaborate oral phrases and traditional oral expressions hadbecome common. In other parts of this paper it is suggested thatconventionality chiefly consists in abbreviation, and that signs areoriginally self-interpreting, independent of words, and therefore in acertain sense instinctive. 

Another form of the above query, having the same intent, is whethersigns are arbitrary or natural. The answer will depend upon what theobserver considers to be natural to himself. A common sign amongboth deaf-mutes and Indians for _woman_ consists in designating thearrangement of the hair, but such a represented arrangement ofhair familiar to the gesturer as had never been seen by the personaddressed would not seem "natural" to the latter. It would beclassed as arbitrary, and could not be understood without contextor explanation, indeed without translation such as is required fromforeign oral speech. Signs most naturally, that is, appropriately, expressing a conception of the thing signified, are first adopted andafterwards modified by circumstances of environment, so as to appear, without full understanding, conventional and arbitrary, yet theyare as truly "natural" as the signs for hearing, seeing, eating, anddrinking, which continue all over the world as they were first formedbecause there is no change in those operations. 

_CLASSES OF DIVERSITIES IN SIGNS. _

While there is not sufficient evidence that any exhibition of signlanguage in any tribe is a dialect derived or corrupted from anascertained language in any other tribe, it still is convenient toconsider the different forms appearing in different tribes as severaldialects (in the usual mode of using that term) of a common language. Every sign talker necessarily has, to some extent, a dialect of hisown. No one can use sign language without original invention andwithout modification of the inventions of others; and all such newinventions and modifications have a tendency to spread and influencethe production of other variations. The diversities thus occasionedare more distinct than that mere individuality of style or expressionwhich may be likened to the differing chirography of men who write, although such individual characteristics also constitute an importantelement of confusion to the inexperienced observer. In differinghandwriting there is always an attempt or desire to represent analphabet which is essentially determinate, but no such fixedness orlimited condition of form restricts gesture speech. 

Those variations and diversities of form and connected significancespecially calling for notice may be: 1st. In the nature of synonyms. 2d. Substantially the same form with such different signification asnot to be synonymous. 3d. Difference in significance produced bysuch slight variation in form as to be, to a careless observer, _symmorphic_. 

SYNONYMS. 

In this division are placed signs of differing forms which are usedin senses so nearly the same as to have only a slight shade ofdistinction, or sometimes to be practically interchangeable. Thecomprehensive and metaphorical character of signs renders more of theminterchangeable than is the case with words; still, like words, some signs with essential resemblance of meaning have partial andsubordinate differences made by etymology or usage. Doubtless signsare purposely selected as delineating the most striking outlines ofan object, or the most characteristic features of an action; butdifferent individuals, and likewise different bodies of people, wouldnot always agree in the selection of those outlines and features. Taking the illustration of the attempt to invent a sign for _bird_, before used, any one of a dozen, signs might have been agreed uponwith equal appropriateness, and, in fact, a number have been soselected by several individuals and tribes, each one, therefore, beinga synonym of the other. Another example of this is in the signs for_deer_, designated by various modes of expressing fleetness, by hisgait when not in rapid motion, by the shape of his horns, by thecolor of his tail, and sometimes by combinations of several of thosecharacteristics. Each of these signs may be indefinitely abbreviated, and therefore create indefinite diversity. Another illustration, inwhich an association of ideas is apparent, is in the upward raisingof the index in front of and above the head, which means _above_(sometimes containing the religious conception of _heaven, greatspirit_, &c. ), and also _now, to-day_. Not unfrequently these severalsigns to express the same ideas are used interchangeably by the samepeople, and some one of the duplicates or triplicates may have beennoticed by separate observers to the exclusion of the others. Onthe other hand, they might all have been noticed, but each one amongdifferent bodies. Thus confusing reports would be received, whichmight either be erroneous in deducing the prevalence of particularsigns or the opposite. Sometimes the synonym may be recognized as animported sign, used with another tribe known to affect it. Sometimesthe diverse signs to express the same thing are only different trialsat reaching the intelligence of the person addressed. An account isgiven by Lieut. Heber M. Creel, Seventh Cavalry, U. S. A. , of an oldCheyenne squaw, who made about twenty successive and original signsto a recruit of the Fourth Cavalry to let him know that she wanted toobtain out of a wagon a piece of cloth belonging to her, to wipe outan oven preparatory to baking bread. Thus by tradition, importation, recent invention, or from all these causes together, several signsentirely distinct are produced for the same object or action. 

This class is not intended to embrace the cases common both to signand oral language where the same sign has several meanings, accordingto the expression, whether facial or vocal, and the general manneraccompanying its delivery. The sign given, for "stop talking" on page339 may be used in simple acquiescence, "very well, " "all right!" orfor comprehension, "I understand;" or in impatience, "you have talkedenough!" which may be carried further to express actual anger in theviolent "shut up!" But all these grades of thought accompany the ideaof a cessation of talk. In like manner an acquaintance of the writerasking the same favor (a permission to go through their camp) oftwo chiefs, was answered by both with the sign generally used forrepletion after eating, viz. , the index and thumb turned toward thebody, passed up from the abdomen to the throat; but in the one case, being made with a gentle motion and pleasant look, it meant, "I amsatisfied, " and granted the request; in the other, made violently, with the accompaniment of a truculent frown, it read, "I have hadenough of that!" But these two meanings might also have been expressedby different intonations of the English word "enough. " The class ofsigns now in view is better exemplified by the French word _souris_, which is spelled and pronounced precisely the same with the two whollydistinct and independent significations of _smile_ and _mouse_. Frommany examples may be selected the Omaha sign for _think, guess_, whichis precisely the same as that of the Absaroka, Shoshoni and Banak for_brave_, see page 414. The context alone, both of the sign and theword, determines in what one of its senses it is at the time used, butit is not discriminated merely by a difference in expression. 

It would have been very remarkable if precisely the same sign were notused by different or even the same persons or bodies of people withwholly distinct significations. The graphic forms for objects andideas are much more likely to be coincident than sound is for similarexpressions, yet in all oral languages the same precise sound is usedfor utterly diverse meanings. The first conception of many differentobjects must have been the same. It has been found; indeed, thatthe homophony of words and the homomorphy of ideographic pictures isnoticeable in opposite significations, the conceptions arising fromthe opposition itself. The differentiation in portraiture or accent isa subsequent and remedial step not taken until after the confusionhas been observed and become inconvenient. Such confusion andcontradiction would only be eliminated if sign language wereabsolutely perfect as well as absolutely universal. 

SYMMORPHS. 

In this class are included those signs conveying different ideas, andreally different in form of execution as well as in conception, yetin which the difference in form is so slight as practically to requireattention and discrimination. An example from oral speech may befound in the English word "desert, " which, as pronounced "des'-ert" or"desert', " and in a slightly changed form, "dessert, " has such widelyvarying significations. These distinctions relating to signs requiregraphic illustration. 

[Illustration: Fig. 112. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 113. ]

The sign made by the Dakota, Hidatsa, and several other tribes, for _tree_ is made by holding the right hand before the body, backforward, fingers and thumb separated, then pushing it slightly upward, Fig. 112. That for _grass_ is the same made near the ground; that for_grow_ is made like _grass_, though instead of holding the back ofthe hand near the ground the hand is pushed upward in an interruptedmanner, Fig. 113. For _smoke_, the hand (with the back down, fingerspointing upward as in _grow_) is thrown upward several times from thesame place instead of continuing the whole motion upward. Frequentlythe fingers are thrown forward from under the thumb with eachsuccessive upward motion. For _fire_, the hand is employed as in thegesture for _smoke_, but the motion is frequently more waving, and inother cases made higher from the ground. 

The sign for _rain_, made by the Shoshoni, Apache, and other Indians, is by holding the hand (or hands) at the height of and before theshoulder, fingers pendent, palm down, then pushing it downward a shortdistance, Fig. 114. That for _heat_ is the same, with the differencethat the hand is held above the head and thrust downward toward theforehead; that for _to weep_ is made by holding the hand as in _rain_, and the gesture made from the eye downward over the cheek, back of thefingers nearly touching the face. 

[Illustration: Fig. 114. ]

The common sign for _sun_ is made by bringing the tips of the thumband index together so as to form a circle; remaining fingers closed. The hand is then held toward the sky, Fig. 115. The motion with thesame circular position of index and thumb is for _want_, by bringingthe hand backward toward the mouth, in a curve forming a short archbetween the origin and termination of the gesture. 

[Illustration: Fig. 115. ]

For _drink_ the gesture by several tribes is the same as for _want_, with the slight difference in the position of the last three fingers, which are not so tightly clinched, forming somewhat the shape of acup; and that for _money_ is made by holding out the hand with thesame arrangement of fingers in front of the hips, at a distance ofabout twelve or fifteen inches. 

[Illustration: Fig. 116. ]

Another sign for _sun_, made by the Cheyennes, is by placing the tipsof the partly separated thumb and index of one hand against those ofthe other, approximating a circle, and holding them toward the sky, Fig. 116, and that for _various things_, observed among the BruléSioux with the same position of the hands, is made by placing thecircle horizontal, and moving it interruptedly toward the rightside, each movement forming a short arch. Compare also the sign for_village_, described on page 386. 

The Arikara sign for _soldier_ is by placing the clinched handstogether before the breast, thumbs touching, then drawing themhorizontally outward toward their respective sides, Fig. 117. That for_done_, made by the Hidatsa, is shown below in this paper, see Fig. 334, page 528. That for _much_ (_Cheyenne_ I, _Comanche_ III), seeFig. 274, page 447, is to be correlated with the above. 

[Illustration: Fig. 117. ]

The sign for _to be told_ or _talked to_, and for the reception ofspeech, by the tribes generally, is made by placing the flat righthand, palm upward, about fifteen inches in front of the right sideof the face or breast, fingers pointing to the left, then drawing thehand toward the bottom of the chin, and is illustrated in Fig. 71, page 291. The Comanche sign for _give_ or _asking_ is shown in Fig. 301, page 480 (_Comanche_ III), and is made by bringing the handtoward the body but a short distance, and the motion repeated, thetips of the fingers indicating the outline of a circle. 

The tribal sign for _Kaiowa_, illustrated in its place among theTRIBAL SIGNS, is made by holding the hand with extended and separatedfingers and thumb near the side of the head, back outward, and givingit a rotary motion. This gesture is made in front of the face bymany tribes. The generic sign for _deer_, made by the Dakota and someothers, is by holding the hand motionless at the side of the head, with extended and separated thumb and fingers, representing thebranched antlers. That for _fool_, reported from the same Indians, is the same as above described for _Kaiowa_, which it also signifies, though frequently only one or two fingers are used. 

The tribal sign both for the _Sahaptin_ or _Nez Percés_ and for_Caddo_ (see TRIBAL SIGNS) is made by passing the extended index, pointing under the nose from right to left. When the second finger isnot tightly closed it strongly resembles the sign often made for _lie, falsehood_, by passing the extended index and second fingers separatedtoward the left, over the mouth. 

The tribal sign for Cheyenne (see TRIBAL SIGNS) differs from thesign for _spotted_ only in the finger (or hand) in the latter beingalternately passed across the upper and lower sides of the leftforearm. 

The sign for _steal, theft_, see Fig. 75, page 293, is but slightlydifferent from that for _bear_, see Fig. 239, page 413, especiallywhen the latter is made with one hand only. The distinction, however, is that the grasping in the latter sign is not followed by the idea ofconcealment in the former, which is executed by the right hand, afterthe motion of grasping, being brought toward and sometimes under theleft armpit. 

_Cold_ and _winter_, see Tendoy-Huerito Dialogue, page 486, may becompared with _love_, see Kin Chē-ĕss' speech, page 521, andwith _prisoner_. In these the difference consists in that _cold_ and_winter_ are represented by crossing the arms with clinched handsbefore the breast; _love_ by crossing the arms so as to bring thefists more under the chin, and _prisoner_ by holding the crossedwrists a foot in front of the breast. 

_Melon, squash, muskmelon_, used by the Utes and Apaches, is made byholding the hand arched, fingers separated and pointing forward, andpushing the hand forward over a slight curve near the ground, and thegeneric sign for _animals_ by the Apaches is made in the same mannerat the height intended to represent the object. 

The sign for _where?_, and _to search, to seek for_, made by theDakota (IV), is by holding the back of the hand upward, index pointingforward, and carrying it from left to right about eight inches, raising and lowering it several times while so doing, as if quicklypointing at different objects. That for _some of them_, a part of anumber of things or persons, made by the Kaiowa, Comanche, Wichita, and Apache Indians is nearly identical, the gesture being made lessrapidly. 

RESULTS SOUGHT IN THE STUDY OF SIGN LANGUAGE. 

These may be divided into (1) its practical application, (2) its aidto philologic researches in general with (3) particular referenceto the grammatic machinery of language, and (4) its archæologicrelations. 

_PRACTICAL APPLICATION. _

The most obvious application of Indian sign language will for itspractical utility depend, to a large extent, upon the correctnessof the view submitted by the present writer that it is not a meresemaphoric repetition of motions to be memorized from a limitedtraditional list, but is a cultivated art, founded upon principleswhich can be readily applied by travelers and officials, so as togive them much independence of professional interpreters--as aclass dangerously deceitful and tricky. This advantage is not merelytheoretical, but has been demonstrated to be practical by a professorin a deaf mute college who, lately visiting several of the wild tribesof the plains, made himself understood among all of them withoutknowing a word of any of their languages; nor would it only beexperienced in connection with American tribes, being applicableto intercourse with savages in Africa and Asia, though it is notpretended to fulfill by this agency the schoolmen's dream of anecumenical mode of communication between all peoples in spite of theirdialectic divisions. 

It must be admitted that the practical value of signs for intercoursewith the American Indians will not long continue, their generalprogress in the acquisition of English or of Spanish being so rapidthat those languages are becoming, to a surprising extent, the commonmedium, and signs are proportionally disused. Nor is a systematicuse of signs of so great assistance in communicating with foreigners, whose speech is not understood, as might at first be supposed, unlessindeed both parties agree to cease all attempt at oral language, relying wholly upon gestures. So long as words are used at all, signswill be made only as their accompaniment, and they will not alwaysbe ideographic. An amusing instance in which savages showed theirpreference to signs instead of even an onomatope may be quoted fromWilfred Powell's _Observations on New Britain and neighboring Islandsduring Six Years' Exploration_, in _Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. _, vol. Iii, No. 2 (new monthly series), February, 1881, p. 89, 90: "On oneoccasion, wishing to purchase a pig, and not knowing very well howto set about it, being ignorant of the dialect, which is totallydifferent from that of the natives in the north, I asked Mr. Brown howI should manage, or what he thought would be the best way of makingthem understand. He said, 'Why don't you try granting?' whereupon Ibegan to grunt most vociferously. The effect was magical. Some ofthem jumped back, holding their spears in readiness to throw; othersran away, covering their eyes with their hands, and all exhibited theutmost astonishment and alarm. In fact, it was so evident that theyexpected me to turn into a pig, and their alarm was so irresistiblycomic, that Mr. Brown and I both burst out laughing, on which theygradually became more reassured, and those that had run away cameback, and seeing us so heartily amused, and that I had not undergoneany metamorphosis, began to laugh too; but when I drew a pig on thesand with a piece of stick, and made motions of eating, it suddenlyseemed to strike them what was the matter, for they all burst outlaughing, nodding their heads, and several of them ran off, evidentlyin quest of the pig that was required. "

POWERS OF SIGNS COMPARED WITH SPEECH. 

Sign language, being the mother utterance of nature, poetically styledby Lamartine the visible attitudes of the soul, is superior to allothers in that it permits every one to find in nature an image toexpress his thoughts on the most needful matters intelligently to anyother person. The direct or substantial natural analogy peculiar toit prevents a confusion of ideas. It is to some extent possible touse words without understanding them which yet may be understood bythose addressed, but it is hardly possible to use signs without fullcomprehension of them. Separate words may also be comprehended bypersons hearing them without the whole connected sense of the wordstaken together being caught, but signs are more intimately connected. Even those most appropriate will not be understood if the subjectis beyond the comprehension of their beholders. They would be asunintelligible as the wild clicks of his instrument, in an electricstorm, would be to the telegrapher, or as the semaphore, driven bywind, to the signalist. In oral speech even onomatopes are arbitrary, the most strictly natural sounds striking the ear of differentindividuals and nations in a manner wholly diverse. The instancesgiven by SAYCE are in point. Exactly the same sound was intended tobe reproduced in the "_bilbit_ amphora" of Nævius, the "_glut glut_murmurat unda sonans" of the Latin Anthology, and the "_puls_" ofVarro. The Persian "_bulbul_, " the "_jugjug_" of Gascoigne, and the"_whitwhit_" of others are all attempts at imitating the note of thenightingale. Successful signs must have a much closer analogy andestablish, a _consensus_ between the talkers far beyond that producedby the mere sound of words. 

Gestures, in the degree of their pantomimic character, excel ingraphic and dramatic effect applied to narrative and to rhetoricalexhibition, and beyond any other mode of description give the forceof reality. Speech, when highly cultivated, is better adapted togeneralization and abstraction; therefore to logic and metaphysics. The latter must ever henceforth, be the superior in formulatingthoughts. Some of the enthusiasts in signs have contended that thisunfavorable distinction is not from any inherent incapability, butbecause their employment has not been continued unto perfection, and that if they had been elaborated by the secular labor devotedto spoken language they might in resources and distinctiveness haveexceeded many forms of the latter. Gallaudet, Peet, and others mayberight in asserting that man could by his arms, hands, and fingers, with facial and bodily accentuation, express any idea that could beconveyed by words. 

The combinations which can be made with corporeal signs are infinite. It has been before argued that a high degree of culture might havebeen attained by man without articulate speech and it is but a furtherstep in the reasoning to conclude that if articulate speech had notbeen possessed or acquired, necessity would have developed gesturelanguage to a degree far beyond any known exhibition of it. Thecontinually advancing civilization and continually increasingintercourse of countless ages has perfected oral speech, and as both, civilization and intercourse were possible with signs alone it isto be supposed that they would have advanced in some correspondingmanner. But as sign language has been chiefly used during historictime either as a scaffolding around a more valuable structure tobe thrown aside when the latter was completed, or as an occasionalsubstitute, such development was not to be expected. 

The process of forming signs to express abstract ideas is only avariant from that of oral speech, in which the words for the mostabstract ideas, such as law, virtue, infinitude, and immortality, are shown by Max Müller to have been derived and deduced, thatis, abstracted, from sensuous impressions. In the use of signs thecountenance and manner as well as the tenor decide whether objectsthemselves are intended, or the forms, positions, qualities, andmotions of other objects which are suggested, and signs for moraland intellectual ideas, founded on analogies, are common all overthe world as well as among deaf-mutes. Concepts of the intangible andinvisible are only learned through percepts of tangible and visibleobjects, whether finally expressed to the eye or to the ear, in termsof sight or of sound. 

Sign language is so faithful to nature, and so essentially living inits expression, that it is not probable that it will ever die. It maybecome disused, but will revert. Its elements are ever natural anduniversal, by recurring to which the less natural signs adopteddialectically or for expedition can always, with, some circumlocution, be explained. This power of interpreting itself is a peculiaradvantage, for spoken languages, unless explained by gestures orindications, can only be interpreted by means of some other spokenlanguage. When highly cultivated, its rapidity on familiar subjectsexceeds that of speech and approaches to that of thought itself. Thisstatement may be startling to those who only notice that a selectedspoken word may convey in an instant a meaning for which the motionsof even an expert in signs may require a much longer time, but it mustbe considered that oral speech is now wholly conventional, and thatwith the similar development of sign language conventional expressionswith hands and body could be made more quickly than with the vocalorgans, because more organs could be worked at once. Without suchsupposed development the habitual communication between deaf-mutes andamong Indians using signs is perhaps as rapid as between the ignorantclass of speakers upon the same subjects, and in many instances thesigns would win at a trial of speed. At the same time it must beadmitted that great increase in rapidity is chiefly obtained by thesystem of preconcerted abbreviations, before explained, and by theadoption of arbitrary forms, in which naturalness is sacrificed andconventionality established, as has been the case with all spokenlanguages in the degree in which they have become copious andconvenient. 

There is another characteristic of the gesture speech that, thoughit cannot be resorted to in the dark, nor where the attention ofthe person addressed has not been otherwise attracted, it has thecountervailing benefit of use when the voice could not be employed. This may be an advantage at a distance which the eye can reach, butnot the ear, and still more frequently when silence or secrecy isdesired. Dalgarno recommends it for use in the presence of greatpeople, who ought not to be disturbed, and curiously enough"Disappearing Mist, " the Iroquois chief, speaks of the formerextensive use of signs in his tribe by women and boys as a mark ofrespect to warriors and elders, their voices, in the good old days, not being uplifted in the presence of the latter. The decay of thatwholesome state of discipline, he thinks, accounts partly for thedisappearance of the use of signs among the modern impudent youth andthe dusky claimants of woman's rights. 

An instance of the additional power gained to a speaker of ordinarylanguage by the use of signs, impressed the writer while dictating totwo amanuenses at the same moment, to the one by signs and the otherby words, on different subjects, a practice which would have enabledCæsar to surpass his celebrated feat. It would also be easy to talk toa deaf and blind man at once, the latter being addressed by the voiceand the former in signs. 

_RELATIONS TO PHILOLOGY. _

The aid to be derived from the study of sign language in prosecutingresearches into the science of language was pointed out by LEIBNITZ, in his _Collectanea Etymologica_, without hitherto exciting anythorough or scientific work in that direction, the obstacle to itprobably being that scholars competent in other respects had noadequate data of the gesture speech of man to be used in comparison. The latter will, it is hoped, be supplied by the work now undertaken. 

In the first part of this paper it was suggested that signs played animportant part in giving meaning to spoken words. Philology, comparingthe languages of earth in their radicals, must therefore include thegraphic or manual presentation of thought, and compare the elements ofideography with those of phonics. Etymology now examines the ultimateroots, not the fanciful resemblances between oral forms, in thedifferent tongues; the internal, not the mere external parts oflanguage. A marked peculiarity of sign language consists in itslimited number of radicals and the infinite combinations intowhich those radicals enter while still remaining distinctive. It istherefore a proper field for etymologic study. 

From these and other considerations it is supposed that an analysisof the original conceptions of gestures, studied together with theholophrastic roots in the speech of the gesturers, may aid in theascertainment of some relation between concrete ideas and words. Meaning does not adhere to the phonic presentation of thought, whileit does to signs. The latter are doubtless more flexible and in thatsense more mutable than words, but the ideas attached to them arepersistent, and therefore there is not much greater metamorphosisin the signs than in the cognitions. The further a language has beendeveloped from its primordial roots, which have been twisted intoforms no longer suggesting any reason for their original selection, and the more the primitive significance of its words has disappeared, the fewer points of contact can it retain with signs. The higherlanguages are more precise because the consciousness of the derivationof most of their words is lost, so that they have become counters, good for any sense agreed upon and for no other. 

It is, however, possible to ascertain the included gesture even inmany English words. The class represented by the word _supercilious_will occur to all readers, but one or two examples may be given notso obvious and more immediately connected with the gestures of ourIndians. _Imbecile_, generally applied to the weakness of old age, is derived from the Latin _in_, in the sense of on, and _bacillum_, a staff, which at once recalls the Cheyenne sign for _old man_, mentioned above, page 339. So _time_ appears more nearly connectedwith [Greek: teino] to stretch, when information is given of the signfor _long time_, in the Speech of Kin Chē-ĕss, in this paper, viz. , placing the thumbs and forefingers in such a position as if asmall thread was held between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, the hands first touching each other, and then moving slowly from eachother, as if _stretching_ a piece of gum-elastic. 

In the languages of North America, which have not become arbitrary tothe degree exhibited by those of civilized man, the connection betweenthe idea and the word is only less obvious than, that still unbrokenbetween the idea and the sign, and they remain strongly affectedby the concepts of outline, form, place, position, and feature onwhich gesture is founded, while they are similar in their fertilecombination of radicals. 

Indian language consists of a series of words that are but slightlydifferentiated parts of speech following each other in the ordersuggested in the mind of the speaker without absolute laws ofarrangement, as its sentences are not completely integrated. Thesentence necessitates parts of speech, and parts of speech arepossible only when a language has reached that stage where sentencesare logically constructed. The words of an Indian tongue, beingsynthetic or undifferentiated parts of speech, are in this respectstrictly analogous to the gesture elements which enter into a signlanguage. The study of the latter is therefore valuable for comparisonwith the words of the former. The one language throws much light uponthe other, and neither can be studied to the best advantage without aknowledge of the other. 

Some special resemblances between the language of signs and thecharacter of the oral languages found on this continent may bementioned. Dr. J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL remarks of the composition of theirwords that they were "so constructed as to be thoroughly self-definingand immediately intelligible to the hearer. " In another connection theremark is further enforced: "Indeed, it is a requirement of the Indianlanguages that every word shall be so framed as to admit of immediateresolution to its significant elements by the hearer. It must bethoroughly _self-defining_, for (as Max Müller has expressed it) 'itrequires tradition, society, and literature to maintain words whichcan no longer be analyzed at once. '. .. In the ever-shifting state ofa nomadic society no debased coin can be tolerated in language, noobscure legend accepted on trust. The metal must be pure and thelegend distinct. "

Indian languages, like those of higher development, sometimesexhibit changes of form by the permutation of vowels, but often anincorporated particle, whether suffix, affix, or infix, shows theetymology which often, also, exhibits the same objective conceptionthat would be executed in gesture. There are, for instance, differentforms for standing, sitting, lying, falling, &c. , and for standing, sitting, lying on or falling from the same level or a higher or lowerlevel. This resembles the pictorial conception and execution of signs. 

Major J. W. POWELL, with particular reference to the disadvantages ofthe multiplied inflections in Indian languages, alike with the Greekand Latin, when the speaker is compelled, in the choice of a word toexpress his idea, to think of a great multiplicity of things, givesthe following instance:

"A Ponca Indian in saying that a man killed a rabbit, would have tosay: the man, he, one, animate, standing, in the nominative case, purposely killed, by shooting an arrow, the rabbit, he, the one, animate, sitting, in the objective case; for the form of a verb tokill would have to be selected, and the verb changes its form byinflection and incorporated particles to denote person, number, andgender as animate or inanimate, and gender as standing, sitting, orlying, and case; and the form of the verb would also express whetherthe killing was done accidentally or purposely, and whether it was byshooting or by some other process, and, if by shooting, whether bybow and arrow, or with a gun; and the form of the verb would in likemanner have to express all of these things relating to the object;that is, the person, number, gender, and case of the object; andfrom the multiplicity of paradigmatic forms of the verb to kill, thisparticular one would have to be selected. " This is substantially themode in which an Indian sign talker would find it necessary to tellthe story, as is shown by several examples given below in narratives, speeches, and dialogues. 

Indian languages exhibit the same fondness for demonstration which isnecessary in sign language. The two forms of utterance are alike intheir want of power to express certain words, such as the verb "tobe, " and in the criterion of organization, so far as concerns ahigh degree of synthesis and imperfect differentiation, they bearsubstantially the same relation to the English language. 

It may finally be added that as not only proper names but nouns, generally in Indian languages are connotive, predicating someattribute of the object, they can readily be expressed by gesturesigns, and therefore among them, if anywhere, it is to be expectedthat relations may be established between the words and the signs. 

ETYMOLOGY OF WORDS FROM GESTURES. 

There can be no attempt in the present limits to trace the etymologyof any large number of words in the several Indian languages to agestural origin, nor, if the space allowed, would it be satisfactory. The signs have scarcely yet been collected, verified, and collatedin sufficient numbers for such comparison, even with the few ofthe Indian languages the radicals of which have been scientificallystudied. The signs will, in a future work, be frequently presented inconnection with the corresponding words of the gesturers, as is donenow in a few instances in another part of this paper. For the presentthe subject is only indicated by the following examples, introduced tosuggest the character of the study in which the students of Americanlinguistics are urgently requested to assist:

The Dakota word _Shaⁿte-suta_--from _shaⁿte_, heart, and _suta_, strong--_brave_, not cowardly, literally strong-hearted, is made byseveral tribes of that stock, and particularly by the Brulé Sioux, ingestures by collecting the tips of the fingers and thumb of the righthand to a point, and then placing the radial side of the hand overthe heart, finger tips pointing downward--_heart_; then place theleft fist, palm inward, horizontally before the lower portion of thebreast, the right fist back of the left, then raise the right andthrow it forcibly over and downward in front of the left--_brave_, _strong_. See Fig. 242, page 415. 

The Arikaras make the sign for _brave_ by striking the clinched fistforcibly toward the ground in front of and near the breast. 

Brave, or "strong-hearted, " is made by the Absaroka, Shoshoni, andBanak Indians by merely placing the clinched fist to the breast, thelatter having allusion to the heart, the clinching of the hand tostrength, vigor, or force. 

An Ojibwa sign for _death, to die_, is as follows:

Place the palm of the hand at a short distance from the side ofthe head, then withdraw it gently in an oblique downward direction, inclining the head and upper part of the body in the same direction. 

The same authority, The Very Rev. E. Jacker, who contributes it, notes that there is an apparent connection between this conception andexecution and the etymology of the corresponding terms in Ojibwa. "Hedies, " is _nibo_; "he sleeps, " is _niba_. The common idea expressedby the gesture is a sinking to rest. The original significance ofthe root _nib_ seems to be "leaning;" _anibeia_, "it is leaning";_anibekweni_, "he inclines the head sidewards. " The word _niba_ or_nibe_ (only in compounds) conveys the idea of "night, " perhaps as thefalling over, the going to rest, or the death of the day. 

_Ogima_, the Ojibwa term for _chief_, is derived from a root whichsignifies "above" (_Ogidjaii_, upon; _ogidjina_, above; _ogidaki_, on a hill or mountain, etc. ). _Ogitchida_, a brave, a hero (Otawa, _ogida_), is probably from the same root. 

_Sagima_, the Ojibwa form of sachem, is from the root _sag_, whichimplies a coming forth, or stretching out. These roots are to beconsidered in connection with several gestures described under thehead of _Chief_, in EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY, _infra_. 

_Onijishin_, it is _good_ (_Ojibwa_), originally signifies "itlies level. " This may be compared with the sign for _good_, inthe Tendoy-Huerito Dialogue, Fig. 309, page 487, and also that for_happy, contentment_, in the Speech of Kin Chē-ĕss, page 523. 

In Klamath the radix _lam_ designates a whirling motion, and appearsin the word _láma_, "to be crazy, mad, " readily correlated with thecommon gesture for _madman_ and _fool_, in which the hand is rotatedabove and near the head. 

_Evening_, in Klamath, is _litkhí_, from _luta_, to hang down, meaningthe time when the sun hangs down, the gesture for which, describedelsewhere in this paper (see Nátci's Narrative, page 503), isexecutive of the same conception, which is allied to the etymologyusually given for _eve, even_, "the decline of the day. " TheseKlamath etymologies have been kindly contributed by Mr. A. S. Gatschet. 

The Very Rev. E. Jacker also communicates a suggestive _excursusexegeticus_ upon the probable gestural origin of the Ojibwa word_tibishko_, "opposite in space; just so; likewise:"

"The adverb _tibishko_ (or _dibishko_) is an offshoot of the root_tib_ (or _dib_), which in most cases conveys the idea of measuringor weighing, as appears from the following samples: _dibaige_, hemeasures; _dibowe_, he settles matters by his speech or word, e. G. , as a juryman; _dibaamage_, he pays out; _dibakonige_, he judges;_dibabishkodjige_, he weighs; _dibamenimo_, he restricts himself, e. G. , to a certain quantity of food; _dibissitchige_, he fulfills apromise; _dibijigan_, a pattern for cutting clothes. 

"The original, meaning of _tib_, however, must be supposed tohave been more comprehensive, if we would explain other (apparent)derivatives, such as: _tibi_, 'I don't know where, where to, wherefrom, ' &c. ; _tibik_, night; _dibendjige_, he is master orowner; _titibisse_, it rolls (as a ball), it turns (as a wheel);_dibaboweigan_, the cover of a kettle. The notion of measuring doesnot very naturally enter into the ideas expressed by these terms. 

"The difficulty disappears if we assume the root _tib_ or _dib_ tohave been originally the phonetic equivalent of a _gesture_ expressiveof the notion of covering as well as of that of measuring. Thisgesture would seem to be the holding of one hand above the other, horizontally, at some distance, palms opposite or both downwards. This, or some similar gesture would most naturally accompany the aboveterms. As for _tibik_, night, compare (_Dunbar_): 'The two hands openand extended, crossing one another horizontally. ' The idea of coveringevidently enters into this conception. The strange adverb _tibi_ ('Idon't know where, ' &c. , or 'in a place unknown to me'), ifderived from the same root, would originally signify 'covered. ' In_titibisse_, or _didibisse_ (it rolls, it turns), the reduplicationof the radical syllable indicates the repetition of the gesture, byholding the hands alternately above one another, palms downwards, andthus producing a rotary motion. 

"In German, the clasping of the hands in a horizontal position, expressive of a promise or the conclusion of a bargain, is frequentlyaccompanied by the interjection _top!_ the same radical consonantsas in _tib_. Compare also the English _tap_, the French _tape_, theGreek, [Greek: tupto] the Sanscrit _tup_ and _tub_, &c. "

GESTURES CONNECTED WITH THE ORIGIN OF WRITING. 

Though written characters are generally associated with speech, theyare shown, by successful employment in hieroglyphs and by educateddeaf-mutes to be representative of ideas without the interventionof sounds, and so also are the outlines of signs. This will bemore apparent if the motions expressing the most prominent feature, attribute, or function of an object are made, or supposed to be made, so as to leave a luminous track impressible upon the eye separate fromthe members producing it. The actual result is an immateriate graphicrepresentation of visible objects and qualities which, invested withsubstance, has become familiar to us as the _rebus_, and also appearsin the form of heraldic blazonry styled punning or "canting. "

Gesture language is, in fact, not only a picture language, butis actual writing, though dissolving and sympathetic, and neitheralphabetic nor phonetic. 

Dalgarno aptly says: "_Qui enim caput nutat, oculo connivet, digitummovet in aëre, &c. , (ad mentis cogitata exprimendum); is non minusvere scribit, quam qui Literas pingit in Charta, Marmore, vel ære. _"

It is neither necessary nor proper to enter now upon any prolongedaccount of the origin, of alphabetic writing. There is, however, propriety, if not necessity, for the present writer, when makingany remarks under this heading and under some others in this paperindicating special lines of research, to disclaim all pretensionto being a Sinologue or Egyptologist, or even profoundly versed inMexican antiquities. His partial and recently commenced studies onlyenable him to present suggestions for the examination of scholars. These suggestions may safely be introduced by the statement that thecommon modern alphabetic characters, coming directly from the Romans, were obtained by them from the Greeks, and by the latter from thePhoenicians, whose alphabet was connected with that of the old Hebrew. It has also been of late the general opinion that the whole family ofalphabets to which the Greek, Latin, Gothic, Runic, and others belong, appearing earlier in the Phoenician, Moabite, and Hebrew, had itsbeginning in the ideographic pictures of the Egyptians, afterwardsused by them to express sounds. That the Chinese, though in adifferent manner from the Egyptians, passed from picture writing tophonetic writing, is established by delineations still extant amongthem, called _ku-wăn_, or "ancient pictures, " with which some ofthe modern written characters can be identified. The ancient Mexicansalso, to some extent, developed phonetic expressions out of a veryelaborate system of ideographic picture writing. Assuming thatideographic pictures made by ancient peoples would be likely tocontain representations of gesture signs, which subject is treated ofbelow, it is proper to examine if traces of such gesture signs may notbe found in the Egyptian, Chinese, and Aztec characters. Only a fewpresumptive examples, selected from a considerable number, are nowpresented in which the signs of the North American Indians appear tobe included, with the hope that further investigation by collaboratorswill establish many more instances not confined to Indian signs. 

A typical sign made by the Indians for _no, negation_, is asfollows: The hand extended or slightly curved is held in front of thebody, a little to the right of the median line; it is then carriedwith a rapid sweep a foot or more farther to the right. (_Mandan andHidatsa_ I. )

One for _none, nothing_, sometimes used for simple negation, is alsogiven: Throw both hands outward toward their respective sides from thebreast. (_Wyandot_ I. )

With these compare the two forms of the Egyptian character for _no_, _negation_, Fig. 118, taken from Champollion, _Grammaire Égyptienne_, _Paris_, 1836, p. 519. 

[Illustration: Fig. 118. ]

No vivid fancy is needed to see the hands indicated at the extremitiesof arms extended symmetrically from the body on each side. 

[Illustration: Fig. 119. ]

Also compare the Maya character for the same idea of negation, Fig. 119, found in Landa, _Relation des Choses de Yucatan_, _Paris_, 1864, 316. The Maya word for negation is "_ma_, " and the word "_mak_, "a six-foot measuring rod, given by Brasseur de Bourbourg in hisdictionary, apparently having connection with this character, wouldin use separate the hands as illustrated, giving the same form as thegesture made without the rod. 

Another sign for _nothing, none_, made by the Comanches, is: Flathand thrown forward, back to the ground, fingers pointing forwardand downward. Frequently the right hand is brushed over the left thusthrown out. 

[Illustration: Fig. 120. ]

Compare the Chinese character for the same meaning, Fig. 120. Thiswill not be recognized as a hand without study of similar characters, which generally have a cross-line cutting off the wrist. Here thewrist bones follow under the cross cut, then the metacarpal bones, andlast the fingers, pointing forward and downward. 

[Illustration: Fig. 121. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 122. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 123. ]

The Arapaho sign for _child, baby_, is the forefinger in the mouth, i. E. , a nursing child, and a natural sign of a deaf-mute is the same. The Egyptian figurative character for the same is seen in Fig. 121. Its linear form is Fig. 122, and its hieratic is Fig. 123(Champollion, _Dictionnaire Egyptien_, _Paris_, 1841, p. 31. )

[Illustration: Fig. 124. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 125. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 126. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 127. ]

These afford an interpretation to the ancient Chinese form for _son_, Fig. 124, given in _Journ. Royal Asiatic Society_, I, 1834, p. 219, as belonging to the Shang dynasty, 1756, 1112 B. C. , and the modernChinese form, Fig. 125, which, without the comparison, would not besupposed to have any pictured reference to an infant with handor finger at or approaching the mouth, denoting the taking ofnourishment. Having now suggested this, the Chinese character for_birth_, Fig. 126, is understood as the expression of a common gestureamong the Indians, particularly reported from the Dakota, for _born_, _to be born_, viz: Place the left hand in front of the body, a littleto the right, the palm downward and slightly arched, then pass theextended right hand downward, forward, and upward, forming a shortcurve underneath the left, as in Fig. 127 (_Dakota_ V). This is basedupon the curve followed by the head of the child during birth, and isused generically. The same curve, when made with one hand, appears inFig. 128. 

[Illustration: Fig. 128. ]

It may be of interest to compare with the Chinese _child_ the Mexicanabbreviated character for _man_, Fig. 129, found in Pipart in _CompteRendu Cong. Inter. Des Américanistes, 2me Session_, _Luxembourg_, 1877, 1878, II, 359. The figure on the right is called the abbreviatedform of that by its side, yet its origin may be different. 

[Illustration: Fig. 129. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 130. ]

The Chinese character for _man_, is Fig. 130, and may have the sameobvious conception as a Dakota sign for the same signification: "Placethe extended index, pointing upward and forward before the lowerportion of the abdomen. "

The Chinese specific character for _woman_ is Fig. 131, the cross markdenoting the wrist, and if the remainder be considered the hand, the fingers may be imagined in the position made by many tribes, andespecially the Utes, as depicting the _pudendum muliebre_, Fig. 132. 

[Illustration: Fig. 131. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 132. ]

The Egyptian generic character for _female_ is [Symbol: semicircle](Champollion, _Dict. _, ) believed to represent the curve of the mammæsupposed to be cut off or separated from the chest, and the gesturewith the same meaning was made by the Cheyenne Titchkematski, andphotographed, as in Fig. 133. It forms the same figure as the Egyptiancharacter as well as can be done by a position of the human hand. 

[Illustration: Fig. 133. ]

The Chinese character for _to give water_ is Fig. 134, which may becompared with the common Indian gesture _to drink, to give water_, viz: "Hand held with tips of fingers brought together and passed tothe mouth, as if scooping up water", Fig. 135, obviously from theprimitive custom, as with Mojaves, who still drink with scooped hands. 

[Illustration: Fig. 134. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 135. ]

Another common Indian gesture sign for _water to drink, I wantto drink_, is: "Hand brought downward past the mouth with looselyextended fingers, palm toward the face. " This appears in the Mexicancharacter for _drink_, Fig. 136, taken from Pipart, _loc. Cit. _, p. 351. _Water_, i. E. , the pouring out of water with the drops fallingor about to fall, is shown in Fig. 137, taken from the same author (p. 349), being the same arrangement of them as in the sign for _rain_, Fig. 114, p. 344, the hand, however, being inverted. _Rain_ in theMexican picture writing is shown by small circles inclosing a dot, as in the last two figures, but not connected together, each having ashort line upward marking the line of descent. 

[Illustration: Fig. 136. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 137. ]

With the gesture for drink may be compared Fig. 138, the EgyptianGoddess Nu in the sacred sycamore tree, pouring out the water of lifeto the Osirian and his soul, represented as a bird, in Amenti (Sharpe, from a funereal stele in the British Museum, in _Cooper's SerpentMyths_, p. 43). 

[Illustration: Fig. 138. ]

The common Indian gesture for _river_ or _stream, water_, is made bypassing the horizontal flat hand, palm down, forward and to the leftfrom the right side in a serpentine manner. 

[Illustration: Fig. 139. ]

The Egyptian character for the same is Fig. 139 (Champollion, _Dict. _, p. 429). The broken line is held to represent the movement of thewater on the surface of the stream. When made with one line lessangular and more waving it means _water_. It is interesting to comparewith this the identical character in the syllabary invented by a WestAfrican negro, Mormoru Doalu Bukere, for _water_, [Symbol: water, represented by a wavy line], mentioned by TYLOR in his _Early Historyof Mankind_, p. 103. 

The abbreviated Egyptian sign for _water_ as a stream is Fig. 140(Champollion, _loc. Cit. _), and the Chinese for the same is as in Fig. 141. 

[Illustration: Fig. 140. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 141. ]

In the picture-writing of the Ojibwa the Egyptian abbreviatedcharacter, with two lines instead of three, appears with the samesignification. 

The Egyptian character for _weep_, Fig. 142, an eye, with tearsfalling, is also found in the pictographs of the Ojibwa (Schoolcraft, I, pl. 54, Fig. 27), and is also made by the Indian gesture of drawinglines by the index repeatedly downward from the eye, though perhapsmore frequently made by the full sign for _rain_, described on page344, made with the back of the hand downward from the eye--"eye rain. "

[Illustration: Fig. 142. ]

The Egyptian character for _to be strong_ is Fig. 143 (Champollion, _Dict. _, p. 91), which is sufficiently obvious, but may be comparedwith the sign for _strong_, made by some tribes as follows: Hold theclinched fist in front of the right side, a little higher than theelbow, then throw it forcibly about six inches toward the ground. 

[Illustration: Fig. 143. ]

A typical gesture for _night_ is as follows: Place the flat hands, horizontally, about two feet apart, move them quickly in an upwardcurve toward one another until the right lies across the left. "Darkness covers all. " See Fig. 312, page 489. 

The conception of covering executed by delineating the object coveredbeneath the middle point of an arch or curve, appears also clearly inthe Egyptian characters for _night_, Fig. 144 (Champollion, _Dict. _, p. 3). 

[Illustration: Fig. 144. ]

The upper part of the character is taken separately to form that forsky (see page 372, _infra_). 

[Illustration: Fig. 145. ]

The Egyptian figurative and linear characters, Figs. 145 and 146(Champollion, _Dict. _, p. 28), for _calling upon_ and _invocation_, also used as an interjection, scarcely require the quotation of anIndian sign, being common all over the world. 

[Illustration: Fig. 146. ]

The gesture sign made by several tribes for _many_ is as follows: Bothhands, with spread and slightly curved fingers, are held pendent abouttwo feet apart before the thighs; then bring them toward one another, horizontally, drawing them upward as they come together. (_Absaroka_I; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I; _Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. ) "An accumulation of objects. " This may be the samemotion indicated by the Egyptian character, Fig. 147, meaning to_gather together_ (Champollion, _Dict. _, p. 459). 

[Illustration: Fig. 147. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 148. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 149. ]

The Egyptian character, Fig. 148, which in its linear form isrepresented in Fig. 149, and meaning to _go_, to _come, locomotion_, is presented to show readers unfamiliar with hieroglyphics how acorporeal action may be included in a linear character withoutbeing obvious or at least certain, unless it should be made clearby comparison with the full figurative form or by other means. Thislinear form might be noticed many times without certainty or perhapssuspicion that it represented the human legs and feet in the act ofwalking. The same difficulty, of course, as also the same prospect ofsuccess by careful research, attends the tracing of other corporealmotions which more properly come under the head of gesture signs. 

_SIGN LANGUAGE WITH REFERENCE TO GRAMMAR. _

Apart from the more material and substantive relations between signsand language, it is to be expected that analogies can by properresearch be ascertained between their several developments in themanner of their use, that is, in their grammatic mechanism, and in thegenesis of the sentence. The science of language, ever henceforward tobe studied historically, must take account of the similar early mentalprocesses in which the phrase or sentence originated, both in sign andoral utterance. In this respect, as in many others, the North AmericanIndians may be considered to be living representatives of prehistoricman. 

SYNTAX. 

The reader will understand without explanation that there is in thegesture speech no organized sentence such as is integrated in thelanguages of civilization, and that he must not look for articles orparticles or passive voice or case or grammatic gender, or even whatappears in those languages as a substantive or a verb, as a subjector a predicate, or as qualifiers or inflexions. The sign radicals, without being specifically any of our parts of speech, may be allof them in turn. There is, however, a grouping and sequence of theideographic pictures, an arrangement of signs in connected succession, which may be classed under the scholastic head of syntax. Thissubject, with special reference to the order of deaf-mute signs ascompared with oral speech, has been the theme of much discussion, somenotes of which, condensed from the speculations of M. Rémi Valade andothers, follow in the next paragraph without further comment than mayinvite attention to the profound remark of LEIBNITZ. 

In mimic construction there are to be considered both the order inwhich the signs succeed one another and the relative positions inwhich they are made, the latter remaining longer in the memory thanthe former, and spoken language may sometimes in its early infancyhave reproduced the ideas of a sign picture without commencing fromthe same point. So the order, as in Greek and Latin, is very variable. In nations among whom the alphabet was introduced without theintermediary to any impressive degree of picture-writing, the orderbeing (1) language of signs, almost superseded by (2) spoken language, and (3) alphabetic writing, men would write in the order in which theyhad been accustomed to speak. But if at a time when spoken languagewas still rudimentary, intercourse being mainly carried on by signs, figurative writing had been invented, the order of the figures wouldbe the order of the signs, and the same order would pass into thespoken language. Hence LEIBNITZ says truly that "the writing of theChinese might seem to have been invented by a deaf person. " Theoral language has not known the phases which have given to theIndo-European tongues their formation and grammatical parts. In thelatter, signs were conquered by speech, while in the former, speechreceived the yoke. 

Sign language cannot show by inflection the reciprocal dependenceof words and sentences. Degrees of motion corresponding with vocalintonation are only used rhetorically or for degrees of comparison. The relations of ideas and objects are therefore expressed byplacement, and their connection is established when necessary by theabstraction of ideas. The sign talker is an artist, grouping personsand things so as to show the relations between them, and the effectis that which is seen in a picture. But though the artist has theadvantage in presenting in a permanent connected scene the result ofseveral transient signs, he can only present it as it appears ata single moment. The sign talker has the succession of time at hisdisposal, and his scenes move and act, are localized and animated, andtheir arrangement is therefore more varied and significant. 

It is not satisfactory to give the order of equivalent wordsas representative of the order of signs, because the pictorialarrangement is wholly lost; but adopting this expedient as amere illustration of the sequence in the presentation of signs bydeaf-mutes, the following is quoted from an essay by Rev. J. R. Keep, in _American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb_, vol. Xvi, p. 223, as theorder in which the parable of the Prodigal Son is translated intosigns:

"Once, man one, sons two. Son younger say, Father property yourdivide: part my, me give. Father so. --Son each, part his give. Daysfew after, son younger money all take, country far go, moneyspend, wine drink, food nice eat. Money by and by gone all. Countryeverywhere food little: son hungry very. Go seek man any, me hire. Gentleman meet. Gentleman son send field swine feed. Son swine huskseat, see--self husks eat want--cannot--husks him give nobody. Sonthinks, say, father my, servants many, bread enough, part give awaycan--I none--starve, die. I decide: Father I go to, say I bad, Goddisobey, you disobey--name my hereafter _son_, no--I unworthy. Youme work give servant like. So son begin go. Father far look: son see, pity, run, meet, embrace. Son father say, I bad, you disobey, Goddisobey--name my hereafter _son_, no--I unworthy. But father servantscall, command robe best bring, son put on, ring finger put on, shoesfeet put on, calf fat bring, kill. We all eat, merry. Why? Son this myformerly dead, now alive: formerly lost, now found: rejoice. "

It may be remarked, not only from this example, but from generalstudy, that the verb "to be" as a copula or predicant does not haveany place in sign language. It is shown, however, among deaf-mutes asan assertion of presence or existence by a sign of stretching the armsand hands forward and then adding the sign of affirmation. _Time_ asreferred to in the conjunctions _when_ and _then_ is not gestured. Instead of the form, "When I have had a sleep I will go to the river, "or "After sleeping I will go to the river, " both deaf-mutes andIndians would express the intention by "Sleep done, I river go. "Though time present, past, and future is readily expressed in signs(see page 366), it is done once for all in the connection to whichit belongs, and once established is not repeated by any subsequentintimation, as is commonly the case in oral speech. Inversion, bywhich the object is placed before the action, is a striking featureof the language of deaf-mutes, and it appears to follow the naturalmethod by which objects and actions enter into the mental conception. In striking a rock the natural conception is not first of the abstractidea of striking or of sending a stroke into vacancy, seeing nothingand having no intention of striking anything in particular, whensuddenly a rock rises up to the mental vision and receives the blow;the order is that the man sees the rock, has the intention to strikeit, and does so; therefore he gestures, "I rock strike. " For furtherillustration of this subject, a deaf-mute boy, giving in signsthe compound action of a man shooting a bird from a tree, firstrepresented the tree, then the bird as alighting upon it, then ahunter coming toward and looking at it, taking aim with a gun, thenthe report of the latter and the falling and the dying gasps of thebird. These are undoubtedly the successive steps that an artist wouldhave taken in drawing the picture, or rather successive pictures, toillustrate the story. It is, however, urged that this pictorial ordernatural to deaf-mutes is not natural to the congenitally blind who arenot deaf-mute, among whom it is found to be rhythmical. It is assertedthat blind persons not carefully educated usually converse in ametrical cadence, the action usually coming first in the structure ofthe sentence. The deduction is that all the senses when intact enterinto the mode of intellectual conception in proportion to theirrelative sensitiveness and intensity, and hence no one mode ofideation can be insisted on as normal to the exclusion of others. 

Whether or not the above statement concerning the blind is true, theconceptions and presentations of deaf-mutes and of Indians using signlanguage because they cannot communicate by speech, are confined tooptic and, therefore, to pictorial arrangement. 

The abbé Sicard, dissatisfied with the want of tenses andconjunctions, indeed of most of the modern parts of speech, in thenatural signs, and with their inverted order, attempted to construct anew language of signs, in which the words should be given in theorder of the French or other spoken language adopted, which of courserequired him to supply a sign for every word of spoken language. Signs, whatever their character, could not become associated withwords, or suggest them, until words had been learned. The first step, therefore, was to explain by means of natural signs, as distinct fromthe new signs styled methodical, the meaning of a passage of verballanguage. Then each word was taken separately and a sign affixed toit, which was to be learned by the pupil. If the word represented aphysical object, the sign would be the same as the natural sign, andwould be already understood, provided the object had been seen and wasfamiliar; and in all cases the endeavor was to have the sign conveyas strong a suggestion of the meaning of the word as was possible. Thefinal step was to gesticulate these signs, thus associated with words, in the exact order in which the words were to stand in a sentence. Then the pupil would write the very words desired in the exact orderdesired. If the previous explanation in natural signs had not beensufficiently full and careful, he would not understand the passage. The methodical signs did not profess to give him the ideas, exceptin a very limited degree, but only to show him how to express ideasaccording to the order and methods of spoken language. As there wereno repetitions of time in narratives in the sign language, it becamenecessary to unite with the word-sign for verbs others, to indicatethe different tenses of the verbs, and so by degrees the methodicalsigns not only were required to comprise signs for every word, butalso, with every such sign, a grammatical sign to indicate what partof speech the word was, and, in the case of verbs, still other signsto show their tenses and corresponding inflections. It was, as Dr. Peet remarks, a cumbrous and unwieldly vehicle, ready at every step tobreak down under the weight of its own machinery. Nevertheless, it wasindustriously taught in all our schools from the date of the foundingof the American Asylum in 1817 down to about the year 1835, when itwas abandoned. 

The collection of narratives, speeches, and dialogues of our Indiansin sign language, first systematically commenced by the presentwriter, several examples of which are in this paper, has not yetbeen sufficiently complete and exact to establish conclusions on thesubject of the syntactic arrangement of their signs. So far asstudied it seems to be similar to that of deaf-mutes and to retain thecharacteristic of pantomimes in figuring first the principal idea andadding the accessories successively in the order of importance, theideographic expressions being in the ideologic order. If the examplesgiven are not enough to establish general rules of construction, theyat least show the natural order of ideas in the minds of the gesturersand the several modes of inversion by which they pass from the knownto the unknown, beginning with the dominant idea or that supposedto be best known. Some special instances of expedients other thanstrictly syntactic coming under the machinery broadly designated asgrammar may be mentioned. 

DEGREES OF COMPARISON. 

Degrees of comparison are frequently expressed, both by deaf-mutesand by Indians, by adding to the generic or descriptive sign thatfor "big" or "little. " _Damp_ would be "wet--little"; _cool_, "cold--little"; _hot_, "warm--much. " The amount or force of motionalso often indicates corresponding diminution or augmentation, butsometimes expresses a different shade of meaning, as is reported byDr. Matthews with reference to the sign for _bad_ and _contempt_, seepage 411. This change in degree of motion is, however, often used foremphasis only, as is the raising of the voice in speech or italicizingand capitalizing in print. The Prince of Wied gives an instance of acomparison in his sign for _excessively hard_, first giving that for_hard_, viz: Open the left hand, and strike against it several timeswith the right (with the backs of the fingers). Afterwards he gives_hard, excessively_, as follows: Sign for _hard_, then place the leftindex-finger upon the right shoulder, at the same time extendand raise the right arm high, extending the index-finger upward, perpendicularly. 

Rev. G. L. Deffenbaugh describes what may perhaps be regarded as anintensive sign among the Sahaptins in connection with the sign for_good_; i. E. , _very good_. "Place the left hand in position in frontof the body with all fingers closed except first, thumb lying onsecond, then with forefinger of right hand extended in same way pointto end of forefinger of left hand, move it up the arm till near thebody and then to a point in front of breast to make the sign _good_. "For the latter see EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY page 487, _infra_. Thesame special motion is prefixed to the sign for _bad_ as an intensive. 

Another intensive is reported by Mr. Benjamin Clark, interpreter atthe Kaiowa, Comanche, and Wichita agency, Indian Territory, in whichafter the sign for _bad_ is made, that for _strong_ is used by theComanches as follows: Place the clinched left fist horizontally infront of the breast, back forward, then pass the palmar side of theright fist downward in front of the knuckles of the left. 

Dr. W. H. Corbusier, assistant surgeon U. S. A. , writes as follows inresponse to a special inquiry on the subject: "By carrying the rightfist from behind forward over the left, instead of beginning themotion six inches above it, the Arapaho sign for _strong_ is made. For_brave_, first strike the chest over the heart with the right fist twoor three times, and then make the sign for _strong_. 

"The sign for _strong_ expresses the superlative when used with othersigns; with coward it denotes a base coward; with hunger, starvation;and with sorrow, bitter sorrow. I have not seen it used with the signfor pleasure or that of hunger, nor can I learn that it is ever usedwith them. "

OPPOSITION. 

The principle of opposition, as between the right and left hands, andbetween the thumb and forefinger and the little finger, appears amongIndians in some expressions for "above, " "below, " "forward, " "back, "but is not so common as among the methodical, distinguished from thenatural, signs of deaf-mutes. It is also connected with the attemptto express degrees of comparison. _Above_ is sometimes expressed byholding the left hand horizontal, and in front of the body, fingersopen, but joined together, palm upward. The right hand is then placedhorizontal, fingers open but joined, palm downward, an inch or moreabove the left, and raised and lowered a few inches several times, theleft hand being perfectly still. If the thing indicated as "above"is only a _little_ above, this concludes the sign, but if it be_considerably_ above, the right hand is raised higher and higher asthe height to be expressed is greater, until, if _enormously_ above, the Indian will raise his right hand as high as possible, and, fixinghis eyes on the zenith, emit a duplicate grunt, the more prolonged ashe desires to express the greater height. All this time the left handis held perfectly motionless. _Below_ is gestured in a correspondingmanner, all movement being made by the left or lower hand, the rightbeing held motionless, palm downward, and the eyes looking down. 

The code of the Cistercian monks was based in large part on a systemof opposition which seems to have been wrought out by an elaborateprocess of invention rather than by spontaneous figuration, and ismore of mnemonic than suggestive value. They made two fingers at theright side of the nose stand for "friend, " and the same at the leftside for "enemy, " by some fanciful connection with right and wrong, and placed the little finger on the tip of the nose for "fool" merelybecause it had been decided to put the forefinger there for "wiseman. "

PROPER NAMES. 

It is well known that the names of Indians are almost alwaysconnotive, and particularly that they generally refer to some animal, predicating often some attribute or position of that animal. Suchnames readily admit of being expressed in sign language, but there maybe sometimes a confusion between the sign expressing the animal whichis taken as a name-totem, and the sign used, not to designate thatanimal, but as a proper name. A curious device to differentiate propernames was observed as resorted to by a Brulé Dakota. After making thesign of the animal he passed his index forward from the mouth in adirect line, and explained it orally as "that is his name, " i. E. , thename of the person referred to. This approach to a grammatic divisionof substantives maybe correlated with the mode in which many tribes, especially the Dakotas, designate names in their pictographs, i. E. , by a line from the mouth of the figure drawn representing a man to theanimal, also drawn with proper color or position. Fig. 150 thusshows the name of Shun-ka Luta, Red Dog, an Ogallalla chief, drawnby himself. The shading of the dog by vertical lines is designed torepresent red, or _gules_, according to the heraldic scheme of colors, which is used in other parts of this paper where it seemed useful todesignate particular colors. The writer possesses in painted robesmany examples in which lines are drawn from the mouth to a name-totem. 

[Illustration: Fig. 150. ]

It would be interesting to dwell more than is now allowed upon thepeculiar objectiveness of Indian proper names with the result, if notthe intention, that they can all be signified in gesture, whereas thebest sign-talker among deaf-mutes is unable to translate the propernames occurring in his speech or narrative and, necessarily ceasingsigns, resorts to the dactylic alphabet. Indians are generally namedat first according to a clan or totemic system, but later in lifeoften acquire a new name or perhaps several names in succession fromsome exploit or adventure. Frequently a sobriquet is given by nomeans complimentary. All of the subsequently acquired, as well asthe original names, are connected with material objects or withsubstantive actions so as to be expressible in a graphic picture, and, therefore, in a pictorial sign. The determination to use names of thisconnotive character is shown by the objective translation, wheneverpossible, of those European names which it became necessary tointroduce into their speech. William Penn was called "Onas, " thatbeing the word for feather-quill in the Mohawk dialect. The nameof the second French governor of Canada was "Montmagny" which wastranslated by the Iroquois "Onontio"--"Great Mountain, " and becomingassociated with the title, has been applied to all successive Canadiangovernors, though the origin being generally forgotten, it has beenconsidered as a metaphorical compliment. It is also said that GovernorFletcher was not named by the Iroquois "Cajenquiragoe, " "the greatswift arrow, " because of his speedy arrival at a critical time, but because they had somehow been informed of the etymology of hisname--"arrow maker" (_Fr. Fléchier_). 

GENDER. 

This is sometimes expressed by different signs to distinguish the sexof animals, when the difference in appearance allows of such variedportraiture. An example is in the signs for the male and femalebuffalo, given by the Prince of Wied. The former is, "Place thetightly closed hands on both sides of the head, with the fingersforward;" the latter is, "Curve the two forefingers, place them onthe sides of the head and move them several times. " The short stubbyhorns of the bull appear to be indicated, and the cow's ears are seenmoving, not being covered by the bull's shock mane. Tribes in whichthe hair of the women is differently arranged from that of men oftendenote their females by corresponding gesture. In many cases the sexof animals is indicated by the addition of a generic sign for male orfemale. 

TENSE. 

While it has been mentioned that there is no inflection of signs toexpress tense, yet the conception of present, past, and future isgestured without difficulty. A common mode of indicating the presenttime is by the use of signs for _to-day_, one of which is, "(1) bothhands extended, palms outward; (2) swept slowly forward and to eachside, to convey the idea of openness. " (_Cheyenne_ II. ) This maycombine the idea of _now_ with _openness_, the first part of itresembling the general deaf-mute sign for _here_ or _now_. 

Two signs nearly related together are also reported as expressing themeaning _now, at once_, viz. : "Forefinger of the right hand extended, upright, &c. (J), is carried upward in front of the right side of thebody and above the head so that the extended finger points towardthe center of the heavens, and then carried downward in front of theright breast, forefinger still pointing upright. " (_Dakota_ I. ) "Placethe extended index, pointing upward, palm to the left, as high asand before the top of the head; push the hand up and down a slightdistance several times, the eyes being directed upward at the time. "(_Hidatsa_ I; _Kaiowa_ I; _Arikara_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. )

Time past is not only expressed, but some tribes give a distinctmodification to show a short or long time past. The following areexamples:

_Lately, recently_. --Hold the left hand at arm's length, closed, withforefinger only extended and pointing in the direction of the placewhere the event occurred; then hold the right hand against theright shoulder, closed, but with index extended and pointing inthe direction of the left. The hands may be exchanged, the rightextended and the left retained, as the case may require for ease indescription. (_Absaroka I; Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )

_Long ago_. --Both hands closed, forefingers extended and straight;pass one hand slowly at arm's length, pointing horizontally, the otheragainst the shoulder or near it, pointing in the same direction asthe opposite one. Frequently the tips of the forefingers are placedtogether, and the hands drawn apart, until they reach the positionsdescribed. (_Absaroka_ I; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )

The Comanche, Wichita, and other Indians designate a _short timeago_ by placing the tips of the forefinger and thumb of the left handtogether, the remaining fingers closed, and holding the hand beforethe body with forefinger and thumb pointing toward the right shoulder;the index and thumb of the right hand are then similarly held andplaced against those of the left, when the hands are slowly drawnapart a short distance. For a _long time ago_ the hands are similarlyheld, but drawn farther apart. Either of these signs may be andfrequently is preceded by those for _day, month_, or _year_, when itis desired to convey a definite idea of the time past. 

A sign is reported with the abstract idea of _future_, as follows:"The arms are flexed and hands brought together in front of the bodyas in type-position (W). The hands are made to move in wave-likemotions up and down together and from side to side. " (_Oto_ I. ) Theauthority gives the poetical conception of "Floating on the tide oftime. "

The ordinary mode of expressing future time is, however, by somefigurative reference, as the following: Count off fingers, then shutall the fingers of both hands several times, and touch the hair andtent or other white object. (_Apache_ III. ) "Many years; when I am old(whitehaired). "

CONJUNCTIONS. 

An interesting instance where the rapid connection of signs hasthe effect of the conjunction _and_ is shown in NÁTCI'S NARRATIVE, _infra_. 

PREPOSITIONS. 

In the TENDOY-HUERITO DIALOGUE (page 489) the combination of gesturessupplies the want of the proposition _to_. 

PUNCTUATION. 

While this is generally accompanied by facial expression, manner ofaction, or pause, instances have been noticed suggesting the device ofinterrogation points and periods. 

_MARK OF INTERROGATION. _

The Shoshoni, Absaroka, Dakota, Comanche, and other Indians, whendesiring to ask a question, precede the gestures constituting theinformation desired by a sign intended to attract attention and"asking for, " viz. , by holding the flat right hand, with the palmdown, directed, to the individual interrogated, with or withoutlateral oscillating motion; the gestural sentence, when completed, being closed by the same sign and a look of inquiry. This recalls theSpanish use of the interrogation points before and after the question. 

_PERIOD_. 

A Hidatsa, after concluding a short statement, indicated itsconclusion by placing the inner edges of the clinched hands togetherbefore the breast, and passing them outward and downward to theirrespective sides in an emphatic manner, Fig. 334, page 528. This signis also used in other connections to express _done_. 

The same mode of indicating the close of a narrative or statement ismade by the Wichitas, by holding the extended left hand horizontallybefore the body, fingers pointing to the right, palm either toward thebody or downward, and cutting edgewise downward past the tips of theleft with the extended right hand. This is the same sign given in theADDRESS OF KIN CHĒ-ĔSS as _cut off_, and is illustrated in Fig. 324, page 522. This is more ideographic and convenient than the deviceof the Abyssinian Galla, reported by M. A. D'Abbadie, who denoted acomma by a slight stroke of a leather whip, a semicolon by a harderone, and a full stop by one still harder. 

_GESTURES AIDING ARCHÆOLOGIC RESEARCH. _

The most interesting light in which the Indians of North America canbe regarded is in their present representation of a stage of evolutiononce passed through by our own ancestors. Their signs, as well astheir myths and customs, form a part of the paleontology of humanityto be studied in the history of the latter as the geologist, withsimilar object, studies all the strata of the physical world. At thistime it is only possible to suggest the application of gesture signsto elucidate pictographs, and also their examination to discoverreligious, sociologic, and historic ideas preserved in them, as hasbeen done with great success in the radicals of oral speech. 

SIGNS CONNECTED WITH PICTOGRAPHS. 

The picture writing of Indians is the sole form in which they recordedevents and ideas that can ever be interpreted without the aid of atraditional key, such as is required for the signification of thewampum belts of the Northeastern tribes and the _quippus_ of Peru. Strips of bark, tablets of wood, dressed skins of animals, and thesmooth surfaces of rock have been and still are used for such records, those most ancient, and therefore most interesting, being of coursethe rock etchings; but they can only be deciphered, if at all, by theascertained principles on which the more modern and the more obviousare made. Many of the numerous and widespread rock carvings are mereidle sketches--of natural objects, mainly animals, and others are asexclusively mnemonic as the wampum above mentioned. Even since theColumbian discovery some tribes have employed devices yet ruder thanthe rudest pictorial attempt as markers for the memory. An accountof one of these is given in E. Winslow's Relation (A. D. 1624), _Col. Mass. Hist. Soc. _, 2d series, ix, 1822, p. 99, as follows:

"Instead of records and chronicles they take this course: Where anyremarkable act is done, in memory of it, either in the place or bysome pathway near adjoining, they make a round hole in the groundabout a foot deep, and as much over, which, when others passing bybehold, they inquire the cause and occasion of the same, which beingonce known, they are careful to acquaint all men as occasion serveththerewith. And lest such holes should be filled or grown over by anyaccident, as men pass by they will often renew the same; by whichmeans many things of great antiquity are fresh in memory. So that as aman traveleth, if he can understand his guide, his journey will be theless tedious, by reason of the many historical discourses which willbe related unto him. "

Gregg, in _Commerce of the Prairies_, _New York_, 1844, II, 286, saysof the Plains tribes: "When traveling, they will also pile heapsof stones upon mounds or conspicuous points, so arranged as to beunderstood by their passing comrades; and sometimes they set up thebleached buffalo heads, which are everywhere scattered over thoseplains, to indicate the direction of their march, and many other factswhich may be communicated by those simple signs. "

[Illustration: Fig. 151. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 152. ]

A more ingenious but still arbitrary mode of giving intelligence ispracticed at this day by the Abnaki, as reported by H. L. Masta, chiefof that tribe, now living at Pierreville, Quebec. When they are in thewoods, to say "I am going to the east, " a stick is stuck in the groundpointing to that direction, Fig. 151. "Am not gone far, " another stickis stuck across the former, close to the ground, Fig. 152. "Gonefar" is the reverse, Fig. 153. The number of days journey of proposedabsence is shown by the same number of sticks across the first; thusFig. 154 signifies five days' journey. Cutting the bark off from atree on one, two, three or four sides near the butt means "Have hadpoor, poorer, poorest luck. " Cutting it off all around the tree means"I am starving. " Smoking a piece of birch bark and hanging it on atree means "I am sick. "

[Illustration: Fig. 153. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 154. ]

Where there has existed any form of artistic representation, howeverrude, and at the same time a system of ideographic gesture signsprevailed, it would be expected that the form of the latter wouldappear in the former. The sign of _river_ and _water_ mentioned onpage 358 being established, when it became necessary or desirable todraw a character or design to convey the same idea, nothing would bemore natural than to use the graphic form of delineation which isalso above described. It was but one more and an easy step to fastenupon bark, skins, or rocks the evanescent air pictures that still inpigments or carvings preserve their skeleton outline, and in theirideography approach, as has been shown above, the rudiments of thephonetic alphabets that have been constructed by other peoples. Atransition stage between gestures and pictographs, in which the lefthand is used as a supposed drafting surface upon which the index drawslines, is exhibited in the DIALOGUE BETWEEN ALASKAN INDIANS, _infra_, page 498. This device is common among deaf-mutes, without equalarchæologic importance, as it may have been suggested by the artof writing, with which they are generally acquainted, even if notinstructed in it. 

The reproduction of apparent gesture lines in the pictographs madeby our Indians has, for obvious reasons, been most frequent in theattempt to convey those subjective ideas which were beyond the rangeof an artistic skill limited to the direct representation of objects, so that the part of the pictographs which is still the most difficultof interpretation is precisely the one which the study of signlanguage is likely to elucidate. The following examples of pictographsof the Indians, in some cases compared with those from foreignsources, have been selected because their interpretation is definitelyknown and the gestures corresponding with or suggested by them arewell determined. 

[Illustration: Fig. 155. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 156. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 157. ]

The common Indian gesture sign for _sun_ is: "Right hand closed, the index and thumb curved, with tips touching, thus approximating acircle, and held toward the sky, " the position of the fingers of thehand forming a circle being shown in Fig. 155. Two of the Egyptiancharacters for sun, Figs. 156 and 157, are plainly the universalconception of the disk. The latter, together with indications of rays, Fig. 158, and in its linear form, Fig. 159, (Champollion, _Dict. _, 9), constitutes the Egyptian character for _light_. The rays emanatingfrom the whole disk appear in Figs. 160 and 161, taken from a MS. Contributed by Mr. G. K. GILBERT of the United States GeologicalSurvey, from the rock etchings of the Moqui pueblos in Arizona. Thesame authority gives from the same locality Figs. 162 and 163 for_sun_, which may be distinguished from several other similar etchingsfor _star_ also given by him, Figs. 164, 165, 166, 167, by alwaysshowing some indication of a face, the latter being absent in thecharacters denoting _star_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 158. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 159. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 160. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 161. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 162. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 163. ]

With the above characters for sun compare Fig. 168, found at Cuzco, Peru, and taken from Wiener's _Pérou et Bolivie, Paris_, 1880, p. 706. 

[Illustration: Fig. 164. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 165. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 166. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 167. ]

The Ojibwa pictograph for sun is seen in Fig. 169, taken fromSchoolcraft, _loc. Cit. _, v. 1, pl. 56, Fig. 67. 

[Illustration: Fig. 168. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 169. ]

A gesture sign for _sunrise, morning_, is: Forefinger of right handcrooked to represent half of the sun's disk and pointed or extended tothe left, then slightly elevated. (_Cheyenne_ II. ) In this connectionit may be noted that when the gesture is carefully made in opencountry the pointing would generally be to the east, and the bodyturned so that its left would be in that direction. In a room in acity, or under circumstances where the points of the compass arenot specially attended to, the left side supposes the east, and thegestures relating to sun, day, &c. , are made with such reference. Thehalf only of the disk represented in the above gesture appears in thefollowing Moqui pueblo etchings for _morning_ and _sunrise_, Figs. 170, 171, and 172. (Gilbert, _MS. _)

[Illustration: Fig. 170. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 171. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 172. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 173. ]

A common gesture for _day_ is when the index and thumb form a circle(remaining fingers closed) and are passed from east to west. 

Fig. 173 shows a pictograph found in Owen's Valley, California, asimilar one being reported in the _Ann. Rep. Geog. Survey west of the100th Meridian for 1876, Washington_, 1876, pl. Opp. P. 326, in whichthe circle may indicate either _day_ or _month_ (both these gestureshaving the same execution), the course of the sun or moon beingrepresented perhaps in mere contradistinction to the vertical line, orperhaps the latter signifies _one_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 174. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 175. ]

Fig. 174 is a pictograph of the Coyotero Apaches, found at CampApache, in Arizona, reported in the _Tenth Ann. Rep. U. S. Geolog. AndGeograph. Survey of the Territories for 1876_, _Washington_, 1878, pl. Lxxvii. The sun and the ten spots of approximately the same shaperepresent the days, eleven, which the party with five pack mulespassed in traveling through the country. The separating lines are thenights, and may include the conception of covering over and consequentobscurity above referred to (page 354). 

[Illustration: Fig. 176. ]

A common sign for _moon, month_, is the right hand closed, leavingthe thumb and index extended, but curved to form a half circle and thehand held toward the sky, in a position which is illustrated in Fig. 175, to which curve the Moqui etching, Fig. 176, and the identicalform in the ancient Chinese has an obvious resemblance. 

[Illustration: Fig. 177. ]

The crescent, as we commonly figure the satellite, appears also inthe Ojibwa pictograph, Fig. 177 (Schoolcraft, I, pl. 58), which is thesame, with a slight addition, as the Egyptian figurative character. 

[Illustration: Fig. 178. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 179. ]

The sign for _sky_, also _heaven_, is generally made by passing theindex from east to west across the zenith. This curve is apparent inthe Ojibwa pictograph Fig. 178, reported in Schoolcraft, I, pl. 18, Fig. 21, and is abbreviated in the Egyptian character with the samemeaning, Fig. 179 (Champollion, _Dict. _, p. 1). 

[Illustration: Fig. 180. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 181. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 182. ]

A sign for _cloud_ is as follows: (1) Both hands partially closed, palms facing and near each other, brought up to level with or slightlyabove, but in front of the head; (2) suddenly separated sidewise, describing a curve like a scallop; this scallop motion is repeated for"many clouds. " (_Cheyenne_ II. ) The same conception is in the Moquietchings, Figs. 180, 181, and 182 (Gilbert _MS. _)

[Illustration: Fig. 183. ]

The Ojibwa pictograph for _cloud_ is more elaborate, Fig. 183, reported in Schoolcraft, I, pl. 58. It is composed of the sign for_sky_, to which that for _clouds_ is added, the latter being reversedas compared with the Moqui etchings, and picturesquely hanging fromthe sky. 

[Illustration: Fig. 184. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 185. ]

The gesture sign for _rain_ is described and illustrated on page344. The pictograph, Fig. 184, reported as found in New Mexico byLieutenant Simpson (_Ex. Doc. No. 64, Thirty-first Congress, firstsession_, 1850, pl. 9) is said to represent Montezuma's adjutantssounding a blast to him for rain. The small character inside the curvewhich represents the sky, corresponds with the gesturing hand. TheMoqui etching (Gilbert _MS. _) for _rain_, i. E. , a cloud from which thedrops are falling, is given in Fig. 185. 

[Illustration: Fig. 186. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 187. ]

The same authority gives two signs for _lightning_, Figs. 186 and 187. In the latter the sky is shown, the changing direction of the streak, and clouds with rain falling. The part relating specially to thestreak is portrayed in a sign as follows: Right hand elevated beforeand above the head, forefinger pointing upward, brought down withgreat rapidity with a sinuous, undulating motion; finger stillextended diagonally downward toward the right. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

[Illustration: Fig. 188. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 189. ]

Figs. 188 and 189 also represent _lightning_, taken by Mr. W. H. Jackson, photographer of the late U. S. Geolog. And Geog. Survey, fromthe decorated walls of an estufa in the Pueblo de Jemez, New Mexico. The former is blunt, for harmless, and the latter terminating in anarrow or spear point, for destructive or fatal, lightning. 

[Illustration: Fig. 190. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 191. ]

A common sign for _speech, speak_, among the Indians is the repeatedmotion of the index in a straight line forward from the mouth. Thisline, indicating the voice, is shown in Fig. 190, taken fromthe _Dakota Calendar_, being the expression for the fact that"the-Elk-that-hollows-walking, " a Minneconjou chief, "made medicine. "The ceremony is indicated by the head of an albino buffalo. A moregraphic portraiture of the conception of _voice_ is in Fig. 191, representing an antelope and the whistling sound produced by theanimal on being surprised or alarmed. This is taken from MS. Drawingbook of an Indian prisoner at Saint Augustine, Fla. , now in theSmithsonian Institution, No. 30664. 

[Illustration: Fig. 192. ]

Fig. 192 is the exhibition of wrestling for a turkey, the point ofinterest in the present connection being the lines from the mouth tothe objects of conversation. It is taken from the above-mentioned MS. Drawing book. 

The wrestlers, according to the foot prints, had evidently cometogether, when, meeting the returning hunter, who is wrapped in hisblanket with only one foot protruding, they separated and threw offtheir blankets, leggings, and moccasins, both endeavoring to win theturkey, which lies between them and the donor. 

In Fig. 193, taken from the same MS. Drawing book, the conversation isabout the lassoing, shooting, and final killing of a buffalo which haswandered to a camp. The dotted lines indicate footprints. The Indiandrawn under the buffalo having secured the animal by the fore feet, soinforms his companions, as indicated by the line drawn from his mouthto the object mentioned; the left-hand figure, having also securedthe buffalo by the horns, gives his nearest comrade an opportunity tostrike it with an ax, which he no doubt announces that he will do, asthe line from his mouth to the head of the animal suggests. The Indianin the upper left-hand corner is told by a squaw to take an arrow andjoin his companions, when he turns his head to inform her that he hasone already, which fact he demonstrates by holding up the weapon. 

[Illustration: Fig. 193. ]

The Mexican pictograph, Fig. 194, taken from Kingsborough, II, pt. 1, p. 100, is illustrative of the sign made by the Arikara and Hidatsafor _tell_ and _conversation_. _Tell me_ is: Place the flat righthand, palm upward, about fifteen inches in front of the right side ofthe face, fingers pointing to the left and front; then draw the handinward toward and against the bottom of the chin. For _conversation_, talking between two persons, both hands are held before the breast, pointing forward, palms up, the edges being moved several times towardone another. Perhaps, however, the picture in fact only means thecommon poetical image of "flying words. "

[Illustration: Fig. 194. ]

Fig. 195 is one of Landa's characters, found in _Rel. Des choses deYucatan_ p. 316, and suggests one of the gestures for _talk_ andmore especially that for _sing_, in which the extended and separatedfingers are passed forward and slightly downward from the mouth--"manyvoices. " Although the last opinion about the bishop is unfavorable tothe authenticity of his work, yet even if it were prepared by a Maya, under his supervision, the latter would probably have given him somegenuine native conceptions, and among them gestures would be likely tooccur. 

[Illustration: Fig. 195. ]

The natural sign for _hear_, made both by Indians and deaf-mutes, consisting in the motion of the index, or the index and thumb joined, in a straight line to the ear, is illustrated in the Ojibwa pictographFig. 196, "hearing ears, " and those of the same people, Figs. 197 and198, the latter of which is a hearing serpent, and the former means "Ihear, but your words are from a bad heart, " the hands being thrown outas in the final part of a gesture for _bad heart_, which is made bythe hand being closed and held near the breast, with the back towardthe breast, then as the arm is suddenly extended the hand is openedand the fingers separated from each other. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 196. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 197. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 198. ]

The final part of the gesture, representing the idea of _bad_, notconnected with heart, is illustrated in Fig. 236 on page 411. 

The above Ojibwa pictographs are taken from Schoolcraft, _loc. Cit. _I, plates 58, 53, 59. 

Fig. 199, a bas-relief taken from Dupaix's Monuments of New Spain, inKingsborough, _loc. Cit. _ IV, pt. 3, p. 31, has been considered to bea royal edict or command. The gesture _to hear_ is plainly depicted, and the right hand is directed to the persons addressed, so thecommand appears to be uttered with the preface of _Hear Ye! Oyez!_

[Illustration: Fig. 199. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 200. ]

The typical sign for _kill_ or _killed_ is: Right hand clinched, thumb lying along finger tips, elevated to near the shoulder, strikedownward and outward vaguely in the direction of the object to bekilled. The abbreviated sign is simply to clinch the right hand inthe manner described and strike it down and out from the right side. (_Cheyenne_ II. ) This gesture, also appears among the Dakotas and isillustrated in Fig. 200. 

[Illustration: Fig. 201. ]

Fig. 201, taken from the _Dakota Calendar_, illustrates this gesture. It represents the year in which a Minneconjou chief was stabbed in theshoulder by a Gros Ventre, and afterwards named "Dead Arm" or "KilledArm. " At first the figure was supposed to show the permanent drawingup of the arm by anchylosis, but that would not be likely to be theresult of the wound described, and with knowledge of the gesture themeaning is more clear. 

[Illustration: Fig. 202. ]

Fig. 202, taken from _Report upon the Reconnaissance of NorthwesternWyoming, &c. , Washington_, 1875, p. 207, Fig. 53, found in the WindRiver Valley, Wyoming Territory, was interpreted by members of aShoshoni and Banak delegation to Washington in 1880 as "an Indiankilled another. " The latter is very roughly delineated in thehorizontal figure, but is also represented by the line under the handof the upright figure, meaning the same individual. At the right isthe scalp taken and the two feathers showing the dead warrior's rank. The arm nearest the prostrate foe shows the gesture for _killed_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 203. ]

The same gesture appears in Fig. 203, from the same authority andlocality. The scalp is here held forth, and the numeral _one_ isdesignated by the stroke at the bottom. 

Fig. 204, from the same locality and authority, was also interpretedby the Shoshoni and Banak. It appears from their description that aBlackfoot had attacked the habitation of some of his own people. Theright-hand upper figure represents his horse with the lance suspendedfrom the side. The lower figure illustrates the log house builtagainst a stream. The dots are the prints of the horse's hoofs, whilethe two lines running outward from the upper inclosure show thattwo thrusts of the lance were made over the wall of the house, thus killing the occupant and securing two bows and five arrows, asrepresented in the left-hand group. The right-hand figure of thatgroup shows the hand raised in the attitude of making the gesture for_kill_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 204. ]

As the Blackfeet, according to the interpreters, were the only Indiansin the locality mentioned who constructed log houses, the drawingbecomes additionally interesting, as an attempt appears to havebeen made to illustrate the crossing of the logs at the corners, thegesture for which (_log-house_) will be found on page 428. 

Fig. 205 is the Egyptian character for _veneration, to glorify_(Champollion, _Dict. _, 29), the author's understanding being that thehands are raised in surprise, astonishment. 

[Illustration: Fig. 205. ]

The Menomoni Indians now begin their prayers by raising their hands inthe same manner. They may have been influenced in this respect bythe attitudes of their missionaries in prayer and benediction. TheApaches, who have received less civilized tuition, in a religiousgesture corresponding with prayer spread their hands opposite theface, palms up and backward, apparently expressing the desire to_receive_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 206. ]

Fig. 206 is a copy of an Egyptian tablet reproduced from Cooper's_Serpent Myths_, page 28. A priest kneels before the great goddessRanno, while supplicating her favor. The conception of the author isthat the hands are raised by the supplicant to shield his face fromthe glory of the divinity. It may be compared with signs for askingfor _mercy_ and for giving mercy to another, the former being: Extendboth forefingers, pointing upward, palms toward the breast, andhold the hands before the chest; then draw them inward toward theirrespective sides, and pass them up ward as high as the sides ofthe head by either cheek. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. ) The latter, _to have mercy on another_, as made by thesame tribes, is: Hold both hands nearly side by side before the chest, palms forward, forefinger only extended and pointing upward; then movethem forward and upward, as if passing them by the cheeks of anotherperson from the breast to the sides of the head. 

[Illustration: Fig. 207. ]

A similar gesture for _supplication_ appears in Fig. 207, taken fromKingsborough, _loc. Cit. _, III, pt. I, p. 24. 

[Illustration: Fig. 208. ]

An Indian gesture sign for _smoke_, and also one for _fire_, has beendescribed above, page 344. With the former is connected the Aztecdesign (Fig. 208) taken from Pipart, _loc. Cit. _, II, 352, and thelatter appears in Fig. 209, taken from Kingsborough, III, pt. I, p. 21. 

[Illustration: Fig. 209. ]

A sign for _medicine-man, shaman_, is thus described: "With itsindex-finger extended and pointing upward, or all the fingersextended, back of hand outward, move the right hand from just in frontof the forehead, spirally upward, nearly to arm's length, from left toright. " (_Dakota_ IV. )

[Illustration: Fig. 210. ]

Fig. 210, from the _Dakota Calendar_, represents the making ofmedicine or conjuration. In that case the head and horns of a whitebuffalo cow were used. 

[Illustration: Fig. 211. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 212. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 213. ]

Fig. 211 is an Ojibwa pictograph taken from Schoolcraft, _loc. Cit. _, representing _medicine-man, meda_. With these horns and spiral may becollated Fig. 212 which portrays the ram-headed Egyptian god Knuphis, or Chnum, the spirit, in a shrine on the boat of the sun, canopiedby the serpent-goddess Ranno, who is also seen facing him inside theshrine. This is reproduced from Cooper's _Serpent Myths_, p. 24. The same deity is represented in Champollion, _Gram. _, p. 113, asreproduced in Fig. 213. 

Fig. 214 is an Ojibwa pictograph found in Schoolcraft, I, pl. 58, and given as _power_. It corresponds with the sign for _doctor_, or_medicine-man_, made by the Absarokas by passing the extended andseparated index and second finger of the right hand upward fromthe forehead, spirally, and is considered to indicate "superiorknowledge. " Among the Otos, as part of the sign with the same meaning, both hands are raised to the side of the head, and the extendedindices pressing the temples. 

[Illustration: Fig. 214. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 215. ]

Fig. 215 is also an Ojibwa pictograph from Schoolcraft I, pl. 59, andis said to signify _Meda's power_. It corresponds with another signmade for _medicine-man_ by the Absarokas and Comanches, viz, Thehand passed upward before the forehead, with index loosely extended. Combined with the sign for _sky_, before given, page 372, it meansknowledge of superior matters; spiritual power. 

The common sign for _trade_ is made by extending the forefingers, holding them obliquely upward, and crossing them at right angles toone another, usually in front of the chest. This is often abbreviatedby merely crossing the forefingers, see Fig. 278, page 452. It isillustrated in Fig. 216, taken from the Prince of Wied's _Travels inthe Interior of North America; London_, 1843, p. 352. 

[Illustration: Fig. 216. ]

To this the following explanation is given: "The cross signifies, 'Iwill barter or trade. ' Three animals are drawn on the right handof the cross; one is a buffalo; the two others, a weasel (_MustelaCanadensis_) and an otter. The writer offers in exchange for theskins of these animals (probably meaning that of a white buffalo) thearticles which he has drawn on the left side of the cross. He has, inthe first place, depicted a beaver very plainly, behind which thereis a gun; to the left of the beaver are thirty strokes, each tenseparated by a longer line; this means, I will give thirty beaverskins and a gun for the skins of the three animals on the right handof the cross. "

Fig. 217 is from Kingsborough, III, pt. 1, p. 25, and illustratesthe sign for to _give_ or _to present_, made by the Brulé-Dakotas byholding both hands edgewise before the breast, pointing forward andupward, the right above the left, then throwing them quickly downwarduntil the forearms reach a horizontal position. 

[Illustration: Fig. 217. ]

Fig. 218 is taken from the _Dakota Calendar_, representing asuccessful raid of the Absarokas or Crows upon the Brulé-Sioux, inwhich the village of the latter was surprised and a large number ofhorses captured. That capture is exhibited by the horse-tracks movingfrom the _village_, the gesture sign for which is often made by acircle formed either by the opposed thumbs and forefingers of bothhands or by a circular motion of both hands, palms inward, towardeach other. In some cases there is a motion of the circle, from abovedownward, as formed. 

[Illustration: Fig. 218. ]

Fig. 219, from Kingsborough I, pt. 3, p. 10, represents _Chapultepec_, "Mountain of the Locust, " by one enormous locust on top of a hill. This shows the mode of augmentation in the same manner as is oftendone by an exaggerated gesture. The curves at the base of themountain are intelligible only as being formed in the sign for _many_, described on pages 359 and 488. 

[Illustration: Fig. 219. ]

Fig. 220, taken from Pipart, _loc. Cit. _, is the Mexican pictographfor _soil cultivated_, i. E. , tilled and planted. Fig. 221, from thesame authority, shows the sprouts coming from the cultivated soil, andmay be compared with the signs for _grass_ and _grow_ on page 343. 

[Illustration: Fig. 220. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 221. ]

The gesture sign for _road, path_, is sometimes made by indicatingtwo lines forward from the body, then imitating walking with the handsupon the imaginary road. The same natural representation of road isseen in Fig. 222, taken from Pipart, _loc. Cit. _, page 352. Aplace where two roads meet--cross-roads--is shown in Fig. 223, fromKingsborough. Two persons are evidently having a chat in sign languageat the cross-roads. 

[Illustration: Fig. 222. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 223. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 224. ]

If no gesture is actually included in all of the foregoingpictographs, it is seen that a gesture sign is made with the sameconception which is obvious in the ideographic pictures. They areselected as specially transparent and clear. Many others less distinctare now the subject of examination for elucidation. The followingexamples are added to show the ideographic style of pictographs notconnected with gestures, lest it may be suspected that an attempt ismade to prove that gestures are always included in or connected withthem. Fig. 224, from the _Dakota Calendar_, refers to the small-poxwhich broke out in the year (1802) which it specifies. Fig. 225 showsin the design at the left, a warning or notice, that though a goat canclimb up the rocky trail a horse will tumble--"No Thoroughfare. " Thiswas contributed by Mr. J. K. Hillers, photographer of the United StatesGeological Survey, as observed by him in Cañon De Chelly, New Mexico, in 1880. 

[Illustration: Fig. 225. ]

SIGNS CONNECTED WITH ETHNOLOGIC FACTS. 

The present limits permit only a few examples of the manner in whichthe signs of Indians refer to sociologic, religious, historic, andother ethnologic facts. They may incite research to elicit furtherinformation of the same character. 

[Illustration: Fig. 226. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 227. ]

The Prince of Wied gives in his list of signs the heading _Partisan_, a term of the Canadian voyageurs, signifying a leader of an occasionalor volunteer war party, the sign being reported as follows: Make firstthe sign of the pipe, afterwards open the thumb and index-finger ofthe right hand, back of the hand outward, and move it forward andupward in a curve. This is explained by the author's account in adifferent connection, that to become recognized as a leader of such awar party as above mentioned, the first act among the tribes usingthe sign was the consecration, by fasting succeeded by feasting, ofa medicine pipe without ornament, which the leader of the expeditionafterward bore before him as his badge of authority, and it thereforenaturally became an emblematic sign. This sign with its interpretationsupplies a meaning to Fig. 226 from the _Dakota Calendar_ showing"One Feather, " a Sioux chief who raised in that year a large war partyagainst the Crows, which fact is simply denoted by his holding outdemonstratively an unornamented pipe. In connection with this subject, Fig. 227, drawn and explained by Two Strike, an Ogalala Dakota, relating to his own achievements, displays four plain pipes to exhibitthe fact that he had led four war parties. 

[Illustration: Fig. 228. ]

The sign of the pipe or of smoking is made in a different manner, whenused to mean _friend_, as follows: (1) Tips of the two first fingersof the right hand placed against or at right angles to the mouth;(2) suddenly elevated upward and outward to imitate smoke expelled. (_Cheyenne_ II). "We two smoke together. " This is illustrated in theOjibwa pictograph, Fig. 228, taken from Schoolcraft I, pl. 59. 

[Illustration: Fig. 229. ]

A ceremonial sign for _peace, friendship_, is the extended fingers, separated (R), interlocked in front of the breast, hands horizontal, backs outward. (_Dakota_ I. ) Fig. 229 from the _Dakota Calendar_exhibits the beginning of this gesture. When the idea conveyed ispeace or friendship with the whites, the hand shaking of the latteris adopted as in Fig. 230, also taken from the _Dakota Calendar_, andreferring to the peace made in 1855 by General Harney, at Fort Pierre, with a number of the tribes of the Dakotas. 

[Illustration: Fig. 230. ]

It is noticeable that while the ceremonial gesture of uniting orlinking hands is common and ancient in token of peace, the practice ofshaking hands on meeting, now the annoying etiquette of the Indians intheir intercourse with whites, was not until very recently and is evennow seldom used by them between each other, and is clearly a foreignimportation. Their fancy for affectionate greeting was in givinga pleasant bodily, sensation by rubbing each other on the breast, abdomen, and limbs, or by a hug. The senseless and inconvenient customof shaking hands is, indeed, by no means general throughout the world, and in the extent to which it prevails in the United States isa subject of ridicule by foreigners. The Chinese, with a higherconception of politeness, shake their own hands. The account of arecent observer of the meeting of two polite Celestials is: "Eachplaced the fingers of one hand over the fist of the other, so that thethumbs met, and then standing a few feet apart raised his hands gentlyup and down in front of his breast. For special courtesy, after theforegoing gesture, they place the hand which had been the actor in iton the stomach of its owner, not on that part of the interlocutor, thewhole proceeding being subjective, but perhaps a relic of objectiveperformance. " In Miss Bird's _Unbeaten Trades in Japan, London_, 1880, the following is given as the salutatory etiquette of that empire: "Asacquaintances come in sight of each other they slacken their paceand approach with downcast eyes and averted faces as if neither wereworthy of beholding each other; then they bow low, so low as to bringthe face, still kept carefully averted, on a level with the knees, on which the palms of the hands are pressed. Afterwards, during thefriendly strife of each to give the _pas_ to the other, the palms ofthe hands are diligently rubbed against each other. "

[Illustration: Fig. 231. ]

The interlocking of the fingers of both hands above given as an Indiansign (other instances being mentioned under the head of SIGNALS, _infra_) is also reported by R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines ofVictoria_, _loc. Cit. _, Vol. II, p. 308, as made by the nativesof Cooper's Creek, Australia, to express the highest degree offriendship, including a special form of hospitality in which the wivesof the entertainer performed a part. Fig. 231 is reproduced from a cutin the work referred to. 

But besides this interlocked form of signifying the union offriendship the hands are frequently grasped together. Sometimes thesign is abbreviated by simply extending the hand as if about to graspthat of another, and sometimes the two forefingers are laid side byside, which last sign also means, _same, brother_ and _companion_. Fordescription and illustration of these three signs, see respectivelypages 521, 527, and 317. A different execution of the same conceptionof union or linking to signify _friend_ is often made as follows: Hookthe curved index over the curved forefinger of the left hand, thepalm of the latter pointing forward, the palm of the right hand beingturned toward the face; remaining fingers and thumbs being closed. (_Dakota_ VIII. ) Fig. 232. 

[Illustration: Fig. 232. ]

Wied's sign for medicine is "Stir with the right hand into the left, and afterward blow into the latter. " All persons familiar with theIndians will understand that the term "medicine, " foolishly enoughadopted by both French and English to express the aboriginal magicarts, has no therapeutic significance. Very few even pretendedremedies were administered to the natives and probably never by theprofessional shaman, who worked by incantation, often pulverizing andmixing the substances mystically used, to prevent their detection. The same mixtures were employed in divination. The author particularlymentions Mandan ceremonies, in which a white "medicine" stone, ashard as pyrites, was produced by rubbing in the hand snow or the whitefeathers of a bird. The blowing away of the disease, considered to beintroduced by a supernatural power foreign to the body, was a commonpart of the juggling performance. 

A sign for _stone_ is as follows: With the back of the arched righthand (H) strike repeatedly in the palm of the left, held horizontal, back outward, at the height of the breast and about a foot in front;the ends of the fingers point in opposite directions. (_Dakota_ I. )From its use when the stone was the only hammer. 

A suggestive sign for _knife_ is reported, viz: Cut past the mouthwith the raised right hand. (_Wied. _) This probably refers to thegeneral practice of cutting off food, as much being crammed into themouth as can be managed and then separated from the remaining massby a stroke of a knife. This is specially the usage with fat andentrails, the Indian delicacies. 

An old sign for _tomahawk, ax_, is as follows: Cross the arms andslide the edge of the right hand, held vertically, down over the leftarm. (_Wied. _) This is still employed, at least for a small hatchet, or "dress tomahawk, " and would be unintelligible without specialknowledge. The essential point is laying the extended right hand inthe bend of the left elbow. The sliding down over the left arm is analmost unavoidable but quite unnecessary accompaniment to the sign, which indicates the way in which the hatchet is usually carried. Pipes, whips, bows and arrows, fans, and other dress or emblematicarticles of the "buck" are seldom or never carried in the bend of theleft elbow as is the ax. The pipe is usually held in the left hand. 

The following sign for _Indian village_ is given by Wied: Place theopen thumb and forefinger of each hand opposite to each other, as ifto make a circle, but leaving between them a small interval; afterwardmove them from above downward simultaneously. The villages of thetribes with which the author was longest resident, particularly theMandans and Arikaras, were surrounded by a strong circular stockade, spaces or breaks in the circle being left for entrance or exit. 

Signs for _dog_ are made by some of the tribes of the plainsessentially the same as the following: Extend and spread the right, fore, and middle fingers, and draw the hand about eighteen inches fromleft to right across the front of the body at the height of the navel, palm downward, fingers pointing toward the left and a little downward, little and ring fingers to be loosely closed, the thumb against thering-finger. (_Dakota_ IV. ) The sign would not be intelligible withoutknowledge of the fact that before the introduction of the horse, andeven yet, the dog has been used to draw the tent- or lodge-poles inmoving camp, and the sign represents the trail. Indians less nomadic, who built more substantial lodges, and to whom the material for poleswas less precious than on the plains, would not have comprehended thissign without such explanation as is equivalent to a translation froma foreign language, and the more general one is the palm lowered as ifto stroke gently in a line conforming to the animal's head and neck. It is abbreviated by simply lowering the hand to the usual heightof the wolfish aboriginal breed, and suggests _the_ animal _parexcellence_ domesticated by the Indians and made a companion. 

Several examples connected with this heading may be noticed under thepreceding head of gestures connected with pictographs, and others ofhistoric interest will be found among the TRIBAL SIGNS, _infra_. 

NOTABLE POINTS FOR FURTHER RESEARCHES. 

It is considered desirable to indicate some points to which forspecial reasons the attention of collaborators for the futurepublication on the general subject of sign language may be invited. These now follow:

_INVENTION OF NEW SIGNS. _

It is probable that signs will often be invented by individual Indianswho may be pressed for them by collectors to express certain ideas, which signs of course form no part of any current language; but whilethat fact should, if possible, be ascertained and reported, the signsso invented are not valueless merely because they are original and nottraditional, if they are made in good faith and in accordance with theprinciples of sign formation. Less error will arise in this directionthan from the misinterpretation of the idea intended to be conveyed byspontaneous signs. The process resembles the coining of new words towhich the higher languages owe their copiousness. It is observed inthe signs invented by Indians for each new product of civilizationbrought to their notice. 

An interesting instance is in the sign for _steamboat_, made at therequest of the writer by White Man (who, however, did not like thatsobriquet and announced his intention to change his name to LeanBear), an Apache, in June, 1880, who had a few days before seen asteamboat for the first time. After thinking a moment he gave anoriginal sign, described as follows:

Make the sign for _water_, by placing the flat right hand before theface, pointing upward and forward, the back forward, with the wrist ashigh as the nose; then draw it down and inward toward the chin; thenwith both hands indicate the outlines of a horizontal oval figurefrom before the body back to near the chest (being the outline of thedeck); then place both flat hands, pointing forward, thumbshigher than the outer edges, and push them forward to arms'-length(illustrating the powerful forward motion of the vessel). 

An original sign for _telegraph_ is given in NÁTCI'S NARRATIVE, _infra_. 

An Indian skilled in signs, as also a deaf-mute, at the sight of anew object, or at the first experience of some new feeling or mentalrelation, will devise some mode of expressing it in pantomimic gestureor by a combination of previously understood signs, which will beintelligible to others, similarly skilled, provided that they haveseen the same objects or have felt the same emotions. But if a numberof such Indians or deaf-mutes were to see an object--for instance anelephant--for the first time, each would perhaps hit upon a differentsign, in accordance with the characteristic appearance most strikingto him. That animal's trunk is generally the most attractive lineamentto deaf-mutes, who make a sign by pointing to the nose and moving thearm as the trunk is moved. Others regard the long tusks as the mostsignificant feature, while others are struck by the large head andsmall eyes. This diversity of conception brings to mind the poem of"The Blind Men and the Elephant, " which with true philosophy in anamusing guise explains how the sense of touch led the "six men ofIndostan" severally to liken the animal to a wall, spear, snake, tree, fan, and rope. A consideration of invented or original signs, as showing the operation of the mind of an Indian or other uncivilizedgesturer, has a psychologic interest, and as connected with the vocalexpression, often also invented at the same time, has further value. 

_DANGER OF SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION. _

In the examination of sign language it is important to form a cleardistinction between signs proper and symbols. The terms signsand symbols are often used interchangeably, but with liability tomisconstruction, as many persons, whether with right or wrong lexicaldefinition, ascribe to symbols an occult and mystic signification. Allcharacters in Indian picture-writing have been loosely styled symbols, and, as there is no logical distinction, between the charactersimpressed with enduring form and when merely outlined in the ambientair, all Indian gestures, motions, and attitudes might with equalappropriateness be called symbolic. While, however, all symbolscome under the generic head of signs, very few signs are in accurateclassification symbols. S. T. Coleridge has defined a symbol to be asign included in the idea it represents. This may be intelligible ifit is intended that an ordinary sign is extraneous to the conceptand, rather than suggested by it, is invented to express it by somerepresentation or analogy, while a symbol may be evolved by a processof thought from the concept itself; but it is no very exhaustive orpractically useful distinction. Symbols are less obvious and moreartificial than mere signs, require convention, are not only abstract, but metaphysical, and often need explanation from history, religion, and customs. They do not depict but suggest subjects; do not speakdirectly through the eye to the intelligence, but presuppose in themind knowledge of an event or fact which the sign recalls. Thesymbols of the ark, dove, olive branch, and rainbow would be whollymeaningless to people unfamiliar with the Mosaic or some similarcosmology, as would be the cross and the crescent to those ignorantof history. The last named objects appeared in the class of _emblems_when used in designating the conflicting powers of Christendom andIslamism. Emblems do not necessarily require any analogy between theobjects representing, and the objects or qualities represented, butmay arise from pure accident. After a scurrilous jest the beggar'swallet became the emblem of the confederated nobles, the Gueux ofthe Netherlands; and a sling, in the early minority of Louis XIV, was adopted from the refrain of a song by the Frondeur opponents ofMazarin. The portraiture of a fish, used, especially by the earlyChristians, for the name and title of Jesus Christ was stillmore accidental, being, in the Greek word [Greek: ichthus], anacrostic composed of the initials of the several Greek wordssignifying that name and title. This origin being unknown to personswhose religious enthusiasm was as usual in direct proportion to theirignorance, they expended much rhetoric to prove that there was sometrue symbolic relation between an actual fish and the Saviour of men. Apart from this misapplication, the fish undoubtedly became an emblemof Christ and of Christianity, appearing frequently on the Romancatacombs and at one time it was used hermeneutically. 

The several tribal signs for the Sioux, Arapahos, Cheyennes, &c. , are their emblems precisely as the star-spangled flag is that of theUnited States, but there is nothing symbolic in any of them. So thesigns for individual chiefs, when not merely translations of theirnames, are emblematic of their family totems or personal distinctions, and are no more symbols than are the distinctive shoulder-straps ofarmy officers. The _crux ansata_ and the circle formed by a snakebiting its tail are symbols, but _consensus_ as well as inventionwas necessary for their establishment, and the Indians have producednothing so esoteric, nothing which they intended for hermeneutic asdistinct from descriptive or mnemonic purposes. Sign language canundoubtedly be and is employed to express highly metaphysical ideas, but to do that in a symbolic system requires a development of themode of expression consequent upon a similar development of the mentalidiocrasy of the gesturers far beyond any yet found among historictribes north of Mexico. A very few of their signs may at first appearto be symbolic, yet even those on closer examination will probably berelegated to the class of emblems. 

The point urged is that while many signs can be used as emblems andboth can be converted by convention into symbols or be explained assuch by perverted ingenuity, it is futile to seek for that form ofpsychologic exuberance in the stage of development attained by thetribes now under consideration. All predetermination to interpreteither their signs or their pictographs on the principles of symbolismas understood or pretended to be understood by its admirers, andas are sometimes properly applied to Egyptian hieroglyphs, resultsin mooning mysticism. This was shown by a correspondent whoenthusiastically lauded the _Dakota Calendar_ (edited by the presentwriter, and which is a mere figuration of successive occurrences inthe history of the people), as a numerical exposition of the greatdoctrines of the Sun religion in the equations of time, and proved tohis own satisfaction that our Indians preserved hermeneutically thelost geometric cultus of pre-Cushite scientists. 

Another exhibition of this vicious practice was recently made in theinterpretation of an inscribed stone alleged to have been unearthednear Zanesville, Ohio. Two of the characters were supposed, in liberalexercise of the imagination, to represent the [Greek letter: Alpha]and [Greek letter: Omega] of the Greek alphabet. At the comparativelylate date when the arbitrary arrangement of the letters of thatalphabet had become fixed, the initial and concluding letters mightreadily have been used to represent respectively the beginning and theend of any series or number of things, and this figure of speech wasemployed in the book of Revelations. In the attempted interpretationof the inscription mentioned, which was hawked about to many scientificbodies, and published over the whole country, the supposed alphaand omega were assumed to constitute a universal as well as sacredsymbol for the everlasting Creator. The usual _menu_ of Roman feasts, commencing with eggs and ending with apples, was also commonly knownat the time when the book of Revelations was written, and the phrase"_ab ovo usque ad mala_" was as appropriate as "from alpha to omega" toexpress "from the beginning to the end. " In deciphering the stone itwould, therefore, be as correct in principle to take one of its ovaland one of its round figures, call them egg and apple, and make themthe symbols of eternity. In fact, not depending wholly for significanceupon the order of courses of a feast or the accident of alphabeticalposition, but having intrinsic characteristics in reference to theorigin and fruition of life, the egg and apple translation, wouldbe more acceptable to the general judgment, and it is recommended toenthusiasts who insist on finding symbols where none exist. 

_SIGNS USED BY WOMEN AND CHILDREN. _

For reasons before given it is important to ascertain the varyingextent of familiarity with sign language among the members of theseveral tribes, how large a proportion possesses any skill in it, andthe average amount of their vocabulary. It is also of special interestto learn the degree to which women become proficient, and the ageat which children commence its practice; also whether they receivesystematic instruction in it. The statement was made by Titchkemátskithat the Kaiowa and Comanche women know nothing of sign language, while the Cheyenne women are versed in it. As he is a Cheyenne, however, he may not have a large circle of feminine acquaintancesbeyond his own tribe, and his negative testimony is not valuable. Rev. A. J. Holt, from large experience, asserts that the Kaiowa and Comanchewomen do know and practice sign language, though the Cheyenne eitherare more familiar with it than the Kaiowa or have a greater degreeof expertness. The Comanche women, he says, are the peers of anysign-talkers. Colonel Dodge makes the broad assertion that even amongthe Plains tribes only the old, or at least middle-aged, men use signsproperly, and that he has not seen any women or even young men whowere at all reliable in signs. He gives this statement to show thedifficulty in acquiring sign language; but it is questionable if thefact is not simply the result of the rapid disuse of signs, in manytribes, by which, cause women, not so frequently called upon to employthem, and the younger generation, who have had no necessity to learnthem, do not become expert. Disappearing Mist, as before mentioned, remembers a time when the Iroquois women and children used signs morethan the men. 

It is also asserted, with some evidence, that the signs used by malesand females are different, though mutually understood, and someminor points for observation may be indicated, such as whether thecommencement of counting upon the fingers is upon those of the rightor the left hand, and whether Indians take pains to look toward thesouth when suggesting the course of the sun, which would give themotion from left to right. 

 * * * * *

A suggestion has been made by a correspondent that some secret signsof affiliation are known and used by the members of the severalassociations, religious and totemic, which have been often noticedamong several Indian tribes. No evidence of this has been received, but the point is worth attention. 

_POSITIVE SIGNS RENDERED NEGATIVE. _

In many cases positive signs to convey some particular idea are notreported, and in their place a sign with the opposite significationis given, coupled with the sign of negation. In other words, the onlymode of expressing the intended meaning is supposed to be by negationof the reverse of what it is desired to describe. In this manner"fool--no, " would be "wise, " and "good--no, " would be "bad. " This modeof expression is very frequent as a matter of option when the positivesigns are in fact also used. The reported absence of positive signsfor the ideas negatived is therefore often made with as littlepropriety as if when an ordinary speaker chose to use the negativeform "not good, " it should be inferred that he was ignorant of theword "bad. " It will seldom prove, on proper investigation, that wheresign language has reached and retained any high degree of developmentit will show such poverty as to require the expedient of negation ofan affirmative to express an idea which is intrinsically positive. 

_DETAILS OF POSITIONS OF FINGERS. _

The signs of the Indians appear to consist of motions more oftenthan of positions--a fact enhancing the difficulty both of theirdescription and illustration--and the motions when not designedlyabbreviated are generally large, free, and striking, seldom minute. It seems also to be the general rule among Indians as among deaf-mutesthat the point of the finger is used to trace outlines and the palmof the hand to describe surfaces. From an examination of the identicalsigns made to each other for the same object by Indians of the sametribe and band, they appear to make many gestures with little regardto the position of the fingers and to vary in such arrangement fromindividual taste. Some of the elaborate descriptions, giving withgreat detail the attitude of the fingers of any particular gesturerand the inches traced by his motions, are of as little necessity aswould be, when quoting a written word, a careful reproduction of theflourishes of tailed letters and the thickness of down-strokes inindividual chirography. The fingers must be in _some_ position, butthat is frequently accidental, not contributing to the general andessential effect. An example may be given in the sign for _white man_which Medicine Bull, _infra_, page 491, made by drawing the palmarsurface of the extended index across the forehead, and in LEAN WOLF'SCOMPLAINT, _infra_, page 526, the same motion is made by the back ofthe thumb pressed upon the middle joint of the index, fist closed. Theexecution as well as the conception in both cases was the indicationof the line of the hat on the forehead, and the position of thefingers in forming the line is altogether immaterial. There is oftenalso a custom or "fashion" in which not only different tribes, butdifferent persons in the same tribe, gesture the same sign withdifferent degrees of beauty, for there is calligraphy in signlanguage, though no recognized orthography. It is nevertheless betterto describe and illustrate with unnecessary minuteness than to failin reporting a real distinction. There are, also, in fact, manysigns formed by mere positions of the fingers, some of which areabbreviations, but in others the arrangement of the fingers in itselfforms a picture. An instance of the latter is one of the signs givenfor the _bear_, viz. : Middle and third finger of right hand claspeddown by the thumb, fore and little finger extended crooked downward. See EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY, _infra_. This reproduction, of theanimals peculiar claws, with the hand and in any position relativeto the body, would suffice without the pantomime of scratching in theair, which is added only if the sign without it should not be at oncecomprehended. 

_MOTIONS RELATIVE TO PARTS OF THE BODY. _

[Illustration: Fig. 233. ]

The specified relation of the positions and motions of the handsto different parts of the body is essential to the formation anddescription of many signs. Those for _speak, hear_, and _see_, which must be respectively made relative to the mouth, ear and eye, are manifest examples; and there are others less obviously dependentupon parts of the body, such as the heart or head, which would notbe intelligible without apposition. There are also some directlyconnected with height from the ground and other points of reference. In, however, a large proportion of the signs noted the position ofthe hands with reference to the body can be varied or disregarded. The hands making the motions can be held high or low, as the gestureris standing or sitting, or the person addressed is distant or nearby. These variations have been partly discussed under the head ofabbreviations. While descriptions made with great particularity arecumbrous, it is desirable to give the full detail of that gesturewhich most clearly carries out the generic conception, with, ifpossible, also the description of such deviations and abbreviationsas are most confusing. For instance, it is well to explain that signsfor yes and no, described with precise detail as in EXTRACTS FROMDICTIONARY, _infra_, are also often made by an Indian when wrappedin his blanket with only a forefinger protruding, the former by amere downward and the latter by a simple outward bend of that finger. An example may be also taken from the following sign for _lie, falsehood_, made by an Ankara, Fig. 233. In which the separated indexand second fingers are moved sidewise in a downward line near butbelow the mouth, which may be compared with other executions of themotion with the same position of the fingers directly forward from themouth, and with that given in LEAN WOLF'S COMPLAINT, illustrated onpage 528, in which the motion is made carelessly across the body. The original sign was undoubtedly made directly from the mouth, theconception being "two tongues, " two accounts or opposed statements, one of which must be false, but the finger-position coming to beestablished for two tongues has relation to the original conceptionwhether or not made near or in reference to the mouth, the latterbeing understood. 

It will thus be seen that sometimes the position of the fingersis material as forming or suggesting a figure without reference tomotion, while in other cases the relative position of the handsto each other and to parts of the body are significant without anyspecial arrangement of the fingers. Again, in others, the lines drawnin the air by the hand or hands execute the conception without furtherdetail. In each case only the essential details, when they can beascertained, should be minutely described. 

_SUGGESTIONS FOR COLLECTING SIGNS. _

The object always should be, not to translate from English into signs, but to ascertain the real signs and their meaning. By far the mostsatisfactory mode of obtaining this result is to induce Indians orother gesturers observed to tell stories, make speeches, or hold talksin gesture, with one of themselves as interpreter in his own orallanguage if the latter is understood by the observer, and, if not, the words, not the signs, should be translated by an intermediarylinguistic interpreter. It will be easy afterward to dissect andseparate the particular signs used. This mode will determine thegenuine shade of meaning of each sign, and corresponds with the plannow adopted by the Bureau of Ethnology for the study of the tribalvocal languages, instead of that arising out of exclusively missionarypurposes, which was to force a translation of the Bible from a tonguenot adapted to its terms and ideas, and then to compile a grammar anddictionary from the artificial result. A little ingenuity will directthe more intelligent or complaisant gesturers to the expression ofthe thoughts, signs for which are specially sought; and full orderlydescriptions of such tales and talks with or even without analysis andillustration are more desired than any other form of contribution. 

The original authorities, or the best evidence, for Indiansigns--i. E. , the Indians themselves--being still accessible, thecollaborators in this work should not be content with secondaryauthority. White sign talkers and interpreters may give some genuinesigns, but they are very apt to interpolate their own improvements. Experience has led to the apparently paradoxical judgment that thedirect contribution of signs purporting to be those of Indians, madeby a habitual practitioner of signs who is not an Indian, is lessvaluable than that of a discriminating observer who is not himselfan actor in gesture speech. The former, being to himself the bestauthority, unwittingly invents and modifies signs, or describes whathe thinks they ought to be, often with a very different conceptionfrom that of an Indian. Sign language not being fixed and limited, asis the case with oral languages, expertness in it is not necessarilya proof of accuracy in anyone of its forms. The proper inquiry is notwhat a sign might, could, would, or should be, or what is the bestsign for a particular meaning, but what is any sign actually usedfor such meaning. If any one sign is honestly invented or adopted byany one man, whether Indian, African, Asiatic, or deaf-mute, it hasits value, but it should be identified to be in accordance with thefact and should not be subject to the suspicion that it has beenassimilated or garbled in interpretation. Its prevalence and specialrange present considerations of different interest and requiringfurther evidence. 

The genuine signs alone should be presented to scholars, to givetheir studies proper direction, while the true article can always beadulterated into a composite jargon by those whose ambition is only tobe sign talkers instead of making an honest contribution to ethnologicand philologic science. The few direct contributions of interpretersto the present work are, it is believed, valuable, because they weremade without expression of self-conceit or symptom of possession by apet theory. 

MODE IN WHICH RESEARCHES HAVE BEEN MADE. 

It is proper to give to all readers interested in the subject, butparticularly to those whose collaboration for the more complete workabove mentioned is solicited, an account of the mode in which theresearches have thus far been conducted and in which it is proposedto continue them. After study of all that could be obtained in printedform, and a considerable amount of personal correspondence, theresults were embraced in a pamphlet issued by the Bureau of Ethnologyin the early part of 1880, entitled "_Introduction to the Study ofSign Language among the North American Indians as Illustrating theGesture Speech of Mankind. _" In this, suggestions were made as topoints and manner of observation and report, and forms prepared tosecure uniformity and accuracy were explained, many separate sheets ofwhich with the pamphlet were distributed, not only to all applicants, but to all known and accessible persons in this country and abroadwho, there was reason to hope, would take sufficient interest in theundertaking to contribute their assistance. Those forms, TYPES OF HANDPOSITIONS, OUTLINES OF ARM POSITIONS, and EXAMPLES, thus distributed, are reproduced at the end of this paper. 

The main object of those forms was to eliminate the source ofconfusion produced by attempts of different persons at the difficultdescription of positions and motions. The comprehensive plan requiredthat many persons should be at work in many parts of the world. It will readily be understood that if a number of persons shouldundertake to describe in words the same motions, whether ofpantomimists on the stage or of other gesturers, even if the visualperception of all the observers should be the same in the apprehensionof the particular gestures, their language in description might be sovaried as to give very diverse impressions to a reader who had neverseen the gestures described. But with a set form of expressions forthe typical positions, and skeleton outlines to be filled up and, whennecessary, altered in a uniform style, this source of confusion isgreatly reduced. The graphic lines drawn to represent the positionsand motions on the same diagrams will vary but little in comparisonwith the similar attempt of explanation in writing. Both modes ofdescription were, however, requested, each tending to supplementand correct the other, and provision was also made for the notationof such striking facial changes or emotional postures as mightindividualize or accentuate the gestures. It was also pointed out thatthe prepared sheets could be used by cutting and pasting them in theproper order, for successive signs forming a speech or story, so as toexhibit the semiotic syntax. Attention was specially directed to theimportance of ascertaining the intrinsic idea or conception of allsigns, which it was urged should be obtained directly from the personsusing them and not by inference. 

In the autumn of 1880 the prompt and industrious co-operation ofmany observers in this country, and of a few from foreign lands, had supplied a large number of descriptions which were collated andcollected into a quarto volume of 329 pages, called "_A Collectionof Gesture Signs and Signals of the North American Indians, with somecomparisons_. "

This was printed on sized paper with wide margins to allow ofconvenient correction and addition. It was not published, but wasregarded as proof, a copy being sent to each correspondent witha request for his annotations, not only in revision of his owncontribution, but for its comparison with those made by others. Evenwhen it was supposed that mistakes had been made in either descriptionor reported conception, or both, the contribution was printed asreceived, in order that a number of skilled and disinterested personsmight examine it and thus ascertain the amount and character of error. The attention of each contributor was invited to the fact that, insome instances, a sign as described by one of the other contributorsmight be recognized as intended for the same idea or object as thatfurnished by himself, and the former might prove to be the betterdescription. Each was also requested to examine if a peculiarabbreviation or fanciful flourish might not have induced a differencein his own description from that of another contributor with noreal distinction either in conception or essential formation. Allcollaborators were therefore urged to be candid in admitting, whensuch cases occurred, that their own descriptions were mere unessentialvariants from others printed, otherwise to adhere to their own andexplain the true distinction. When the descriptions showed substantialidentity, they were united with the reference to all the authoritiesgiving them. 

Many of these copies have been returned with valuable annotations, notonly of correction but of addition and suggestion, and are now beingcollated again into one general revision. 

The above statement will, it is hoped, give assurance that the work ofthe Bureau of Ethnology has been careful and thorough. No scheme hasbeen neglected which could be contrived and no labor has been sparedto secure the accuracy and completeness of the publication still inpreparation. It may also be mentioned that although the writer hasmade personal observations of signs, no description of any sign hasbeen printed by him which rests on his authority alone. Personalcontroversy and individual bias were thus avoided. For every signthere is a special reference either to an author or to some one ormore of the collaborators. While the latter have received fullcredit, full responsibility was also imposed, and that course will becontinued. 

No contribution has been printed which asserted that any describedsign is used by "all Indians, " for the reason that such statement isnot admissible evidence unless the authority had personally examinedall Indians. If any credible person had affirmatively stated that acertain identical, or substantially identical, sign had been found byhim, actually used by Abnaki, Absaroka, Arikara, Assiniboins, etc. , going through the whole list of tribes, or any definite portion ofthat list, it would have been so inserted under the several tribalheads. But the expression "all Indians, " besides being insusceptibleof methodical classification, involves hearsay, which is not the kindof authority desired in a serious study. Such loose talk long delayedthe recognition of Anthropology as a science. It is true that somegeneral statements of this character are made by some old authorsquoted in the Dictionary, but their descriptions are reprinted, asbeing all that can be used of the past, for whatever weight they mayhave, and they are kept separate from the linguistic classificationgiven below. 

Regarding the difficulties met with in the task proposed, the samemotto might be adopted as was prefixed to Austin's _Chironomia_: "_Nonsum nescius, quantum susceperim negotii, qui motus corporis exprimereverbis, imitari scriptura conatus sim voces. _" _Rhet. Ad Herenn_, 1. 3. If the descriptive recital of the signs collected had been absolutelyrestricted to written or printed words the work would have beenstill more difficult and the result less intelligible. The facilitiesenjoyed of presenting pictorial illustrations have been of great valueand will give still more assistance in the complete work than in thepresent paper. 

In connection with the subject of illustrations it may be noted thata writer in the _Journal of the Military Service Institution of theUnited States_, Vol. II, No. 5, the same who had before invented themode of describing signs by "means" mentioned on page 330 _supra_, gives a curious distinction between deaf-mute and Indian signsregarding their respective capability of illustration, as follows:"This French system is taught, I believe, in most of the schools fordeaf-mutes in this country, and in Europe; but so great has been thedifficulty of fixing the hands in space, either by written descriptionor illustrated cuts, that no text books are used. I must thereforeconclude that the Indian sign language is not only the more natural, but the more simple, as the gestures can be described quite accuratelyin writing, and I think can be illustrated. " The readers of thispaper will also, probably, "think" that the signs of Indians can beillustrated, and as the signs of deaf-mutes are often identical withthe Indian, whether expressing the same or different ideas, and whennot precisely identical are always made on the same principle and withthe same members, it is not easy to imagine any greater difficultyeither in their graphic illustration or in their written description. The assertion is as incorrect as if it were paraphrased to declarethat a portrait of an Indian in a certain attitude could be taken bya pencil or with the camera while by some occult influence the sameartistic skill would be paralysed in attempting that of a deaf-mutein the same attitude. In fact, text books on the "French system" areused and one in the writer's possession published in Paris twenty-fiveyears ago, contains over four hundred illustrated cuts of deaf-mutegesture signs. 

The proper arrangement and classification of signs will always betroublesome and unsatisfactory. There can be no accurate translationeither of sentences or of words from signs into written English. Sofar from the signs representing words as logographs, they do not intheir presentation of the ideas of actions, objects, and events, underphysical forms, even suggest words, which must be skillfully fittedto them by the glossarist and laboriously derived from, them bythe philologer. The use of words in formulation, still more interminology, is so wide a departure from primitive conditions as tobe incompatible with the only primordial language yet discovered. Novocabulary of signs will be exhaustive for the simple reason that thesigns are exhaustless, nor will it be exact because there cannot be acorrespondence between signs and words taken individually. Not onlydo words and signs both change their meaning from the context, but asingle word may express a complex idea, to be fully rendered only bya group of signs, and, _vice versa_, a single sign may suffice for anumber of words. The elementary principles by which the combinationsin sign and in the oral languages of civilization are effected arealso discrepant. The attempt must therefore be made to collate andcompare the signs according to general ideas, conceptions, and, ifpossible, the ideas and conceptions of the gesturers themselves, instead of in order of words as usually arranged in dictionaries. 

The hearty thanks of the writer are rendered to all his collaborators, a list of whom is given below, and will in future be presented ina manner more worthy of them. It remains to give an explanation ofthe mode in which a large collection of signs has been made directlyby the officers of the Bureau of Ethnology. Fortunately for thisundertaking, the policy of the government brought to Washington duringthe year 1880 delegations, sometimes quite large, of most of theimportant tribes. Thus the most intelligent of the race from manydistant and far separated localities were here in considerable numbersfor weeks, and indeed, in some cases, months, and, together withtheir interpreters and agents, were, by the considerate order of thehonorable Secretary of the Interior, placed at the disposal of thisBureau for all purposes of gathering ethnologic information. Thefacilities thus obtained were much greater than could have beenenjoyed by a large number of observers traveling for a long time overthe continent for the same express purpose. The observations relatingto signs were all made here by the same persons, according to auniform method, in which the gestures were obtained directly from theIndians, and their meaning (often in itself clear from the contextof signs before known) was translated sometimes through the medium ofEnglish or Spanish, or of a native language known in common by someone or more of the Indians and by some one of the observers. When aninterpreter was employed, he translated the words used by an Indianin his oral paraphrase of the signs, and was not relied upon toexplain the signs according to his own ideas. Such translationsand a description of minute and rapidly-executed signs, dictatedat the moment of their exhibition, were sometimes taken down bya phonographer, that there might be no lapse of memory in anyparticular, and in many cases the signs were made in successivemotions before the camera, and prints secured as certain evidenceof their accuracy. Not only were more than one hundred Indians thusexamined individually, at leisure, but, on occasions, several partiesof different tribes, who had never before met each other, and couldnot communicate by speech, were examined at the same time, both byinquiry of individuals whose answers were consulted upon by all theIndians present, and also by inducing several of the Indians to engagein talk and story-telling in signs between themselves. Thus it waspossible to notice the difference in the signs made for the sameobjects and the degree of mutual comprehension notwithstanding suchdifferences. Similar studies were made by taking Indians to theNational Deaf Mute College and bringing them in contact with thepupils. 

By far the greater part of the actual work of the observation andrecord of the signs obtained at Washington has been ably performed byDr. W. J. HOFFMAN, the assistant of the present writer. When the latterhas made personal observations the former has always been present, taking the necessary notes and sketches and superintending thephotographing. To him, therefore, belongs the credit for all thosereferences in the following "LIST OF AUTHORITIES AND COLLABORATORS, "in which it is stated that the signs were obtained at Washington fromIndian delegations. Dr. HOFFMAN acquired in the West, through hisservice as acting assistant surgeon, United States Army, at a largereservation, the indispensable advantage of becoming acquainted withthe Indian character so as to conduct skillfully such researches asthat in question, and in addition has the eye and pencil of an artist, so that he seizes readily, describes with physiological accuracy, and reproduces in action and in permanent illustration all shadesof gesture exhibited. Nearly all of the pictorial illustrations inthis paper are from his pencil. For the remainder, and for generalsuperintendence of the artistic department of the work, thanks are dueto Mr. W. H. HOLMES, whose high reputation needs no indorsement here. 

LIST OF AUTHORITIES AND COLLABORATORS. 

1. A list prepared by WILLIAM DUNBAR, dated Natchez, June 30, 1800, collected from tribes then "west of the Mississippi, " but probably notfrom those very far west of that river, published in the _Transactionsof the American Philosophical Society_, vol. Vi, pp. 1-8, as readJanuary 16, 1801, and communicated by Thomas Jefferson, president ofthe society. 

2. The one published in _An Account of an Expedition fromPittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819-1820, Philadelphia_, 1823, vol. I, pp. 378-394. This expedition was made byorder of the Hon. J. O. Calhoun, Secretary of War, under the command ofMaj. S. H. LONG, of the United States Topographical Engineers, and iscommonly called James' Long's Expedition. This list appears to havebeen collected chiefly by Mr. T. Say, from the Pani, and the Kansas, Otos, Missouris, Iowas, Omahas, and other southern branches of thegreat Dakota family. 

3. The one collected by Prince MAXIMILIAN VON WIED-NEUWIED in _Reisein das Innere Nord-America in den Jahren 1832 bis 1834_. _Coblenz_, 1839 [--1841], vol. Ii, pp. 645-653. His statement is, "the Arikaras, Mandans, Minnitarris [Hidatsa], Crows [Absaroka], Cheyennes, Snakes[Shoshoni], and Blackfeet [Satsika] all understand certain signs, which, on the contrary, as we are told, are unintelligible to theDakotas, Assiniboins, Ojibwas, Krihs [Crees], and other nations. Thelist gives examples of the sign language of the former. " From themuch greater proportion of time spent and information obtained by theauthor among the Mandans and Hidatsa then and now dwelling near PortBerthold, on the Upper Missouri, it might be safe to consider that allthe signs in his list were in fact procured from those tribes. But asthe author does not say so, he is not made to say so in this work. Ifit shall prove that the signs now used by the Mandans and Hidatsa moreclosely resemble those on his list than do those of other tribes, theinternal evidence will be verified. This list is not published inthe English edition, _London_, 1843, but appears in the German, abovecited, and in the French, _Paris_, 1840. Bibliographic reference isoften made to this distinguished explorer as "Prince Maximilian, " asif there were but one possessor of that Christian name among princelyfamilies. For brevity the reference in this paper will be _Wied_. 

No translation of this list into English appears to have been printedin any shape before that recently published by the present writerin the _American Antiquarian_, vol. Ii, No. 3, while the German andFrench editions are costly and difficult of access, so the collectioncannot readily be compared by readers with the signs now made by thesame tribes. The translation, now presented is based upon the Germanoriginal, but in a few cases where the language was so curt as notto give a clear idea, was collated with the French edition of thesucceeding year, which, from some internal evidence, appears to havebeen published with the assistance or supervision of the author. Manyof the descriptions are, however, so brief and indefinite in boththeir German and French forms that they necessarily remain so inthe present translation. The princely explorer, with the keendiscrimination shown in all his work, doubtless observed what hasescaped many recent reporters of Indian signs, that the latter dependmuch more upon motion than mere position, and are generally large andfree, seldom minute. His object was to express the general effect ofthe motion rather than to describe it with such precision as to allowof its accurate reproduction by a reader who had never seen it. Tohave presented the signs as now desired for comparison, toilsomeelaboration would have been necessary, and even that would not in allcases have sufficed without pictorial illustration. 

On account of the manifest importance of determining the prevalenceand persistence of the signs as observed half a century ago, anexception is made to the general arrangement hereafter mentioned byintroducing after the _Wied_ signs remarks of collaborators who havemade special comparisons, and adding to the latter the respectivenames of those collaborators--as, (_Matthews_), (_Boteler_). It ishoped that the work of those gentlemen will be imitated, not onlyregarding the _Wied_, signs, but many others. 

4. The signs given to publication by Capt. R. F. BURTON, which, itwould be inferred, were collected in 1860-'61, from the tribes met orlearned of on the overland stage route, including Southern Dakotas, Utes, Shoshoni, Arapahos, Crows, Pani, and Apaches. They are containedin _The City of the Saints_, _New York_, 1862, pp. 123-130. 

Information has been recently received to the effect that thiscollection was not made by the distinguished English explorer fromhis personal observation, but was obtained by him from one man in SaltLake City, a Mormon bishop, who, it is feared, gave his own ideas ofthe formation and use of signs rather than their faithful description. 

5. A list read by Dr. D. G. MACGOWAN, at a meeting of the AmericanEthnological Society, January 23, 1866, and published in the_Historical Magazine_, vol. X, 1866, pp. 86, 87, purporting to be thesigns of the Caddos, Wichitas, and Comanches. 

6. Annotations by Lieut. HEBER M. CREEL, Seventh United StatesCavalry, received in January, 1881. This officer is supposed tobe specially familiar with the Cheyennes, among whom he lived foreighteen months; but his recollection is that most of the signsdescribed by him were also observed among the Arapaho, Sioux, andseveral other tribes. 

7. A special contribution from Mr. F. F. GERARD, of Fort A. Lincoln, D. T. , of signs obtained chiefly from a deaf-mute Dakota, who hastraveled among most of the Indian tribes living between the MissouriRiver and the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Gerard's own observations are basedupon the experience of thirty-two years' residence in that country, during which long period he has had almost daily intercourse withIndians. He states that the signs contributed by him are used by theBlackfeet, (Satsika), Absaroka, Dakota, Hidatsa, Mandan, and ArikaraIndians, who may in general be considered to be the group of tribesreferred to by the Prince of Wied. 

In the above noted collections the generality of the statements asto locality of the observation and use of the signs rendered itimpossible to arrange them in the manner considered to be the best tostudy the diversities and agreements of signs. For that purpose it ismore convenient that the names of the tribe or tribes among which thedescribed signs have been observed should catch the eye in immediateconnection with them than that those of the observers only shouldfollow. Some of the latter indeed have given both similar anddifferent signs for more than one tribe, so that the use of thecontributor's name alone would create confusion. To print in everycase the name of the contributor, together with the name of the tribe, would seriously burden the paper and be unnecessary to the student, the reference being readily made to each authority through this LISTwhich also serves as an index. The seven collections above mentionedwill therefore be referred to by the names of the authoritiesresponsible for them. Those which now follow are arrangedalphabetically by tribes, under headings of Linguistic Familiesaccording to Major J. W. POWELL's classification, which are also givenbelow in alphabetic order. Example: The first authority is under theheading ALGONKIAN, and, concerning only the Abnaki tribe, is referredto as (_Abnaki_ I), Chief MASTA being the personal authority. 

_ALGONKIAN. _

_Abnaki_ I. A letter dated December 15, 1879, from H. L. MASTA, chiefof the Abnaki, residing near Pierreville, Quebec. 

_Arapaho_ I. A contribution from Lieut. H. B. LEMLY, Third UnitedStates Artillery, compiled from notes and observations taken by him in1877, among the Northern Arapahos. 

_Arapaho_ II. A list of signs obtained from O-QO-HIS'-SA (the Mare, better known as Little Raven) and NA'-WATC (Left Hand), members of adelegation of Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians, from Darlington, Ind. T. , who visited Washington during the summer of 1880. 

_Cheyenne_ I. Extracts from the _Report of Lieut. J. W. ABERT, of hisExamination of New Mexico in the years 1846-'47_, in Ex. Doc. No. 41, Thirtieth Congress, first session, Washington, 1848, p. 417, _et seq. _

_Cheyenne_ II. A list prepared in July, 1879, by Mr. FRANK H. CUSHING, of the Smithsonian Institution, from continued interviews withTITC-KE-MA'-TSKI (Cross-Eyes), an intelligent Cheyenne, then employedat that Institution. 

_Cheyenne_ III. A special contribution with diagrams from Mr. BENCLARK, scout and interpreter, of signs collected from the Cheyennesduring his long residence among that tribe. 

_Cheyenne_ IV. Several communications from Col. RICHARD I. DODGE, A. D. C. , United States Army, author of _The Plains of the Great Westand their Inhabitants_, _New York_, 1877, relating to his largeexperience with the Indians of the prairies. 

_Cheyenne_ V. A list of signs obtained from WA-Uⁿ' (Bob-tail) andMO-HI'NUK-MA-HA'-IT (Big Horse), members of a delegation of Arapahoand Cheyenne Indians from Darlington, Ind. T. , who visited Washingtonduring the summer of 1880. 

_Ojibwa_ I. The small collection of J. G. KOHL, made about the middleof the present century, among the Ojibwas around Lake Superior. Published in his _Kitchigami. Wanderings Around Lake Superior, London_, 1860. 

_Ojibwa_ II. Several letters from the Very Rev. EDWARD JACKER, PointeSt. Ignace, Mich. , respecting the Ojibwas. 

_Ojibwa_ III. A communication from Rev. JAMES A. GILFILLAN, WhiteEarth, Minn. , relating to signs observed among the Ojibwas during hislong period of missionary duty, still continuing. 

_Ojibwa_ IV. A list from Mr. B. O. WILLIAMS, Sr. , of Owosso, Mich. , from recollection of signs observed among the Ojibwas of Michigansixty years ago. 

_Ojibwa_ V. Contributions received in 1880 and 1881 from Mr. F. JACKER, of Portage River, Houghton County, Michigan, who has residedmany years among and near the tribe mentioned. 

_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. A list from Rev. H. F. BUCKNER, D. D. , ofEufaula, Ind. T. , consisting chiefly of tribal signs observed by himamong the Sac and Fox, Kickapoos, &c. , during the early part of theyear 1880. 

_DAKOTAN. _

_Absaroka_ I. A list of signs obtained from DE-E'-KI-TCIS (PrettyEagle), É-TCI-DI-KA-HĂTC'-KI (Long Elk), and PE-RI'-TCI-KA'-DI-A(Old Crow), members of a delegation of Absaroka or Crow Indians fromMontana Territory, who visited Washington during the months of Apriland May, 1880. 

_Dakota_ I. A comprehensive list, arranged with great care and skill, from Dr. CHARLES E. MCCHESNEY, acting assistant surgeon, United StatesArmy, of signs collected among the Dakotas (Sioux) near Fort Bennett, Dakota, during the year 1880. Dr. McChesney requests that recognitionshould be made of the valuable assistance rendered to him by Mr. WILLIAM FIELDEN, the interpreter at Cheyenne Agency, Dakota Territory. 

_Dakota_ II. A short list from Dr. BLAIR D. TAYLOR, assistant surgeon, United States Army, from recollection of signs observed among theSioux during his late service in the region inhabited by that tribe. 

_Dakota_ III. A special contribution from Capt. A. W. CORLISS, EighthUnited States Infantry, of signs observed by him during his lateservice among the Sioux. 

_Dakota_ IV. A copious contribution with diagrams from Dr. WILLIAM H. CORBUSIER, assistant surgeon, United States Army, of signs obtainedfrom the Ogalala Sioux at Pine Ridge Agency, Dakota Territory, during1879-'80. 

_Dakota_ V. A report of Dr. W. J. HOFFMAN, from observations among theTeton Dakotas while acting assistant surgeon, United States Army, andstationed at Grand River Agency, Dakota, during 1872-'73. 

_Dakota_ VI. A list of signs obtained from PE-ZHI' (Grass), chief ofthe Blackfoot Sioux; NA-ZU'-LA-TAⁿ-KA (Big Head), chief of the UpperYanktonais; and CE-TAⁿ-KIⁿ-YAⁿ (Thunder Hawk), chief of the Uncpapas, Teton Dakotas, located at Standing Rock, Dakota Territory, while atWashington in June, 1880. 

_Dakota_ VII. A list of signs obtained from SHUN-KU LU-TA (Red Dog), an Ogalala chief from the Red Cloud Agency, who visited Washington incompany with a large delegation of Dakotas in June, 1880. 

_Dakota_ VIII. A special list obtained from TA-TAⁿKA WA-KAⁿ(Medicine Bull), and other members of a delegation of Lower BruléDakotas, while at Washington during the winter of 1880-'81. 

_Hidatsa_ I. A list of signs obtained from TCE-CAQ'-A-DAQ-A-QIC(Lean Wolf), chief of the Hidatsa, located at Fort Berthold, DakotaTerritory, while at Washington with a delegation of Sioux Indians, inJune, 1880. 

_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. A valuable and illustrated contribution fromDr. WASHINGTON MATTHEWS, assistant surgeon, United States Army, authorof _Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians, Washington_, 1877, &c. , lately prepared from his notes and recollections of signsobserved during his long service among the Mandan and Hidatsa Indiansof the Upper Missouri. 

_Omaha_ I. A special list from Rev. J. OWEN DORSEY, lately missionaryat Omaha Agency, Nebraska, from observations made by him at thatagency in 1880. 

_Oto_ I. An elaborate list, with diagrams, from Dr. W. G. BOTELER, United States Indian service, collected from the Otos at the OtoAgency, Nebraska, during 1879-'80. 

_Oto and Missouri_ I. A similar contribution by the same authorityrespecting the signs of the Otos and Missouris, of Nebraska, collectedduring the winter of 1879-'80, in the description of many of which hewas joined by Miss KATIE BARNES. 

_Ponka_ I. A short list from Rev. J. OWEN DORSEY, obtained by him in1880 from the Ponkas in Nebraska. 

_Ponka_ II. A short list obtained at Washington from KHI-DHA-SKĂ, (White Eagle), and other chiefs, a delegation from Kansas in January, 1881. 

_IROQUOIAN. _

_Iroquois_ I. A list of signs contributed by the Hon. HORATIO HALE, author of "Philology" of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, &c. , nowresiding at Clinton, Ontario, Canada, obtained in June, 1880, fromSAKAYENKWARATON (Disappearing Mist), familiarly known as John SmokeJohnson, chief of the Canadian division of the Six Nations, orIroquois proper, now a very aged man, residing at Brantford, Canada. 

_Wyandot_ I. A list of signs from HEN'-TO (Gray Eyes), chief of theWyandots, who visited Washington during the spring of 1880, in theinterest of that tribe, now dwelling in Indian Territory. 

_KAIOWAN. _

_Kaiowa_ I. A list of signs from SITTIMGEA (Stumbling Bear), a Kaiowachief from Indian Territory, who visited Washington in June, 1880. 

_KUTINEAN. _

_Kutine_ I. A letter from J. W. POWELL, Esq. , Indian superintendent, British Columbia, relating to his observations among the Kutine andothers. 

_PANIAN. _

_Arikara_ I. A list of signs obtained from KUA-NUQ'-KNA-UI'-UQ (Sonof the Star), chief of the Arikaras, residing at Fort Berthold, DakotaTerritory, while at Washington with a delegation of Indians, in June, 1880. 

_Pani_ I. A short list obtained from "ESAU, " a Pani Indian, acting asinterpreter to the Ponka delegation at Washington, in January, 1881. 

_PIMAN. _

_Pima and Papago_ I. A special contribution obtained from ANTONITO, son of the chief of the Pima Indians in Arizona Territory, while on avisit to Washington in February, 1881. 

_SAHAPTIAN. _

_Sahaptian_ I. A list contributed by Rev. G. L. DEFFENBAUGH, of Lapwai, Idaho, giving signs obtained at Kamiah, Idaho, chiefly from FELIX, chief of the Nez Percés, and used by the Sahaptin or Nez Percés. 

_SHOSHONIAN. _

_Comanche_ I. Notes from Rev. A. J. HOLT, Denison, Texas, respecting, the Comanche signs, obtained at Anadarko, Indian Territory. 

_Comanche_ II. Information obtained at Washington, in February, 1880, from Maj. J. M. HAWORTH, Indian inspector, relating to signs used bythe Comanches of Indian Territory. 

_Comanche_ III. A list of signs obtained from KOBI (Wild Horse), aComanche chief from Indian Territory, who visited Washington in June, 1880. 

_Pai-Ute_ I. Information obtained at Washington from NA'TOI, a Pai-Utechief, who was one of a delegation of that tribe to Washington inJanuary, 1880. 

_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. A list of signs obtained from TENDOY (TheClimber), TISIDIMIT, PETE, and WI'AGAT, members of a delegation ofShoshoni and Banak chiefs from Idaho, who visited Washington duringthe months of April and May, 1880. 

_Ute_ I. A list of signs obtained from ALEJANDRE, GA-LO-TE, AUGUSTIN, and other chiefs, members of a delegation of Ute Indians of Colorado, who visited Washington during the early months of the year 1880. 

_TINNEAN. _

_Apache_ I. A list of signs obtained from HUERITO (Little Blonde), AGUSTIN VIJEL, and SANTIAGO LARGO (James Long), members of adelegation of Apache chief from Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico, who werebrought to Washington in the months of March and April, 1880. 

_Apache_ II. A list of signs obtained from NA'-KA'-NA'-NI-TEN (WhiteMan), an Apache chief from Indian Territory, who visited Washington inJune, 1880. 

_Apache_ III. A large collection made during the summer of 1880, byDr. FRANCIS H. ATKINS, acting assistant surgeon, United States Army, from the Mescalero Apaches, near South Fork, N. Mex. 

_Kutchin_ I. A communication, received in 1881, from Mr. IVAN PETROFF, special agent United States census, transmitting a dialogue, takendown by himself in 1866, between the Kenaitze Indians on the lowerKinnik River, in Alaska, and some natives of the interior who calledthemselves _Tennanah_ or _Mountain-River-Men_, belonging to the TinneKutchin tribe. 

_WICHITAN. _

_Wichita_ I. A list of signs from Rev. A. J. HOLT, missionary, obtainedfrom KIN-CHĒ-ĔSS (Spectacles), medicine-man of the Wichitas, atthe Wichita Agency, Indian Territory, in 1879. 

_Wichita_ II. A list of signs from TSODIÁKO (Shaved Head Boy), aWichita chief, from Indian Territory, who visited Washington in June, 1880. 

_ZUÑIAN. _

_Zuñi_ I. Some preliminary notes received in 1880 from Rev. TAYLOR F. EALY, missionary among the Zuñi, upon the signs of that body ofIndians. 

_FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. _

Valuable contributions have been received in 1880-'81 and collatedunder their proper headings, from the following correspondents indistant countries:

Rev. HERMAN N. BARNUM, D. D. , of Harpoot, Turkey, furnishes a list ofsigns in common use among Turks, Armenians, and Koords in that region. 

Miss L. O. LLOYD, Charleton House, Mowbray, near Cape Town, Africa, gives information concerning the gestures and signals of the Bushmen. 

Rev. LORIMER FISON, Navuloa, Fiji, notes in letters comparisonsbetween the signs and gestures of the Fijians and those of theNorth American Indians. As this paper is passing through the pressa _Collection_ is returned with annotations by him and also by Mr. WALTER CAREW, Commissioner for the Interior of Navitilevu. Thelast named gentleman describes some signs of a Fijian uninstructeddeaf-mute. 

Mr. F. A. VON RUPPRECHT, Kepahiang, Sumatra, supplies informationand comparisons respecting the signs and signals of the Redjangs andLelongs, showing agreement with some Dakota, Comanche, and Ojibwasigns. 

Letters from Mr. A. W. HOWITT, F. G. S. , Sale, Gippsland, Victoria, uponAustralian signs, and from Rev. JAMES SIBREE, jr. , F. R. G. S. , relativeto the tribes of Madagascar, are gratefully acknowledged. 

Many other correspondents are now, according to their kind promises, engaged in researches, the result of which have not yet been received. The organization of those researches in India and Ceylon has beenaccomplished through the active interest of Col. H. S. OLCOTT, U. S. Commissioner, Breach Candy, Bombay. 

 * * * * *

Grateful acknowledgment must be made to Prof. E. A. FAY, of theNational Deaf Mute College, through whose special attention a largenumber of the natural signs of deaf-mutes, remembered by them ashaving been invented and used before instruction in conventionalsigns, indeed before attending any school, was obtained. The gentlemenwho made the contributions in their own MS. , and without prompting, are as follows: Messrs. M. BALLARD, R. M. ZIEGLER, J. CROSS, PHILIPJ. HASENSTAB, and LARS LARSON. Their names respectively follow theirseveral descriptions. Mr. BALLARD is an instructor in the college, andthe other gentlemen were pupils during the session of 1880. 

Similar thanks are due to Mr. J. L. NOYES, superintendent of theMinnesota Institution for the education of the Deaf and Dumb, Faribault, Minn. , and to Messrs. GEORGE WING and D. H. CARROLL, teachers in that institution, for annotations and suggestionsrespecting deaf-mute signs. The notes made by the last named gentlemenare followed by their respective names in reference. 

 * * * * *

Special thanks are also rendered to Prof. JAMES D. BUTLER, of Madison, Wis. , for contribution of Italian gesture-signs, noted by him in 1843, and for many useful suggestions. 

 * * * * *

Other Italian signs are quoted from the Essay on Italiangesticulations by his eminence Cardinal WISEMAN, in his _Essayson Various Subjects, London_, 1855, Vol. III, pp. 533-555. ManyNeapolitan signs are extracted from the illustrated work of the canonANDREA DE JORIO, _La Mimica degli Antichi investigata nel gestireNapoletano_, _Napoli_, 1832. 

 * * * * *

A small collection of Australian signs has been extracted from R. BROUGH SMYTH's _The Aborigines of Victoria_, _London_, 1878. 

EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY. 

In the printed but unpublished _Collection_ before mentioned, page396, nearly three hundred quarto pages are devoted to descriptions ofsigns arranged in alphabetic order. A few of these are now presentedto show the method adopted. They have been selected either as havingconnection with the foregoing discussion of the subject or because forsome of them pictorial illustrations had already been prepared. Thereis propriety in giving all the signs under some of the title wordswhen descriptions of only one or two of those signs have been used inthe foregoing remarks. This prevents an erroneous inference thatthe signs so mentioned are the only or the common or the generallyprevailing signs for the idea conveyed. This course has involved someslight repetition both of descriptions and of illustrations, as itseemed desirable that they should appear to the eye in the severalconnections indicated. The extracts are rendered less interesting andinstructive by the necessity for omitting cross-references which wouldshow contrasts and similarities for comparison, but would require amuch larger part of the collected material to be now printed than isconsistent with the present plan. Instead of occupying in this mannerthe remaining space allotted to this paper, it was decided to present, as of more general interest, the descriptions of TRIBAL SIGNS, PROPERNAMES, PHRASES, DIALOGUES, NARRATIVES, DISCOURSES, and SIGNALS, whichfollow the EXTRACTS. 

It will be observed that in the following extracts there has been anattempt to supply the conceptions or origin of the several signs. Whenthe supposed conception, obtained through collaborators, is printedbefore the authority given as reference, it is understood to have beengathered from an Indian as being his own conception, and is thereforeof special value. When printed after the authority and withinquotation marks it is in the words of the collaborator as offered byhimself. When printed after the authority and without quotation marksit is suggested by this writer. 

The letters of the alphabet within parentheses, used in some of thedescriptions, refer to the corresponding figures in TYPES OF HANDPOSITIONS at the end of this paper. When such letters are followedby Arabic numerals it is meant that there is some deviation, which isdescribed in the text, from that type of hand position correspondingwith the letter which is still used as the basis of description. Example: In the first description from (_Sahaptin_ I) for _bad_, _mean_, page 412, (G) refers to the type of hand position so marked, being identically that position, but in the following reference, to(R 1), the type referred to by the letter R has the palm to the frontinstead of backward, being in all other respects the position which itis desired to illustrate; (R), therefore, taken in connection withthe description, indicates that change, and that alone. This modeof reference is farther explained in the EXAMPLES at the end of thispaper. 

References to another title word as explaining a part of a descriptionor to supply any other portions of a compound sign will always beunderstood as being made to the description by the same authorityof the sign under the other title-word. Example: In the seconddescription by (_Sahaptin_ I) for _bad, mean_, above mentioned, thereference to GOOD is to that sign for _good_ which is contributed byRev. G. L. DEFFENBAUGH, and is referred to as (_Sahaptin_ I. ). 

ANTELOPE. 

Pass the open right hand outward from the small of the back. (_Wied_. )This, as explained by Indians lately examined, indicates the lightercoloration upon the animal's flanks. A Ute who could speak Spanishaccompanied it with the word _blanco_, as if recognizing that itrequired explanation. 

With the index only extended, hold the hand eighteen or twenty inchestransversely in front of the head, index pointing to the left, then rub the sides of the body with the flat hands. (_Cheyenne_IV; _Dakota_ VI. ) "The latter sign refers to the white sides of theanimal; the former could not be explained. "

[Illustration: Fig. 234. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 235. ]

Extend and separate the forefingers and thumbs, nearly close all theother fingers, and place the hands with backs outward above and alittle in front of the ears, about four inches from the head, andshake them back and forth several times. Antelope's horns. This is anArapaho sign. (_Dakota_ I, II, IV. )

Close the right hand, leaving the end of the index in the form ofa hook, and the thumb extended as in Fig. 234; then wave the handquickly back and forth a short distance, opposite the temple. (_Hidatsa_ I; _Arikara_ I. ) "Represents the pronged horn of theanimal. This is the sign ordinarily used, but it was noticed that inconversing with one of the Dakotas the sign of the latter (_Dakota_VI) was used several times, to be more readily understood. "

Place both hands, fingers fully extended and spread, close to thesides of the head. _Wied's_ sign was readily understood as signifyingthe white flanks. (_Apache_ I. )

In connection with the above signs Fig. 235 is presented, which wasdrawn by Running Antelope, an Uncpapa Dakota, as his personal totem, or proper name. 

BAD, MEAN. 

Make the sign for GOOD and then that of NOT. (_Long. _)

Close the hand, and open it whilst passing it downward. (_Wied. _) Thisis the same as my description; but differently worded, possibly notesa less forcible form. I say, however, that the arm is "extended. "The precise direction in which the hand is moved is not, I think, essential. (_Matthews. _) This sign is invariably accompanied by acountenance expressive of contempt. (_F. Jacker. _). 

Scatter the dexter fingers outward, as if spurting away water fromthem. (_Burton_. )

(1) Right hand partially elevated, fingers closed, thumb clasping thetips; (2) sudden motion downward and outward accompanied by equallysudden opening of fingers and snapping of the fingers from the thumb. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Right hand closed back to front is moved forcibly downward andforward, the fingers being violently opened at instant of stopping themotion of hand. (_Cheyenne_ IV. )

Right hand closed (B) carried forward in front of the body toward theright and downward, during which the hand is opened, fingers downward, as if dropping out the contents. (_Dakota_ I. ) "Not worth keeping. "

Half close the fingers of the right hand, hook the thumb over the foreand middle fingers; move the hand, back upward, a foot or so towardthe object referred to, and suddenly let the fingers fly open. Scattered around, therefore bad. An Arapaho sign. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Close the fingers of the right hand, resting the tips against thethumb, then throw the hand downward and outward toward the right toarm's length, and spring open the fingers. Fig. 236. (_Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII; _Ponka_ II; _Pani_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 236. ]

The sign most commonly used for this idea is made by the hand beingclosed near the breast, with the back toward the breast, then as thearm is suddenly extended the hand is opened and the fingers separatedfrom each other. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

Hands open, palms turned in; move one hand toward, and the other from, the body; then vice versâ. (_Omaha_ I. )

Throw the clinched right hand forward, downward, and outward, and whennear at arm's length, suddenly snap the fingers from the thumb as ifsprinkling water. (_Wyandot_ I. ) "To throw away contemptuously; notworth keeping. "

Raise hand in front of breast, fingers hooked, thumb resting againstsecond finger, palm downward (G), then with a nervous movement throwthe hand downward to the right and a little behind the body, with anexpression of disgust on the face. During motion of hand the fingersare suddenly extended as though throwing something out of thehand, and in final position the fingers and thumb are straight andseparated, palm backward (R 1). (_Sahaptin_ I. ) "Away with it!"

Another: Same motion of arm and hand as in _good_. But in the firstposition fingers are closed, and as the hand moves to the right theyare thrown open, until in final position all are extended as in finalfor _good_. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

Extend the right hand, palm downward, and move it in a horizontal linefrom the body, then suddenly turn the hand over as if throwing waterfrom the back of it or the index. (_Comanche_ I. ) "Good, no. "

Pass the flat right hand, interruptedly, downward and backward pastthe right side. (_Pima and Papago_ I. ) "Putting aside. "

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Hold forward the closed hand with the little finger up, at the sametime nodding the head. (_Ballard_. )

Draw the tongue out a little and then shake the head with a displeasedlook. (_Larson_. )

Use the sign for _handsome_ (see first part of the sign for GOOD), atthe same time shake the head as if to say "no. " (_Ziegler_. )

_Deaf-mute signs_:

The hand closed (except the little finger which is extended andraised), and held forward with the fingers to the front is the signfor _bad_ illustrated in the Report for 1879 of the Ohio Institutionfor the Deaf and Dumb. This sign is used among the deaf-mutes inEngland. 

BEAR, ANIMAL. 

Pass the hand before the face to mean ugliness, at the same timegrinning and extending the fingers like claws. (_Burton_. )

Hands in front of and about eight inches above the elbows, fingersslightly bent and open, thumbs and palms to the front to representclaws, --or bear in standing position. Sometimes accompanied by clawingmotion. (_Creel_. )

(1) Middle and third finger of right hand clasped down by the thumb, forefinger and little finger extended, crooked downward; (2) themotion of scratching made in the air. (_Cheyenne_ II. ) Fig. 237. 

[Illustration: Fig. 237. ]

Fingers of both hands closed, except the thumb and little finger, which are extended, and point straight toward the front, handshorizontal, backs upward, are held in front of their respective sidesnear the body, and then moved directly forward with, short, sharpjerking motions. (_Dakota_ I. ) "From the motion of the bear inrunning. " This is also reported as an Arapaho sign. (_Dakota_ IV. ) Thepaws and claws are represented. 

Seize a short piece of wood, say about two feet long, wave in theright hand, and strike a blow at an imaginary person. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Seize a short thing about six inches long, hold it as dagger, pretend to thrust it downward under the breast-bone repeatedly, andeach time farther, grunting or gasping in doing so; withdraw thestick, holding it up, and, showing the blood, point to the breastwith the left forefinger, meaning to say _so do thou when you meet thebear_. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Pretend to stab yourself with an arrow in various parts ofthe body, then point towards the body with the left-hand forefinger. (_Omaha_ I. )

Arms are flexed and hands clasped about center of breast; then slowlyfall with arms pendulous and both hands in type-position (Q). The signis completed by slowly lifting the hands and arms several times inimitation of the animal's locomotion. Movement and appearance ofanimal's front feet. (_Oto_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 238. ]

Hold the closed right hand at the height of the elbow before the rightside, palm downward, extend and curve the thumb and little fingerso that their tips are nearly directed toward one another before theknuckles of the closed fingers; then push the hand forward severaltimes. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) "Pawand long claws. " Fig. 238. 

[Illustration: Fig. 239. ]

Hold both closed hands before the body, palms down, and about eightinches apart; reach forward a short distance, relaxing the fingers asif grasping something with them, and draw them back again as the handsare withdrawn to their former position. Ordinarily but one hand isused, as in Fig. 239. (_Ute_ I. ) "Scratching, and grasping with theclaws. "

The right hand thrown in the position as for _horse_, as follows:Elevate the right-hand, extended, with fingers joined, outer edgetoward the ground, in front of the body or right shoulder, andpointing forward, resting the curved thumb against the palmar side ofthe index, then extend both hands with fingers extended and curved, separated, palms down, and push them forward several times, making ashort arch. (_Apache_ I. ) "The animal that scratches with long claws. "

[Illustration: Fig. 240. ]

Fig. 240 is from a Moqui rock etching, contributed by Mr. G. K. Gilbert, showing the pictorial mode of representing the animal. 

_Deaf-mute sign_:

Claw both shoulders with the fingers. (_Wing_. )

---- Grizzly. 

Right hand flat and extended, held at height of shoulder, palmforward, then bring the palm to the mouth, lick it with the tongue, and return it to first position. (_Omaha_ I. ) "Showing blood on thepaw. "

Other remarks upon the signs for _bear_ are made on pages 293 and 345. 

BRAVE. 

Close the fists, place the left near the breast, and move the rightover the left toward the left side. (_Wied_. ) A motion somethinglike this, which I do not now distinctly recall--a short of wrenchingmotion with the fists in front of the chest--I have seen used for_strong_. If _Wied's_ sign-maker's hand first struck the region overthe heart (as he may have done) he would then have indicated a "strongheart, " which is the equivalent for _brave_. (_Matthews_. ) Thissign is used by the Sioux at the present day to denote _small_. (_McChesney_. ) I have seen a similar sign repeatedly, the onlyvariation being that the right fist is passed over and downward, infront of the left, instead of toward the left side. (_Hoffman_. ) Fig. 241. 

[Illustration: Fig. 241. ]

Clinch the right fist, and place it to the breast. (_Absaroka_ I;_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )

Both hands fists, backs outward, obliquely upward, near together, right inside of left, are moved forward from in front of the chest, two or three times and back again to original position and then theright-hand fist is thrown with some force over the left on a curve. _Endurance_ is expressed by this sign, and it is connected with thesun-dance trials of the young man in testing his bravery and powers ofendurance before admission to the ranks of the warriors. (_Dakota_ I. )

Push the two fists forward about a foot, at the height of the breast, the right about two inches behind the left, palms inward. (_Dakota_IV. ) "The hands push all before them. "

Hold the left arm in front as if supporting a shield, and the rightdrawn back as if grasping a weapon. Close the fists, lower the head, moving it a little forward (with a "lunge") as well as the arms andfists. . (_Omaha_ I. ) "I am brave. "

Another: Index and thumb extended parallel, palm to left, the otherfingers bent. Shake the open fingers several times at the personreferred to, the forearm being held at an angle of about 20°. (_Omaha_I. ) "You are very brave; you do not fear death when you see thedanger. "

Strike the breast gently with the palmar side of the right fist. (_Wyandot_ I. )

Place the left clinched hand horizontally before the breast, palmtoward the body, and at the same time strike forcibly downward infront of it with the right fist, as in Fig. 242. Sometimes the rightfist is placed back of the left, then thrown over the latter towardthe front and downward, as in Fig. 241 above. The same gesture hasalso been made by throwing the palmar side of the right fist edgewisedownward in front of the knuckles of the left, as in Fig. 243. In eachinstance the left fist is jerked upward very perceptibly as the rightone is thrust downward. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. )

[Illustration: Fig. 242. ]

Strike the clinched fist forcibly toward the ground in front of andnear the breast. (_Arikara_ I. )

---- He is the bravest of all. 

Make the sign for BRAVE and then the left forefinger, upright, backinward about twelve inches in front of left breast, right indexsimilarly held near the right breast, move them at the same timeoutward or forward, obliquely to the left, (_Dakota_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 243. ]

Raise right hand, fingers extended, palm downward (W 1), swing itaround "over all, " then point to the man, raise left fist (A 1, changed to left and palm inward) to a point in front of and nearthe body, close fingers of right hand and place the fist (A 2, palminward) between left fist and body and then with violent movementthrow it over left fist, as though breaking something, and stop ata point in front of and a little below left fist, and lastly pointupward with right hand. (_Sahaptin_ I. ) "Of all here he is strongest. "

The right fist, palm downward, is struck against the breast severaltimes, and the index is then quickly elevated before the face, pointing upward. (_Apache_ I. )

Move the fist, thumb to the head, across the forehead from right toleft, and cast it toward the earth over the left shoulder. (_Apache_III. )

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Run forward with a bold expression of the countenance. (_Larson_. )

Not to run back but to run forward. (_Ziegler_. )

_Deaf-mute sign_:

Left hand held as if pressing a loaf against the chest. Make a motionwith the right hand, palm upward as if cutting through the fingers ofthe left with a sawing motion. (_Wing_. )

Other remarks connected with the signs for _brave_ appear on pages352, 353, and 358, _supra_. 

CHIEF. 

The forefinger of the right hand extended, pass it perpendicularlydownward, then turn it upward, and raise it in a right line as high asthe head. (_Long_. ) "Rising above others. "

Raise the index finger of the right hand, holding it straight upward, then turn it in a circle and bring it straight down, a little towardthe earth. (_Wied_. ) The right hand is raised, and in position (J)describes a semicircle as in beginning the act of throwing. The armis elevated perfectly erect aside of the head, the palm of the indexand hand should be outward. There is an evident similarity in bothexecution and conception of this sign and _Wied's_; the littlevariation may be the result of different interpretation. The idea ofsuperiority is most prominent in both. (_Boteler_. ) "A prominent onebefore whom all succumb. " The Arikaras understood this sign, and theyafterwards used it in talking to me. (_Creel_. ) _Wied's_ air-picturereminds of the royal scepter with its sphere. 

Raise the forefinger, pointed upwards, in a vertical direction, andthen reverse both finger and motion; the greater the elevation the"bigger" the chief. (_Arapaho_ I. )

Place the closed hand, with the index extended and pointing upward, near the right cheek, pass it upward as high as the head, then turnit forward and downward toward the ground, the movement terminatinga little below the initial point. See Fig. 306 in TENDOY-HUERITODIALOGUE, p. 487. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Ponka_ II; _Shoshoni_I. )

(1) Sign for MAN, as follows: Right hand, palm inward, elevated toabout the level of the breast, index carelessly pointing upward, suddenly pointed straight upward, and the whole hand moved a littleforward, at the same time taking care to keep the back of the handtoward the person addressed; (2) middle, third, little finger, andthumb slightly closed together, forefinger pointing forward anddownward; (3) curved motion made forward, outward, and downward. (_Cheyenne_ II. ) "He who stands still and commands, " as shown bysimilarity of signs to _sit here_ or _stand here_. 

Extend the index, remaining fingers closed, and raise it to the rightside of the head and above it as far as the arm can reach. Have alsoseen the sign given by _Wyandot_ I. (_Ojibwa_ V. )

The extended forefinger of the right hand (J), of which the otherfingers are closed, is raised to the right side of the head and aboveit as far as the arm can be extended, and then the hand is broughtdown in front of the body with the wrist bent, the back of hand infront and the extended forefinger pointing downward. (_Dakota_ I. )"Raised above others. "

Move the upright and extended right index, palm forward, from theshoulder upward as high, as the top of the head, then forward sixinches through a curve, and move it forward six inches, and thendownward, its palm backward, to the height of the shoulder. An Arapahosign, Above all others. He looks over or after us. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Elevate the extended index before the shoulder, palm forward, pass itupward as high as the head, and forming a short curve to the front, then downward again slightly to the front to before the breast andabout fifteen inches from it. (_Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII; _Hidatsa_ I;_Arikara_ I. )

Right hand closed, forefinger pointing up, raise the hand from thewaist in front of the body till it passes above the head. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Bring the closed right hand, forefinger pointing up, on alevel with the face; then bring the palm of the left hand with forceagainst the right forefinger; next send up the right hand above thehead, leaving the left as it is. (_Omaha_ I. )

The right arm is extended by side of head, with the hand in position(J). The arm and hand then descend, the finger describing a semicirclewith the arm as a radius. The sign stops with arm hanging at fulllength. (_Oto_ I. ) "The arm of authority before whom all must fall. "

Both hands elevated to a position in front of and as high as theshoulders, palms facing, fingers and thumbs spread and slightlycurved; the hands are then drawn outward a short distance towardstheir respective sides and gently elevated as high as the top of thehead. (_Wyandot_ I. ) "One who is elevated by others. "

Elevate the closed hand--index only extended and pointing upward--tothe front of the right side of the face or neck or shoulder; pass itquickly upward, and when as high as the top of the head, direct itforward and downward again toward the ground. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) Close the right hand, index raised, extended, and placed before the breast, then move it forward from themouth, pointing forward, until at arm's length. (_Ute_ I. )

----, Head, of tribe. 

Place the extended index, pointing upward, at some distance beforethe right shoulder, then place the left hand, with fingers and thumbextended and separated, just back of the index; then in passing theindex upward as high as the head, draw the left hand downward a shortdistance, as in Fig. 244. Superior to others. (_Absaroka_ I; _Arikara_I. )

Place both flat hands before the body, palms down, and pass themhorizontally outward toward their respective sides, then make the signfor CHIEF. (_Arikara_ I. ) "Chief of the wide region and those uponit. "

[Illustration: Fig. 244. ]

After pointing out the man, point to the ground, all fingers closedexcept first (J 1, pointing downward in stead of upward), then pointupward with same hand (J 2), then move hand to a point in frontof body, fingers extended, palm downward (W 1), and move aroundhorizontally. (_Sahaptin_ I. ) "In this place he is head over all. "

[Illustration: Fig. 245. ]

Grasp the forelock with the right hand, palm backward, pass thehand upward about six inches and hold it in that position a moment. (_Pai-Ute_ I. ) Fig 245. 

Elevate the extended index vertically above and in front of the head, holding the left hand, forefinger pointing upward, from one to twofeet below and underneath the right, the position of the left, eitherelevated or depressed, also denoting the relative position of thesecond individual to that of the chief. (_Apache_ I. )

----, War. Head of a war party; Partisan. 

First make the sign of the _pipe_; then open the thumb and indexfinger of the right hand, back of the hand outward, moving it forwardand upward in a curve. (_Wied_. ) For remarks upon this sign see page384. 

Place the right hand, index only extended and pointing forward andupward, before the right side of the breast nearly at arm's length, then place the left hand, palm forward with fingers spread andextended, midway between the breast and the right hand. (_Arapaho_ II;_Cheyenne_ V; _Ponka_ II; _Pani_ I. )

First make the sign for BATTLE, viz: Both hands (A 1) brought to themedian line of the body on a level with the breast and close together;describe with both hands at the same time a series of circularmovements of small circumference; and then add the sign for CHIEF, (_Dakota_ I. ) "First in battle. "

---- of a band. 

Point toward the left and front with the extended forefinger of theleft hand, palm down; then place the extended index about twelveinches behind the left hand, pointing in the same direction. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Ponka_ II; _Pani_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 246. ]

Place the extended index at some distance before the right shoulder, pointing forward and slightly upward, then place the left hand withfingers and thumb extended and separated over the index, and whilepushing the index to the front, draw the left hand backward towardbody and to the left. Ahead of others. (_Absaroka_ I; _Arikara_ I. )Fig. 246. 

Point the extended index forward and upward before the chest, thenplace the spread fingers of the left hand around the index, but at ashort distance behind it, all pointing the same direction. Ahead ofthe remainder. (_Arikara_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 247. ]

Grasp the forelock with the right hand, palm backward, and pretend tolay the hair down over the right side of the head by passing the handin that direction. (_Pai-Ute_ I. ) Fig. 247. 

The French deaf-mute sign for _order, command_, maybe compared withseveral of the above signs. In it the index tip first touches thelower lip, then is raised above the head and brought down withviolence. (_L'enseignment primaire des sourds-muets; par M. Pélissier. Paris, 1856_. )

Not only in Naples, but, according to De Jorio, in Italy generally theconception of _authority_ in gesture is by pressing the right handon the flank, accompanied by an erect and squared posture of the bustwith the head slightly inclined to the right. The idea of _substance_is conveyed. 

[Illustration: Fig. 248. ]

----, Warrior lower than actual, but distinguished for bravery. 

Place the left forefinger, pointing toward the left and front, beforethe left side of the chest, then place the extended index near (oragainst) the forefinger, and, while passing the latter outward towardthe left, draw the index toward the right. (_Absaroka_ I; _Arikara_ I;_Shoshoni_ I. ) Fig. 248. 

DEAD, DEATH. 

Throw the forefinger from the perpendicular into a horizontal positiontoward the earth, with the back downward. (_Long_. )

Hold the left hand flat over the face, back outward, and pass withthe similarly held right hand below the former, gently striking ortouching it. (_Wied_. ) The sign given (_Oto and Missouri_ I) has nosimilarity in execution or conception with _Wied's_. (_Boteler_. ) Thissign may convey the idea of _under_ or _burial_, quite differentlyexecuted from most others reported. Dr. McChesney conjectures thissign to be that of wonder or surprise at hearing of a death, but not adistinct sign for the latter. 

The finger of the right hand passed to the left hand and then castdown. (_Macgowan_. )

Hold the left hand slightly arched, palm down, fingers pointing towardthe right about fifteen inches before the breast, then place theextended index nearer the breast, pointing toward the left, pass itquickly forward underneath the left hand and in an upward curve totermination. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Ponka_ II; _Pani_ I. )

Place the palm of the hand at a short distance from the side of thehead, then withdrawing it gently in an oblique downward direction andinclining the head and upper part of the body in the same direction. (_Ojibwa_ II. ) See page 353 for remarks upon this sign. 

Hold both hands open, with palms over ears, extend fingers back onbrain, close eyes, and incline body a little forward and to right orleft very low, and remain motionless a short time, pronouncing theword _Ke-nee-boo_ slowly. (_Ojibwa_ IV. )

Left hand flattened and held back upward, thumb inward in front of anda few inches from the breast. Right hand slightly clasped, forefingermore extended than the others, and passed suddenly under the lefthand, the latter being at the same time gently moved toward thebreast. (_Cheyenne_ II. ) "Gone under. "

Both hands horizontal in front of body, backs outward, index of eachhand alone extended, the right index is passed under the left with adownward, outward and then upward and inward curved motion at thesame time that the left is moved inward toward the body two or threeinches, the movements being ended on the same level as begun. "Upset, keeled over. " For _many deaths_ repeat the sign many times. The signof (_Cheyenne_ II) expresses "gone under, " but is not used in thesense of _death, dead_, but _going under a cover_, as entering alodge, under a table, &c. (_Dakota_ I. )

Make the sign for ALIVE, viz. : The right hand, back upward, is tobe at the height of the elbow and forward, the index extended andpointing forward, the other fingers closed, thumb against middlefinger; then, while rotating the hand outward, move it to a positionabout four inches in front of the face, the back looking forward andthe index pointing upward; then the sign for No. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Another: Hold the left hand pointing toward the right, palm obliquelydownward and backward, about a foot in front of the lower part ofthe chest, and pass the right hand pointing toward the left, palmdownward, from behind forward underneath it. Or from an uprightposition in front of the face, back forward, index extended and otherfingers closed, carry the right hand downward and forward underneaththe left and about four inches beyond it, gradually turning the righthand until its back is upward and its index points toward the left. AnArapaho sign. Gone under or buried. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Hold the left hand slightly bent with the palm down, before thebreast, then pass the extended right hand, pointing toward the left, forward under and beyond the left. (_Dakota_ VI, VII. )

Hold the right hand, flat, palm downward, before the body; then throwit over on its back to the right, making a curve of about fifteeninches. (_Dakota_ VI; _Hidatsa_ I; _Arikara_ I. ) The gestureof reversal in this and other instances may be compared withpicture-writings in which the reversed character for the name or totemof a person signifies his death. One of these is given in Fig. 249, taken from Schoolcraft's _Hist. Am. Tribes_, I, p. 356, showing thecedar burial post or _adjedatig_ of Wabojeeg, an Ojibwa war chief, whodied on Lake Superior about 1793. He belonged to the deer clan of histribe and the animal is drawn reversed on the post. 

[Illustration: Fig. 249. ]

Extend right hand, palm down, hand curved. Turn the palm up in movingthe hand down towards the earth. (_Omaha_ I. )

The countenance is brought to a sleeping composure with the eyesclosed. This countenance being gradually assumed, the head next fallstoward either shoulder. The arms having been closed and crossed uponthe chest with the hands in type positions (B B) are relaxed and dropsimultaneously towards the ground, with the fall of the head. Thisattitude is maintained some seconds. (_Oto and Missouri_ I. ) "Thebodily appearance at death. "

Place the open hand, back upward, fingers a little drawn together, at the height of the breast, pointing forward; then move it slowlyforward and downward, turning it over at the same time. (_Iroquois_I. ) "To express 'gone into the earth, face upward. '"

The flat right hand is waved outward and downward toward the sameside, the head being inclined in the same direction at the time, witheyes closed. (_Wyandot_ I. )

Hold the left hand loosely extended about fifteen inches in front ofthe breast, palm down, then pass the index, pointing to the left, ina short curve downward, forward, and upward beneath the left palm. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

[Illustration: Fig. 250. ]

Bring the left hand to the left breast, hand half clinched (H), thenbring the right hand to the left with the thumb and forefinger insuch a position as if you were going to take a bit of string from thefingers of the left hand, and pull the right hand off in a horizontalline as if you were stretching a string out, extend the hand to thefull length of the arm from you and let the index finger point outwardat the conclusion of the sign. (_Comanche_ I. ) "Soul going to happyhunting-grounds. "

The left hand is held slightly arched, palm down, nearly at arm'slength before the breast; the right extended, flat, palm down, and pointing forward, is pushed from the top of the breast, straightforward, underneath, and beyond the left. (_Shoshoni andBanak_ I. ) Fig. 250. 

Close both eyes, and after a moment throw the palm of the right handfrom the face downward and outward toward the right side, the headbeing dropped in the same direction. (_Ute_ I. )

Touch the breast with the extended and joined fingers of the righthand, then throw the hand, palm to the left, outward toward the right, leaning the head in that direction at the same time. (_Apache_ I. )

Close the eyes with the tips of the index and second finger, respectively, then both hands are placed side by side, horizontally, palms downward, fingers extended and united; hands separated by slowhorizontal movement to right and left. (_Kutchin_ I. )

Palm of hand upward, then a wave-like motion toward the ground. (_Zuñi_ I. )

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Place the hand upon the cheek, and shut the eyes, and move the handdownward toward the ground. (_Ballard. _)

Let your head lie on the open hand with eyes shut. (_Cross. _)

Use the right shut hand as if to draw a screw down to fasten the lidto the coffin and keep the eyes upon the hand. (_Hasenstab. _)

Move the head toward the shoulder and then close the eyes. (_Larson. _)

_Deaf mute signs_:

The French deaf-mute conception is that of gently falling or sinking, the right index falling from the height of the right shoulder upon theleft forefinger, toward which the head is inclined. 

The deaf-mute sign commonly used in the United States is the same as_Dakota_ VI; _Hidatsa_ I; _Arikara_ I; above. Italians with obviousconception, make the sign of the cross. 

---- To Die. 

Right hand, forefinger extended, side up, forming with the thumba 'U'; the other fingers slightly curved, touching each other, thelittle finger having its side toward the ground. Move the hand rightand left then forward, several times; then turn it over suddenly, letting it fall toward the earth. (_Ojibwa_ V; _Omaha_ I. ) "An animalwounded, but staggering a little before it falls and dies. "

[Illustration: Fig. 251. ]

---- Dying. 

Hold the left hand as in _dead_; pass the index in the same mannerunderneath the left, but in a slow, gentle, interrupted movement. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) "Step bystep; inch by inch. " Fig. 251. 

[Illustration: Fig. 252. ]

---- Nearly, but recovers. 

Hold the left hand as in _dead_; pass the index with a slow, easy, interrupted movement downward, under the left palm, as in _dying_, but before passing from under the palm on the opposite side returnthe index in the same manner to point of starting; then elevate it. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) Fig. 252. 

Other remarks upon the signs for _dead_ are given on page 353. 

GOOD. 

The hand held horizontally, back upward, describes with the arm ahorizontal curve outward. (_Long. _) This is like the Eurasian motionof benediction, but may more suggestively be compared with several ofthe signs for _yes_, and in opposition to several of those for _bad_and _no_, showing the idea of acceptance or selection of objectspresented, instead of their rejection. 

Place the right hand horizontally in front of the breast and move itforward. (_Wied. _) This description is essentially the same as theone I furnished. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. ) I stated, however, that thehand was moved outward (i. E. , to the right). I do not remember seeingit moved directly forward. In making the motion as I have described itthe hand would have to go both outward and forward. (_Matthews_. ) Theleft arm is elevated and the hand held in position (W). The arm andhand are thus extended from the body on a level with the chest; theelbow being slightly bent, the arm resembles a bent bow. The right armis bent and the right hand, in position (W), sweeps smoothly over theleft arm from the biceps muscle over the ends of the fingers. Thissign and _Wied's_ are noticeably similar. The difference is, the _Oto_sign uses the left arm in conjunction and both _more to the left_. Theconception is of something that easily passes; smoothness, evenness, etc. , in both. (_Boteler_. )

Wave the hand from the mouth, extending the thumb from the indexand closing the other three fingers. This sign also means _I know_. (_Burton_. )

(1) Right-hand fingers pointing to the left placed on a level withmouth, thumb inward; (2) suddenly moved with curve outward so as topresent palm to person addressed. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Pass the open right hand, palm downward, from the heart, twenty-fourinches horizontally forward and to the right through an arc of about90°. (_Dakota_ IV. ) "Heart easy or smooth. "

Another: Gently strike the chest two or three times over the heartwith the radial side of the right hand, the fingers partly flexed andpointing downward. An Arapaho sign. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Place the flat right hand, palm down, thumb touching the breast, thenmove it forward and slightly upward and to the right. (_Arapaho_ II;_Cheyenne_ V; _Ojibwa_ V; _Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII; _Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

Pass the flat hand, palm down, from the breast forward and in a slightcurve to the right. (_Dakota_ VI; _Hidatsa_ I; _Ankara_ I. )

The extended right hand, palm downward, thumb backward, fingerspointing to the left, is held nearly or quite in contact with the bodyabout on a level with the stomach; it is then carried outward to theright a foot or two with a rapid sweep, in which the forearm is movedbut not necessarily the humerus. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

Move right hand, palm down, over the blanket, right and left, severaltimes. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Hit the blanket, first on the right, then on the left, palmdown, several times. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Point at the object with the right forefinger, shaking it alittle up and down, the other fingers being closed. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Same as preceding, but with the hand open, the thumb crookedunder and touching the forefinger; hand held at an angle of 45° whileshaking a little back and forth. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Hold the closed hands together, thumbs up; separate byturning the wrists down, and move the fists a little apart; thenreverse movements till back to first position. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Hold the left hand with back toward the ground, fingers andthumb apart, and curved; hold the right hand opposite it, palm down, hands about six inches apart; shake the hands held thus, up and down, keeping them the same distance apart. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Hold the hands with the palms in, thumbs up, move hands rightand left, keeping them about six inches apart. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Look at the right hand, first on the back, then on the palm, then on the back again. (_Omaha_ I. )

The flat right hand, palm down, is moved forward and upward, startingat a point about twelve inches before the breast. (_Wyandot_ I. )

Hold the flat right hand forward and slightly outward from theshoulder, palm either upward or downward, and pass it edgewisehorizontally to the right and left. This sign was made when nopersonality was involved. The same gesturer when claiming for himselfthe character of goodness made the following: Rapidly pat the breastwith the flat right hand. (_Pima and Papago_ I. )

Throw right hand from front to side, fingers extended and palm down, forearm horizontal. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

Make an inclination of the body forward, moving at the same timeboth hands forward from the breast, open, with the palm upward, and gradually lowering them. This is also used for _glad, pleased_. (_Iroquois_ I. )

Bring both hands to the front, arms extended, palms outward; elevatethem upward and slightly forward; the face meanwhile expressive ofwonder. (_Comanche_ I. )

Bring the hand opposite the breast, a little below, hand extended, palm downward (W), and let it move off in a horizontal direction. Ifit be very good, this may be repeated. If comparatively good, repeatit more violently. (_Comanche_ I. )

Hold the right hand palm down, pointing to the left, and placedhorizontally before the breast, then raise it several times slightly. Good and glad. (_Kutchin_ I. )

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Smack the lips. (_Ballard_. )

Close the hand while the thumb is up, and nod the head and smile as ifto approve of something good. (_Hasenstab_. )

Point the forefinger to the mouth and move the lips with a pleasedlook as if tasting sweet fruit. (_Larson_. )

Use the sign for _handsome_ by drawing the outstretched palm of theright hand down over the right cheek; at the same time nod the head asif to say "yes. " (_Ziegler_. )

_Deaf-mute signs_:

Some of the Indian signs appear to be connected with a pleasant tastein the month, as is the sign of the French and American deaf-mutes, waving thence the hand, either with or without touching the lips, backupward, with fingers straight and joined, in a forward and downwardcurve. They make nearly the same gesture with hand sidewise forgeneral assent: "Very well!"

The conventional sign for _good_, given in the illustration to thereport of the Ohio Institution for the education of the deaf and dumb, is: The right hand raised forward and closed, except the thumb, whichis extended upward, held vertically, its nail being toward the body;this is in opposition to the sign for _bad_ in the same illustration, the one being merely the exhibition of the thumb toward and the otherof the little finger away from the body. They are English signs, thetraditional conception being acceptance and rejection respectively. 

_Italian signs_:

The fingers gathered on the mouth, kissed and stretched out andspread, intimate a dainty morsel. The open hand stretched outhorizontally, and gently shaken, intimates that a thing is so-so, notgood and not bad. (_Butler_. ) Compare also the Neapolitan sign givenby De Jorio, see Fig. 62, p. 286, _supra_. Cardinal Wiseman gives asthe Italian sign for _good_ "the hand thrown upwards and the head backwith a prolonged ah!" _Loc. Cit. _, p. 543. 

---- Heart is. 

Strike with right hand on the heart and make the sign for GOOD fromthe heart outward. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Touch the left breast over the heart two or three times with theends of the fingers of the right hand; then make the sign for GOOD. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Place the fingers of the flat right hand over the breast, then makethe sign for GOOD. (_Dakota_ VII. )

Move hand to position in front of breast, fingers extended, palmdownward (W), then with quick movement throw hand forward and tothe side to a point 12 or 15 inches from body, hand same as in firstposition. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

For further remarks on the signs for _good_, see page 286. 

HABITATION, INCLUDING HOUSE, LODGE, TIPI, WIGWAM. 

---- HOUSE. 

The hand half open and the forefinger extended and separated;then raise the hand upward and give it a half turn, as if screwingsomething. (_Dunbar_. )

Cross the ends of the extended fingers of the two hands, the hands tobe nearly at right angle, radial side up, palms inward and backward, thumbs in palms. Represents the logs at the end of a log house. (_Creel_; _Dakota_ IV. )

Partly fold the hands; the fingers extended in imitation of the cornerof an ordinary log house. (_Arapaho_ I. )

Both hands outspread near each other, elevated to front of face;suddenly separated, turned at right angles, palms facing; broughtdown at right angles, suddenly stopped. Representing square form of ahouse. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

The fingers of both hands extended and slightly separated, then thoseof the right are placed into the several spaces between those of theleft, the tips extending to about the first joints. (_Absaroka_ I. )"From the arrangement of the logs in a log building. "

Both hands extended, fingers spread, place those of the right into thespaces between those of the left, then move the hands in this positiona short distance upward. (_Wyandot_ I. ) "Arrangement of logs andelevation. "

[Illustration: Fig. 253. ]

Both hands are held edgewise before the body, palms facing, spread thefingers, and place those of one hand into the spaces between thoseof the other, so that the tips of each protrude about an inch beyond. (_Hidatsa_ I; _Kaiowa_ I; _Arikara_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. ) "The arrangement of logs in a frontier house. " Fig. 253. In connection with this sign compare the pictograph, Fig. 204, page 379, _supra_. In ordinary conversation the sign for _white man'shouse_ is often dropped, using instead the generic term employed for_lodge_, and this in turn is often abbreviated, as by the Kaiowas, Comanches, Wichitas, and others, by merely placing the tips of theextended forefingers together, leaving the other fingers and thumbsclosed, with the wrists about three or four inches apart. 

Both hands held pointing forward, edges down, fingers extended andslightly separated, then place the fingers of one hand into the spacesbetween the fingers of the other, allowing the tips of the fingersof either hand to protrude as far as the first joint, or near it. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. ) "From the appearance of a corner of a loghouse--protruding and alternate layers of logs. "

Fingers of both hands interlaced at right angles several times; thenthe sign for LODGE. (_Kutchin_ I. )

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Draw the outlines of a house in the air with hands tip to tip at aright angle. (_Ballard_. )

Put the open hands together toward the face, forming a right anglewith the arms. (_Larson_. )

----, Stone; Fort. 

Strike the back of the right fist against the palm of the left hand, the left palm backward, the fist upright ("idea of resistance orstrength"); then with both hands opened, relaxed, horizontal, andpalms backward, place the ends of the right fingers behind and againstthe ends of the left; then separate them, and moving them backward, each through a semicircle, bring their bases together. The latter signis also that of the Arapahos for _house_. An inclosure. (_Dakota_ IV. )The first part of this sign is that for _stone_. 

---- LODGE, TIPI, WIGWAM. 

The two hands are reared together in the form of the roof of a house, the ends of the fingers upward. (_Long_. )

Place the opened thumb and forefinger of each hand opposite eachother, as if to make a circle, but leaving between them a smallinterval; afterward move them from above downward simultaneously(which is the sign for _village_); then elevate the finger to indicatethe number--one. (_Wied_. ) Probably he refers to an earthen lodge. Ithink that the sign I have given you is nearly the same with all theUpper Missouri Indians. (_Matthews_. )

Place the fingers of both hands ridge-fashion before the breast. (_Burton_. )

Indicate outlines (an inverted V, thus ^), with the forefingerstouching or crossed at the tips, the other fingers closed. (_Creel_;_Arapaho_ I. )

Both hands open, fingers upward, tips touching, brought downward, and at same time separated to describe outline of a cone, suddenlystopped. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Both hands approximated, held forward horizontally, fingers joinedand slightly arched, backs upward, withdraw them in a sideward anddownward direction, each hand moving to its corresponding side, thuscombinedly describing a hemisphere. Carry up the right and, with itsindex pointing downward indicate a spiral line rising upward fromthe center of the previously formed arch. (_Ojibwa_ V. ) "From thedome-shaped form of the wigwam, and the smoke rising from the openingin the roof. "

Both hands flat and extended, placing the tips of the fingers of oneagainst those of the other, leaving the palms or wrists about fourinches apart. (_Absaroka_ I; _Wyandot_ I; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )"From its exterior outline. "

Both hands carried to the front of the breast and placed V-shaped, inverted, thus ^, with the palms, looking toward each other, edge offingers outward, thumbs inward. (_Dakota_ I. ) "From the outline of thetipi. "

With the hands nearly upright, palms inward, cross the ends of theextended forefingers, the right one either in front or behind theleft, or lay the ends together; resting the ends of the thumbstogether side by side, the other fingers to be nearly closed, andresting against each other, palms inward. Represents the tipi polesand the profile of the tipi. (_Dakota_ IV. )

[Illustration: Fig. 254. ]

Place the tips of the fingers of both hands together in front of thebreast, with the wrists some distance apart. (_Dakota_ V. ) Fig. 254. 

Fingers of both hands extended and separated; then interlace them sothat the tips of the fingers of one hand protrude beyond the backsof those of the opposing one; hold the hands in front of the breast, pointing upward, leaving the wrists about six inches apart. (_Dakota_VII, VIII; _Hidatsa_ I; _Ponka_ II; _Arikara_ I; _Pani_ I. )

The extended hands, with finger tips upward and touching, the palmsfacing one another, and the wrists about two inches apart, are heldbefore the chest. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

Place the tip of the index against the tip of the forefinger of theleft hand, the remaining fingers and thumbs closed, before the chest, leaving the wrists about six inches apart. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) "Outline of lodge. " This is anabbreviated sign, and care must be taken to distinguish it from _tomeet_, in which the fingers are brought from their respective sidesinstead of upward to form the gesture. 

Another: Place the tips of the fingers of the flat extended handstogether before the breast, leaving the wrists about six inches apart. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

[Illustration: Fig. 255. ]

Another: Both hands flat and extended, fingers slightly separated;then place the fingers of the right hand between the fingers of theleft as far as the second joints, so that the fingers of one handprotrude about an inch beyond those of the other; the wrists must beheld about six inches apart. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_II; _Wichita_ II. ) "Outline of Indian lodge and crossing of tent-polesabove the covering. " Fig. 255. 

Fig. 256 represents a Sahaptin sign given to the writer by a gentlemanlong familiar with the northwestern tribes of Indians. The conceptionis the same union of the lodge poles at the top, shown in severalother signs, differently executed. 

[Illustration: Fig. 256. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 257. ]

Place the tips of the spread fingers of both hands against one anotherpointing upward before the body, leaving a space of from four to sixinches between the wrists. Fig. 257. The fingers are sometimes bent soas to more nearly represent the outline of a house and roof. Fig. 258. This, however, is accidental. (_Pai-Ute_ I. ) "Represents the boughsand branches used in the construction of a Pai-Ute 'wik-i-up. '"

[Illustration: Fig. 258. ]

Place the tips of the two flat hands together before the body, leavinga space of about six inches between the wrists. (_Ute_ I. ) "Outline ofthe shape of the lodge. "

[Illustration: Fig. 259. ]

Left hand and right hand put together in shape of sloping shelter(_Kutchin_ I. ) Fig. 259. 

---- Great Council House. 

Place both flat and extended hands in front of the shoulders, pointingforward, palms facing; then pass them straight upward and slightlyinward near the termination of the gesture. This appears to combinethe gestures for _much, large_, and _lodge_. (_Arikara_ I. )

----, Coming or going out of a. 

Same as the sign for _entering a lodge_, only the fingers of theright hand point obliquely upward after passing under the left hand. (_Dakota_ I. ) "Coming out from under cover. "

Hold the open left hand a foot or eighteen inches in front of thebreast, palm downward or backward, fingers pointing toward the rightand pass the right, back upward, with index extended, or all of thefingers extended, and pointing forward, about eighteen inches forwardunderneath the left through an arc from near the mouth. Some at thesame time move the left hand toward the breast. (_Dakota_ IV. )

----, Entering a. 

The left hand is held with the back upward, and the right hand alsowith the back up is passed in a curvilinear direction down under theother, so as to rub against its palm, then up on the other side of it. The left hand here represents the low door of the skin lodge and theright the man stooping down to pass in, (_Long_. )

Pass the flat right hand in short curves under the left, which is helda short distance forward. (_Wied_. ) I have described the same sign. Itis not necessary to pass the hand more than once. By saying curves, he seems to imply many passes. If the hand is passed more than once itmeans repetition of the act. (_Matthews; McChesney_. ) The conceptionis of the stooping to pass through the low entrance, which is oftencovered by a flap of skin, sometimes stretched on a frame, and whichmust be shoved aside, and the subsequent rising when the entrance hasbeen accomplished. A distinction is reported by a correspondentas follows: "If the intention is to speak of a person entering thegesturer's own lodge, the right hand is passed under the left andtoward the body, near which the left hand is held; if of a personentering the lodge of another, the left hand is held further from thebody and the right is passed under it and outward. In both cases bothhands are slightly curved and compressed. " As no such distinction isreported by others it may be an individual invention or peculiarity. 

A gliding movement of the extended hand, fingers joined, backs up, downward, then ascending, indicative of the stooping and resumption ofthe upright position in entering the same. (_Arapaho_ I. )

(1) Sign for LODGE, the left hand being still in position used inmaking sign for LODGE; (2) forefinger and thumb of right hand broughtto a point and thrust through the outline of an imaginary lodgerepresented by the left hand. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

First make the sign for LODGE, then place the left hand, horizontaland slightly arched, before the body, and pass the right hand withextended index underneath the left--forward and slightly upward beyondit. (_Absaroka_ I; _Dakota_ V; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I; _Wyandot_ I. )

Left hand (W), ends of fingers toward the right, stationary in frontof the left breast; pass the right hand directly and quickly out fromthe breast under the stationary left hand, ending with the extendedfingers of the right hand pointing outward and slightly downward, joined, palm downward flat, horizontal (W). (_Dakota_ I. ) "Gone under;covered. "

Hold the open left hand a foot or eighteen inches in front of thebreast, palm downward or backward, fingers pointing toward the right, and pass the right hand, palm upward, fingers bent sidewise andpointing backward, from before backward underneath it, through acurve until near the mouth. Some at the same time move the left hand alittle forward. (_Dakota_ IV. )

The left hand, palm downward, finger-tips forward, either quiteextended or with the fingers slightly bent, is held before thebody. Then the right hand nearly or quite extended, palm downward, finger-tips near the left thumb, and pointing toward it, is passedtransversely under the left hand and one to four inches below it. Thefingers of the right hand point slightly upward when the motion iscompleted. This sign usually, but not invariably, refers to entering ahouse. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

Place the slightly curved left hand, palm down, before the breast, pointing to the right, then pass the flat right hand, palm down, ina short curve forward, under and upward beyond the left. (_Ute_ I. )"Evidently from the manner in which a person is obliged to stoop inentering an ordinary Indian lodge. "

HORSE. 

The right hand with the edge downward, the fingers joined, the thumbrecumbent, extended forward. (_Dunbar_. )

Place the index and middle finger of the right hand astraddle theindex finger of the left. [In the original the expression "third"finger is used, but it is ascertained in another connection that theauthor counts the thumb as the first finger and always means what isgenerally styled middle finger when he says third. The alteration ismade to prevent confusion. ] (_Wied_. ) I have described this sign inwords to the same effect. (_Matthews_. ) The right arm is raised, andthe hand, opened edgewise, with fingers parallel and approximated, isdrawn from left to right before the body at the supposed height of theanimal. There is no conceivable identity in the execution of this signand _Wied's_, but his sign for _horse_ is nearly identical with thesign for _ride a horse_ among the Otos. (_Boteler_. ) This sign isstill used by the Cheyennes. (_Dodge_. )

A hand passed across the forehead. (_Macgowan_. )

Left-hand thumb and forefinger straightened out, held to the level ofand in front of the breast; right-hand forefinger separated from themiddle finger and thrown across the left hand to imitate the act ofbestriding. They appear to have no other conception of a horse, andhave thus indicated that they have known it only as an animal to beridden. (_Creel_; _Cheyenne_ II. )

Draw the right hand from left to right across the body about theheart, the fingers all closed except the index. This is abbreviatedby making a circular sweep of the right open hand from about the leftelbow to the front of the body, probably indicating the mane. A Panisign. (_Cheyenne_ IV. )

Place the first two fingers of the right hand, thumb extended (N 1), downward, astraddle the first two joined and straight fingers of theleft hand (T 1), sidewise to the right. Many Sioux Indians use onlythe forefinger straightened. (_Dakota_ I. ) "Horse mounted. "

The first and second fingers extended and separated, remaining fingersand thumb closed; left forefinger extended, horizontal, remainingfingers and thumb closed; place the right-hand fingers astride of theforefinger of the left, and both hands jerked together, up and down, to represent the motion of a horse. (_Dakota_ III. )

The two hands being clinched and near together, palms downward, thumbsagainst the forefingers, throw them, each alternately, forward andbackward about a foot, through an ellipsis two or three times, fromabout six inches in front of the chest, to imitate the galloping of ahorse, or the hands may be held forward and not moved. (_Dakota_ IV. )

[Illustration: Fig. 260. ]

Place the extended and separated index and second fingers of theright hand astraddle of the extended forefinger of the left. Fig. 260. Sometimes all the fingers of the left hand are extended in making thissign, as in Fig. 261, though this may be the result of carelessness. (_Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII; _Hidatsa_ I; _Ponka_ II; _Arikara_ I; _Pani_I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 261. ]

The left hand is before the chest, back upward in the position of anindex-hand pointing forward; then the first and second fingers of theright hand only being extended, separated and pointing downward, areset one on each side of the left forefinger, the interdigital spaceresting on the forefinger. The palm faces downward and backward. Thisrepresents a rider astride of a horse. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

Close hands, except forefingers, which are curved downward; move themforward in rotation, imitating the fore feet of the horse, and makepuffing sound of "Uh, uh"! (_Omaha_ I. ) "This sign represents thehorse racing off to a safe distance, and puffing as he tosses hishead. "

The arm is flexed and the hand extended is brought on a level withthe mouth. The hand then assumes the position (W 1), modified by beingheld edges up and down, palm toward the chest, instead of flat. Thearm and hand being held thus about the usual height of a horse aremade to pass in an undulating manner across the face or body about onefoot distant from contact. The latter movements are to resemble theanimal's gait. (_Oto_ I. ) "Height of animal and movement of same. "

The index and second fingers of the right hand are placed astraddlethe extended forefinger of the left. (_Wyandot_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 262. ]

Place the flat right hand, thumb down, edgewise before the right sideof the shoulder, pointing toward the right. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) Pig. 262. 

[Illustration: Fig. 263. ]

Another: Hold the right hand flat, extended, with fingers joined, thethumb extended upward, then pass the hand at arm's length before theface from left to right. This is said by the authorities citedbelow to be also the Caddo sign, and that the other tribes mentionedoriginally obtained it from that tribe. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ I, III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) Fig. 263. 

Another: Place the extended and separated index and second fingersastraddle the extended and horizontal forefinger of the left hand. This sign is only used when communicating with uninstructed white men, or with other Indians whose sign for horse is specifically distinct. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ). 

[Illustration: Fig. 264. ]

Place the extended index and second fingers of the right hand acrossthe extended first two fingers of the left. Fig. 264. Size of theanimal is indicated by passing the right hand, palm down, with fingersloosely separated, forward from the right side, at any height as thecase may necessitate, after which the sign for HORSE may be made. (_Pima and Papago_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 265. ]

Place the right hand, palm down, before the right side of the chest;place the tips of the second and third fingers against the ball of thethumb, allowing the index and little fingers to project to representthe ears. Fig. 265. Frequently the middle fingers extend equally withand against the thumb, forming the head of the animal, the ears alwaysbeing represented by the two outer fingers, viz, the index and littlefinger. Fig. 266. (_Ute_ I. ) A similar sign is reported by ColonelDodge as used by the Utes. 

[Illustration: Fig. 266. ]

Elevate the right hand, extended, with fingers joined, outer edgetoward the ground, in front of the body or right shoulder, andpointing forward, resting the curved thumb against the palmar sideof the index. This sign appears also to signify _animal_ generically, being frequently employed as a preliminary sign when denoting otherspecies. (_Apache_ I. )

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Imitate the motion of the elbows of a man on horseback. (_Ballard_. )

Act in the manner of a driver, holding the lines in his hands andshouting to the horse. (_Cross_. )

Move the hands several times as if to hold the reins. (_Larson_. )

_Deaf-mute signs_:

The French deaf-mutes add to the straddling of the index the motion ofa trot. American deaf-mutes indicate the ears by placing two fingersof each hand on each side of the head and moving them backward andforward. This is sometimes followed by straddling the left hand by thefore and middle fingers of the right. 

----, A man on a. 

Same sign as for HORSE, with the addition of erecting the thumb whilemaking the gesture. (_Dodge_. )

----, Bay. 

Make the sign for HORSE, and then rub the lower part of the cheek backand forth. (_Dakota_ IV. )

----, Black. 

Make the sign for HORSE, and then, point to a black object or rubthe back of the left hand with the palmar side of the fingers of theright. (_Dakota_ IV. )

----, Bronco. An untamed horse. 

Make the sign TO RIDE by placing the extended and separated index andsecond fingers of the right hand astraddle the extended forefingerof the left hand, then with both hands retained in their relativepositions move them forward in high arches to show the bucking of theanimal. (_Ute_ I. )

----, Grazing of a. 

Make the sign for HORSE, then lower the hand and pass it from side toside as if dipping it upon the surface. (_Ute_ I. )

----, Packing a. 

Hold the left hand, pointing forward, palm inward, a foot in frontof the chest and lay the opened right hand, pointing forward, firstobliquely along the right side of the upper edge of the left hand, then on top, and then obliquely along the left side. (_Dakota_ IV. )

----, Racing, Fast horse. 

The right arm is elevated and bent at right angle before the face;the hand, in position (S 1) modified by being horizontal, palm to theface, is drawn across edgewise in front of the face. The hand isthen closed and in position (B) approaches the mouth from which it isopened and closed successively forward several times, finally itis suddenly thrust out in position (W 1) back concave. (_Oto andMissouri_ I. ) "Is expressed in the (_Oto_ I) sign for HORSE, then themotion for quick running. "

---- Racing. 

Extend the two forefingers and after placing them parallel neartogether in front of the chest, backs upward, push them rapidlyforward about a foot. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Place both hands, with the forefingers only extended and pointingforward side by side with the palms down, before the body; then pushthem alternately backward and forward, in imitation of the movement ofhorses who are running "neck and neck. " (_Ute_ I; _Apache_ I, II. )

----, Saddling a. 

Hold the left hand as in the sign for HORSE, _Packing a_, and lay thesemiflexed right hand across its upper edge two or three times, theends of the right fingers toward the left. (_Dakota_ IV. )

[Illustration: Fig. 267. ]

Place the extended and separated fingers rapidly with a slapping soundastraddle the extended fore and second fingers of the left hand. Thesound is produced by the palm of the right hand which comes in contactwith the upper surface of the left. (_Ute_ I. ) Pig. 267. 

----, Spotted; pied. 

Make the sign for HORSE, then the sign for SPOTTED, see page 345. (_Dakota_ IV. )

KILL, KILLING. 

The hands are held with the edge upward, and the right hand strikesthe other transversely, as in the act of chopping. This sign seems tobe more particularly applicable to convey the idea of death producedby a blow of the tomahawk or war-club. (_Long_. )

Clinch the hand and strike from above downward. (_Wied_. ) I do notremember this. I have given you the sign for killing with a stroke. (_Matthews_. ) There is an evident similarity in conception andexecution between the (_Oto and Missouri_ I) sign and _Wied's_. (_Boteler_. ) I have frequently seen this sign made by theArikara, Gros Ventre, and Mandan Indians at Fort Berthold Agency. (_McChesney_. ) This motion, which maybe more clearly expressed as thedownward thrust of a knife held in the clinched hand, is still usedby many tribes for the general idea of "kill, " and illustrates theantiquity of the knife as a weapon. _Wied_ does not say whetherthe clinched hand is thrust downward with the edge or the knucklesforward. The latter is now the almost universal usage among the sametribes from which he is supposed to have taken his list of signs, andindicates the thrust of a knife more decisively than if the fist weremoved with the edge in advance. The actual employment of arrow, gun, or club in taking life, is, however, often specified by appropriategesture. 

Smite the sinister palm earthward with the dexter fist sharply, insign of "going down"; or strike out with the dexter fist toward theground, meaning to "shut down"; or pass the dexter under the leftforefinger, meaning to "go under. " (_Burton_. )

Right hand cast down. (_Macgowan_. )

Hold the right fist, palm down, knuckles forward, and make a thrustforward and downward. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII; _Hidatsa_ I; _Ponka_ II; _Arikara_ I; _Pani_ I. ) Fig. 268. 

[Illustration: Fig. 268. ]

Right hand clinched, thumb lying along the finger tips, elevated tonear the shoulder, strike downward and out vaguely in the directionof the object to be killed. The abstract sign for _kill_ is simply toclinch the right hand in the manner described and strike it down andout from the right side. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Close the right hand, extending the forefinger alone; point towardthe breast, then throw from you forward, bringing the hand toward theground. (_Ojibwa_ V; _Omaha_ I. )

Both hands clinched, with the thumbs resting against the middle jointsof the forefingers, hold the left transversely in front of and as highas the breast, then push the right, palm down, quickly over and downin front of the left. (_Absaroka_ I; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I. ) "Toforce under--literally. "

With the dexter fist carried to the front of the body at the rightside, strike downward and outward several times, with back of handupward, thumb toward the left, several times. (_Dakota_ I. ) "Strikedown. "

With the first and second joints of the fingers of the right handbent, end of thumb against the middle of the index, palm downward, move the hand energetically forward and downward from a foot infront of the right breast. Striking with a stone--man's first weapon. (_Dakota_, IV. )

The left hand, thumb up, back forward, not very rigidly extended, isheld before the chest and struck in the palm with the outer edge ofthe right hand. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. ) "To kill with a blow; todeal the death blow. " Fig. 269. 

Right hand, fingers open but slightly curved, palm to the left; movedownward, describing a curve. (_Omaha_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 269. ]

Another: Similar to the last, but the index finger is extended, pointing in front of you, the other fingers but half open. (_Omaha_I. )

Place the flat right hand, palm down, at arm's length to the right, bring it quickly, horizontally, to the side of the head, then makethe sign for DEAD. (_Ojibwa_ V; _Wyandot_ I. ) "To strike with a club, dead. "

Both hands, in positions (AA), with arms semiflexed toward the body, make the forward rotary sign with the clinched fists as in fighting;the right hand is then raised from the left outward, as clutchinga knife with the blade pointing downward and inward toward the leftfist; the left fist, being held _in situ_, is struck now by the right, edgewise as above described, and both suddenly fall together. (_Otoand Missouri_ I. ) "To strike down in battle with a knife. Indiansseldom disagree or kill another in times of tribal peace. "

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Strike a blow in the air with the clinched fist, and then incline thehead to one side, and lower the open hand, palm upward. (_Ballard_. )

Strike the other hand with the fist, or point a gun, and, having shot, suddenly point to your breast with the finger, and hold your headsidewise on the hand. (_Cross_. )

Use the closed hand as if to strike, and then move back the head withthe eyes shut and the mouth opened. (_Hasenstab_. )

Put the head down over the breast, and then move down the stretchedhand along the neck. (_Larson_. )

_Turkish sign_:

Draw finger across the throat like cutting with a knife. (_Barnum_. )

---- In battle, To. 

Make the sign for BATTLE by placing both hands at the height of thebreast, palms facing, the left forward from the left shoulder, theright outward and forward from the right, fingers pointing up andspread, move them alternately toward and from one another; then strikethe back of the fingers of the right hand into the slightly curvedpalm of the left, immediately afterward throwing the right outward anddownward toward the right. (_Ute_ I. ) "Killed and falling over. "

---- You; I will kill you. 

Direct the right hand toward the offender and spring the finger fromthe thumb, as in the act of sprinkling water. (_Long_. ) The conceptionis perhaps "causing blood to flow, " or, perhaps, "sputtering away thelife, " though there is a strong similarity to the motion used for the_discharge of a gun or arrow_. 

Remarks and illustrations connected with the signs for _kill_ appearon pages 377 and 378, _supra_. 

----, to, with a knife. 

Clinch the right hand and strike forcibly toward the ground beforethe breast from the height of the face. (_Ute_ I. ) "Appears to haveoriginated when flint knives were still used. "

NO, NOT. (COMPARE NOTHING. )

The hand held up before the face, with the palm outward and vibratedto and fro. (_Dunbar_. )

The right hand waved outward to the right with the thumb upward. (_Long_; _Creel_. )

Wave the right hand quickly by and in front of the face toward theright. (_Wied_. ) Refusing to accept the idea or statement presented. 

Move the hand from right to left, as if motioning away. This sign alsomeans "I'll have nothing to do with you. " (_Burton_. )

A deprecatory wave of the right hand from front to right, fingersextended and joined. (_Arapaho_ I; _Cheyenne_ V. )

Right-hand fingers extended together, side of hand in front of andfacing the face, in front of the mouth and waved suddenly to theright. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Place the right hand extended before the body, fingers pointingupward, palm to the front, then throw the hand outward to the right, and slightly downward. (_Absaroka_ I; _Hidatsa_ I; _Arikara_ I. ) SeeFig. 65, page 290. 

The right hand, horizontal, palm toward the left, is pushed sidewiseoutward and toward the right from in front of the left breast. _No, none, I have none_, etc. , are all expressed by this sign. Often theseIndians for _no_ will simply shake the head to the right and left. This sign, although it may have originally been introduced from thewhite people's habit of shaking the head to express "no, " has been inuse among them for as long as the oldest people can remember, yet theydo not use the variant to express "yes. " (_Dakota_ I. ) "Dismissing theidea, etc. "

Place the opened relaxed right hand, pointing toward the left, backforward, in front of the nose or as low as the breast, and throw itforward and outward about eighteen inches. Some at the same time turnthe palm upward. Or make the sign at the height of the breast withboth hands. Represents the shaking of the head. (_Dakota_ IV. ) Theshaking of the head in negation is not so universal or "natural" asis popularly supposed, for the ancient Greeks, followed by the modernTurks and rustic Italians, threw the head back, instead of shaking it, for "no. " Rabelais makes Pantagruel (Book 3) show by many quotationsfrom the ancients how the shaking of the head was a frequent ifnot universal concomitant of oracular utterance--not connected withnegation. 

Hold the flat hand edgewise, pointing upward before the right side ofthe chest, then throw it outward and downward to the right. (_Dakota_VI, VII. ) Fig. 270. 

[Illustration: Fig. 270. ]

The hand, extended or slightly curved, is held in front of the bodya little to the right of the median line; it is then carried with arapid sweep a foot or more farther to the right. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_I. )

Place the hand as in _yes_, as follows: The hand open, palm downward, at the level of the breast, is moved forward with a quick downwardmotion from the wrist, imitating a bow of the head; then move it fromside to side. (_Iroquois_ I. ) "A shake of the head. "

Throw the flat right hand forward and outward to the right, palm tothe front. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

Quick motion of open hand from the mouth forward, palm toward themouth. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

Place hand in front of body, fingers relaxed, palm toward body (Y 1), then with easy motion move to a point, say, a foot from the body, alittle to right, fingers same, but palm upward. (_Sahaptin_ I. ) "Wedon't agree. " To express _All gone_, use a similar motion with bothhands. "Empty. "

The hand waved outward with the thumb upward in a semi-curve. (_Comanche_ I; _Wichita_ I. )

Elevate the extended index and wave it quickly from side to sidebefore the face. This is sometimes accompanied by shaking the head. (_Pai-Ute_ I. ) Fig. 271. 

[Illustration: Fig. 271. ]

Extend the index, holding it vertically before the face, remainingfingers and thumb closed; pass the finger quickly from side to side afoot or so before the face. (_Apache_ I. ) This sign, as also thatof (_Pai-Ute_ I), is substantially the same as that with the samesignificance reported from Naples by De Jorio. 

Another: The right hand, naturally relaxed, is thrown outward andforward toward the right. (_Apache_ I. )

Wave extended index before the face from side to side. (_Apache_ III. )

Another: Wave the index briskly before the right shoulder. Thisappears to be more common than the preceding. (_Apache_ III. )

Right hand extended at the height of the eye, palm outward, then movedoutward a little toward the right. (_Kutchin_ I. )

Extend the palm of the right hand horizontally a foot from the waist, palm downward, then suddenly throw it half over from the body, as iftossing a chip from the back of the hand. (_Wichita_ I. )

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Shake the head. (_Ballard. _)

Move both hands from each other, and, at the same time, shake thehead. (_Hasenstab. _)

_Deaf-mute signs_:

French deaf-mutes wave the hand to the right and downward, withthe first and second fingers joined and extended, the other fingersclosed. This position of the fingers is that for the letter N in thefinger alphabet, the initial for the word _non_. American deaf-mutesfor emphatic negative wave the right hand before the face. 

_Turkish sign_:

Throwing head back or elevating the chin and partly shutting the eyes. This also means, "Be silent. " (_Barnum. _)

_Japanese sign_:

Move the right hand rapidly back and forth before the face. Communicated in a letter from Prof. E. S. MORSE, late of the Universityof Tokio, Japan. The same correspondent mentions that the AdmiraltyIslanders pass the forefinger across the face, striking the nose inpassing, for negation. If the _no_ is a doubtful one they _rub_ thenose in passing, a gesture common elsewhere. 

For further illustrations and comparisons see pp. 290, 298, 299, 304, 355, and 356, _supra_. 

NONE, NOTHING; I HAVE NONE. 

Motion of rubbing out. (_Macgowan_. )

_Little_ or _nothing_ is signified by passing one hand over the other. (_Creel_; _Ojibwa_ I. )

May be signified by smartly brushing the right hand across the leftfrom the wrist toward the fingers, both hands extended, palms towardeach other and fingers joined. (_Arapaho_ I. )

Is included in _gone, destroyed. (Dakota_ I. )

Place the open left hand about a foot in front of the navel, pointingobliquely forward toward the right, palm obliquely upward andbackward, and sweep the palm of the open right hand over it and abouta foot forward and to the right through a curve. All bare. (_Dakota_IV. )

Another: Pass the ulnar side of the right index along the left indexseveral times from tip to base, while pronating and supinating thelatter. Some roll the right index over on its back as they move italong the left. The hands are to be in front of the navel, backsforward and outward, the left index straight and pointing forwardtoward the right, the right index straight and pointing forward andtoward the left; the other fingers loosely closed. Represents a bushbare of limbs. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Another: With the light hand pointing obliquely forward to the left, the left forward to the right, palms upward, move them alternatelyseveral times up and down, each time striking the ends of the fingers. Or, the left hand being in the above position, rub the right palm in acircle on the left two or three times, and then move it forward and tothe right. Rubbed out; that is all; it is all gone. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Pass the palm of the flat right hand over the left from the wristtoward and off of the tips of the fingers. (_Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII;_Ponka_ II; _Pani_ I. ) Fig. 272. 

[Illustration: Fig. 272. ]

Brush the palm of the left hand from wrist to finger tips with thepalm of the right. (_Wyandot_ I. )

Another: Throw both hands outward toward their respective sides fromthe breast. (_Wyandot_ I. )

Pass the flat right palm over the palm of the left hand from the wristforward over the fingers. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. ) "Wiped out. "

Hold the left hand open, with the palm upward, at the height of theelbow and before the body; pass the right quickly over the left, palmstouching, from the wrist toward the tips of the left, as if brushingoff dust. (_Apache_ I. )

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Place the hands near each other, palms downward, and move themover and apart, bringing the palms upward in opposite directions. (_Ballard_. )

Make a motion as in picking up something between the thumb and finger, carry it to the lips, blow it away, and show the open hand. (_Wing_. )

_Australian sign_:

_Pannie_ (none or nothing). For instance, a native says _Bomakoingina_ (give a tomahawk). I reply by shaking the hand, thumb, and allfingers, separated and loosely extended, palm down. (_Smyth_, _loc. Cit. _) Fig. 273. 

[Illustration: Fig. 273. ]

_Turkish sign_:

Blowing across open palm as though blowing off feathers; also means"Nothing, nothing left. " (_Barnum_. )

----, I have none. 

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Expressed by the signs for none, after pointing to one's self. (_Ballard_. )

Stretch the tongue and move it to and fro like a pendulum, then shakethe head as if to say "no. " (_Ziegler_. )

---- Left. Exhausted for the present. 

Hold both hands naturally relaxed nearly at arm's length before thebody, palms toward the face, move them alternately to and fro a fewinches, allowing the fingers to strike those of the opposite hand eachtime as far as the second joint. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_II; _Wichita_ II. ) Cleaned out. 

QUANTITY, LARGE; MANY; MUCH. 

The flat of the right hand patting the back of the left hand, which isrepeated in proportion to the greater or lesser quantity. (_Dunbar_. )Simple repetition. 

The hands and arms are passed in a curvilinear direction outward anddownward, as if showing the form of a large globe; then the hands areclosed and elevated, as if something was grasped in each hand and heldup about as high as the face. (_Long_; _Creel_. )

Clutch at the air several times with both hands. The motion greatlyresembles those of danseuses playing the castanets. (_Ojibwa_ I. )

In the preceding signs the authorities have not distinguished betweenthe ideas of "many" and "much. " In the following there appears by theexpressions of the authorities to be some distinction intended betweena number of objects and a quantity in volume. 

---- MANY. 

A simultaneous movement of both hands, as if gathering or heaping up. (_Arapaho_ I. ) Literally "a heap. "

Both hands, with spread and slightly curved fingers, are held pendentabout two feet apart before the thighs; then draw them toward oneanother, horizontally, drawing them upward as they come together. (_Absaroka_ I; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I; _Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III;_Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) "An accumulation of objects. "

Hands about eighteen inches from the ground in front and about thesame distance apart, held scoop-fashion, palms looting toward eachother, fingers separated; then, with a diving motion, as if scoopingup corn from the ground, bring the hands nearly together, with fingersnearly closed, as though holding the corn, and carry upward tothe height of the breast, where the hands are turned over, fingerspointing downward, separated, as though the contents were allowed todrop to the ground. (_Dakota_ I, II. )

Open the fingers of both hands, and hold the two hands before thebreast, with the fingers upward and a little apart, and the palmsturned toward each other, as if grasping a number of things. (_Iroquois_ I. )

Place the hands on either side of and as high as the head, then openand close the fingers rapidly four or five times. (_Wyandot_ I. )"Counting 'tens' an indefinite number of times. "

Clasp the hands effusively before the breast. (_Apache_ III. )

_Deaf-mute natural signs_;

Put the fingers of the two hands together, tip to tip, and rub themwith a rapid motion. (_Ballard_. )

Make a rapid movement of the fingers and thumbs of both hands upwardand downward, and at the same time cause both lips to touch each otherin rapid succession, and both eyes to be half opened. (_Hasenstab_. )

Move the fingers of both hands forward and backward. (_Ziegler_. ) Addto _Ziegler's_ sign: slightly opening and closing the hands. (_Wing_. )

---- Horses. 

Raise the right arm above the head, palm forward, and thrust forwardforcibly on a line with the shoulder. (_Omaha_ I. )

---- Persons, etc. 

Hands and fingers interlaced. (_Macgowan_. )

Take up a bunch of grass or a clod of earth; place it in the hand ofthe person addressed, who looks down upon it. (_Omaha_ I. ) "Representsas many or more than the particles contained in the mass. "

---- MUCH. 

Move both hands toward one another and slightly upward. (_Wied_. ) Ihave seen this sign, but I think it is used only for articles that maybe piled on the ground or formed into a heap. The sign most in use forthe general idea of _much_ or _many_ I have given. (_Matthews_. )

Bring the hands up in front of the body with the fingers carefullykept distinct. (_Cheyenne_ I. )

Both hands closed, brought up in a curved motion toward each other tothe level of the neck or chin, (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Both hands and arms are partly extended; each hand is then made todescribe, simultaneously with the other, from the head downward, thearc of a circle curving outward. This is used for _large_ in somesenses. (_Ojibwa_ V; _Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

Both hands flat and extended, placed before the breast, finger tipstouching, palms down; then separate them by passing outward anddownward as if smoothing the outer surface of a globe. (_Absaroka_I; _Shoshoni and Banack_ I; _Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. ) "A heap. "

_Much_ is included in _many_ or _big_, as the case may require. (_Dakota_ I. )

The hands, with fingers widely separated, slightly bent, pointingforward, and backs outward, are to be rapidly approximated throughdownward curves, from positions twelve to thirty-six inches apart, atthe height of the navel, and quickly closed. Or the hands may be moveduntil the right is above the left. So much that it has to be gatheredwith both hands. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Hands open, palms turned in, held about three feet apart and about twofeet from the ground. Raise them about a foot, then bring in an upwardcurve toward each other. As they pass each other, palms down, theright hand is about three inches above the left. (_Omaha_ I. )

Place both hands flat and extended, thumbs touching, palms downward, in front of and as high as the face; then move them outward anddownward a short distance toward their respective sides, thusdescribing the upper half of a circle. (_Wyandot_ I. ) "A heap. "

Both hands clinched, placed as high as and in front of the hips, palmsfacing opposite sides and about a foot apart, then bring them upwardand inward, describing an arc, until the thumbs touch. (_Apache_ I. )Fig. 274. 

[Illustration: Fig. 274. ]

Sweep out both hands as if inclosing a large object; wave the handsforward and somewhat upward. (_Apache_ III. ) "Suggesting immensity. "

_Deaf-mute sign_:

The French deaf-mutes place the two hands, with fingers united andextended in a slight curve, nearly together, left above right, infront of the body, and then raise the left in a direct line above theright, thus suggesting the idea of a large and slightly-rounded objectbeing held between the two palms. 

---- And heavy. 

Hands open, palms turned in, held about three feet apart, and abouttwo feet from the ground, raise them about a foot; close the fists, backs of hands down, as if lifting something heavy; then move a shortdistance up and down several times. (_Omaha_ I. )

Remarks connected with the signs for _quantity_ appear on pages 291, 359, and 382, _supra_. 

QUESTION; INQUIRY; INTERROGATION. 

The palm of the hand upward and carried circularly outward, anddepressed. (_Dunbar_. )

The hand held up with the thumb near the face, and the palm directedtoward the person of whom the inquiry is made; then rotated upon thewrist two or three times edgewise, to denote uncertainty. (_Long;Comanche_ I; _Wichita_ I. ) The motion might be mistaken for thederisive, vulgar gesture called "taking a sight, " "_donner un piedde nez_, " descending to our small boys from antiquity. The separatemotion of the fingers in the vulgar gesture as used in our easterncities is, however, more nearly correlated with some of the Indiansigns for _fool_, one of which is the same as that for _Kaiowa_, seeTRIBAL SIGNS. It may be noted that the Latin "_sagax_, " from which isderived "sagacity, " was chiefly used to denote the keen scent of dogs, so there is a relation established between the nasal organ and wisdomor its absence, and that "_suspendere naso_" was a classic phrase forhoaxing. The Italian expressions "_restare con un palmo di naso_, ""_con tanto di naso_, " etc. , mentioned by the canon De Jorio, referto the same vulgar gesture in which the face is supposed to be thrustforward sillily. Further remarks connected with this sign appear onpp. 304, 305, _supra_. 

Extend the open hand perpendicularly with the palm outward, and moveit from side to side several times. (_Wied_. ) This sign is still used. For "outward, " however, I would substitute "forward. " The hand isusually, but not always, held before the face. (_Matthews_. ) This isnot the sign for _question_, but is used to attract attention beforecommencing a conversation or any other time during the talk, whenfound necessary. (_McChesney_. ) With due deference to Dr. McChesney, this is the sign for _question_, as used by many tribes, andespecially Dakotas. The Prince of Wied probably intended to convey themotion of _forward, to the front_, when he said _outward_. In makingthe sign for _attention_ the hand is held more nearly horizontal, and is directed toward the individual whose attention is desired. (_Hoffman_. )

Right hand in front of right side of body, forearm horizontal, palmof hand to the left, fingers extended, joined and horizontal, thumbextending upward naturally, turn hand to the left about 60°, thenresume first position. Continue this motion for about two to fourseconds, depending on earnestness of inquiry. (_Creel_. )

Right hand, fingers pointing upward, palm outward, elevated to thelevel of the shoulder, extended toward the person addressed, andslightly shaken from side to side. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Hold the elbow of the right arm against the side, extending the righthand, palm inward, with all the fingers straight joined, as far asmay be, while the elbow remains fixed against the side; then turn theextended hand to the right and left, repeating this movement severaltimes, being performed by the muscles of the arm. (_Sac, Fox, andKickapoo_ I. )

Place the flat and extended right hand, palm forward, about twelveinches in front of and as high as the shoulder, then shake the handfrom side to side as it is moved upward and forward. (_Apache_ I. )See Fig. 304, in TENDOY-HUERITO DIALOGUE, p. 486. This may be comparedwith the ancient Greek sign, Fig. 67, and with the modern Neapolitansign, Fig. 70, both of which are discussed on p. 291, _supra_. 

_Deaf-mute natural sign_:

A quick motion of the lips with an inquiring look. (_Ballard_. )

_Deaf-mute sign_:

The French deaf-mutes for _inquiry_, "_qu'est-ce que c'est_?" bringthe hands to the lower part of the chest, with open palms about a footseparate and diverging outward. 

_Australian sign_:

One is a sort of note of interrogation. For instance, if I wereto meet a native and make the sign: Hand flat, fingers and thumbextended, the two middle fingers touching, the two outer slightlyseparated from the middle by turning the hand palm upward as I methim, it would mean: "Where are you going?" In other words I should say"_Minna_?" (what name?). (_Smyth_. ) Fig. 275. 

[Illustration: Fig. 275. ]

Some comparisons and illustrations connected with the signs for_question_ appear on pages 291, 297, and 303, _supra_, and underPHRASES, _infra_. Quintilian remarks upon this subject as follows: "Inquestioning, we do not compose our gesture after any single manner;the position of the hand, for the most part is to be changed, howeverdisposed before. "

SOLDIER. 

----, American. 

The upright nearly closed hands, thumbs against the middle of theforefingers, being in front of the body, with their thumbs neartogether, palms forward, separate them about two feet horizontally onthe same line. All in a line in front. (_Cheyenne_ III; _Dakota_ IV. )

Pass each hand down the outer seam of the pants. (_Sac, Fox, andKickapoo_ I. ) "Stripes. "

Sign for WHITE MAN as follows: The extended index (M turned inward)is drawn from the left side of the head around in front to the rightside, about on a line with the brim of the hat, with the back of thehand outward; and then for FORT, viz, on level of the breasts infront of body, both hands with fingers turned inward, straight, backsjoined, backs of hands outward, horizontal, turn outward the handsuntil the fingers are free, curve them, and bring the wrists togetherso as to describe a circle with a space left between the ends of thecurved fingers. (_Dakota_ I. ) "From his fortified place of abode. "

Another: Both hands in front of body, fists, backs outward, hands incontact, draw them apart on a straight line right to right, left toleft about two feet, then draw the index, other fingers closed, acrossthe forehead above the eyebrows. This is the sign preferred by theSioux. (_Dakota_ I. )

Extend the fingers of the right hand; place the thumb on the sameplane close beside them, and then bring the thumb side of the handhorizontally against the middle of the forehead, palm downward andlittle finger to the front. (_Dakota_ II; _Ute_ I. ) "Visor of foragecap. "

First make the sign for SOLDIER substantially the same as (_Dakota_VI) below, then that for WHITE MAN, viz. : Draw the opened right handhorizontally from left to right across the forehead a little above theeyebrows, the back of the hand to be upward and the fingers pointingtoward the left; or, close all the fingers except the index anddraw it across the forehead in the same manner. (_Dakota_ IV. ) Forillustrations of other signs for white man see Figs 315 and 329, _infra_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 276. ]

Place the radial sides of the clinched hands together before thechest, then draw them horizontally apart. (_Dakota_ VI; _Arikara_ I. )"All in a line. " Fig. 276. 

Put thumbs to temples, and forefingers forward, meeting in front, other fingers closed. (_Apache_ III. ) "Cap-visor. "

----, Arikara. 

Make the sign for ARIKARA (see TRIBAL SIGNS) and that for BRAVE. (_Arikara_ I. )

----, Dakota. 

Make the sign for DAKOTA (see TRIBAL SIGNS) and that for SOLDIER. (_Dakota_ VI. )

----, Indian. 

Both fists before the body, palms down, thumbs touching, thendraw them horizontally apart to the right and left. (_Arapaho_ II;_Cheyenne_ V; _Ponka_ II; _Pani_ I. ) This is the same sign illustratedin Fig. 276, above, as given by tribes there cited for _white_ or_American_ soldier. The tribes now cited use it for _a soldier_ of thesame tribe as the gesturer, or perhaps for _soldier_ generically, asthey subjoin a tribal sign or the sign for _white man_, when desiringto refer to any other than their own tribe. 

TRADE OR BARTER; EXCHANGE. 

---- TRADE. 

First make the sign of EXCHANGE (see below), then pat the left armwith the right finger, with a rapid motion from the hand passing ittoward the shoulder. (_Long_. )

Strike the extended index finger of the right hand several timesupon that of the left. (_Wied_. ) I have described the same sign indifferent terms and at greater length. It is only necessary, however, to place the fingers in contact once. The person whom the prince sawmaking this sign may have meant to indicate something more than thesimple idea of trade, i. E. , trade often or habitually. The idea offrequency is often conveyed by the repetition of a sign (as in someIndian languages by repetition of the root). Or the sign-maker mayhave repeated the sign to demonstrate it more clearly. (_Matthews_. )Though some difference exists in the motions executed in _Wied's_ signand that of (_Oto and Missouri_ I), there is sufficient similarityto justify a probable identity of conception and to make them easilyunderstood. (_Boteler_. ) In the author's mind _exchange_ was probablyintended for one transaction, in which each of two articles took theplace before occupied by the other, and _trade_ was intended for amore general and systematic barter, indicated by the repetition ofstrokes. Such distinction would not perhaps have occurred to mostobservers, but as the older authorities, such as Long and Wied, givedistinct signs under the separate titles of _trade_ and _exchange_they must be credited with having some reason for so doing. Apictograph connected with this sign is shown on page 381, _supra_. 

Cross the forefingers of both hands before the breast. (_Burton_. )"Diamond cut diamond. " This conception of one smart trader cuttinginto the profits of another is a mistake arising from the roughresemblance of the sign to that for _cutting_. Captain Burton isright, however, in reporting that this sign for _trade_ is also usedfor _white man, American_, and that the same Indians using it orallycall white men "shwop, " from the English or American word "swap" or"swop. " This is a legacy from the early traders, the first white menmet by the Western tribes, and the expression extends even to theSahaptins on the Yakama River, where it appears incorporated in theirlanguage as _swiapoin_. It must have penetrated to them through theShoshoni. 

Cross the index fingers. (_Macgowan_. )

Cross the forefingers at right angles. (_Arapaho_ I. )

Both hands, palms facing each other, forefingers extended, crossedright above left before the breast. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

The left hand, with forefinger extended, pointing toward the right(rest of fingers closed), horizontal, back outward, otherwise as (M), is held in front of left breast about a foot; and the right hand, withforefinger extended (J), in front of and near the right breast, iscarried outward and struck over the top of the stationary left (+)crosswise, where it remains for a moment. (_Dakota_ I. )

Hold the extended left index about a foot in front of the breast, pointing obliquely forward toward the right, and lay the extendedright index at right angles across the left, first raising the rightabout a foot above the left, palms of both inward, other fingers halfclosed. This is also an Arapaho sign as well as Dakota. Yours is thereand mine is there; take either. (_Dakota_ IV. )

[Illustration: Fig. 277. ]

Place the first two fingers of the right hand across those of theleft, both being slightly spread. The hands are sometimes used, butare placed edgewise. (_Dakota_ V. ) Fig. 277. 

Another: The index of the right hand is laid across the forefinger ofthe left when the transaction includes but two persons trading singlearticle for article. (_Dakota_ V. )

Strike the back of the extended index at a right angle against theradial side of the extended forefinger of the left hand. (_Dakota_ VI, VII. ) Fig. 278. 

[Illustration: Fig. 278. ]

The forefingers are extended, held obliquely upward, and crossed atright angles to one another, usually in front of the chest. (_Mandanand Hidatsa_ I. )

Bring each hand as high as the breast, forefinger pointing up, theother fingers closed, then move quickly the right hand to the left, the left to the right, the forefingers making an acute angle as theycross. (_Omaha_ I; _Ponka_ I. )

The palm point of the right index extended touches the chest; it isthen turned toward the second individual interested, then touches theobject. The arms are now drawn toward the body, semiflexed, with thehands, in type-positions (W W), crossed, the right superposed to theleft. The individual then casts an interrogating glance at the secondperson. (_Oto and Missouri_ I. ) "To cross something from one toanother. "

Close the hands, except the index fingers and the thumbs; with themopen, move the hands several times past one another at the height ofthe breast; the index fingers pointing upward and the thumbs outward. (_Iroquois_ I. ) "The movement indicates 'exchanging. '"

Hold the left hand horizontally before the body, with the forefingeronly extended and pointing to the right, palm downward; then, with theright hand closed, index only extended, palm to the right, place theindex at right angles on the forefinger of the left, touching at thesecond joints. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_II. )

Pass the hands in front of the body, all the fingers closed except theforefingers. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

Close the fingers of both hands (K); bring them opposite eachshoulder; then bring the hands across each other's pathway, withoutpermitting them to touch. At the close of the sign the left hand willbe near and pointing at the right shoulder; right hand will be nearand pointing at the left shoulder. (_Comanche_ I. )

Close both hands, leaving the forefingers only extended; place theright before and several inches above the left, then pass the righthand toward the left elbow and the left hand toward the right elbow, each hand following the course made by a flourishing cut with a shortsword. This sign, according to the informant, is also employed by theBanak and Umatilla Indians. (_Comanche_ II; _Pai-Ute_ I. )

The forefingers of both hands only extended, pass the left from leftto right, and the right at the same time crossing its course fromthe tip toward the wrist of the left, stopping when the wrists cross. (_Ute_ I. ) "Exchange of articles. "

Right hand carried across chest, hand extended, palm upward, fingersand thumb closed as if holding something; left hand, in same position, carried across the right, palm downward. (_Kutchin_ I. )

Hands pronated and forefingers crossed. (_Zuñi_ I. )

_Deaf-mute natural sign_:

Close the hand slightly, as if taking something, and move it forwardand open the hand as if to drop or give away the thing, and againclose and withdraw the hand as if to take something else. (_Bollard_. )

American instructed deaf-mutes use substantially the sign described by(_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I). 

---- To buy. 

[Illustration: Fig. 279. ]

Hold the left hand about twelve inches before the breast, the thumbresting on the closed third and fourth fingers; the fore and secondfingers separated and extended, palm toward the breast; then pass theextended index into the crotch formed by the separated fingers of theleft hand. This is an invented sign, and was given to illustrate thedifference between buying and trading. (_Ute_ I. ) Fig. 279. 

_Deaf-mute natural sign_:

Make a circle on the palm of the left hand with the forefinger of theright hand, to denote _coin_, and close the thumb and finger as if totake the money, and put the hand forward to signify giving it to someone, and move the hand a little apart from the place where it left themoney, and then close and withdraw the hand, as if to take the thingpurchased. (_Ballard_. )

_Italian sign_:

To indicate paying, in the language of the fingers, one makes asthough he put something, piece after piece, from one hand into theother--a gesture, however, far less expressive than that when a manlacks money, and yet cannot make up a face to beg it; or simplyto indicate want of money, which is to rub together the thumb andforefinger, at the same time stretching out the hand. (_Butler_. ) Anillustration from De Jorio of the Neapolitan sign for _money_ is givenon page 297, _supra_. 

---- EXCHANGE. 

The two forefingers are extended perpendicularly, and the hands arethen passed by each other transversely in front of the breast so asnearly to exchange positions. (_Long_. )

Pass both hands, with extended forefingers, across each other beforethe breast. (_Wied_. ) See remarks on this author's sign for TRADE, _supra_. 

Hands brought up to front of breast, forefingers extended and otherfingers slightly closed; hands suddenly drawn toward and past eachother until forearms are crossed in front of breast. (_Cheyenne_ II. )"Exchange; right hand exchanging position with the left. "

Left hand, with forefinger extended, others closed (M, except back ofhand outward), is brought, arm extended, in front of the left breast, and the extended forefinger of the right hand, obliquely upward, others closed, is placed crosswise over the left and maintained inthat position for a moment, when the fingers of the right hand arerelaxed (as in Y), brought near the breast with hand horizontal, palminward, and then carried out again in front of right breast twentyinches, with palm looking toward the left, fingers pointing forward, hand horizontal, and then the left hand performs the same movements onthe left side of the body, (_Dakota_ I. ) "You give me, I give you. "

The hands, backs forward, are held as index hands, pointing upward, the elbows being fully bent; each hand is then, simultaneously withthe other, moved to the opposite shoulder, so that the forearms crossone another almost at right angles. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

YES; AFFIRMATION; IT IS SO. (COMPARE GOOD. )

The motion is somewhat like _truth_, viz: The forefinger in theattitude of pointing, from the mouth forward in a line curving alittle upward, the other fingers being carefully closed; butthe finger is held rather more upright, and is passed nearlystraightforward from opposite the breast, and when at the end of itscourse it seems gently to strike something, though with rather a slowand not suddenly accelerated motion. (_Long_. )

Wave the hand straight forward from the face. (_Burton_. ) This maybe compared with the forward nod common over most of the world forassent, but that gesture is not universal, as the New Zealanderselevate the head and chin, and the Turks are reported by severaltravelers to shake the head somewhat like our negative. Rev. H. N. Barnum denies that report, giving below the gesture observed by him. He, however, describes the Turkish gesture sign for _truth_ tobe "gently bowing with head inclined to the right. " This sidewiseinclination may be what has been called the shake of the head inaffirmation. 

Another: Wave the hand from the mouth, extending the thumb from theindex and closing the other three fingers. (_Burton_. )

Gesticulate vertically downward and in front of the body with theextended forefinger (right hand usually), the remaining fingers andthumb closed, their nails down. (_Creel_; _Arapaho_ I. )

Right hand elevated to the level and in front of the shoulder, twofirst fingers somewhat extended, thumb resting against the middlefinger; sudden motion in a curve forward and downward. (_Cheyenne_II. ) It has been suggested that the correspondence between thisgesture and the one given by the same gesturer for sitting (made byholding the right hand to one side, fingers and thumb drooping, andstriking downward to the ground or object to be sat upon) seeminglyindicates that the origin of the former is in connection with the ideaof "resting, " or "settling a question. " It is however at least equallyprobable that the forward and downward curve is an abbreviation of thesign for _truth, true_, a typical description of which follows givenby (_Dakota_ I). The sign for _true_ can often be interchanged withthat for _yes_, in the same manner as the several words. 

The index of the horizontal hand (M), other fingers closed, is carriedstraight outward from the mouth. This is also the sign for _truth_. (_Dakota_ I. ) "But one tongue. "

Extend the right index, the thumb against it, nearly close the otherfingers, and holding it about a foot in front of the right breast, bend the hand from the wrist downward until the end of the index haspassed about six inches through an arc. Some at the same time move thehand forward a little. (_Dakota_ IV. ) "A nod; the hand representingthe head and the index the nose. "

Hold the naturally closed hand before the right side of the breast, or shoulder, leaving the index and thumb extended, then throw thehand downward, bring the index against the inner side of the thumb. (_Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII. ) Fig. 280. Compare also Fig. 61, p. 286, _supra_, Quintilian's sign for approbation. 

[Illustration: Fig. 280. ]

The right hand, with the forefinger only extended and pointingforward, is held before and near the chest. It is then moved forwardone or two feet, usually with a slight curve downward. (_Mandan andHidatsa_ I. )

Bend the right arm, pointing toward the chest with the index finger;unbend, throwing the hand up and forward. (_Omaha_ I. )

Another: Close the three fingers, close the thumb over them, extendforefinger, and then shake forward and down. This is more emphaticthan the preceding, and signifies, _Yes, I know_. (_Omaha_ I. )

The right arm is raised to head with the index finger in type-position(I1), modified by being more opened. From aside the head the handssweep in a curve to the right ear as of something entering or hearingsomething; the finger is then more open and carried direct to theground as something emphatic or direct. (_Oto and Missouri_ I. ) "'Ihear, ' emphatically symbolized. " It is doubted if this sign ismore than an expression of understanding which may or may notimply positive assent. It would not probably be used as a directaffirmative, for instance, in response to a question. 

The hand open, palm downward, at the level of the breast, is movedforward with a quick downward motion from the wrist, imitating a bowof the head. (_Iroquois_ I. )

Throw the closed right hand, with the index extended and bent, as highas the face, and let it drop again naturally; but as the hand reachesits greatest elevation the index is fully extended and suddenly drawninto the palm, the gesture resembling a beckoning from above towardthe ground. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

Quick motion of the right hand forward from the mouth; first positionabout six inches from the mouth and final as far again away. In firstposition the index finger is extended, the others closed; in final, the index loosely closed, thrown in that position as the hand ismoved forward, as though hooking something with it; palm of hand out. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

Another: Move right hand to a position in front of the body, lettingarm hang loosely at the side, the thumb standing alone, all fingershooked except forefinger, which is partially extended (E 1, palmupward). The sign consists in moving the forefinger from its partiallyextended position to one similar to the others, as though making a slymotion for some one to come to you. This is done once each tune theassent is made. More emphatic than the preceding. (_Sahaptin_ I. ) "Weare together, think alike. "

_Deaf-mute natural sign_:

Indicate by nodding the head. (_Ballard_. )

_Deaf-mute sign_:

The French mutes unite the extremities of the index and thumb so as toform a circle and move the hand downward with back vertical and turnedoutward. It has been suggested in explanation that the circle formedand exhibited is merely the letter O, the initial of the word _oui_. 

_Fiji sign_:

Assent is expressed, not by a downward nod as with ourselves, but byan upward nod; the head is jerked backward. Assent is also expressedby uplifting the eyebrows. (_Fison_. )

_Turkish sign_:

One or two nods of the head forward. (_Barnum_. )

Other remarks and illustrations upon the signs for _yes_ are given onpage 286, _supra_. 

TRIBAL SIGNS. 

ABSAROKA OR CROW. 

The hands held out each side, and striking the air in the manner offlying. (_Long_. )

Imitate the flapping of the bird's wings with the two hands, palmsdownward, brought close to the shoulder. (_Burton_. )

Imitate the flapping of a bird's wings with the two hands, palms tothe front and brought close to the shoulder. (_Creel_. )

Place the flat hand as high as and in front or to the side of theright shoulder, move it up and down, the motion occurring at thewrist. For more thorough representation both hands are sometimesemployed. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Dakota_ V, VI, VIII; _Ponka_II; _Kaiowa_ I; _Pani_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )"Bird's wing. "

Both hands extended, with fingers joined (W), held near the shoulders, and flapped to represent the wings of a crow. (_Dakota_ II, III. )

At the height of the shoulders and a foot outward from them, movethe upright hands forward and backward twice or three times from thewrist, palms forward, fingers and thumbs extended and separated alittle; then place the back or the palm of the upright opened righthand against the upper part of the forehead; or half close thefingers, placing the end of the thumb against the ends of the foreand middle fingers, and then place the back of the hand against theforehead. This sign is also made by the Arapahos. (_Dakota_ IV. ) "Toimitate the flying of a bird, and also indicate the manner in whichthe Absaroka wear their hair. "

[Illustration: Fig. 281. ]

Make with the arms the motion of flapping wings. (_Kutine_ I. )

The flat right hand, palm outward to the front and right, is held infront of the right shoulder, and quickly waved back and forth a fewtimes. When made for the information of one ignorant of the commonsign, both hands are used, and the hands are moved outward fromthe body, though still near the shoulder. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )"Wings, i. E. , of a crow. " Fig. 281. 

APACHE. 

[Illustration: Fig. 282. ]

Make either of the signs for POOR, IN PROPERTY, by rubbing the indexback and forth over the extended left forefinger; or, by passing theextended index alternately along the upper and lower sides of theextended left forefinger from tip to base. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_III; _Apache_ II; Wichita II. ) Fig. 282. "It is said that when thefirst Apache came to the region they now occupy he was asked who orwhat he was, and not understanding the language he merely made thesign for _poor_, which expressed his condition. "

[Illustration: Fig. 283. ]

Rub the back of the extended left forefinger from end to end with theextended index. (_Comanche_ II; _Ute_ I. ) "Poor, poverty-stricken. "

----, Coyotero. 

Place the back of the right hand near the end of the foot, the fingerscurved upward, to represent the turned-up toes of the moccasins. (_Pima and Papago_ I; _Apache_ I. ) Fig. 283. 

----, Mescalero. 

Same sign as for LIPAN _q. V. _ (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_II; _Wichita_ II. )

----, Warm Spring. 

Hand curved (Y, more flexed) and laid on its back on top of the foot(_moccasins much curved up at toe_); then draw hands up legs to nearknee, and cut off with edges of hands (_boot tops_). (_Apache_ III. )"Those who wear booted moccasins with turn-up toes. "

ARAPAHO. 

The fingers of one hand touch the breast in different parts, toindicate the tattooing of that part in points. (_Long_. )

Seize the nose with the thumb and forefinger. (Randolph B. Marcy, captain United States Army, in _The Prairie Traveler_. _New York_, 1859, p. 215. )

Rub the right side of the nose with the forefinger: some call thistribe the "Smellers, " and make their sign consist of seizing the nosewith the thumb and forefinger. (_Burton_. )

Finger to side of nose. (_Macgowan_. )

Touch the left breast, thus implying what they call themselves, viz:the "Good Hearts. " (_Arapaho_ I. )

Rub the side of the extended index against the right side of the nose. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. )

Hold the left hand, palm down, and fingers extended; then with theright hand, fingers extended, palm inward and thumb up, make a suddenstroke from left to right across the back of the fingers of the lefthand, as if cutting them off. (_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. ) This isbelieved to be an error of the authority, and should apply to theCHEYENNE tribal sign. 

Join the ends of the fingers (the thumb included) of the right hand, and, pointing toward the heart near the chest, throw the hand forwardand to the right once, twice, or many times, through an arc of aboutsix inches. (_Dakota_ IV. ) "Some say they use this sign because theseIndians tattoo their breasts. "

Collect the fingers and thumb of the right hand to a point, and tapthe tips upon the left breast briskly. (_Comanche_ II; _Ute_ I. )"Goodhearted. " It was stated by members of the various tribes atWashington, in 1880, that this sign is used to designate the NorthernArapahos, while that in which the index rubs against or passes upwardalongside of the nose refers to the Southern Arapahos. 

Another: Close the right hand, leaving the index only extended; thenrub it up and down, held vertically, against the side of the nosewhere it joins the cheek. (_Comanche_ II; _Ute_ I. )

The fingers and thumb of the right hand, are brought to a point, andtapped upon the right side of the breast. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )

ARIKARA. (CORRUPTLY ABBREVIATED REE. )

Imitate the manner of shelling corn, holding the left hand stationary, the shelling being done with the right. (_Creel_. ) Fig. 284. 

With the right hand closed, curve the thumb and index, join their tipsso as to form a circle, and place to the lobe of the ear. (_Absaroka_I; _Hidatsa_ I. ) "Big ear-rings. " Fig. 285. 

Both hands, fists, (B, except thumbs) in front of body, backs lookingtoward the sides of the body, thumbs obliquely upward, left handstationary, the backs of the fingers of the two hands touching, carrythe right thumb forward and backward at the inner side of the leftthumb and without moving the hand from the left, in imitation of theact of shelling corn. (_Dakota_ I, VII, VIII. )

Collect the fingers and thumb of the right hand nearly to a point, and make a tattooing or dotting motion toward the upper portion ofthe cheek. This is the old sign, and was used by them previous to theadoption of the more modern one representing "corn-eaters. " (_Arikara_I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 284. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 285. ]

Place the back of the closed right hand transversely before the mouth, and rotate it forward and backward several times. This gesture may beaccompanied, as it sometimes is, by a motion of the jaws as if eating, to illustrate more fully the meaning of the rotation of the fist. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Wichita_ II; _Apache_ I. ) "Corn-eater;eating corn from the ear. "

Signified by the same motions with the thumbs and forefingers that areused in shelling corn. The dwarf Ree (Arikara) corn is their peculiarpossession, which their tradition says was given to them by a superiorbeing, who led them to the Missouri River and instructed them how toplant it. (Rev. C. L. Hall, in _The Missionary Herald_, April, 1880. )"They are the corn-shellers. " Have seen this sign used by the Arikarasas a tribal designation. (_Dakota_ II. )

ASSINABOIN. 

Hands in front of abdomen, horizontal, backs outward, ends of fingerspointing toward one another, separated and arched (H), then, moved upand down and from side to side as though covering a corpulent body. This sign is also used to indicate the Gros Ventres of the Prairie orAtsina. (_Dakota_ I. )

Make the sign of _cutting the throat_. (_Kutine_ I. ) As theAssinaboins belong to the Dakotan stock, the sign generally given forthe Sioux may be used for them also. 

With the right hand flattened, form a curve by passing it from the topof the chest to the pubis, the fingers pointing to the left, and theback forward. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. ) "Big bellies. "

ATSINA, LOWER GROS VENTRE. 

Both hands closed, the tips of the fingers pointing toward the wristand resting upon the base of the joint, the thumbs lying upon, andextending over the middle joint of the forefingers; hold the leftbefore the chest, pointing forward, palm up, placing the right, withpalm down, just back of the left, and move as if picking smallobjects from the left with the tip of the right thumb. (_Absaroka_ I;_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. ) "Corn-shellers. "

Bring the extended and separated fingers and thumb loosely to a point, flexed at the metacarpal joints; point them toward the left clavicle, and imitate a dotting motion as if tattooing the skin. (_Kaiowa_I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) "They used to tattoothemselves, and live in the country south of the Dakotas. "

See also the sign of (_Dakota_ I) under ASSINABOIN. 

BANAK. 

Make a whistling sound "phew" (beginning at a high note and endingabout an octave lower); then draw the extended index across the throatfrom the left to the right and out to nearly at arm's length. Theyused to cut the throats of their prisoners. (_Pai-Ute_ I. )

Major Haworth states that the _Banaks_ make the following sign forthemselves: Brush the flat right hand backward over the forehead as ifforcing back the hair. This represents the manner of wearing the tuftof hair backward from the forehead. According to this informant, theShoshoni use the same sign for BANAK as for themselves. 

BLACKFEET. (THIS TITLE REFERS TO THE ALGONKIAN BLACKFEET, PROPERLYCALLED SATSIKA. FOR THE DAKOTA BLACKFEET, OR SIHASAPA, SEE UNDER HEADOF DAKOTA. )

The finger and thumb encircle the ankle. (_Long_. )

Pass the right hand, bent spoon-fashion, from the heel to the littletoe of the right foot. (_Burton_. )

The palmar surfaces of the extended fore and second fingers of theright hand (others closed) are rubbed along the leg just above theankle. This would not seem to be clear, but these Indians do not makeany sign indicating _black_ in connection with the above. The signdoes not, however, interfere with any other sign as made by the Sioux. (_Creel_; _Dakota_ I. ) "Black feet. "

Pass the flat hand over the outer edge of the right foot from the heelto beyond the toe, as if brushing off dust. (_Dakota_ V, VII, VIII. )Fig. 286. 

[Illustration: Fig. 286. ]

Touch the right foot with the right hand. (_Kutine_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 287. ]

Close the right hand, thumb resting over the second joint of theforefinger, palm toward the face, and rotate over the cheek, thoughan inch or two from it. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. ) "From manner ofpainting the cheeks. " Fig. 287. 

CADDO. 

Pass the horizontally extended index from right to left under thenose. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ I, II, III;_Apache_ II; _Wichita_ I, II. ) "'Pierced noses, ' from former customof perforating the septum for the reception of rings. " Fig. 288. Thissign is also used for the Sahaptin. For some remarks see page 345. 

[Illustration: Fig. 288. ]

CALISPEL. SEE PEND D'OREILLE. 

CHEYENNE. 

Draw the hand across the arm, to imitate cutting it with a knife. (_Marcy_ in _Prairie Traveller_, _loc. Cit. _, p. 215. )

Draw the lower edge of the right hand across the left arm as ifgashing it with a knife. (_Burton_. )

With the index-finger of the right hand proceed as if cutting the leftarm in different places with a sawing motion from the wrist upward, torepresent the cuts or burns on the arms of that nation. (_Long_. )

Bridge palm of left hand with index-finger of right. (_Macgowan_. )

Draw the extended right hand, fingers joined, across the left wrist asif cutting it. (_Arapaho_ I. )

Pass the ulnar side of the extended index repeatedly across theextended finger and back of the left hand. Frequently, however, theindex is drawn across the wrist or forearm. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_V; _Ponka_ II; _Pani_ I. ) Fig. 289. See p. 345 for remarks. 

[Illustration: Fig. 289. ]

The extended index, palm upward, is drawn across the forefinger of theleft hand (palm inward), several times, left hand stationary, righthand is drawn toward the body until the index is drawn clear off; thenrepeat. Some Cheyennes believe this to have reference to the formercustom of cutting the arm as offerings to spirits, while others thinkit refers to a more ancient custom of cutting off the enemy's fingersfor necklaces. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Place the extended index at the right side of the nose, where it joinsthe face, the tip reaching as high, as the forehead, and close to theinner corner of the eye. This position makes the thumb of the righthand rest upon the chin, while the index is perpendicular. (_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. ) It is considered that this sign, though given to thecollaborator as expressed, was an error. It applies to the SouthernArapahos. Lieutenant Creel states the last remark to be correct, thegesture having reference to the Southern bands. 

As though sawing through the left forearm at its middle with the edgeof the right held back outward, thumb upward. Sign made at theleft side of the body. (_Dakota_ I. ) "Same sign as for a _saw_. TheCheyenne Indians are known to the Sioux by the name of 'The Saws. '"

Right-hand fingers and thumb extended and joined (as in S), outer edgedownward, and drawn sharply across the other fingers and forearm as ifcutting with a knife. (_Dakota_, III. )

Draw the extended right index or the ulnar (inner) edge of the openright hand several times across the base of the extended left index, or across the left forearm at different heights from left to right. This sign is also made by the Arapahos. (_Dakota_ IV. ) "Because theirarms are marked with scars from cuts which they make as offerings tospirits. "

Draw the extended index several times across the extended forefingerfrom the tip toward the palm, the latter pointing forward and slightlytoward the right. From the custom of striping arms transverselywith colors. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ II, III; _Apache_ II; _Ute_ I;_Wichita_ II. )

Another: Make the sign for DOG, viz: Close the right hand, leavingthe index and second fingers only extended and joined, hold it forwardfrom and lower than the hip and draw it backward, the course followingthe outline of a dog's form from head to tail; then add the sign TOEAT, as follows: Collect the thumb, index, and second fingers to apoint, hold them above and in front of the mouth and make a repeateddotting motion toward the mouth. This sign is generally used, butthe other and more common one is also employed, especially so withindividuals not fully conversant with the sign language as employed bythe Comanches, &c. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_II. ) "Dog-eaters. "

Draw the extended index across the back of the left hand and arm as ifcutting it. The index does not touch the arm as in signs given for thesame tribe by other Indians, but is held at least four or five inchesfrom it. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )

CHIPEWAY. SEE OJIBWA. 

COMANCHE. 

Imitate, by the waving of the hand or forefinger, the forward crawlingmotion of a snake. (_Burton_, also _Blackmore_ in introduction toDodge's _Plains of the Great West_. _New York_, 1877, p. Xxv. ) Thesame sign is used for the Shoshoni, more commonly called "Snake", Indians, who as well as the Comanches belong to the Shoshonianlinguistic family. "The silent stealth of the tribe. " (_Dodge; Marcy_in _Thirty Years of Army Life on the Border_. _New York_, 1866, p. 33. ) Rev. A. J. Holt remarks, however, that among the Comanchesthemselves the conception of this sign is the trailing of a rope, orlariat. This refers probably to their well-known horsemanship. 

Motion of a snake. (_Macgowan_. )

Hold the elbow of the right arm near the right side, but not touchingit; extend the forearm and hand, palm inward, fingers joined on alevel with the elbow, then with a shoulder movement draw the forearmand hand back until the points of the fingers are behind the body; atthe same time that the hand is thus being moved back, turn it rightand left several times. (_Creel_; _Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. ) "Snakein the grass. A snake drawing itself back in the grass instead ofcrossing the road in front of you. "

Another: The sign by and for the Comanches themselves is made byholding both hands and arms upward from the elbow, both palms inward, and passing both hands with their backs upward along the lower end ofthe hair to indicate _long hair_, as they never cut it. (_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. )

Right hand horizontal, flat, palm downward (W), advanced to the frontby a motion to represent the crawling of a snake. (_Dakota_ III. )

Extend the closed right hand to the front and left; extend the index, palm down, and rotate from side to side while drawing it back tothe right hip. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII;_Ponka_ II; _Kaiowa_ I; _Pani_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. ) This motion is just the reverse of the sign for_Shoshoni_, see Fig. 297 _infra_. 

Make the reverse gesture for _Shoshoni_, i. E. , begin away fromthe body, drawing the hand back to the side of the right hip whilerotating it. (_Comanche_ II. )

CREE, KNISTENO, KRISTENEAUX. 

Sign for WAGON and then the sign for MAN. (_Dakota_ I. ) "Thisindicates the Red River half-breeds, with their carts, as these peopleare so known from their habit of traveling with carts. "

Place the first and second fingers of the right hand in front of themouth. (_Kutine_ I. )

CROW. SEE ABSAROKA. 

DAKOTA, OR SIOUX. 

The edge of the hand passed across the throat, as in the act ofcutting that part. (_Long_; _Marcy_ in _Army Life_, p. 33. )

Draw the lower edge of the hand across the throat. (_Burton_. )

Draw the extended right hand across the throat. (_Arapaho_ I. ) "Thecut-throats. "

Pass the flat right hand, with palm down, from left to right acrossthe throat. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Dakota_ VI, VIII; _Ponka_II; _Pani_ I. )

Draw the forefinger of the left hand from right to left across thethroat. (_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. ) "A cut-throat. "

Forefinger and thumb of right hand extended (others closed) is drawnfrom left to right across the throat as though cutting it. The Dakotashave been named the "cut-throats" by some of the surrounding tribes. (_Dakota_ I. ) "Cut-throats. "

Right hand horizontal, flat, palm downward (as in W), and drawn acrossthe throat as if cutting with a knife. (_Dakota_ II, III. )

Draw the open right hand, or the right index, from left to righthorizontally across the throat, back of hand upward, fingers pointingtoward the left. This sign is also made by the Arapahos. (_Dakota_IV. ) "It is said that after a battle the Utes took many Siouxprisoners and cut their throats; hence the sign "cut-throats. "

Draw the extended right hand, palm downward, across the throat fromleft to right. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ II, III; _Shoshoni and Banak_I; _Ute_ I; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) "Cut-throats. " Fig 290. 

[Illustration: Fig. 290. ]

----, Blackfoot (Sihasapa). 

Pass the flat right hand along the outer edge of the foot from theheel to beyond the toes. (_Dakota_ VIII; _Hidatsa_ I; _Ponka_ II;_Arikara_ I; _Pani_ I. ) Same as Fig. 286, above. 

Pass the right hand quickly over the right foot from the great toeoutward, turn the heel as if brushing something therefrom. (_Dakota_V. )

Pass the widely separated thumb and index of the right hand over thelower leg, from just below the knee nearly down to the heel. (_Kaiowa_I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

----, Brulé. 

Rub the upper and outer part of the right thigh in a small circle withthe open right hand, fingers pointing downward. This sign is also madeby the Arapahos. (_Dakota_ IV. ) "These Indians were once caught in aprairie fire, many burned to death, and others badly burned aboutthe thighs; hence the name Si-caⁿ-gu 'burnt thigh' and the sign. According to the Brulé chronology, this fire occurred in 1763, whichthey call 'The-People-were-burned-winter. '"

Pass the flat right hand quickly over the thigh from near the buttockforward, as if brushing dust from that part. (_Dakota_ V, VI, VII, VIII. )

Brush the palm of the right hand over the right thigh, from near thebuttock toward the front of the middle third of the thigh. (_Kaiowa_I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

----, Ogalala. 

Fingers and thumb separated, straight (as in R), and dotted about overthe face to represent the marks made by the small-pox. (_Arapaho_ II;_Cheyenne_ V; _Dakota_ III, VI, VII, VIII. ) "This band suffered fromthe disease many years ago. "

With the thumb over the ends of the fingers, hold the right handupright, its back forward, about six inches in front of the face, oron one side of the nose near the face, and suddenly extend and spreadall the fingers, thumb included. (_Dakota_ IV. ) "The word _Ogalala_means scattering or throwing at, and the name was given them, it issaid, after a row in which they threw ashes into one another's faces. "

FLATHEAD, OR SELISH. 

One hand placed on the top of the head, and the other on the back ofthe head. (_Long_. )

Place the right hand to the top of the head. (_Kutine_ I. )

Pat the right side of the head above and back of the ear with theflat right hand. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. ) From the elongation of theocciput. Fig. 291. 

[Illustration: Fig. 291. ]

FOX, OR OUTAGAMI. 

Same sign as for SAC. (_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. )

GROS VENTRE. SEE HIDATSA. 

HIDATSA, GROS VENTRE, OR MINITARI. 

Both hands flat and extended, palms toward the body, with the tipsof the fingers pointing toward one another; pass from the top of thechest downward, outward, and inward toward the groin. (_Absaroka_ I;_Dakota_ V, VI, VII, VIII; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I. ) "Big belly. "

Left and right hands in front of breast, left placed in positionfirst, separated about four or five inches, left hand outside of theright, horizontal, backs outward, fingers extended and pointing leftand right; strike the back of the right against the palm of the leftseveral times, and then make the sign for GO, GOING, as follows: Bothhands (A 1) brought to the median line of body on a level with thebreast, some distance apart, then describe a series of half circles orforward arch-like movements with both hands. (_Dakota_ I. ) "The GrosVentre Indians, Minitaris (the Hidatsa Indians of _Matthews_), areknown to the Sioux as the Indians who went to the mountains to killtheir enemies; hence the sign. "

Express with the hand the sign of a big belly. (_Dakota_ III. )

Pass the flat right hand, back forward, from the top of the breast, downward, outward, and inward to the pubis. (_Dakota_ VI; _Hidatsa_ I;_Arikara_ I. ) "Big belly. "

INDIAN (GENERICALLY). 

Hand in type-position K, inverted, back forward, is raised above thehead with forefinger directed perpendicularly to the crown. Describewith it a short gentle curve upward and backward in such a mannerthat the finger will point upward and backward, back outward, at thetermination of the motion. (_Ojibwa_ V. ) "Indicates a feather plantedupon the head--the characteristic adornment of the Indian. "

Make the sign for WHITE MAN, viz: Draw the open right handhorizontally from left to right across the forehead a little above theeyebrows, the back of the hand to be upward and the fingers pointingtoward the left, or close all the fingers except the index, and drawit across the forehead in the same manner; then make the sign for NO;then move the upright index about a foot from side to side, in frontof right shoulder, at the same time rotating the hand a little. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Rub the back of the extended left hand with the palmar surfaces of theextended fingers of the right. (_Comanche_ II. ) "People of the samekind; dark-skinned. "

Rub the back of the left hand with the index of the right. (_Pai-Ute_I; _Wichita_ I. )

KAIOWA. 

Make the signs of the PRAIRIE and of DRINKING WATER. (_Burton_;_Blackmore_ in Dodge's _Plains of the Great West_. _New York_, 1877, p. Xxiv. )

Cheyennes make the same sign as (_Comanche_ II), and think it wasintended to convey the idea of cropping the hair. The men wear oneside of the hair of the head full length and done up as among theCheyennes, the other side being kept cropped off about even with theneck and hanging loose. (_Cheyenne_ II. )

Right-hand fingers and thumb, extended and joined (as in W), placed infront of right shoulder, and revolving loosely at the wrist. (_Dakota_III. )

Place the flat hand with extended and separated fingers before theface, pointing forward and upward, the wrist near the chin; passit upward and forward several times. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III;_Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

[Illustration: Fig. 292. ]

Place the right hand a short distance above the right side of thehead, fingers and thumb separated and extended; shake it rapidlyfrom side to side, giving it a slight rotary motion in doing so. (_Comanche_ II. ) "Rattle-brained. " Fig. 292. See p. 345 for remarksupon this sign. 

Same sign as (_Comanche_ II), with the exception that both hands aregenerally used instead of the right one only. (_Ute_ I. )

Make a rotary motion of the right hand, palm extended upward andoutward by the side of the head. (_Wichita_ I. ) "Crazy heads. "

KICKAPOO. 

With the thumb and finger go through the motion of clipping the hairover the ear; then with the hand make a sign that the borders of theleggings are wide. (_Sac, Fox, and, Kickapoo_ I. )

KNISTENO OR KRISTENEAUX. SEE CREE. 

KUTINE. 

Place the index or second finger of the right hand on each side of theleft index finger to imitate riding a horse. (_Kutine_ I. )

Hold the left fist, palm upward, at arm's length before the body, the right as if grasping the bowstring and drawn back. (_Shoshoniand Banak_ I. ) "From their peculiar manner of holding the long bowhorizontally in shooting. " Fig. 293. 

[Illustration: Fig. 293. ]

LIPAN. 

With the index and second fingers only extended and separated, holdthe hand at arm's length to the front of the left side; draw it backin distinct jerks; each time the hand rests draw the fingers backagainst the inside of the thumb, and when the hand is again startedon the next movement backward snap the fingers to full length. Thisis repeated five or six times during the one movement of the hand. Thecountry which the Lipans at one time occupied contained large ponds orlakes, and along the shores of these the reptile was found which gavethem this characteristic appellation. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III;_Apache_ III; _Wichita_ II. ) "Frogs. " Fig. 294. 

[Illustration: Fig. 294. ]

MANDAN. 

The first and second fingers of the right hand extended, separated, backs outward, other fingers and thumb closed, are drawn from the leftshoulder obliquely downward in front of the body to the right hip. (_Dakota_ I. ) "The Mandan Indians are known to the Sioux as 'Thepeople who wear a scarlet sash, with a train, ' in the manner abovedescribed. "

MINITARI. SEE HIDATSA. 

NEZ PERCÉS. SEE SAHAPTIN. 

OJIBWA, OR CHIPPEWA. 

Right hand horizontal, back outward, fingers separated, arched, tipspointing inward, is moved from right to left breast and generally overthe front of the body with a trembling motion and at the same timea slight outward or forward movement of the hand as though drawingsomething out of the body, and then make the sign for MAN, viz: Theright-hand is held in front of the right breast with the forefingerextended, straight upright (J), with the back of the hand outward;move the hand upward and downward with finger extended. (_Dakota_ I. )"Perhaps the first Chippewa Indian seen by a Sioux had an eruption onhis body, and from that his people were given the name of the 'Peoplewith a breaking out, ' by which name the Chippewas have ever been knownby the Sioux. "

OSAGE, OR WASAJI. 

Pull at the eyebrows over the left eye with the thumb and forefingerof the left hand. This sign is also used by the Osages themselves. (_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. )

Hold the flat right hand, back forward, with the edge pointingbackward, against the side of the head, then make repeated cuts, andthe hand is moved backward toward the occiput. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. ) "Former custom of shaving the hairfrom the sides of the head, leaving but an occipito-frontal ridge. "

Pass the flat and extended right hand backward over the right side ofthe head, moving the index against the second finger in imitationof cutting with a pair of scissors. (_Comanche_ II. ) "Represents themanner of removing the hair from the sides of the head, leaving aridge only from the forehead to the occiput. "

OUTAGAMI. SEE FOX. 

PANI (PAWNEE). 

Imitate a wolf's ears with the two forefingers of the right handextended together, upright, on the left side of the head. (_Burton. _)

Place a hand on each side of the forehead, with two fingers pointingto the front to represent the narrow, sharp ears of the wolf. (_Marcy_in _Prairie Traveler_, p. 215. )

Extend the index and second fingers of the right hand upward from theright side of the head. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V; _Dakota_ VII, VIII; _Ponka_ II; _Pani_ I; _Comanche_ II. )

Right hand, as (N), is passed from the back part of the right sideof the head, forward seven or eight inches. (_Dakota_ I. ) "The PaniIndians are known as the _Shaved-heads_, i. E. , leaving only the scalplocks on the head. "

First and second fingers of right hand, straight upward and separated, remaining fingers and thumb closed (as in N), like the ears of a smallwolf. (_Dakota_ III. )

Place the closed right hand to the side of the temple, palm forwardleaving the index and second fingers extended and slightly separated, pointing upward. This is ordinarily used, though, to be more explicit, both hands may be used. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Ute_ I; _Apache_II; _Wichita_ II. ) For illustration see Fig. 336, facing page 531. 

PEND D'OREILLE, OR CALISPEL. 

Make the motion of paddling a canoe. (_Kutine_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 295. ]

Both fists are held as if grasping a paddle vertically downward andworking a canoe. Two strokes are made on each side of the body fromthe side backward. (_Shoshoni_ and _Banak_ I. ) Fig. 295. 

PUEBLO. 

Place the clinched hand back of the occiput as if grasping the queue, then place both fists in front of the right shoulder, rotatingthem slightly to represent a loose mass of an imaginary substance. Represents the large mass of hair tied back of the head. (_Arapaho_II; _Cheyenne_ V. )

REE. SEE ARIKARA. 

SAC, OR SAUKI. 

Pass the extended palm of the right hand over the right side of thehead from front to back, and the palm of the left hand in the samemanner over the left side of the head. (_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. )"Shaved-headed Indians. "

SAHAPTIN, OR NEZ PERCÉS. 

The right index, back outward, passed from right to left under thenose. Piercing the nose to receive the ring. (_Creel_; _Dakota_ I. )

Place the thumb and forefinger to the nostrils. (_Kutine_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 296. ]

Close the right hand, leaving the index straight but flexed at rightangles with the palm; pass it horizontally to the left by and underthe nose. (_Comanche_ II. ) "Pierced nose. " Fig. 296. This sign ismade by the Nez Percés for themselves, according to Major Haworth. Information was received from Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians, whovisited Washington in 1880, that this sign is also used to designatethe _Caddos_, who practiced the same custom of perforating thenasal septum. The same informants also state that the _Shawnees_ aresometimes indicated by the same sign. 

Pass the extended index, pointing toward the left, remaining fingersand thumb closed, in front of and across the upper lip, just belowthe nose. The second finger is also sometimes extended. (_Shoshoni andBanak_ I. ) "From the custom of piercing the noses for the reception ofornaments. "

See p. 345 for remarks upon the signs for _Sahaptin_. 

SATSIKA. SEE BLACKFEET. 

SELISH. SEE FLATHEAD. 

SHEEPEATER. SEE UNDER SHOSHONI. 

SHAWNEE. SEE REMARKS UNDER SAHAPTIN. 

SHOSHONI, OR SNAKE. 

The forefinger is extended horizontally and passed along forward in aserpentine line. (_Long_. )

Right hand closed, palm down, placed in front of the right hip; extendthe index and push it diagonally toward the left front, rotating itquickly from side to side in doing so. (_Absaroka_ I; _Shoshoni andBanak_ I. ) "Snake. " Fig. 297. 

[Illustration: Fig. 297. ]

Right hand, horizontal, flat, palm downward (W), advanced to the frontby a motion to represent the crawling of a snake. (_Dakota_ III. )

With the right index pointing forward, the hand is to be moved forwardabout a foot in a sinuous manner, to imitate the crawling of a snake. Also made by the Arapahos. (_Dakota_ IV. )

Place the closed right hand, palm down, in front of the right hip;extend the index, and move it forward and toward the left, rotatingthe hand and finger from side to side in doing so. (_Kaiowa_ I;_Comanche_ II, III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

Make the motion of a serpent with the right finger. (_Kutine_ I. )

Close the right hand, leaving the index only extended and pointingforward, palm to the left, then move it forward and to the left. (_Pai-Ute_ I. ) The rotary motion of the hand does not occur in thisdescription, which in this respect differs from the other authorities. 

----, Sheepeater. Tukuarikai. 

Both hands, half closed, pass from the top of the ears backward, downward, and forward, in a curve, to represent a ram's horns; then, with the index only extended and curved, place the hand above and infront of the mouth, back toward the face, and pass it downward andbackward several times. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. ) "Sheep, " and "toeat. "

SIHASAPA. SEE UNDER DAKOTA. 

SIOUX. SEE DAKOTA. 

TENNANAH. 

Right hand hollowed, lifted to mouth, and describing waving linegradually descending from right to left; left hand describingmountainous outline, one peak rising above the other. (_Kutchin_ I. )"Mountain-river-men. "

UTE. 

"They who live on mountains" have a complicated sign which denotes"living in mountains, " and is composed of the signs SIT and MOUNTAIN. (_Burton_. )

Rub the back of the extended flat left hand with the extended fingersof the right, then touch some black object. Represents black skin. Although the same sign is generally used to signify _negro_, anaddition is sometimes made as follows: place the index and secondfingers to the hair on the right side of the head, and rub themagainst each other to signify _curly hair_. This addition is only madewhen the connection would cause a confusion between the "black skin"Indian (_Ute_) and negro. (_Arapaho_ II; _Cheyenne_ V. )

Left hand horizontal, flat, palm downward, and with the fingers of theright hand brush the other toward the wrist. (_Dakota_ III. )

Place the flat and extended left hand at the height of the elbowbefore the body, pointing to the front and right, palm toward theground; then pass the palmar surface of the flat and extended fingersof the right hand over the back of the left from near the wrist towardthe tips of the fingers. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II;_Wichita_ II. ) "Those who use sinew for sewing, and for strengtheningthe bow. "

Indicate the color _black_, then separate the thumbs and forefingersof both hands as far as possible, leaving the remaining fingersclosed, and pass upward over the lower part of the legs. (_Shoshoni_and _Banak_ I. ) "Black or dark leggings. "

WASAJI. SEE OSAGE. 

WICHITA. 

Indicate a circle over the upper portion of the right cheek, withthe index or several fingers of the right hand. The statement of theIndian authorities for the above is that years ago the Wichita womenpainted spiral lines on the breasts, starting at the nipple andextending several inches from it; but after an increase in modestyor a change in the upper garment, by which the breast ceased to beexposed, the cheek has been adopted as the locality for the sign. (_Creel_; _Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )

Extend the fingers and thumb of the right hand, semi-closed, and bringthe hand toward the face nearly touching it, repeating this severaltimes as if going through the motion of tattooing. The Comanches callthe Wichitas "Painted Faces"; Caddos call them "Tattooed Faces, " bothtribes using the same sign. (_Comanche_ I. )

WYANDOT. 

Pass the flat right hand from the top of the forehead backward overthe head and downward and backward as far as the length of the arm. (_Wyandot_ I. ) "From the manner of wearing the hair. "

PROPER NAMES. 

WASHINGTON, CITY OF. 

The sign for _go_ by closing the hand (as in type position B 1)and bending the arm; the hand is then brought horizontally to theepigastrium, after which both the hand and arm are suddenly extended;the sign for _house_ or _lodge_; the sign for _cars_, consisting ofthe sign for _go_ and _wagon_, e. G. , both arms are flexed at a rightangle before the chest; the hands then assume type position (L)modified by the index being hooked and the middle finger partly openedand hooked similarly; the hands are held horizontally and rotatedforward side by side to imitate two wheels, palms upward; and the signfor _council_ as follows: The right arm is raised, flexed at elbow, and the hand brought to the mouth (in type position G 1, modified bybeing inverted), palm up, and the index being more open. The hand thenpasses from the mouth in jerks, opening and closing successively; thenthe right hand (in position S 1), horizontal, marks off divisions onthe left arm extended. The sign for _father_ is briefly executed bypassing the open hand down and from the loins, then bringing it erectbefore the body; then the sign for _cars_, making with the mouththe noise of an engine. The hands then raised before the eyes andapproximated at points, as in the sign for _lodge_; then diverge toindicate _extensive_; this being followed by the sign for _council_. (_Oto and Missouri_ I. ) "The home of our father, where we go on thepuffing wagon to council. "

MISSOURI RIVER. 

Make the sign for _water_ by placing the right hand upright six oreight inches in front of the mouth, back outward, index and thumbcrooked, and their ends about an inch apart, the other fingers nearlyclosed; then move it toward the mouth, and then downward nearly to thetop of the breast-bone, at the same time turning the hand over towardthe mouth until the little finger is uppermost; and the sign for_large_ as follows: The opened right hands, palms facing, fingersrelaxed and slightly separated, being at the height of the breast andabout two feet apart, separate them nearly to arm's length; and thenrapidly rotate the right hand from right to left several times, itsback upward, fingers spread and pointing forward to show that it isstirred up or muddy. (_Dakota_ IV. )

[Illustration: Fig. 298. ]

EAGLE BULL, A DAKOTA CHIEF. 

[Illustration: Fig. 299. ]

Place the clinched fists to either side of the head with theforefingers extended and curved, as in Fig. 298; then extend the lefthand, flat, palm down, before the left side, fingers pointing forward;the outer edge of the flat and extended right hand is then laidtransversely across the back of the left hand, and slid forwardover the fingers as in Fig. 299. (_Dakota_ VI; _Ankara_ I. ) "Bulland eagle--'_Haliaëtus leucocephalus, (Linn. ) Sav. _'" In thepicture-writing of the Moquis, Fig. 300 represents the eagle's tail asshowing the difference of color which is indicated in the latter partof the above gesture. 

[Illustration: Fig. 300. ]

RUSHING BEAR, AN ARIKARA CHIEF. 

Place the right fist in front of the right side of the breast, palmdown; extend and curve the thumb and little finger so that their tipspoint toward one another before the knuckles of the remaining closedfingers, then reach forward a short distance and pull toward the bodyseveral times ratter quickly; suddenly push the fist, in this form, forward to arm's length twice. (_Dakota_ VI; _Arikara_ I. ) "Bear, andrushing. "

SPOTTED TAIL, A DAKOTA CHIEF. 

With the index only of the right hand extended, indicate a line ofcurve from the sacrum (or from the right buttock) downward, backward, and outward toward the right; then extend the left forefinger, pointing forward from the left side, and with the extended index drawimaginary lines transversely across the left forefinger. (_Absaroka_I; _Shoshoni_ I; _Dakota_ VI, VII; _Arikara_ I. ) "Tail, and spotted. "

STUMBLING BEAR, A KAIOWA CHIEF. 

Place the right fist in front of the right side of the breast, palmdown; extend and curve the thumb and little finger so that their tipspoint toward one another before the knuckles of the remaining closedfingers; then place the left flat hand edgewise before the breast, pointing to the right; hold the right hand flat pointing down nearerthe body; move it forward toward the left, so that the right-handfingers strike the left palm and fall downward beyond the left. (_Kaiowa_ I. ) "Bear, and stumble or stumbling. "

SWIFT RUNNER, A DAKOTA WARRIOR. 

Place the right hand in front of the right side, palm down; close allthe fingers excepting the index, which is slightly curved, pointingforward; then push the hand forward to arm's length twice, veryquickly. (_Dakota_ VI; _Arikara_ I. ) "Man running rapidly or swiftly. "

WILD HORSE, A COMANCHE CHIEF. 

Place the extended and separated index and second fingers of the righthand astraddle the extended forefinger of the left hand. With theright hand loosely extended, held as high as and nearly at arm'slength before the shoulder, make several cuts downward and toward theleft. (_Comanche_ III. ) "Horse, and prairie or wild. "

PHRASES. 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES; SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 

Close the right hand, leaving the thumb and index fully extended andseparated; place the index over the forehead so that the thumb pointsto the right, palm toward the face; then draw the index across theforehead toward the right; then elevate the extended index, pointingupward before the shoulder or neck; pass it upward as high as the topof the head; make a short turn toward the front and pass it pointingdownward toward the ground, to a point farther to the front and alittle lower than at the beginning. (_Absaroka_ I; _Dakota_ VI, VII;_Shoshoni and Banak_ I; _Ute_ I; _Apache_ I. ) "White man and chief. "

Make the sign for _white man_ (American), by passing the palmarsurface of the extended index and thumb of the right hand across theforehead from left to right, then that for _chief_, and conclude bymaking that for _parent_ by collecting the fingers and thumb of theright hand nearly to a point and drawing them forward from the leftbreast. (_Kaiowa_ I; _Comanche_ III; _Apache_ II; _Wichita_ II. )"White man; chief; father. "

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 

Draw the palmar side of the index across the forehead from left toright, resting the thumb upon the right temple, then make the sign for_chief_--the white chief, "Secretary;" then make the sign for _greatlodge, council house_, by making the sign for _lodge_, then placingboth hands somewhat bent, palms facing, about ten inches apart, andpassing them upward from the waist as high as the face. (_Arikara_ I. )

WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER?

After placing the index into the mouth--_mother_, point the index atthe individual addressed--_your_, then separate and extend the indexand second fingers of the right hand; hold them, pointing forward, about twelve or fifteen inches before the face, and move them fromside to side, eyes following the same direction--_I see_, then throwthe flat right hand in a short curve outward to the right until theback points toward the ground--_not_, and look inquiringly at theindividual addressed. (_Ute_ I. ) "Mother your I see not; where isshe?"

ARE YOU BRAVE?

Point to the person and make sign for _brave_, at same time lookingwith an inquiring expression. (_Absaroka_ I; _Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )

BISON, I HAVE SHOT A. 

Move the open left hand, palm to the front, toward the left and awayfrom the body slowly (motion of the buffalo when chased). Move righthand on wrist as axis, rapidly (man on pony chasing buffalo); thenextend left hand to the left, draw right arm as if drawing a bow, snapthe forefinger and middle finger of left hand, and thrust the rightforefinger over the left hand. (_Omaha_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 301. ]

GIVE ME SOMETHING TO EAT. 

Bring the thumb, index and second fingers to a point as if grasping asmall object, the remaining fingers naturally extended, then place thehand just above the mouth and a few inches in front of it, and makerepeated thrusts quickly toward the mouth several times; then placethe naturally extended right hand nearly at arm's length before thebody, palm up, fingers pointing toward the front and left, and makea short circular motion with the hand, as in Fig. 301, bringing theouter edge toward the body as far as the wrist will permit, throwingthe hand forward again at a higher elevation. The motion being at thewrist only. (_Absaroka_ I; _Dakota_ VII, VIII; _Comanche_ III. )

I WILL SEE YOU HERE AFTER NEXT YEAR. 

Raise the right hand above the head (J 2), palm to the front, all thefingers closed except the index, hand slanting a little to backward, then move forward and downward toward the person addressed, describinga curve. (_Omaha_ I. )

YOU GAVE US MANY CLOTHES, BUT WE DON'T WANT THEM. 

Lean forward, and, holding the hands concavo-convex, draw them up overthe limbs severally, then cross on the chest as wrapping a blanket. The arms are then extended before the body, with the hands intype-position (W), to a height indicating a large pile. The right handthen sweeps outward, showing a negative state of mind. The indexof right hand finally touches the chest of the second party andapproaches the body, in position (I), horizontal. (_Oto and Missouri_I. ) "Something to put on that I don't want from you. "

QUESTION. SEE ALSO THIS TITLE IN EXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY. 

Hold the extended and flattened right hand, palm forward, at theheight of the shoulder or face, and about fifteen inches from it, shaking the hand from side to side (at the wrist) as the arm isslightly raised, resembling the outline of an interrogation mark (_?_)made from below upward. (_Absaroka_ I; _Dakota_ V, VI, VII; _Hidatsa_I; _Kaiowa_ I; _Arikara_ I; _Comanche_ II, III; _Pai-Ute_ I; _Shoshoniand Banak_ I; _Ute_ I; _Apache_ I, II; _Wichita_ II. )

---- What? What is it?

First attract the person's notice by the sign for _attention_, viz:The right hand (T) carried directly out in front of the body, with armfully extended and there moved sidewise with rapid motions; and thenthe right hand, fingers extended, pointing forward or outward, fingersjoined, horizontal, is carried outward, obliquely in front of theright breast, and there turned partially over and under several times. (_Dakota_ I. )

---- What are you doing? What do you want?

Throw the right hand about a foot from right to left several times, describing an arc with its convexity upward, palm inward, fingersslightly bent and separated, and pointing forward. (_Dakota_ IV. )

---- When?

With its index extended and pointing forward, back upward, rotate theright hand several times to the right and left, describing an arc withthe index. (_Dakota_ IV. )

---- What are you? i. E. , What tribe do you belong to?

Shake the upright open right hand four to eight inches from side toside a few times, from twelve to eighteen inches in front of the chin, the palm forward, fingers relaxed and a little separated. (_Dakota_IV. )

It must be remarked that in the three preceding signs there is noessential difference, either between themselves or between them andthe general sign for QUESTION above given, which can be applied tothe several special questions above mentioned. A similar remark maybe made regarding several signs given below, which are printed indeference to collaborators. 

Pass the right hand from left to right across the face. (_Kutine_ I. )

---- What do you want?

The arm is drawn to front of chest and the hand in position (N 1), modified by palms being downward and hand horizontal. From thechest center the hand is then passed spirally forward toward the oneaddressed; the hand's palm begins the spiral motion with a downwardand ends in an upward aspect. (_Oto_ I. ) "To unwind or open. "

---- Whence come you?

First the sign for _you_, viz: The hand open, held upward obliquely, and pointing forward; then the hand, extended open and drawn to thebreast, and lastly the sign for _bringing_, as follows: The hand halfshut, with the thumb pressing against the forefinger, being firstmoderately extended either to the right or left, is brought with amoderate jerk to the opposite side, as if something was pulled alongby the hand. (_Dunbar_. )

---- Who are you? or what is your name?

The right or left hand approximates close to center of the body; thearm is flexed and hand in position (D), or a little more closed. Frominception of sign near center of body the hand slowly describes thearc of a quadrant, and fingers unfold as the hand recedes. We thinkthe proper intention is for the inception of sign to be located at theheart, but it is seldom truly, anatomically thus located. (_Oto_ I. )"To unfold one's self or make known. "

---- Are you through?

With arms hanging at the side and forearms horizontal, place the fistsnear each other in front of body: then with a quick motion separatethem as though breaking something asunder. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

---- Do you know?

Shake the right hand in front of the face, a little to the right, thewhole arm elevated so as to throw the hand even with the face, andthe forearm standing almost perpendicular. Principal motion with hand, slight motion of forearm, palm out. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

---- How far is it?

Sign for DO YOU KNOW? followed with a precise movement throwing righthand (palm toward face) to a position as far from body as convenient, signifying _far_; then with the same quick, precise motion, bring thehand to a position near the face--_near_. (_Sahaptin_ I. )

---- How will you go--horseback or in wagon?

First make the sign for DO YOU KNOW? then throw right handforward--_go_ or _going_; then throw fore and middle fingers of rightastride the forefinger of the left hand, signifying, _will you ride?_;then swing the forefingers of each hand around each other, sign of_wheel running_, signifying, _or will you go in wagon_? (_Sahaptin_I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 302. ]

---- How many?

After making the sign for _question_, touch the tips of as many of theextended and separated fingers of the left hand held in front ofthe body upright, with back outward, with the right index as may benecessary. (_Dakota_ I. ) "Count them off to me--how many?"

Place the left hand carelessly before the breast, fingers extended andslightly separated, back to the front, then count off a few with theextended index, by laying down the fingers of the left, beginning atthe little finger, as in Fig. 302. In asking the question, the signfor _question_ must precede the sign for _many_, the latter being alsoaccompanied by a look of interrogation. (_Shoshoni and Banak_ I. )

---- Has he?

_Deaf-mute natural sign_:

Move to and fro the finger several times toward the person spoken of(_Larson_. )

---- Have you?

_Deaf-mute natural sign_:

Move the finger to and fro several times toward the person to whom theone is speaking. (_Larson_. )

---- Are you?

_Deaf-mute natural signs_:

Point to the person spoken to and slightly nod the head, with aninquiring look. (_Ballard_. )

Point with the forefinger, as if to point toward the second person, atthe same time nod the head as if to say "yes. " (_Ziegler_. )

The following was obtained at Washington during the winter of 1880-'81from Ta-taⁿ-ka Wa-kaⁿ (Medicine Bull), a Brulé Dakota chief; by Dr. W. J. HOFFMAN. 

I AM GOING HOME IN TWO DAYS. 

(1) Place the flat hands in front of and as high as the elbows, palmsdown, pass each hand across to the opposite side of the body, theright above the left crossing near the wrist at the termination of thegesture (_night_), repeat in quick succession--_nights_, (2) elevatethe extended index and second finger of the right hand, backs to thefront--_two_, (3) place the tips of the extended and joined fingers ofthe right hand against the breast--_I_, (4) after touching the breastas in the preceding, pass the extended index from the breast, pointingdownward, forward nearly to arm's length, and terminating by holdingthe hand but continuing the motion of the index until it pointsforward and upward--_am going to_, (5) throw the clinched right fistabout six inches toward the earth at arm's length after the completionof the preceding gesture--_my home_. 

ANALYSIS. 

 Haⁿ-he'-pi | noⁿ'-pa | mi'-ye | ti-ya'-ta | wa-gle'-kta. (1) | (2) | (3) | (5) | (4) nights | two | I | my home | am going to. 

It will be noticed that the gesture No. 4, "am going to, " was madebefore the gesture No. 5, "my home, " although the Dakota wordspronounced were in the reverse order, showing a difference in thesyntax of the gestures and of the oral speech in this instance. Theother gestures, 1, 2, and 3, had been made deliberately, the Dakotaword translating each being in obvious connection with the severalgestures, but the two final words were pronounced rapidly together asif they could not in the mind of the gesturer be applied separately tothe reversed order of the signs for them. 

 * * * * *

The same authority obtained the above sentence in Ponka and Pani, together with the following signs for it, from individuals of thosetribes. Those signs agreed between each other, but differed from theDakota, as will be observed, in the signs _to my house_, as signifying_to my home_. 

(1) Touch the breast with the tips of the extended fingers--_I_. Thisprecedes the signs for Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5, which correspond to Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Dakota; then follows: (6) place the tips of theextended fingers of the flat hands together, leaving the wrists aboutsix inches apart--_lodge_, (7) and conclude by placing the clinchedfists nearly at arm's length before the body, the right several inchesabove the left, then throw them toward the ground--about six or eightinches--the fists retaining their relative positions--_my, mine_. 

ANALYSIS. 

The following is the Ponka sentence as given by the gesturer inconnection with the several gestures as made:

---- |Naⁿ'-ba|jaⁿ ʞi|a-g¢e'|ta miñ'-ke| ʇi|wi'-wi-a tĕ'-ʇa. (1) | (3) | (2) | (4) | (5) |(6)| (7)

The following is the full sentence as spoken by Ponkas without regardto gesture, and its literal translation:

Naⁿ'-ba| jaⁿ | ʞĭ | a-g¢e' | ta'|miñ'-ke| ʇi |wi'-wi-ʇa| tè'-ʇa. |-- Two |night, | if, | I go |will| I who |lodge | my own | the, |to. |sleep | when |homeward| | | | | one, | standing | object, |

The Pani gestures were given with the accompanying words, viz:

 | Pit' ku-rĕt' | ka'-ha | wi | ta-tukh'-ta | a-ka'-ru | ru-rĕt'-i-ru. (1)| (3) | (2) | (4)| (5) | (6) | (7) I | (In) two | nights | I | am going | house | to my. 

The orthography in the above sentences, as in others where theoriginal text is given (excepting the Dakota and Ojibwa), is thatadopted by Maj. J. W. POWELL in the second edition of the _Introductionto the Study of Indian Languages_. _Washington_, 1880. The charactersmore particularly requiring explanation are the following, viz:

_¢_, as _th_ in _then_, _though_. 

_ñ_, as _ng_ in _sing_, _singer_; Sp. _luengo_. 

_ʞ_, an intermediate sound between _k_ and _g_ in _gig_. 

_kh_, as the German _ch_, in _nacht_. 

_ʇ_, an intermediate sound between _t_ and _d_. 

Nasalized vowels are written with a superior _n_, thus: _aⁿ_, _eⁿ_. 

The following phrases were obtained by the same authority fromAntonito, son of Antonio Azul, chief of the Pimas in Arizona. 

I AM HUNGRY, GIVE ME SOMETHING TO EAT. 

(1) Touch the breast with the tips of the extended fingers of theright hand--_I_, (2) place the outer edge of the flat and extendedright hand against the pit of the stomach, palm upward, then make asawing motion from side to side with the hand--_hunger_, (3) place theright hand before the face, back upward, and fingers pointing towardthe mouth, then thrust the fingers rapidly to and from the mouthseveral times-_eat_. 

ANALYSIS. 

 Aⁿ-an'-t | pi'-hu-ki'um | ---- (1) | (2) | (3) I (have) | hunger | eat. 

The last sign is so intimately connected with that for hunger, that notranslation can be made. 

GIVE ME A DRINK OF WATER. 

(1) Place the tips of the index and thumb together, the remainingfingers curved, forming a cup, then pass it from a point about sixinches before the chin, in a curve upward, backward and downward pastthe mouth--_water_, (2) then place the flat right hand at the heightof the elbow in front of or slightly to the right of the body, palmup, and in passing it slowly from left to right, give the hand alateral motion at the wrist--_give me_. 

ANALYSIS. 

 Shu'-wu-to | do'-i'. (1) | (2) water | give me. 

The following was also obtained by Dr. W. J. HOFFMAN from Ta-taⁿ-kaWa-kaⁿ, before referred to, at the time of his visit to Washington. 

[Illustration: Fig. 303. ]

I AM GOING HOME. 

(1) Touch the breast with the extended index--_I_, (2) then pass it ina downward curve, outward and upward toward the right nearly to arm'slength, as high as the shoulder--_am going (to)_, (3) and when at thatpoint suddenly clinch the hand and throw it edgewise a short distancetoward the ground--_my country, my home_. 

ANALYSIS. 

 Ma-ko'-ce mi-ta'-wa kin e-kta' wa-gle' kta. (3) (2) (1) Country || my own || the || to || I go home || will. 

DIALOGUES. 

_TENDOY-HUERITO DIALOGUE. _

The following conversation took place at Washington in April, 1880, between TENDOY, chief of the Shoshoni and Banak Indians of Idaho, andHUERITO, one of the Apache chiefs from New Mexico, in the presence ofDr. W. J. HOFFMAN. Neither of these Indians spoke any language knownto the other, or had ever met or heard of one another before thatoccasion:

[Illustration: Fig. 304. ]

_Huerito_. --WHO ARE YOU?

Place the flat and extended right hand, palm forward, about twelveinches in front of and as high as the shoulder, then shake the handfrom side to side as it is moved forward and upward--_question, whoare you?_ Fig. 304. 

[Illustration: Fig. 305. ]

_Tendoy_. --SHOSHONI CHIEF. 

Place the closed right hand near the right hip leaving the index onlyextended, palm down; then pass the hand toward the front and left, rotating it from side to side--_Shoshoni_, Fig. 305; then place theclosed hand, with the index extended and pointing upward, near theright cheek, pass it upward as high as the head, then turn it forwardand downward toward the ground, terminating with the movement a littlebelow the initial point--_chief_. Fig. 306. 

_Huerito_. --HOW OLD ARE YOU?

Clinch both hands and cross the forearms before the breast with atrembling motion--_cold--winter, year_, Fig. 307; then elevate theleft hand as high as the neck and about twelve or fifteen inchesbefore it, palm toward the face, with fingers extended and pointingupward; then, with the index, turn down one finger after anotherslowly, beginning at the little finger, until three or four are foldedagainst the palm, and look inquiringly at the person addressed--_howmany_? See Fig. 302. 

[Illustration: Fig. 306. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 307. ]

_Tendoy_. --FIFTY-SIX. 

Close and extend the fingers and thumbs of both hands, with the palmsforward, five times--_fifty_; then extend the fingers and thumb of theleft hand, close the right, and place the extended thumb alongside ofand near the left thumb--_six_. Fig. 308

[Illustration: Fig. 308. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 309. ]

_Huerito_. --VERY WELL. ARE THERE ANY BUFFALO IN YOUR COUNTRY?

Place the flat right hand, pointing to the left, with the palm down, against the breast-bone; then move it forward and slightly to theright and in an upward curve; make the gesture rather slow and nearlyto arm's length (otherwise, i. E. , if made hastily and but a shortdistance, it would only mean _good_)--_very good_, Fig. 309; placeboth closed hands to their respective sides of the head, palms towardthe hair, leaving the forefingers curved--_buffalo_, see Fig. 298, p. 477; then reach out the fist to arm's length toward the west, and throw it forcibly toward the ground for a distance of about sixinches, edge downward--_country, away to the west_; then pointthe curved index rather quickly and carelessly toward the personaddressed--_your_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 310. ]

_Tendoy_. --YES; MANY BLACK BUFFALO. 

Pass the closed right hand, with the index partly flexed, to aposition about eight inches before the right collar-bone, and, as thehand reaches that elevation, quickly close the index--_yes_; then makethe same sign as in the preceding question for _buffalo_; touch thehair on the right side of the head with the palms of the extendedfingers of the right hand--_black_; spread the curved fingers andthumbs of both hands, place them before either thigh, pointingdownward; then draw them toward one another and upward as high as thestomach, so that the fingers will point toward one another, or may beinterlaced--_many_. Fig. 310. 

[Illustration: Fig. 311. ]

_Tendoy_. --DID YOU HEAR ANYTHING FROM THE SECRETARY? IF SO, TELL ME. 

Close the right hand, leaving the index and thumb widely separated, pass it by the ear from the back of the ear downward and toward thechin, palm toward the head--_hear_, see Fig. 316, p. 492; point to theindividual addressed--_you_; close the hand again, leaving the indexand thumb separated as in the sign for _hear_ and placing the palmarsurface of the finger horizontally across the forehead, pointing tothe left, allow the thumb to rest against the right temple; then drawthe index across the forehead from left to right, leaving the thumbtouching the head--_white man_; then place the closed hand, withelevated index, before the right side of the neck or in front ofthe top of the shoulder; pass the index, pointing upward, as highas the top of the head; turn it forward and downward as far as thebreast--_chief_; pass the extended index, pointing up ward andforward, forward from the mouth twice--_talk_; then open and flattenthe hand, palm up, outer edge toward the face, place it about fifteeninches in front of the chin, and draw it horizontally inward until thehand nearly touches the neck--_tell me_. 

_Huerito_. --HE TOLD ME THAT IN FOUR DAYS I WOULD GO TO MY COUNTRY. 

Close the right hand, leaving the index curved; place it about sixinches from the ear and move it in toward the external meatus--_toldme, hear, I heard_, Fig. 311; with the right hand still closed, form acircle with the index and thumb by allowing their tips to touch; passthe hand from east to west at arm's length--_day_; place the left handbefore the breast, the fingers extended, and the thumb resting againstthe palm, back forward, and, with the index, turn down one fingerafter another, beginning at the little finger--_four_; touch thebreast with the tips of the finger and thumb of the left handcollected to a point--_I_; drop the hand a short distance and move itforward to arm's length and slightly upward until it points abovethe horizon--_go to_*; then as the arm is extended, throw the fistedgewise toward the ground--_my country_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 312. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 313. ]

_Tendoy_. --IN TWO DAYS I GO TO MY COUNTRY JUST AS YOU GO TO YOURS. IGO TO MINE WHERE THERE IS A GREAT DEAL OF SNOW, AND WE SHALL SEE EACHOTHER NO MORE. 

Place the flat hands horizontally, about two feet apart, move themquickly in an upward curve toward one another until the right liesacross the left--_night_, Fig. 312, repeat this sign--_two nights_(literally _two sleeps hence_); point toward the individual addressedwith the right hand--_you_; and in a continuous movement pass the handto the right, i. E. , toward the south, nearly to arm's length--_go_;then throw the fist edgewise toward the ground at that distance--_yourcountry_; then touch the breast with the tips of the fingers of theleft hand--_I_; move the hand off slowly toward the left, i. E. , towardthe north to arm's length--_go to_*; and throw the clinched handtoward the ground--_my country_; then hold both hands toward the leftas high as the head, palms down, with fingers and thumbs pendent andseparated; move them toward the ground two or three times--_rain_, Fig. 313; then place the flat hands horizontally to the left of thebody about two feet from the ground--_deep_; (literally, _deep rain_)_snow_--and raise them until about three feet from the ground--_verydeep_--_much_; place the hands before the body about twelve inchesapart, palms down, with forefingers only extended and pointing towardone another; push them toward and from one another several times--_seeeach other_, Fig. 314; then hold the flat right hand in front of thebreast, pointing forward, palm to the left, and throw it over on itsback toward the right--_not, no more_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 314. ]

EXPLANATORY NOTE. --Where the asterisks appear in the above dialoguethe preposition _to_ is included in the gesture. After touching thebreast for _I_, the slow movement forward signifies _going to_, and_country_ is signified by locating it at arm's length toward the west, to the left of the gesturer, as the stopping-place, also _possession_by the clinched fist being directed toward the ground. It is thesame as for _my_ or _mine_, though made before the body in thelatter signs. The direction of Tendoy's hands, first to the south andafterwards to the north, was understood not as pointing to the exactlocality of the two parts of the country, but to the difference intheir respective climates. 

_OMAHA COLLOQUY. _

The following is contributed by Rev. J. OWEN DORSEY:

_Question_. FROM WHAT QUARTER IS THE WIND?

Raise the curved right hand, palm in, in front of the left shoulder. Draw in toward the body a little, then from the body several times indifferent directions. 

_Answer_. FROM THAT QUARTER. 

Hand as above; draw in towards the body _once_, and _farther_ with_emphasis_, according to the direction of the wind. 

_BRULÉ DAKOTA COLLOQUY. _

The following signs, forming a question and answer, were obtained byDr. W. J. HOFFMAN, from Ta-taⁿ-ka Wa-kaⁿ (Medicine Bull), a BruléDakota chief who visited Washington during the winter of 1880-'81:

_Question_. WE WENT TO THE DEPARTMENT [OF THE INTERIOR], SHOOK HANDSWITH THE SECRETARY AND HAD A CONVERSATION WITH HIM, DID YOU HEAR OFIT?

[Illustration: Fig. 315. ]

(1) Extend and separate the thumb and index, leaving the remainingfingers closed, place the ball of the thumb against the temple abovethe outer corner of the eye, and the index across the forehead, thetip resting on the left temple, then draw the index across to theright until its tip touches the thumb--_white man_, Fig. 315; (2)Elevate the extended index before the shoulder, palm forward, pass itupward, as high as the head, and forming a short curve to the front, then downward again slightly to the front to before the breast andabout fifteen inches from it--_chief_; (3) Fingers of both handsextended and separated; then interlace them so that the tips of thefingers of one hand protrude beyond the backs of those of the opposingone; hold the hands in front of the breast, pointing upward, leavingthe wrists about six inches apart--_lodge_; (4) Place the left handa short distance before the breast, palm down and slightly arched, fingers directed toward the right and front, then pass the flat andextended right hand forward, under and beyond the left, forminga downward curve, the right hand being as high as the left at thecommencement and termination of the gesture--_enter, entered_;(5) Clasp the hands before the body, left uppermost--_shook hands, friendly_; (6) Place the flat right hand before the chin, palm upwith fingers directed to the left, then pass the hand forward severaltimes--_talk, talked to him_; (7) Reverse this motion, beginningaway from the body, drawing the hand edgewise toward the chin severaltimes--_talked to me_; (8) Separate the extended thumb and index asfar as possible, leaving the remaining fingers closed, place the handabout six inches opposite the right ear, palm toward the head, thenpass it in a curve forward and downward, terminating at the height ofthe elbow--_hear, heard_; (9) then in a continuous movement direct theextended index at the individual addressed, the face expressing a lookof inquiry--_you_. 

ANALYSIS. 

 Wa-śi'-cuⁿ | i-taⁿ-caⁿ | ti-el' | ti'-ma-hel | unk-i'-pi (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) White man | chief |lodge in|lodge within |we were at that place

 |na | na'-pe-uⁿ-za-pi | na | ki-ci | wo-un-gla-ka-pi | kiⁿ | (5) | (6, 7) | |and | hand we hold it, | and | to each other | we talk | the take hold of thing

 | na-ya-ḣoⁿ-hu-o (8, 9) | you hear it?

It will be observed that the interrogation point is placed underthe last syllable, hu-o, the latter implying a question, though thegesture was not made to accompany it, the gestures for _hear_ and_you_, with a look of inquiry, being deemed sufficient to express thedesire on the part of the speaker. 

[Illustration: Fig. 316. ]

_Answer_. YES, I HEARD OF IT, BUT DID NOT SEE IT. 

(1) Hold the naturally closed hand before the right side of the breastor shoulder, leaving the index and thumb loosely extended, then, asthe hand is thrown downward and forward, bring the index against theinner side of the thumb--_yes_. (2) Repeat gesture No. 8--_heard_, Fig. 316; (3) pass the extended index forward from the righteye--_saw_; (4) then in a continuous motion extend all the fingers soas to place the flat hand edgewise, and pointing forward about twelveinches before the right side of the breast, and throw it outward andslightly downward--_no, not_. 

ANALYSIS. 

 Ha-u | na-wa'-ḣoⁿ | tka | waⁿ-mla'-ke | śni (1) | (2) | | (3) | (4) Yes, | I heard | (but) | I saw it. | not. 

_DIALOGUE BETWEEN ALASKAN INDIANS. _

The following introductory notes are furnished by MR. IVAN PETROFF, who contributes the Dialogue:

It has been repeatedly stated that among the natives of Alaska notrace of gesture or sign language can be found. The universal spreadof the Russian language in former times as a medium of trade andgeneral intercourse has certainly prevented observations of thisprimitive linguistic feature in all the vast regions visited by theRussians. On the other hand, the homogeneous elements of the Innuittongue, spoken along the whole seacoast from the Arctic to the AlaskanPeninsula, and the Island of Kadiak, has, to a great extent, abolishedall causes for the employment of sign language between tribes in theirmutual intercourse. Basing their opinions upon what they saw whiletouching upon the coast here and there, even the acknowledgedauthorities on Alaskan matters have declared that sign language didnot and could not exist in all that country. Without entering intoany lengthened dispute upon this question, I venture to present in thesubjoined pages a succinct account of at least one instance where Isaw natives of different tribes converse with each other only by meansof signs and gestures within the boundaries of Alaska. 

In the month of September, 1866, there arrived on the Lower KinnikRiver, a stream emptying its waters into Cook's Inlet, two Indiansfrom a distant region, who did not speak the Kenaitze language. Thepeople of the settlement at which the strangers made their firstappearance were equally at a loss to understand the visitors. At lasta chief of great age, bearing the name of Chatidoolts (mentioned byVancouver as a youth), was found to be able to interpret some of thesigns made by the strangers, and after a little practice he enteredinto a continued conversation with them in rather a roundabout way, being himself blind. He informed me that it was the second or thirdtime within his recollection that strangers like those then presenthad come to Kinnik from the northeast, but that in his youth he hadfrequently "talked with his hands" to their visitors from the west andeast. He also told me that he had acquired this art from his father, who, as the old man expressed himself, had "seen every country, andspoken to all the tribes of the earth. " The conversation was carriedon with the help of the old man's sons, who described to their blindparent the gestures of the strangers, and were instructed in turn byhim with what gestures to reply. 

This being an entirely new experience to me I at once proceeded tocarefully make notes of the desultory talk, extending over severaldays. My object, primarily, was to make use of the signs for purposesof trade in the future. 

The notes thus obtained contain a narrative of the two strangers, interpreted to me at the time by Chatidoolts. I shall present eachsign or sentence as I noted it at the time, with only casual referenceto that incomplete and frequently erroneous interpretation. 

The two Indians wore the pointed hunting shirt of tanned moose-skin, ornamented with beads and fringes which is still common to the Kutchintribes. They were not tattooed, but ears and noses were encumberedwith pendants of dentalium and a small red glass bead. Their feet wereclothed in moccasins. One of them had a rifle of English manufacture, and his companion carried two huge knives, one of them of copperevidently of native manufacture. 

(1) _Kenaitze_. --Left hand raised to height of eye, palm outward, moved several times from right to left rapidly; fingers extended andclosed; pointing to strangers with left hand. Right hand describes acurve from north to east--_Which of the northeastern tribes is yours?_

(2) _Tennanah_. --Right hand, hollowed, lifted to mouth, then extendedand describing waving line gradually descending from right to left. Left hand describing mountainous outline, apparently one peak risingabove the other, said by Chatidoolts to mean--_Tenan-tnu-kohtana, Mountain-river-men_. 

(3) _K_. --Left hand raised to height of eye, palm outward, moved fromright to left, fingers extended. Left index describes curve from eastto west. Outline of mountain and river as in preceding sign. --_Howmany days from Mountain-river?_

(4) _T_. --Right hand raised toward sky, index and thumb forming firstcrescent and then ring. This repeated three times--_moon, new and fullthree times_. 

(5) Right hand raised, palm to front, index raised and lowered atregular intervals--_walked_. Both hands imitating paddling of canoe, alternately right and left--_traveled three months on foot and bycanoe_. 

(6) Both arms crossed over breast, simulating shivering--_cold, winter_. 

(7) Right index pointing toward speaker--_I_. Left hand pointing tothe west--_traveled westward_. 

(8) Right hand lifted cup-shaped to mouth--_water_. Right handdescribing waving line from right to left gradually descending, pointing to the west--_river running westward_. 

(9) Right hand gradually pushed forward, palm upward, from heightof breast. Left hand shading eyes; looking at great distance--_verywide_. 

(10) Left and right hands put together in shape of slopingshelter--_lodge, camp_. See Fig. 259, on p. 431. 

(11) Both hands lifted, height of eye, palm inward, fingersspread--_many times_. 

(12) Both hands closed, palm outward, height of hips--_surprised_. 

(13) Index pointing from eye forward--_see_. 

(14) Right hand held up, height of shoulder, three fingers extended, left hand pointing to me--_three white men_. 

(15) _K_. --Right hand pointing to me, left hand held up, three fingersextended--_three white men_. 

(16) Making Russian sign of cross--_Russians. Were the three white menRussians?_

(17) _T_. --Left hand raised, palm inward, two fingers extended, signof cross with right--_two Russians_. 

(18) Right hand extended, height of eye, palm outward, moved outward alittle to right--_no_. 

(19) One finger of left hand raised--_one_. 

(20) Sign of cross with right--_Russian_. 

(21) Right hand height of eye, fingers closed and extended, palmoutward a little to right--_no_. 

(22) Right hand carried across chest, hand extended, palm upward, fingers and thumb closed as if holding something. Left hand in sameposition carried across the right, palm downward--_trade_. 

(23) Left hand upholding one finger, right pointing to me--_one whiteman_. 

(24) Right hand held horizontally, palm downward, about four feet fromground--_small_. 

(25) Forming rings before eyes with index and thumb--_eye-glasses_. 

(26) Right hand clinched, palm upward, in front of chest, thumbpointing inward--_gave one_. 

(27) Forming cup with right hand, simulating drinking--_drink_. 

(28) Right hand grasping chest repeatedly, fingers curved andspread--_strong_. 

(29) Both hands pressed to temple and head moved from side toside--_drunk, headache_. 

(30) Both index fingers placed together, extended, pointingforward--_together_. 

(31) Fingers interlaced repeatedly--_build_. 

(32) Left hand extended, fingers closed, pointing outward(vertically), right hand extended, fingers closed, placed slopinglyagainst left--_camp_. 

(33) Both wrists placed against temples, hands curved upward andoutward, fingers spread--_horns_. 

(34) Both hands horizontally lifted to height of shoulder, right armextended gradually full length to the right, hand drooping a little atthe end--_long back, moose_. 

(35) Both hands upright, palm outward, fingers extended and spread, placing one before the other alternately--_trees, forest, denseforest_. 

(36) Sign of cross--_Russian_. 

(37) Motions of shooting a gun--_shot_. 

(38) Sign for _moose_ (Nos. 33, 34), showing two fingers of lefthand--_two_. 

(39) Sign for _camp_ as before (No. 10) _camp_. 

(40) Right hand describing curve from east to west, twice--_two days_. 

(41) Left hand lifted height of mouth, back outward, fingers closed asif holding something; right hand simulating motion of tearing off andplacing in mouth--_eating moose meat_. 

(42) Right hand placed horizontally against heart, fingers closed, moved forward a little and raised a little several times--_glad atheart_. 

(43) Fingers of left hand and index of right hand extended and placedtogether horizontally, pointing forward, height of chest. Handsseparated, right pointing eastward and left westward--_three men andspeaker parted, going west and east_. 

(44) Pressing both arms against chest and shivering--_very cold_. 

(45) Drawing index of each hand around corresponding legs below theknee--_deep snow_. 

(46) Drawing imaginary line with index of right hand across each foot, just behind the toes--_snow shoes_. 

(47) Head lowered to right side into palm of hand three times--_sleptthree times_. 

(48) Sign for _camp_, as before (No. 10)--_camp_. 

(49) Pointing to speaker--_I_. 

(50) Fingers of right hand extended and joined and pointed forwardfrom mouth, left hand lowered horizontally to a foot from theground--_fox_. 

(51) Left hand raised height of eye, back to the left, fingers closed, with exception of middle finger held upright; then middle fingersuddenly closed--_trap_. 

(52) Both hands lifted height of eye, palm inward, fingersspread--_many_. 

(53) Right hand pointing to speaker--_I_. 

(54) Sign for _trap_ (No. 51), as above--_trap_. 

(55) Right hand lowered to within a few inches of the ground and movedfrom left to right about two feet. Motions of both hands descriptiveof playful jumping of marten around a tree or stump--_marten_. 

(56) Holding up the fingers of both hands three times untilaggregating thirty--_thirty_. 

(57) Left forearm held up vertically, palm to front, fingersspread--_tree_. 

(58) Motion of chopping with hatchet--_cut_. 

(59) Driving invisible wedge around small circle--_peeling birchbark_. 

(60) Right hand, fingers extended and joined, moved slowly from leftto right horizontally while blowing upon it with mouth--_pitchingseams of canoe_. 

(61) Motions of using paddle very vigorously--_paddle up stream_. 

(62) Lifting both arms above head on respective sides, hands closed asif grasping something and lifting the body--_poling canoe_. 

(63) Sign for _moon_ (No. 4), (crescent and ring) once--_one month_. 

(64) Right hand vertically, height of chest, palm to left, fingersextended, closed. Left hand horizontally, palm downward, pushedagainst right--_stopped_. 

(65) Right hand, index extended, drawing outline of mountains, oneabove other--_high mountains_. 

(66) Left hand lifted to left shoulder, back to front, fingers bentand closed. Right hand, fingers bent and closed, placed over left andthen slowly drawn across chest to right shoulder. Motion with bothhands as if adjusting pack--_pack, knapsack_. 

(67) Sign for _water_ as before (No. 8). Both hands brought forward, palms down, arms passed outward horizontally to respective sides, palms down--_lake_. Both hands describing circular line backward untiltouching collar bone--_big and deep_. 

(68) Left hand raised slightly about height of nipple, three fingersclosed; index and thumb holding tip of index of right hand. Both handsmoved across chest from left to right--_beaver_. [1]

(69) Previous sign for _many_ (No. 52) repeated several times--_veryplentiful_. 

(70) Both hands held up with fingers spread, palm forward, twice andleft hand once--height of eye--_twenty-five_. 

(71) Pointing to himself--_I_. 

(72) Sign for _trap_ as before (No. 51)--_trapped_. 

(73) Sign for temporary _shelter_ (No. 10)--_camped_. 

(74) Sign for new and full moon (No. 4), once--_one month_. 

(75) Right hand passed slowly over the hair and chin. Left handtouching a pendant of white beads--_old man_. 

(76) Index of right hand held up--_one_. 

(77) Both hands partially closed and placed against breast, back ofhands to front, a few inches apart--_women_. 

(78) Index and middle finger of right hand held up, palm forward; eyesdirected as if counting--_two_. 

(79) Sign for _trap_ as before (No. 51)--_trapping_. 

(80) Left forearm vertically in front of chest, palm of hand to front, fingers spread, elbow resting upon the back of the right hand--_tree_. 

(81) Arms and hands spanning imaginary tree of some size--_big_. 

(82) Sign for _tree_ as before (No. 57), left forearm suddenly broughtdown across extended right hand--_fell_. 

(83) Right hand laid on top of head, then passed over the hair andchin, left hand touching white beads--_on the head of the old man_. 

(84) Sign for _old man_ as before (No. 75)--_old man_. 

(85) Closing both eyes with fore and middle finger of right hand;both hands placed side by side, horizontally, palms downward, fingersextended and united, hands separated by slow horizontal movement toright and left--_dead_. 

(86) Sign for women as before (No. 77)--women. 

(87) Fingers of both hands interlaced at right angles severaltimes--_built_. 

(88) Sign for _lodge_ as before (No. 10)--_lodge_. [2]

(89) Right index describing circle around the head, height of eye(cutting hair). Right hand passed over forehead and face. Left indexpointing to black scabbard (blacking faces)--_mourning_. 

(90) Index and middle finger of right hand passed from eyes downwardacross cheeks--_weeping_. 

(91) Pointing to himself--_I_. 

(92) Make the signs for _shoot_ (Nos. 33, 34), and _moose_ (No. 37)--_shot a moose_. 

(93) Left hand extended horizontally, palm upward, right hand placedacross left vertically, about the middle--_divided in two_. 

(94) Right hand closed, palm downward, moved forward from right breastthe length of the arm and then opened--_I gave_. 

(95) Sign for _women_, (No. 77)--_to women_. 

(96) Right hand, palm down, pointing to left, placed horizontallybefore heart and slightly raised several times--_good and glad_. 

(97) Pointing to his companion--_he_. 

(98) Motion of _paddling--in canoe_. 

(99) Right arm and hand extended in N. E. Direction, gradually curvedback until index touches speaker--_came to me from the northeast_. 

(100) Sign for _together_ as above (No. 30)--_together_. 

(101) Motion of _paddling--paddled_. 

(102) Pointing to ground--_to this place_. 

(103) _K_. Motion of drinking water out of hand--_water_. 

(104) Describing circle with right index on palm of left hand extendedhorizontally--_lake_. 

(105) Left hand raised to height of eye, palm to front, fingers leaning slightly backward. Fingers of left hand closedalternately--_how many?_

(106) _T_. Holding up right hand back to front, showing four fingers, eyes looking at them as if counting--_four_. 

(107) Sign for packing with wooden breast-brace as above; threefingers of right hand shown as above--_three portages_. 

(108) _K_. Right hand pointing to gun of stranger--_gun_. Left handraised height of eye, palm to front, and moved rapidly several timesto right and left--_interrogation_. 

(109) Sign for _trade_ as before (No. 22)--_trade_; i. E. , _where didyou buy the gun?_

(110) _T_. Sign for _Mountain-river_ as above (No. 2). Pointingeastward--_from the eastward_. 

(111) Pointing to sun and then raising both hands, backs to front, fingers spread--_ten days_. 

(112) Pointing to me--_white man_. 

(113) Left hand held up vertically, palm outward, fingers joined. Right index placed horizontally across fingers of left hand in front, about the middle joint--_pallisaded_. 

(114) Describing square with right index on flat palm of lefthand--_building_. 

(115) Pointing to his gun, powder-horn, blanket, and beads--_tradinggoods_. 

(116) Both hands horizontal, brought forward and upward from chest andthen downward--_plenty_. 

In giving this narrative I have observed the original sequence, butthere were frequent interruptions, caused by consultation betweenChatidoolts and his sons, and before the strangers departed again theyhad obtained a knowledge of some words of the Kenaitze language. 

[Footnote 1: Chatidoolts explained this to his sons as well as to me, saying that the mountain men had a peculiar mode of catching beaverswith long sticks. ]

[Footnote 2: They never occupy a house in which one of the otherIndians died. ]

_OJIBWA DIALOGUE. _

[COMMUNICATED BY THE VERY REV. EDWARD JACKER. ]

The following short dialogue forms part of the scanty tradition thecivilized Ojibwas possess regarding their ancestors' sign language:

Two Indians of different tongue meet on a journey. First Indian pointsto second Indian with the outstretched forefinger of the right hand, bringing it within a few inches of his breast; next he extends bothforearms horizontally, clinches all but the forefingers, and bendsthe hands inward; then he brings them slowly and in a straight linetogether, until the tips of the outstretched forefingers meet. Thisgesture is accompanied with a look of inquiry--_You met somebody?_

Second Indian, facing the south, points to the east, and with theoutstretched hand forms a half-circle from east to west (correspondingto the daily course of the sun); then he raises the arm andpoints to a certain height above the southern horizon. Then the signfor _meeting_ (as above) may be made, or omitted. After this hebends the right hand downward, and repeatedly moves the outstretchedforefinger and middle finger in opposite directions (in imitation ofthe motion of the legs in the act of walking). Finally he raisesthe right hand and stretches up the forefinger (or several fingers). _To-day, when the sun stood at such a height, I met one (or several)persons traveling on foot_. If the travelers met were on horsebackhe makes the sign for _horse_ as described by (_Dakota_ III), seeEXTRACTS FROM DICTIONARY, or the identical one for _going_ given by(_Ojibwa_ I), which is as follows: To describe a journey on horsebackthe first two fingers of the right hand are placed astride of theforefinger of the left hand, and both represent the galloping movementof a horse. If it is a foot journey, wave the two fingers severaltimes through the air. 

NARRATIVES. 

The following, which is presented as a good descriptive model, wasobtained by Dr. W. J. HOFFMAN, of the Bureau of Ethnology, fromNatci, a Pai-Ute chief connected with the delegation of that tribe toWashington in January, 1880, and refers to an expedition made by himby direction of his father, Winnimukka, Head Chief of the Pai-Utes, tothe northern camp of his tribe, partly for the purpose of preventingthe hostile outbreak of the Banaks which occurred in 1878, and moreparticularly to prevent those Pai-Utes from being drawn into anydifficulty with the United States by being leagued with the Banaks. 

_NÁTCI'S NARRATIVE. _

(1) Close the right hand, leaving the index extended, pointed westwardat arm's length a little above the horizon, head thrown back with theeyes partly closed and following the direction--_Away to the west_, (2) indicate a large circle on the ground with the forefinger of theright hand pointing downward--_place_ (locative), (3) the tips ofthe spread fingers of both hands placed against one another, pointingupward before the body, leaving a space of four or five inches betweenthe wrists--_house_ (brush tent or wik'-i-up), see Fig. 257, p. 431, (4) with the right hand closed, index extended or slightly bent, tapthe breast several times--_mine_. (5) Draw an imaginary line, with theright index toward the ground, from some distance in front of the bodyto a position nearer to it--_from there I came_, (6) indicate a spoton the ground by quickly raising and depressing the right hand withthe index pointing downward--_to a stopping place_, (7) grasp theforelock with the right hand, palm to the forehead, and raise it aboutsix inches, still holding the hair upward--_the chief of the tribe_(Winnimukka), see Fig. 245, p. 418, (8) touch the breast with theindex--_me_, (9) the right hand held forward from the hip at the levelof the elbow, closed, palm downward, with the middle finger extendedand quickly moved up and down a short distance--_telegraphed_, (10)head inclined toward the right, at the same time making movementtoward and from the ear with the extended index pointing toward it--_Iheard_, i. E. , understood. 

(11) An imaginary line indicated with the extended and inverted indexfrom a short distance before the body to a place on the right--_Iwent_, (12) repeat gesture No. 6--_a stopping place_, (13) incliningthe head, with eyes closed, toward the right, bring the extended righthand, palm up, to within six inches of the right ear--_where I slept_. (14) Place the spread and extended index and thumb of the right hand, palm downward, across the right side of the forehead--_white man_(American), (15) elevating both hands before the breast, palmsforward, thumbs touching, the little finger of the right handclosed--_nine_, (16) touch the breast with the right forefingersuddenly--_and myself_, (17) lowering the hand, and pointing downwardand forward with the index still extended (the remaining fingersand thumb being loosely closed) indicate an imaginary line along theground toward the extreme right--_went_, (18) extend the forefinger ofthe closed left hand, and place the separated fore and second fingersof the right astraddle the forefinger of the left, and make a seriesof arched or curved movements toward the right--_rode horseback_, (19) keeping the hands in their relative position, place them a shortdistance below the right ear, the head being inclined toward thatside--_sleep_, (20) repeat the signs for _riding_ (No. 18) and_sleeping_ (No. 19) three times--_four days and nights_, (21) makesign No. 18, and stopping suddenly point toward the east with theextended index-finger of the right (others being closed) and followthe course of the sun until it reaches the zenith--_arrived at noon ofthe fifth day_. 

(22) Indicate a circle as in No. 2--_a camp_, (23) the hands thenplaced together as in No. 3, and in this position, both moved inshort irregular upward and downward jerks from side to side--_manywik'-i-ups_, (24) then indicate the chief of the tribe as in No. 7--meaning that _it was one of the camps of the chief of the tribe_. (25) Make a peculiar whistling sound of "phew" and draw the extendedindex of the right hand across the throat from left to right--_Banak_, (26) draw an imaginary line with the same extended index, pointingtoward the ground, from the right to the body--_came from the north_, (27) again make gesture No. 2--_camp_, (28) and follow it twiceby sign given as No. 18 (forward from the body, but a shortdistance)--_two rode_. (29) Rub the back of the right hand with theextended index of the left--_Indian_, i. E. , the narrator's own tribe, Pai-Ute, (30) elevate both hands side by side before the breast, palmsforward, thumbs touching, then, after a short pause, close allthe fingers and thumbs except the two outer fingers of the righthand--_twelve_, (31) again place the hands side by side with fingersall spread or separated, and move them in a horizontal curve towardthe right--_went out of camp_, (32) and make the sign given as No. 25--_Banak_, (33) that of No. 2--_camp_, (34) then join the hands asin No. 31, from the right toward the front--_Pai-Utes returned_, (35)close the right hand, leaving the index only extended, move it forwardand downward from the mouth three or four times, pointing forward, each time ending the movement at a different point--_I talked tothem_, (36) both hands pointing upward, fingers and thumbs separated, palms facing and about four inches apart, held in front of the bodyas far as possible in that position--_the men in council_, (37) pointtoward the east with the index apparently curving downward over thehorizon, then gradually elevate it to an altitude of 45°--_talkedall night and until nine o'clock next morning_, (38) bring the closedhands, with forefingers extended, upward and forward from theirrespective sides, and place them side by side, palms forward, infront--_my brother_, Fig. 317, (39) (see also pp. 385, 386) followedby the gesture, No. 18, directed toward the left and front--_rode_, (40) by No. 7--_the head chief_, (41) and No. 2--_camp_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 317. ]

(42) Continue by placing the hands, slightly curved, palm to palm, holding them about six inches below the right ear, the head beinginclined considerably in that direction--_one sleep (night)_, (43)make sign No. 14--_white man_, (44) raise the left hand to the levelof the elbow forward from the left hip, fingers pointing upward, thumband forefinger closed--_three_, (45) and in this position draw themtoward the body and slightly to the right--_came_, (46) then makegesture So. 42--_sleep_; (47) point with the right index to theeastern horizon--_in the morning_, (48) make sign No. 14--_white man_, (49) hold the left hand nearly at arm's length before the body, back up, thumb and forefinger closed, the remaining fingers pointingdownward--_three_, (50) with the right index finger make gesture No. 35, the movement being directed towards the left hand--_talked tothem_, (51) motion along the ground with the left hand, from the bodytoward the left and front, retaining the position of the fingers juststated (in No. 49)--_they went_, (52) tap toward the ground, as ingesture No. 6, with the left hand nearly at arm's length--_to theircamp_. 

(53) Make gesture No. 18 toward the front--_I rode_, (54) extend theright hand to the left and front, and tap towards the earth severaltimes as in sign No. 6, having the fingers and thumb collected toa point--_camp of the white men_. (55) Close both hands, with theforefingers of each partly extended and crooked, and place one oneither side of the forehead, palms forward--_cattle_ (a steer), (56)hold the left hand loosely extended, back forward, about twenty inchesbefore the breast, and strike the back of the partly extended righthand into the left--_shot_, (57) make a short upward curved movementwith both hands, their position unchanged, over and downward towardthe right--_fell over, killed_, (58) then hold the left hand a shortdistance before the body at the height of the elbow, palm downward, fingers closed, with the thumb lying over the second joint of theforefinger, extend the flattened right hand, edge down, before thebody, just by the knuckles of the left, and draw the hand towards thebody, repeating the movement--_skinned_, (59) make the sign given inNo. 25--_Banak_, (60) place both hands with spread fingers upward andpalms forward, thumb to thumb, before the right shoulder, moving themwith a tremulous motion toward the left and front--_came in_, (61)make three short movements toward the ground in front, with the lefthand, fingers loosely curved, and pointing downward--_camp of thethree white men_, (62) then with the right hand open and flattened, edge down, cut towards the body as well as to the right and left--_cutup the meat_, (63) and make the pantomimic gesture of _handing itaround to the visitors_. 

(64) Make sign No. 35, the movement being directed to the left hand, as held in No. 49--_told the white men_, (65) grasping the hair on theright side of the head with the left hand, and drawing the extendedright hand with the edge towards and across the side of the head frombehind forward--_to scalp_; (66) close the right hand, leaving theindex partly extended, and wave it several times quickly from side toside a short distance before the face, slightly shaking the head atthe same time--_no_, Fig. 318, (67) make gesture No. 4--_me_, (68)repeat No. 65--_scalp_, (69) and raising the forelock high with theleft hand, straighten the whole frame with a triumphant air--_makeme a great chief_. (70) Close the right hand with the index fullyextended, place the tip to the mouth and direct it firmly forwardand downward toward the ground--_stop_, (71) then placing the hands, pointing upward, side by side, thumbs touching, and all the fingersseparated, move them from near the breast outward toward the right, palms facing that direction at termination of movement--_the Banakswent to one side_, (72) with the right hand closed, index curved, palmdownward, point toward the western horizon, and at arm's length dipthe finger downward--_after sunset_, (73) make the gesture given asNo. 14--_white men_, (74) pointing to the heart as in No. 4--_and I_, (75) conclude by making gesture No. 18 from near body toward the left, four times, at the end of each movement the hands remaining in thesame position, thrown slightly upward--_we four escaped on horseback_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 318. ]

The above was paraphrased orally by the narrator as follows: "Hearingof the trouble in the north, I started eastward from my camp inWestern Nevada, when, upon arriving at Winnemucca Station, I receivedtelegraphic orders from the head chief to go north to induce our bandsin that region to escape the approaching difficulties with the Banaks. I started for Camp McDermit, where I remained one night. Leaving nextmorning in company with nine others, we rode on for four days and ahalf. Soon after our arrival at the Pai-Ute camp, two Banaks came in, when I sent twelve Pai-Utes to their camp to ask them all to come into hold council. These messengers soon returned, when I collected allthe Pai-Utes ands talked to them all night regarding the dangers ofan alliance with the Banaks and of their continuance in that locality. Next morning I sent my brother to the chief, Winnimukka, with a reportof proceedings. 

"On the following day three white men rode into camp, who had come upto aid in persuading the Pai-Utes to move away from the border. Nextmorning I consulted with them respecting future operations, afterwhich they went away a short distance to their camp. I then followedthem, where I shot and killed a steer, and while skinning it theBanaks came in, when the meat was distributed. The Banaks beingdisposed to become violent at any moment, the white men becamealarmed, when I told them that rather than allow them to be scalped Iwould be scalped myself in defending them, for which action I wouldbe considered as great a chief as Winnemukka by my people. When I toldthe Banaks to cease threatening the white men they all moved to oneside a short distance to hold a war council, and after the sun wentdown the white men and I mounted our horses and fled toward the south, whence we came. "

Some of the above signs seem to require explanation. Natci was facingthe west during the whole of this narration, and by the right hesignified the north; this will explain the significance of his gestureto the right in Nos. 11 and 17, and to the left in No. 75. 

No. 2 (repeated in Nos. 22, 27, 33, and 41) designates an Indian brushlodge, and although Natci has not occupied one for some years, thegesture illustrates the original conception in the round form of thefoundation of poles, branches, and brush, the interlacing of which inthe construction of the _wik'-i-up_ has survived in gestures Nos. 3and 23 (the latter referring to more than one, i. E. , an encampment). 

The sign for Banak, No. 25 (also 32 and 59), has its origin from thetradition among the Pai-Utes that the Banaks were in the habit ofcutting the throats of their victims. This sign is made with the indexinstead of the similar gesture with the flat hand, which among severaltribes denotes the Sioux, but the Pai-Utes examined had no specificsign for that body of Indians, not having been in sufficient contactwith them. 

"A stopping place, " referred to in Nos. 6, 12, 52, and 54, represents the temporary station, or camp of white men, and iscontradistinguished from a village, or perhaps from any permanentencampment of a number of persons, by merely dotting toward the groundinstead of indicating a circle. 

It will also be seen that in several instances, after indicating thenationality, the fingers previously used in representing the numberwere repeated without its previously accompanying specific gesture, as in No. 61, where the three fingers of the left hand represented themen (white), and the three movements toward the ground signified thecamp or tents of the three (white) men. 

This also occurs in the gesture (Nos. 59, 60, and 71) employed forthe Banaks, which, having been once specified, is used subsequentlywithout its specific preceding sign for the tribe represented. 

The rapid connection of the signs Nos. 57 and 58 and of Nos. 74 and75 indicates the conjunction, so that they are severally readilyunderstood as "shot _and_ killed, " and "the white men _and_ I. " Thesame remark applies to Nos. 15 and 16, "the nine _and_ I. "

_PATRICIO'S NARRATIVE. _

This narrative was obtained in July, 1880, by Dr. FRANCIS H. ATKINS, acting assistant surgeon, United States Army, at South Fork, NewMexico, from TI-PE-BES-TLEL (Sheepskin-leggings), habitually calledPatricio, an intelligent young Mescalero Apache. It gives an accountof what is locally termed the "April Round-up, " which was thedisarming and imprisoning by a cavalry command of the United StatesArmy, of the small Apache subtribe to which the narrator belonged. 

(1) Left hand on edge, curved, palm, forward, extended backward lengthof arm toward the West (_far westward_). 

(2) Arm same, turned hand, tips down, and moved it from north to south(_river_). 

(3) Dipped same hand several times above and beyond last line(_beyond_). 

(4) Hand curved (Y, more flexed) and laid on its back on top of hisfoot (_moccasins much curved up at toe_); then drew hands up legsto near knee, and cut off with edges of hands (_boot tops_), (_WarmSpring Apaches_, who wear booted moccasins with turn-up toes. )

(5) Hands held before him, tips near together, fingers gathered (U);then alternately opened and gathered fingers of both hands (P to U, U to P), and thrusting them toward each other a few times (_shot orkilled many_). 

(6) Held hands six inches from side of head, thumbs and forefingerswidely separated (_Mexican_, i. E. , wears a broad hat). 

(7) Held right hand on edge, palm toward him, threw it on its backforward and downward sharply toward earth (T on edge to X), (_dead, somany dead_). 

(8) Put thumbs to temples and indexes forward, meeting in front, otherfingers closed (_soldiers_, i. E. , cap-visor). 

(9) Repeated No. 5 and No. 7 (_were also shot dead_). 

(10) Placed first and second fingers of right hand, others closed, astride of left index, held horizontally (_horses_). 

(11) Held hands on edge and forward (T on edge forward), pushed themforward, waving vertically (_marching_, i. E. , _ran off with soldiers'horses or others_). N. B. --Using both hands indicates double ranks oftroops marching also. 

(12) Struck right fist across in front of chin from right to leftsharply (_bad_). 

(13) Repeated No. 4 (_Warm Spring Apache_). 

(14) Moved fist, thumb to head, from center of forehead to righttemple and a little backward (_fool_). 

(15) Repeated No. 8 and No. 11 (_soldiers riding in double column_). 

(16) Thrust right hand down over and beyond left, both palms down (W)(_came here_). 

(17) Repeated No. 8 (_soldier_). 

(18) Touched hair (_hair_). 

(19) Touched tent (_quite white_). 

(20) Touched top of shoulder (_commissioned officer_, i. E. , shoulder-straps). 

(21) Thrust both hands up high (_high rank_). 

(22) Right forefinger to forehead; waved it about in front of face androlled head about (primarily _fool_, but qualified in this case by theinterpreter as _no sabe much_). 

(23) Drew hands up his thighs and body and pointed to himself(_Mescalero Indian_). 

(24) Approximated hands before him, palms down, with thumbs andindexes widely separated, as if inclosing a circle (_captured_, i. E. , _corralled, surrounded_). 

(25) Placed tips of hands together, wrists apart, held them erect (T, both hands inclined), (_house_; in this case _the agency_). 

(26) Threw both hands, palms back, forward and downward, moving fromknuckles (metacarpo-phalangeal joint) only, several times (_issuingrations_). 

(27) Thrust two fingers (N) toward mouth and downward (_food_). 

(28) Repeated No. 25 (_house_); outlined a hemispherical object(wik-i-up); repeated these several times, bringing the hands withemphasis several times down toward the earth (_village permanentlyhere_). 

(29) Repeated No. 25 several times and pointed to a neighboringhillside (_village over there_). 

(30) Repeated Nos. 17 to 21, inclusive (_General X_). 

(31) Thrust two fingers forward from his eyes (primarily _I see_; also_I saw_, or _there were_). 

(32) Repeated No. 11 (_toward said hillside_), (_troops went overthere with General X_). 

(33) Repeated No. 4, adding, swept indexes around head and touched redpaper on a tobacco wrapper (_San Carlos Apaches_, scouts especiallydistinguished by wearing a red fillet about the head); also added, drew indexes across each cheek from nose outward (_were muchpainted_). 

(34) Repeated No. 24 and No. 23 (_to capture the Mescalero Indians_). 

(35) Repeated No. 31 (_there were_). 

(36) Repeated No. 33 (_San Carlos scouts_). 

(37) Repeated No. 8 (_and soldiers_). 

(38) Clasped his hands effusively before his breast (_so many!_ i. E. , _a great many_). 

(39) Repeated No. 31 (_I saw_). 

(40) Repeated No. 23 (_my people_). 

(41) Brought fists together under chin, and hugged his arms close tohis breast, with a shrinking motion of body (_afraid_). 

(42) Struck off half of left index with right index (_half_, or _aportion_). 

(43) Waved off laterally and upward with both hands briskly (_fled_). 

(44) Projected circled right thumb and index to eastern horizon, thence to zenith (_next morning_, i. E. , sunrise to noon). 

(45) Repeated No. 23 (_the Mescaleros_). 

(46) Held hands in position of aiming a gun--left oblique--(_shoot_). 

(47) Waved right index briskly before right shoulder (_no, did not;negation_). 

(48) Swept his hand from behind forward, palm up (Y) (_the otherscame_). 

(49) Repeated No. 5 (_and shot_). 

(50) Repeated No. 23 (_the Mescaleros_). 

(51) Repeated No. 7 (_many dead_). 

(52) Repeated No. 8 (_soldiers_). 

(53) Repeated No. 10 (_horse, mounted_). 

(54) Hand forward, palm down (W) moved forward and up and down(_walking_, i. E. , _infantry_). 

(55) Beckoned with right hand, two fingers curved (N horizontal andcurved) (_came_). 

(56) Repeated No. 11 (_marching_). 

(57) Repeated No. 28 (_to this camp, or village_). 

(58) Repeated No. 23 (_with Mescaleros_). 

(59) Repeated No. 24 (_as prisoners, surrounded_). 

(60) Repeated No. 33 (_San Carlos scouts_). 

(61) Placed hands, spread out (R inverted), tips down, about waist(_many cartridges_). 

(62) Repeated No. 46 (_and guns_). 

(63) Repeated No. 5 (_shot many_). 

(64) Repeated No. 4 (_Warm Spring Apaches_). 

(65) Repeated No. 23 (_and Mescaleros_). 

(66) Moved fist--thumb to head--across his forehead from right toleft, and cast it toward earth over left shoulder (_brave_, i. E. , _theSan Carlos scouts are brave_). 

CONTINUOUS TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE. 

Far westward beyond the Rio Grande are the Warm Spring Apaches, whokilled many Mexicans and soldiers and stole their horses. They (theWarm Spring Apaches) are bad and fools. 

Some cavalry came here under an aged officer of high rank, but ofinferior intelligence, to capture the Mescalero Indians. 

The Mescaleros wished to have their village permanently here by theagency, and to receive their rations, i. E. , were peacefully inclined. 

Our village was over there. I saw the general come with troops and SanCarlos scouts to surround (or capture) the Mescalero Indians. Therewere a great many San Carlos scouts and soldiers. 

I saw that my people were afraid, and half of them fled. 

Next morning the Mescaleros did not shoot (were not hostile). Theothers came and killed many Mescaleros. The cavalry and infantrybrought us (the Mescaleros) to this camp as prisoners. 

The San Carlos scouts were well supplied with ammunition and guns, andshot many Warm Spring Indians and Mescaleros. 

The San Carlos scouts are brave men. 

_NA-WA-GI-JIG'S STORY. _

The following is contributed by Mr. FRANCIS JACKER:

This narrative was related to me by _John Na-wa-gi-jig_ (literally"noon-day sky"), an aged Ojibwa, with whom I have been intimatelyconnected for a long period of years. He delivered his story, referring to one of the many incidents in his perilous life, orally, but with pantomimes so graphic and vivid that it may be presentedtruly as a specimen of gesture language. Indeed, to any one familiarwith Indian mimicry, the story might have been intelligible withoutthe expedient of verbal language, while the oral exposition, incoherent as it was, could hardly be styled anything better than thesubordinate part of the delivery. I have endeavored to reproducethese gestures in their original connections from memory, omitting theverbal accompaniment as far as practicable. In order to facilitate aclear understanding it is stated that the gesturer was in a sittingposture before a camp fire by the lake shore, and facing the localitywhere the event referred to had actually occurred, viz, a portion ofKeweenaw Bay, Lake Superior, in the neighborhood of Portage Entry, as seen by the annexed diagram, Fig. 319. The time of the relation(latter part of April) also coincided with the _actual_ time. Inspeaking of "arm, " "hand, " "finger, " &c. , the "right" is understood ifnot otherwise specified. "Finger" stands for "forefinger. "

(1) With the exclamation "_me-wi-ja_" (a long time ago), uttered ina slow and peculiarly emphatic manner, he elevated the arm above andtoward the right at the head, accompanying the motion with an upwardwave of the hand and held it thus suspended a moment--_a long timeago_. (This gesture resembles sign for _time, a long_, of which itseems to be an abbreviation, and it is not sufficiently clear withoutthe accompanying exclamation. ) Withdrawing it slowly, he placed thehand back upon his knee. 

(2) He then brought up the left hand toward the temple and tapped hishair, which was gray, with the finger--_hair gray_. 

(3) From thence he carried it down upon the thigh, placing theextended finger perpendicularly upon a fold of his trousers, whichthe thumb and finger of the right held grasped in such a manner as toadvantageously present the smooth black surface of the cloth--_of thatcolor_, i. E. , _black_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 319--Scene of Na-wa-gi-jig's story. ]

(4) Next, with a powerful strain of the muscles, he slowly stretchedout the right arm and fist and grasping the arm about the elbow withthe left, he raised the forearm perpendicularly upward, then broughtit down with force, tightening the grasp in doing so (fingers pressingupon knuckle, thumb against pit of elbow)--_strength_. 

(5) Pointing first at me--_you_. 

(6) He next held out the hand horizontally and flat, palm downward, about four feet above the ground, correcting the measure a momentafterward by elevating hand a few inches higher, and estimated theheight thus indicated with a telling look, leaning the head toward theside--_about that height_, i. E. , _a youth of about that size_. 

(7) He then rapidly extended the arm about two-thirds of its lengthforward and toward the right, terminating the motion with a jerk ofthe hand upward, palm turned outward, and accompanied the motion witha nod of the head, the hand in its downfall closing and dropping uponknee--_very well_. 

(8) Musing a few moments, he next slowly extended the arm and pointedwith the fingers toward and along the surface of the frozen bay--_outthere_. 

(9) In an easterly direction--_eastward_. 

(10) Thence turning the arm to the right he nodded the finger towarda projection of land southward at a distance of about twomiles--following in each case the direction of the finger with theeyes--and immediately after placed the hand again eastward, indicatingthe spot with the same emphatic nod of the finger as though carryingthe visible distance to a spot upon the expanse of the bay, which, bearing no object, could not be marked otherwise--_two miles outthere_. 

(11) Carrying the finger toward the body, he touched his breast--_Imyself_. 

(12) Thence erected the hand, turning its palm forward, forefingerperpendicularly extended, others slightly closed, and noddedit downward in an explanatory manner, all in an uninterruptedmovement--_one_, meaning in connection with the preceding gesture--_Ifor one_. 

(13) Again, with an emphatic movement, he turned the hand upward, slightly erecting the index, thumb pointing forward, remainingfingers partially and naturally opened and more or lessseparated--_furthermore_. 

(14) Then quickly and after a moment's stop brought down the hand toa horizontal position, first and second fingers joining and fullyextending during the movement, and pointing forward--_another_, i. E. , _joined by another_. Repeating this motion, he at the same time calledout the name _Ga-bi-wa-bi-ko-ke_. 

(15) Following the exclamation with a repetition of No. 2--_grayhair_--repeatedly touching the hair, meaning in this case--_an oldman_. 

(16) Pointed with the finger toward the right, directing it obliquelytoward the ground--_at a short distance toward my right_. 

(17) Repeated No. 13--_furthermore_. 

(18) Repeated No. 14, adding the third finger to joined fore andmiddle fingers, thumb resting upon tip of fourth--_another_, i. E. , _joined by a third_, and pronounced the words "_o-gwis-san Sa-ba-dis_"(this is a corruption of the French "Jean Baptiste, " a favorite nameamong Christianized Indians)--_John Baptist, his son_, while repeatingthe movement. 

(19) Held up the three separated fingers perpendicularly in front ofthe face, pushing the hand forward a little--_three in all_. 

(20) Presently lowered the hand, fingers relaxing, and carried ita short distance toward the left, thence back to the right, fingerspointing obliquely toward the ground in each case--_placed to theright and left of me at a short distance_. 

(21) He then brought the hand--back toward the right, indexhorizontally extended, remaining fingers closed, thumb placed againstsecond finger--in front of abdomen, and moved it slowly up and downtwo or three times, giving it a slight jerk at the upward motion, andraising the arm partially in doing so. At the same time he inclinedthe body forward a little, eyes looking down--_fishing_. This refersto fishing on the ice, and, as may be inferred from it, to the use ofhook and line. A short stick to which the line is attached serves as arod and is moved up and down in the manner described. 

(22) After a short pause he elevated the hand, directing the indextoward that point of the meridian which the sun passes at aboutthe tenth hour of the day, and following the direction with, theeye--_about ten o'clock_. 

(23) Turning his face toward the southwest and holding up the flat andextended hand some distance in front of it, back outward, he wavedit briskly and several times toward the face--_fresh breeze from thesouthwest_. 

(24) Repeated No. 21 (_fishing_), playing the imaginary fish-lineup and down regularly for a while, till all at once he changed themovement by raising the hand in an oblique course, which movement herepeated several times, each time increasing the divergence and thelength of the motion--_the fish-hook don't sink perpendicularly anylonger_, i. E. , _it is moving_. 

(25) Quickly erecting his body he looked around him withsurprise--_looking with surprise_. 

(26) Shading his eyes with the hand, gazed intensively toward thesouth--_fixedly gazing toward the south_. 

(27) Threw up his arm almost perpendicularly the next moment--_greatlyastonished_. 

(28) Extended and slowly moved the arm from southeast to northwestas far as he could reach, at the same time exclaiming "_mig-wam_""ice"--_the ice from shore to shore_. 

(29) Approximated the flat and horizontally extended hands, backsupward, with their inner edges touching, whereupon, suddenly turningthe edges downward, he withdrew them laterally, backs nearly opposedto each other--_parting_. 

(30) Pushed the left hand, palm outward, fingers joined, edges up anddown, forward and toward its side with a full sweep of the arm, head following the movement--_pushed in that direction_, i. E. , _northeastward_. 

(31) Repeated No. 23, but waved the hand only once and with a quickand more powerful movement toward the face--_by the force of thewind_. 

(32) Rotated hands in front of body, rolling them tips over tips veryrapidly, fingers with thumbs nearly collected to a point--_winding upthe hook-line in a hurry_. 

(33) Quickly passed the hand toward the left breast of hiscoat--_putting it in pocket_. 

(34) And bending the body forward made motion as if picking upsomething--_picking up_. 

(35) Raised the hand closed to fist, arm elevated so as to form aright angle with elbow, and made a short stroke downward and towardthe left--_hatchet_. 

(36) Thence moved the hand to side of breast and pushed it down thewaist--_putting it into belt_. 

(37) Placed the closed hands to each side of the waist (thumbs upwardwith tips facing each other) and approximated them rapidly and with ajerk in front of navel--_tightening the belt_. 

(38) With both hands lowered to the ground, he described an elongatedoval around his foot by placing tips of forefingers together in frontof the toes and passing them around each side, meeting the fingersbehind the heel and running them jointly backward a few inches toindicate a tail--_snow-shoe_. 

(39) Raised up the heel, resting the foot on the toes and turning it alittle toward the right, brought it back in a downward movement with ajerk--_putting it on_. 

(40) Waved the left hand emphatically forward, palm backward, fingersjoined and pointing downward, extending them forward at termination ofmotion, at the same time pushing forward the head--_starting_. 

(41) Directed the finger of the same hand toward thelight-house--_toward that point_. 

(42) Pointed with extended first two fingers of the same hand, thumb with remaining fingers partially extended to right and toleft--_companions_. 

(43) Repeated No. 40 (_starting_) less emphatically. 

(44) Made several very quick jumping movements forward with theextended left fingers, joined, back upward--_going very fast_. 

(45) Repeated No. 23 (_wind_), increasing the force of the movementand terminating the sign with the second repetition (wave)--_windincreasing_. 

(46) Raised up the hand in front of head and then arrested it amoment, palm outward, fingers extended, upward and forward--_halt_. 

(47) Partially turning the body toward the north he lowered theextended hand, back forward, fingers joined and pointing downwardtoward the left of his feet and moved it closely in front of them, andwith a cutting motion, toward the right, following the movement withthe eye--_cut off right before feet_, i. E. , _standing on the veryedge_. 

(48) Still facing the north, he carried the hand, back upward, fingersjoined and extended, from left side of body outward and toward theright horizontally, indicating the rippled surface of turbulentwater by an appropriate motion, and extending the arm to full length, fingers pointing northeastward (toward the right) at termination ofmotion, and accompanied the movement with a corresponding turn of thehead, eyes gazing far into distance--_water all along the shore_. 

(49) Pushed the extended finger, back upward, forward (i. E. , northward) in a slightly arched movement--_across_. 

(50) Directing it toward an object (tree) at a distance of aboutone hundred yards the next moment--_a distance of about one hundredyards_. 

(51) Repeated No. 49 (_across_) without interrupting the motion--_thatdistance placed across_. 

(52) Motions as follows: Hands naturally relaxed, edges up and down, backs outward, are with a quick movement and simultaneously carriedfrom the epigastrium forward and toward their sides, arms beingextended from elbows only. The hands change their position during themovement and are ultimately placed palms upward, thumbs and fingersextended and widely separated, pointing forward. This is the generalsign for _doubt_. He also turned the face from one side to the otheras though interrogating his companions--_what are we to do_?

(53) Repeated No. 35 (_hatchet_). 

(54) Raised up the finger perpendicularly, other fingers closed, thumbresting against second, and emphatically inclined it forward--_onlyone_. 

(55) Elevated the arm from the elbow toward the head, hand naturallyrelaxed, back obliquely upward, inclining the face sideward with alook of consternation, simultaneously, and again mechanically loweredit, dropping palm of hand heavily upon the knee--"_bad fix_. "

(56) Placed the hand to his hip and raised it up, closed to fist, bya rapid and very energetic movement, ejaculating _haw!--quick to thework_ (referring to the ax or hatchet). 

(57) Turning the body downward, he passed the hand, with forefingerdirected toward the ground, forward, sideward, and backward, in threemovements, each time turning at a right angle--_measuring off a squarepiece on the ground_, i. E. , _on the ice_. 

(58) Looked and pointed toward an object some twenty feet off, thenopposed palms of hands horizontally, and at a short distance fromeach other, connecting both movements in such a manner as to clearlyillustrate their meaning--_about twenty feet wide_. 

(59) Moved the hand--fist, thumb upward--several times quickly upand down a few inches, the arm progressing forward at everystroke--_cutting it off_. 

(60) Repeated No. 55 (_bad fix_), meaning in this case--_bad job_. 

(61) Opposed the palms of both hands, vertically, at a distance ofeight inches, holding them thus steady a moment and estimating thethus indicated measure with the eyes--_eight inches thick_. 

(62) Then struck the palm of left with the back of arched rightforcibly--_solid ice_. 

(63) Laid the joined and extended first two fingers, palm up, acrossside of leg, a foot above heel, accompanying the movement with theeye--_one foot deep_. 

(64) Pushed downward perpendicularly and from same point the flat, extended hand--_sinking_, or _giving in_--and turning the hand upwardat wrist, back downward, he flirted up the fingers several timesquickly--_water--slush and water_. 

(65) Passed one hand over the other as in the act of pulling offmittens--_mittens_. 

(66) Made the motion of wringing out a wet piece of cloth--_wringingwet_. 

(67) Grasped a fold of his trowsers (below the knee) and wrungit--_trowsers also wet_. 

(68) Placed palms of both hands upon legs, near to the ankles, anddragged them up to the knees--_up to the knees_. 

(69) Shivered--_feeling cold_. 

(70) Pointed with thumb backward and toward the right (designating hiscompanion) and repeated No. 2 (_hair gray_)--_my old companion_, i. E. , _Ga-bi-wa-bi-ko-ke_. 

(71) Repeated No. 69 (_feeling cold_) more emphatically--_more so_, i. E. , _suffering worse from the cold. _

(72) Repeated No. 59 (_cutting the ice_). 

(73) Made sign for _tired--getting tired_, as follows: The left armis partly extended forward, and is gently struck near the bend of theelbow, usually above it, with the palm of the right hand, at the sametime the head is usually inclined to the left side, then in similarmanner the right arm is extended and struck by the left hand, and thehead in turn inclined to the right. 

(74) Repeated No. 35--(_hatchet_). 

(75) Turned the slightly closed left (thumb obliquely upward) overto its side, partially opening it in so doing, fingers pointing toleft--_passing it over to his companion at the left_, i. E. , _Sabadis_. 

(76) Flung forefingers of both hands, backs forward, thumbs upward, remaining fingers partially closed, toward their respective sidesalternately--_by turns_. 

(77) Repeated No. 59 (_cutting the ice_). 

(78) Elevated the hand above head, thumb and first two fingersextended and directed toward the western meridian, and shook itemphatically and with a tremulous motion up and down while thussuspended--_at a late hour_. 

(79) Followed with the sign for _done, finished_, as follows: Lefthand, with forearm horizontally extended toward the right, is heldnaturally relaxed, back outward, a few inches in front of body and ata right angle with opposite hand, which is placed on a higher level, slightly arched, edge downward, fingers joined and extended forward. Pass the right quickly and with a cutting motion downward and towardits side, at the same time withdraw the left a few inches toward theopposite direction--_finished our work_. 

(80) Quickly threw up his arm, ejaculating "haw!"--_let us start_. 

(81) Passed both hands approximated in front of body, naturallyrelaxed, backs outward, forward and toward their respective sides, extending and widely separating the fingers during the movement, andagain approximating them with quickly accelerated speed and arrestingthem, closed to fists, in front of body and with a jerk upward--_withunited efforts_. 

(82) Placing the fists, thumbs upward, pointing forward and placedupon side of forefingers, with their wrists against the breast, he pushed them forward and downward a few inches, head slightlyparticipating in the movement--_pushing off_. 

(83) Repeated No. 38 (_snow-shoe)--with snow-shoes_. 

(84) Immediately reassumed the position of "pushing off" as in No. 82, slowly passing forward the fists further and further--_pushing andgradually moving off_. 

(85) Quickly passed and turned the closed left forward, upward, andbackward, opening and again closing the fingers in so doing, and executing at almost the same instant a similar, but smaller, revolution with the right--_turning over the snow-shoe, tail up_. 

(86) With both hands closed to fists, left obliquely over theright and on the right side of the body, made motion as ifpaddling--_paddling_. 

(87) Moved and pointed finger of left towards its side, i. E. , northward--_toward the shore_. 

(88) Moved both hands, flat and extended, backs upward, toward theleft side, by an even and very slow movement--_moving along veryslowly toward that direction_. 

(89) Repeated No. 23--_southwest wind_. 

(90) Repeated No. 30--_pushing northeastward_. 

(91) Turned the thumb of left over to the left--_Sabadis_. 

(92) Repeated No. 32 (_winding up_), reversing the motion--_windingoff the hook-line_. 

(93) Approximated both hands with their tips horizontally in front ofbody, first two fingers with thumb collected to a point, and movingthe fingers as in the act of twisting a cord, gradually receded thehands--_twisting_. 

(94) Thrust forward three fingers of the right--_three_, i. E. , _hook-lines_. 

(95) Repeated No. 93, then rubbed palm of flat and extendedright forward over the thigh repeatedly and with a slightpressure--_twisting them tightly_. 

(96) Approximated both hands closed to fists, thumbs upward, in frontof body and pulled them asunder repeatedly by short, quick, and suddenjerks--_proving strength of line_. 

(97) Hooked the forefinger, hand turned downward at wrist, remainingfingers closed, thumb resting upon first--_fish-hook_. 

(98) Raised and curved three fingers and thrust them forward a littleseparated, back to the front--_three_, i. E. , _hooks_. 

(99) Collecting fore and middle fingers of each hand to a point withthumb, he opposed tips of both hands, vertically describing with theupper hand several short circular movements around the tip of thelower--_tying together_. 

(100) Hooked the separated fore and middle fingers of the right, pointing upward, back forward, and placed the hooked finger of theleft, palm forward, in front and partially between the fork of thefirst--_in the shape of an anchor_. 

(101) Thrust both hands, backs upward, fingers extended and separated, forward (i. E. , northward), vigorously, left being foremost--_throwingtoward the shore_. 

(102) Thence elevating the right toward the head, he thrust itdownward in an oblique direction, fore and middle fingers extended andjoined with the thumb--_sinking_. 

(103) Placing hands in the position attained last in No. 100(_throwing out toward shore_), he closed the fingers, drawingthe hands back toward the body and leaning backwardsimultaneously--_hauling in_. 

(104) Elevated the naturally closed hand to side of head, fingersopening and separating during the movement--at the same time and witha slight jerk of the shoulders inclining the head sideward--and againclosed and slowly dropped it upon knee--_in vain_. 

(105) Dropped the finger perpendicularly downward, following themovement with the eye--_bottom_. 

(106) Passed the flat hand, palm down, from side to side in a smoothand horizontal movement--_smooth_. 

(107) Made the sign for _stone, rock_, as follows: With the back ofthe arched right hand (H) strike repeatedly in the palm of the left, held horizontal, back outward, at the height of the breast and abouta foot in front, the ends of the fingers pointing in oppositedirections. 

(108) Repeated No. 100--_anchor_. 

(109) Dragged the curved fore and middle fingers over the back of theextended left--_dragging_. 

(110) Waved the left--bent at the wrist, back outward--forward andupward from body, extending the arm to full length, at the same timeinclining and pushing forward the head, and repeated the gesture moreemphatically--_trying again and again_. 

(111) Waved both hands--backs outward, fingers slightly joined, tipsfacing each other and closely approximated in front of breast--forwardand toward their respective sides a short distance, turning the palmsupward during the movement, thumb and fingers being extended andwidely separated toward the last. At the same time he inclined thehead to one side, face expressing disappointment--_all in vain_. 

(112) Repeated No. 80--_Let us start anew_!

(113) Repeated No. 86--_paddling_. 

(114) Repeated the preceding gesture, executing the movement only oncevery emphatically--_vigorously_. 

(115) Waved the finger toward the place of the setting sun, followingthe direction with the eye--_day is near its close_. 

(116) Repeated No. 69, more emphatically--_feeling very cold_. 

(117) Repeated No. 70--_Ga-bi-wa bi-ko-ke_. 

(118) Made sign for _without_, dropping the hands powerless at thesides, with a corresponding movement of head--_exhausted_. 

(119) Pointed with finger toward the light-house and drawing backthe finger a little, pushed it forward in the same direction, fully extending the arm--_that distance_, i. E. , _one mile beyondlight-house_. 

(120) Elevated both hands to height of shoulder, fingers extendedtoward the right, backs upward, moving them horizontally forward--leftforemost--with an impetuous motion toward the last--_drifted out_. 

(121) Repeated No. 86, executing the movement a series of timeswithout interruption and very energetically--_paddling steadily andvigorously_. 

(122) Pointed with the left forefinger to his breast--_I myself_. 

(123) Waved the thumb of the same hand over to left side withoutinterrupting motion of hand--_and Sabadis_. 

(124) Moved the extended left--back upward, fingers slightlyjoined--toward left side, and downward a few inches--_shore_. 

(125) Elevated it to level of eyes, fingers joined and extended, palmtoward the right, approaching it toward the face by a slow interruptedmovement--_drawing nearer and nearer_. 

(126) Drawing a deep breath--_relieved_. 

(127) Repeated No. 86 very emphatically--_paddling with increasedcourage and vigor_. 

(128) Gazed and pointed northeastward, shading the eyes with thehand, at the same time pushing the left--bent downward at wrist, palm backward--forward in that direction, arm fully extended, fingersseparated and pointing ahead at termination of motion--_out there at agreat distance_. 

(129) Made a lateral movement with the hand flat and extended over thefield of ice in front of him--_the ice-field_. 

(130) Described a series of waves with the flat and extended left, back upward, horizontally outward--_sea getting turbulent_. 

(131) Joyously flourished the hand above head, while pronouncing theword _ke-ya-bi_--_only yet_. 

(132) Pointed the finger toward the upturned root of a tree a fewyards off, thence carrying it forward directed it toward the shore infront--_a few yards from shore_. 

(133) Pointing toward the sun first, he placed palms of both handsin opposition vertically, a space of only an inch or two intervening, with a glance sideways at the height thus indicated--_the sun justsetting_. 

(134) Made three vigorous strokes with the imaginary paddle--_threemore paddle-strokes_. 

(135) Moved both hands (flat and extended, backs upward) evenly andhorizontally toward the left, terminating the movement by turninghands almost perpendicularly upward at wrist, thus arresting themsuddenly--_the ice-raft runs up against the shore_. 

(136) Lastly threw up the hand perpendicularly above head, andbringing it down, placed the palm gently over the heart with an air ofsolemnity--_we are saved_. 

_Free translation of the story_. 

Many years ago--my hair, then black and smooth, has since turned gray;I was then in the prime of life; you, I suppose, were a young lad atthat time--the following incident occurred to me:

Yonder on the ice, two miles eastward, I was one day fishing incompany with two others, the old Gabiwabikoke and his son JohnBaptist. It was about ten o'clock in the morning--a fresh breeze fromthe southwest had previously been getting up--when the hook-line whichI was playing up and down began to take an oblique course as thoughit were moved by a current. Surprised, I looked up and around me. Whenglancing toward the south I saw a dark streak stretching from shore toshore across the bay; the ice had parted and the wind was carrying itout toward the open lake. In an instant I had wound up my hook-line, picked up my hatchet and snow-shoes, which I put on my feet, andhurried--the others following my example--toward the nearest point ofland, yonder where the light-house stands. The wind was increasing andwe traveled as fast as we could. There we arrived at the very edge ofthe ice, a streak of water about one hundred yards in width extendingnorthward along the shore as far as we could see. What to beginwith, nothing but a single hatchet? We were in a bad situation. Well, something had to be done. I measured off a square piece on the ice andbegan cutting it off with the hatchet, a hard and tedious labor. Theice was only eight inches thick, but slush and water covered it to thedepth of a foot. I soon had my mittens and trowsers wringing wet andbegan to feel cold and tired. The old Gabiwabikoke was in a worsestate than I. His son next took the hatchet and we all worked byturns. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when we finishedour work. With the help of our snow-shoes (stemming their tail-endsagainst the edge of the solid ice), we succeeded in pushing off ourraft. Turning our snow-shoes the other way (using their tails ashandles), we commenced paddling with them toward the shore. It was avery slow progress, as the wind drifted us outward continually. JohnBaptist managed to twist our three hook-lines into a strong cord, andtying the hooks together in the shape of an anchor, he threw it outtoward the shore. Hauling in the line the hooks dragged over thesmooth rock bottom and would not catch. Repeated trials were ofno avail. We all resumed our former attempt and paddled away withincreased energy. The day was drawing near its close, and we began tofeel the cold more bitterly. Gabiwabikoke was suffering badly from itseffects and was entirely played out. We had already drifted more thana mile beyond the light-house point. John Baptist and I continuedpaddling steadily and vigorously, and felt relieved and encouragedwhen we saw the shore draw near and nearer. The ice-field, by thistime, was miles away to the northeast, and a sea was getting up. Atlast, just when the sun was setting, only a few yards separated usfrom the shore; three more paddle-strokes and our raft ran up againstthe beach. We were safe. 

_The oral part of the story in the language of the narrator, with aliteral translation into English. _

 (1) _Meⁿ'wija_ a long time ago

 (2) _aw ninisis'san_ this my hair

 (3) _me'gwa giijina'gwak tibi'shko aw_ while it looked like that

 (4) _me'gwa gimashkaw'isian_ while I possessed strength

 (5) _kin dash_ you and (i. E. , and you)

 (6) _ga'nabatch kikwiwi'seⁿsiwina'ban_ perhaps (probably) were a boy

 (7) _mi'iw_ very well

 (8)-(10) _iwe'di_ there

 (11)(12) _nin be'jig_ I one

 (13) _mi'nawa_ again (furthermore)

 (14) _Gabiwa'bikoke_ "The Miner"

 (15) _akiweⁿ'si_ old man

 (16) Expressed by gesture only. 

 (17) The same as No. 13. 

 (18) _ogwis'san ga'ie, Sabadis_ his son too, John Baptist. 

 (19) _mi minik'_ so many

 (20)(21) Gestures only. 

 (22) _mi wa'pi_ thus far, i. E. , at that time. 

 (23) _we'ai gion'din_ then the wind blew from

 (24) _me'gwa nin wewe'banabina'ban_ while I was (in the act of) fishing with the hook _nin'goting gonin'gotchi_ at one time somewhere (out of its course) _oda'bigamo nimigis'skane'ab_ was drawn my hook line

 (25) _a'nin ejiwe'bak_? how it happens?

 (26) Gesture only. 

 (27) _taai'!_ ho!

 (28) _mi'gwam_ the ice

 (29) _ma'dja_ goes

 (30)(31) Gestures only. 

 (32) _we'wib_ quickly

 (33)(34) Gestures only. 

 (35) _wagak'wadŏⁿs_ hatchet

 (36) (37) Gestures only. 

 (38) (39) _nin bita'gime_ I put on snowshoes

 (40) _win madja'min_ we go (start)

 (41) Gestures only. 

 (42) (43) _mamaw'e_ together

 (44) Gesture only. 

 (45) _esh'kam ki'tchi no'din_ more big wind

 (46) Gesture only. 

 (47) _mi ja'igwa gima'djishkad_ (i. E. , _mi'gwam_) already has moved off (i. E. , the ice)

 (48) (49) Gestures only. 

 (50) _mi'wapi_ thus far, i. E. , at such a distance

 (51) Gesture only. 

 (52) _a'nin dash gediji'tehigeiang?_ how (i. E. , what) shall we do?

 (53) (54) _mi e'ta be'jigwang wagak'wadŏⁿs_ only one hatchet

 (55) _ge'get gisan'agissimin_ indeed we are badly off. 

 (56) _haw! bak'wewada mi'gwam!_ well! (hallo!) let us cut the ice!

 (57) (58) (59) Gestures only. 

 (60) _sa'nagad_ it is bad (hard)

 (61) _mi epi'tading_ so it is thick (so thick is it)

 (62) Gesture only. 

 (63) _mi dash mi'nawa minik'_ that again much (that much again)

 (64) _nibi' gon ga'ie_ water snow too (water and snow)

 (65) _nimidjik a'wanag_ my mittens

 (66) _a'pitchi_ very much

 (67) _nindas'san gaie_ my trowsers two

 (68) Gestures only. 

 (69) _nin gi'katch ja'igwa_ I feel cold already

 (70) _aw sa kiweⁿ'si_ the old man

 (71) _nawatch' win'_ more yet he

 (72) Gesture only. 

 (73) _nind aie'kos ja'igwa_ I am tired already

 (74) Gesture only. 

 (75) _Sa'badis_ John Baptist

 (76) _memesh'kwat kaki'na_ by turns all

 (77) Gesture only. 

 (78) _wi'ka ga'ishkwanawo'kweg_ late in the afternoon

 (79) _mi gibakwewangid_ now it is cut loose

 (80) _haw!_ well! (ho!)

 (81) _mama'we_ together

 (82) Gesture only. 

 (83) _a'gimag_ snowshoes

 (84) _ma'djishka_ it is moving

 (85)-(87) Gestures only. 

 (88) _aga'wa ma'djishkca_ scarcely it moves (very little)

 (89) _no'din_ wind

 (90) Gesture only. 

 (91) _Sa'badis_ John Baptist

 (92) _migiss'kaneyab_ hook-line

 (93) (94) _oginisswa'biginan_ he twisted three cords together

 (95)-(98) Gestures only. 

 (99) _oginisso'bidonan (i. E. , migaskanan)_ he tied together three (i. E. , hooks)

 (100) Gesture only. 

 (101) _ogiaba'gidonan dash_ he threw it out

 (102) Gesture only. 

 (103) _owikobi'donan_ he wants to draw it in

 (104) _kawes'sa_ in vain ("no go")

 (105)-(108) Gestures only. 

 (109) _ka'win sagakwidis'sinon_ (not) it don't catch on the rock-bottom

 (110) _mi'nawa--mo'jag_ again--often (repeatedly)

 (111) The same as No. 104. 

 (112) The same as No. 80. 

 (113) Gesture only. 

 (114) _e'nigok_ vigorously

 (115) _ja'igwa ona'kwishi_ already evening

 (116) _esh'kam kis'sina_ more cold (getting colder)

 (117) The same as No. 70. 

 (118) _mi ja'igwa gianiji'tang_ already he has given up

 (119) _was'sa ja'igwa_ far already

 (120) _niwebas'himin_ we have drifted out

 (121) Gesture only. 

 (122) (123) _mi'sa e'ta mij'iang_ (now) only we are two

 (124) Gesture only. 

 (125) _ja'igwa tehi'gibig_ already near to shore

 (126) _mi ja'igwa anibonen'damang_ now we catch new spirits

 (127) _esh'kam nigijijaw'isimin_ more we are strong (i. E. , our strength and courage increases)

 (128) (129) _e-eh! was'sa ja'igwa'_ oh! far already _mi'gwam!_ the ice!

 (130) _ja'igwa_ already

 (131) _ke'abi_ yet

 (132) _go'mapi_ so far perhaps

 (133) _ge'ga bangi'shimo_ nearly sundown

 (134) Gesture only. 

 (135) _mi gibima'jagang_ we have landed

 (136) _mi gibima'disiang_ we have saved our lives. 

DISCOURSES. 

_ADDRESS OF KIN CHĒ-ĔSS. _

[Illustration: Fig. 320. ]

The following is the farewell address of KIN CHĒ-ĔSS(Spectacles), medicine-man of the Wichitas, to Rev. A. J. HOLT, missionary, on his departure from the Wichita Agency, in the words ofthe latter:

[Illustration: Fig. 321. ]

He placed one hand on my breast, the other on his own, then claspedhis two hands together after the manner of our congratulations--_Weare friends_, Fig. 320. He placed one hand on me, the other onhimself, then placed the first two fingers of his right hand betweenhis lips--_We are brothers_. He placed his right hand over my heart, his left hand over his own heart, then linked the first fingers of hisright and left hands--_Our hearts are linked together_. See Fig. 232, p. 386. He laid his right hand on me lightly, then put it to hismouth, with the knuckles lightly against his lips, and made the motionof flipping water from the right-hand forefinger, each flip castingthe hand and arm from the mouth a foot or so, then bringing it backin the same position. (This repeated three or more times, signifying_talk_ or _talking_. ) Fig. 321. He then made a motion with his righthand as if he were fanning his right ear; this repeated. He thenextended his right hand with his index finger pointing upward, hiseyes also being turned upward--_You told me of the Great Father_. Pointing to himself, he hugged both hands to his bosom, as if he wereaffectionately clasping something he loved, and then pointed upward inthe way before described--_I love him_ (the Great Father). Laying hisright hand on me, he clasped his hands to his bosom as before--_I loveyou_. Placing his right hand on my shoulder, he threw it over his ownright shoulder as if he were casting behind him a little chip, onlywhen his hand was over his shoulder his index finger was pointingbehind him--_You go away_. Pointing to his breast, he clinched thesame hand as if it held a stick, and made a motion as if he weretrying to strike something on the ground with the bottom of the stickheld in an upright position--_I stay, or I stay right here_, Fig. 322. 

[Illustration: Fig. 322. ]

Placing his right hand on me, he placed both his hands on his breastand breathed deeply two or three times, then using the index fingerand thumb of each hand as if he were holding a small pin, he placedthe two hands in this position as if he were holding a thread in eachhand and between the thumb and forefinger of each hand close together, and then let his hands recede from each other, still holding hisfingers in the same position, as if he were letting a thread slipbetween them until his hands were two feet apart--_You live longtime_, Fig. 323. Laying his right hand on his breast, then extendinghis forefinger of the same hand, holding it from him at half-arm'slength, the finger pointing nearly upward, then moving his hand, withthe finger thus extended, from side to side about as rapidly as a mansteps in walking, each time letting his hand get farther from himfor three or four times, then suddenly placing his left hand in ahorizontal position with the fingers extended and together so thatthe palm was sidewise, he used the right-hand palm, extended, fingerstogether, as a hatchet, and brought it down smartly, just missing theends of the fingers of the left hand, Fig. 324. Then placing his lefthand, with the thumb and forefinger closed, to his heart, he broughthis right hand, fingers in the same position, to his left; then, as ifhe were holding something between his thumb and forefinger, he movedhis right hand away as if he were slowly casting a hair from him, his left hand remaining at his breast, and his eyes following hisright--_I go about a little while longer, but will be cut off shortlyand my spirit will go away_ (or will die). Placing the thumbs andforefingers again in such a position as if he held a small threadbetween the thumb and forefinger of each hand, and the hands touchingeach other, he drew his hands slowly from each other, as if he werestretching a piece of gum-elastic; then laying his right hand on me, he extended the left hand in a horizontal position, fingers extendedand closed, and brought down his right hand with fingers extended andtogether, so as to just miss the tips of the fingers of his left hand;then placing his left forefinger and thumb against his heart, he actedas if he took a hair from the forefinger and thumb of his left handwith the forefinger and thumb of the right, and slowly cast it fromhim, only letting his left hand remain at his breast, and let theindex finger of the right hand point outward toward the distanthorizon--_After a long time you die_. When placing his left hand uponhimself and his right hand upon me, he extended them upward overhis head and clasped them there--_We then meet in heaven_. Pointingupward, then to himself, then to me, he closed the third and littlefinger of his right hand, laying his thumb over them, then extendinghis first and second fingers about as far apart as the eyes, hebrought his hand to his eyes, fingers pointing outward, and shot hishand outward--_I see you up there_. Pointing to me, then giving thelast above-described sign of _look_, then pointing to himself, hemade the sign as if stretching out a piece of gum-elastic betweenthe fingers of his left and right hands, and then made the sign of_cut-off_ before described, and then extended the palm of the righthand horizontally a foot from his waist, inside downward, thensuddenly threw it half over and from him, as if you were to toss achip from the back of the hand (this is the negative sign everywhereused among these Indians)--_I would see him a long time, which shouldnever be cut off_, i. E. , _always. _

[Illustration: Fig. 323. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 324. ]

Pointing upward, then rubbing the back of his left hand lightly withthe forefinger of his right, he again gave the negative sign. --_NoIndian there_ (in heaven). Pointing upward, then rubbing hisforefinger over the back of my hand, he again made the negativesign--_No white man there_. He made the same sign again, only he felthis hair with the forefinger and thumb of his right hand, rolling thehair several times between the fingers--_No black man in heaven_. Thenrubbing the back of his hand and making the negative sign, rubbing theback of my hand and making the negative sign, feeling of one of hishairs with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, and making thenegative sign, then using both hands as if he were reaching around ahogshead, he brought the forefinger of his right hand to the frontin an upright position after their manner of counting, and saidthereby--_No Indian, no white man, no black man, all one_. Making the"hogshead" sign, and that for _look_, he placed the forefinger ofeach hand side by side pointing upward--_All look the same_, or alike. Running his hands over his wild Indian costume and over my clothes, hemade the "hogshead" sign, and that for _same_, and said thereby--_Alldress alike there_. Then making the "hogshead" sign, and that for_love_, (hugging his hands), he extended both hands outward, palmsturned downward, and made a sign exactly similar to the way ladiessmooth a bed in making it; this is the sign for _happy--All will behappy alike there_. He then made the sign for _talk_ and for _Father_, pointing to himself and to me--_You pray for me_. He then made thesign for _go away_, pointing to me, he threw right hand over hisright shoulder so his index finger pointed behind him--_You goaway_. Calling his name he made the sign for _look_ and the sign of_negation_ after pointing to me--_Kin Chē-ĕss see you no more_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 325. ]

Fig. 322, an illustration in the preceding address, also represents acommon gesture for _sit down_, if made to the right of the hip, towardthe locality to be occupied by the individual invited. The latterclosely corresponds to an Australian gesture described by Smyth (_TheAborigines of Victoria, London_, 1878, Vol. II, p. 308, Fig. 260), as follows: "_Minnie-minnie_ (wait a little). It is shaken downwardsrapidly two or three times. Done more slowly towards the ground, itmeans 'Sitdown. '" This is reproduced in Fig. 325. 

_TSO-DI-A'-KO'S REPORT. _

The following statement was made to Dr. W. J. HOFFMAN by TSO-DI-A'-KO(Shaved-head Boy), chief of the Wichitas in Indian Territory, while ona visit to Washington, D. C. , in June 1880. 

The Indian being asked whether there was any timber in his part of theTerritory, replied in signs as follows:

[Illustration: Fig. 326. ]

(1) Move the right hand, fingers loosely extended, separated andpointing upward, back to the front, upward from the height of thewaist to the front of the face--_tree_ (for illustration see Fig. 112, p. 343); repeat this two or three times--_trees_; (2) then hold thehand, fingers extended and joined, pointing upward, with the back tothe front, and push it forward toward different points on a level withthe face-_standing at various places_; (3) both hands, with spreadand slightly curved fingers, are held about two feet apart, before thethighs, palms facing, then draw them toward one another horizontallyand gradually upward until the wrists cross, as if grasping a bunch ofgrass and pulling it up--_many_; (4) point to the southwest with theindex, elevating it a little above the horizon--_country_; (5) thenthrow the fist edgewise toward the surface, in that direction--_my, mine_; (6) place both hands, extended, flat, edgewise before the body, the left below the right, and both edges pointing toward the ground ashort distance to the left of the body, then make repeated cuts towardthat direction from different points, the termination of each cutending at nearly the same point--_cut down_, Fig. 326; (7) hold theleft hand with the fingers and thumb collected to a point, directedhorizontally forward, and make several cutting motions with the edgeof the flat right hand transversely by the tips of the left, and uponthe wrist--_cut off the ends_; (8) then cut upon the left hand, stillheld in the same position, with the right, the cuts being parallel tothe longitudinal axis of the palm--_split_; (9) both hands closedin front of the body, about four inches apart, with forefingers andthumbs approximating half circles, palms toward the ground, movethem forward so that the back of the hand comes forward and the halfcircles imitate the movement of wheels--_wagon_, Fig. 327; (10) holdthe left flat hand before the body, pointing horizontally forward, with the palm down, then bring the right flat hand from the right sideand slap the palm upon the back of the left several times--_load_, upon, Fig. 328; (11) partly close the right hand as if grasping athick rod, palm toward the ground, and push it straight forward nearlyto arm's length--_take_; (12) hold both hands with fingers naturallyextended and slightly separated nearly at arm's length before thebody, palms down, the right lying upon the left, then pass the upperforward and downward from the left quickly, so that the wrist of theright is raised and the fingers point earthward--_throw off_; (13)cut the left palm repeatedly with the outer edge of the extended righthand--_build_; (14) hold both hands edgewise before the body, palmsfacing, spread the fingers and place those of one hand into the spacesbetween those of the left, so that the tips of one protrude beyond thebacks of the fingers of the other--_log house_, see Fig. 253, p. 428;(15) then place the flat right hand, palm down and fingers pointing tothe left, against the breast and move it forward, and slightly upwardand to the right--_good_. 

[Illustration: Fig. 327. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 328. ]

ANALYSIS OF THE FOREGOING. 

[There is] much | timber | [in] | my | country | [of which I] cut down [some], | (3) (1, 2) (5) (4) (6)

 trimmed, | split, | loaded it upon | a wagon [and] | took it away, | (7) (8) (10) (9) (11)

 [where I] threw [it] off | [and] built | [a] good | house |. (12) (13) (15) (14)

NOTES. --As will be seen, the word _timber_ is composed of signs No. 1 and 2, signifying trees standing. Sign No. 3, for _many_, in thisinstance, as in similar other examples, becomes _much_. The word "in, "in connection with _country_ and _my_, is expressed by the gestureof pointing (passing the hand less quickly than in ordinary signlanguage) before making sign No. 5. That sign commonly given for_possession_, would, without the prefix of indication, imply _mycountry_, and with that prefix signifies _in my country_. Sign No. 7, _trimmed_, is indicated by chopping off the ends, and facialexpression denoting _satisfaction_. In sign Nos. 11 and 12 thegestures were continuous, but at the termination of the latter thenarrator straightened himself somewhat, denoting that he had overcomethe greater part of the labor. Sign No. 14 denotes _log-house_, fromthe manner of interlacing the finger-ends, thus representing thecorner of a log-house, and the arrangement of the ends of the same. _Indian lodge_ would be indicated by another sign, although the latteris often used as an abbreviation for the former, when the subject ofconversation is known to all present. 

_LEAN WOLF'S COMPLAINT_

The following remarks were obtained by Dr. W. J. HOFFMAN fromTCE-CAQ-A-DAQ-A-QIC (Lean Wolf), chief of the Hidatsa Indians ofDakota Territory, who visited Washington in 1880:

FOUR YEARS AGO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AGREED TO BE FRIENDS WITH US, BUTTHEY LIED. THAT IS ALL. 

(1) Place the closed hand, with the thumb resting over the middle ofthe index, on the left side of the forehead, palmar side down, thendraw the thumb across the forehead to the right, a short distancebeyond the head--_white man_, American, Fig. 329. 

[Illustration: Fig. 329. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 330. ]

(2) Place the naturally extended hand, fingers and thumb slightlyseparated and pointing to the left, about fifteen inches before theright side of the body, bringing it to within a short distance--_withus_, Fig. 330. 

(3) Extend the flat right hand to the front and right as if about tograsp the hand of another individual--_friend, friends_, Fig. 331. For remarks connected with this sign see pp. 384-386. 

[Illustration: Fig. 331. ]

(4) Place the flat right hand, with fingers only extended, back tothe front, about eighteen inches before the right shoulder--_four_[years], Fig. 332. 

[Illustration: Fig. 332. ]

(5) Close the right hand, leaving the index and second fingersextended and slightly separated, place it, back forward, about eightinches before the right side of the body, and pass it quickly to theleft in a slightly downward curve--_lie_, Fig. 333. 

[Illustration: Fig. 333. ]

(6) Place the clinched fists together before the breast, palms down, then separate them in a curve outward and downward to their respectivesides--_done, finished, "that is all"_, Fig. 334. 

[Illustration: Fig. 334. ]

SIGNALS. 

The collaborators in the work above explained have not generallyresponded to the request to communicate material under this head. Itis, however, hoped that by now printing some extracts from publishedworks and the few contributions recently procured, the attention ofobservers will be directed to the prosecution of research in thisdirection. 

The term "signal" is here used in distinction from the signs notedin the DICTIONARY, extracts from which are given above, as being someaction or manifestation intended to be seen at a distance, and notallowing of the minuteness or detail possible in close converse. Signals may be executed, first, exclusively by bodily action; second, by action of the person in connection with objects, such as a blanket, or a lance, or the direction imparted to a horse; third, by variousdevices, such as smoke, fire or dust, when the person of the signalistis not visible. When not simply intended to attract attention they aregenerally conventional, and while their study has not the same kindof importance as that of gesture signs, it possesses some peculiarinterest. 

SIGNALS EXECUTED BY BODILY ACTION. 

Some of these are identical, or nearly so, with the gesture signs usedby the same people. 

ALARM. SEE NOTES ON CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO SIGNALS, _INFRA_. 

ANGER. 

Close the hand, place it against the forehead, and turn it back andforth while in that position. (Col. R. B. Marcy, U. S. A. , _Thirty Yearsof Army Life on the Border_, _New York_, 1866, p. 34. )

COME HERE. 

The right hand is to be advanced about eighteen inches at the heightof the navel, horizontal, relaxed, palm downward, thumb in the palm;then draw it near the side and at the same time drop the hand to bringthe palm backward. The farther away the person called is, the higherthe hand is raised. If very far off, the hand is raised high up overthe head and then swung forward, downward, and backward to the side. (_Dakota_ I, IV. )

DANGER. 

_There is something dangerous in that place. _--Right-hand index-fingerand thumb forming a curve, the other fingers closed; move the righthand forward, pointing in the direction of the dangerous place oranimal. (_Omaha_ I. )

DEFIANCE. 

Right-hand index and middle fingers open; motion to ward the enemysignifies "I do not fear you. " Reverse the motion, bringing the handtoward the subject, means "Do your worst to me. " (_Omaha_ I. )

DIRECTION. 

_Pass around that object or place near you_--she-í-he ti-dhá-ga. --Whena man is at a distance, I say to him "Go around that way. " Describea curve by raising the hand above the head, forefinger open, move toright or left according to direction intended and hand that is used, i. E. , move to the left, use right hand; move to the right, use lefthand. (_Omaha_ I; _Ponka_ I. )

HALT!

---- To inquire disposition. 

Raise the right hand with the palm in front and gradually push itforward and back several times; if they are not hostile it will atonce be obeyed. (Randolph B. Marcy, _The Prairie Traveler_. _NewYork_, 1859, p. 214. )

---- Stand there! He is coming to you. 

Right hand extended, flat, edgewise, moved downward several times. (_Omaha_ I. )

---- Stand there! He is going toward you. 

Hold the open right hand, palm to the left, with the tips of thefingers toward the person signaled to; thrust the hand forward ineither an upward or downward curve. (_Omaha_ I; _Ponka_ I. )

---- Lie down flat where you are--she-dhu bis-pé zhaⁿ'-ga. 

Extend the right arm in the direction of the person signaled to, having the palm down; move downward by degrees to about the knees. (_Omaha_ I; _Ponka_ I. )

PEACE; FRIENDSHIP. 

Hold up palm of hand. --Observed as made by an Indian of the Kansastribe in 1833. (John T. Irving, _Indian Sketches_. _Philadelphia_, 1835, vol. Ii, p. 253. )

Elevate the extended hands at arm's length above and on either side ofthe head. Observed by Dr. W. J. Hoffman, as made in Northern Arizonain 1871 by the Apaches, Mojaves, Hualpais, and Seviches. "Noarms"--corresponding with "hands up" of road-agents. Fig. 335. 

[Illustration: Fig. 335. --A signal of peace. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 336. --Signal, "Who are you?" Answer, "Pani. "]

The right hand held aloft, empty. (General G. A. Custer, _My Life onthe Plains_, _New York_, 1874, p. 238. ) This may be collated with thelines in Walt Whitman's _Salut au Monde_--

 Toward all I raise high the perpendicular hand, --I make the signal. 

The Natchez in 1682 made signals of friendship to La Salle's partyby the joining of the two hands of the signalist, much embarrassingTonty, La Salle's lieutenant, in command of the advance in the descentof the Mississippi, who could not return the signal, having butone hand. His men responded in his stead. (Margry, _Decouvertes etÉtablissments des Français dans l'ouest et dans le sud de l'AmériqueSeptentrionale, &c. _)

QUESTION. 

---- I do not know you. Who are you?

After halting a party coming: Right hand raised, palm in frontand slowly moved to the right and left. [Answered by tribal sign. ](Marcy's _Prairie Traveler_, _loc. Cit. _, 214. ) Fig. 336. In thisillustration the answer is made by giving the tribal sign for Pani. 

---- To inquire if coming party is peaceful. 

Raise both hands, grasped in the manner of shaking hands, or bylocking the two forefingers firmly while the hands are held up. Iffriendly they will respond with the same signal. (Marcy's _PrairieTraveler_, _loc. Cit. _, 214. )

SUBMISSION. 

The United States steamer Saranac in 1874, cruising in Alaskan waters, dropped anchor in July, 1874, in Freshwater Harbor, back of Sitka, in latitude 59° north. An armed party landed at a T'linkit village, deserted by all the inhabitants except one old man and two women, thelatter seated at the feet of the former. The man was in great fear, turned his back and held up his hands as a sign of utter helplessness. (Extract from notes kindly furnished by Lieutenant-Commander WM. BAINBRIDGE HOFF, U. S. N. , who was senior aid to Rear-Admiral Pennock, on the cruise mentioned. )

SURRENDER. 

The palm of the hand is held toward the person [to whom the surrenderis made]. (_Long_. )

Hold the palm of the hand toward the person as high above the head asthe arm can be raised. (_Dakota_ I. )

SIGNALS IN WHICH OBJECTS ARE USED IN CONNECTION WITH PERSONAL ACTION. 

BUFFALO DISCOVERED. SEE ALSO NOTES ON CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO SIGNALS. 

When the Ponkas or Omahas discover buffalo the watcher stands erect onthe hill, with his face toward the camp, holding his blanket with anend in each hand, his arms being stretched out (right and left) on aline with, shoulders. (_Dakota_ VIII; _Omaha_ I; _Ponka_ I. ) See Fig. 337. 

Same as (_Omaha_ I), and (_Ponka_ I); with the addition that after theblanket is held out at arm's length the arms are crossed in front ofthe body. (_Dakota_ I. )

CAMP!

When it is intended to encamp, a blanket is elevated upon a pole soas to be visible to all the individuals of a moving party. (_Dakota_VIII. )

COME! TO BECKON TO A PERSON. 

Hold out the lower edge of the robe or blanket, then wave it in tothe legs. This is made when there is a desire to avoid generalobservation. (_Matthews_. )

COME BACK!

Gather or grasp the left side of the unbuttoned coat (or blanket) withthe right hand, and, either standing or sitting in position so thatthe signal can be seen, wave it to the left and right as often as maybe necessary for the sign to be recognized. When made standing theperson should not move his body. (_Dakota_ I. )

DANGER. SEE ALSO NOTES ON CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO SIGNALS. 

---- Horseman at a distance, galloping, passing and repassing, andcrossing each other--_enemy comes_. But for notice of herd of buffalo, they gallop back and forward abreast--do not cross each other. (H. M. Brackenridge's _Views of Louisiana_. _Pittsburgh_, 1814, p. 250. )

---- Riding rapidly round in a circle, "Danger! Get together asquickly as possible. " (Richard Irving Dodge, lieutenant-colonel UnitedStates Army, _The Plains of the Great West_. _New York_, 1877, p. 368. )

---- Point the right index in the direction of the danger, and thenthrow the arm over the front of the body diagonally, so that thehand rests near the left shoulder, back outward. If the person to benotified of the danger should be in the rear precede the above signalwith that for "_Attention_. " This signal can also be made with ablanket, properly grasped so as to form a long narrow roll. Perhapsthis signal would more properly belong under "_Caution_, " as it wouldbe used to denote the presence of a dangerous beast or snake, and notthat of a human enemy. (_Dakota_ I. )

[Illustration: Fig. 337. --Signal for "buffalo discovered. "]

[Illustration: Fig. 338. --Signal of discovery or alarm. ]

---- Passing and repassing one another, either on foot or mounted, is used as a war-signal; which is expressed in theHidatsa--makimakă'da--halidié. (_Mandan and Hidatsa_ I. )

DIRECTION. 

---- Pass around that place. 

Point the folded blanket in the direction of the object or place to beavoided, then draw it near the body, and wave it rapidly several timesin front of the body only, and then throwing it out toward the sideon which you wish the person to approach you, and repeat a sufficientnumber of times for the signal to be understood. (_Dakota_ I. )

DISCOVERY. 

The discovery of enemies, game, or anything else, is announced byriding rapidly to and fro, or in a circle. The idea that there isa difference in the signification of these two directions of ridingappears, according to many of the Dakota Indians of the MissouriValley, to be erroneous. Parties away from their regular encampmentare generally in search of some special object, such as game, orof another party, either friendly or hostile, which is, generallyunderstood, and when that object is found, the announcement is madeto their companions in either of the above ways. The reason that ahorseman may ride from side to side is, that the party to whom hedesires to communicate may be at a particular locality, and hismovement--at right angles to the direction to the party--would beperfectly clear. Should the party be separated into smaller bands, orhave flankers or scouts at various points, the only way in which therider's signal could be recognized as a motion from side to side, byall the persons to whom the signal was directed, would be for him toride in a circle, which he naturally does. (_Dakota_ VI, VII, VIII. )Fig. 338. 

The latter was noticed by Dr. Hoffman in 1873, on the YellowstoneRiver, while attached to the Stanley Expedition. The Indians had againconcentrated after their first repulse by General Custer, and takenpossession of the woods and bluffs on the opposite side of the river. As the column came up, one Indian was seen upon a high bluff to riderapidly round in a circle, occasionally firing off his revolver. Thesignal announced the discovery of the advancing force, which had beenexpected, and he could be distinctly seen from the surrounding region. As many of the enemy were still scattered over the neighborhood, some of them would not have been able to recognize this signal hadhe ridden to and from an observer, but the circle produced a lateralmovement visible from any point. 

---- Of enemies, or other game than Buffalo. See also NOTES ONCHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO SIGNALS. 

The discovery of enemies is indicated by riding rapidly around in acircle, so that the signal could be seen by their friends, but out ofsight of the discovered enemy. (_Dakota_ I. )

When enemies are discovered, or other game than buffalo, the sentinelwaves his blanket over his head up and down, holding an end in eachhand. (_Omaha_ I; _Ponka_ I. )

---- Of game, wood, water, &c. 

This is communicated by riding rapidly forward and backward on the topof the highest hill. The same would be communicated with a blanketby waving it right and left, and then directly toward the game orwhatever the party might be searching for, indicating that it is notto the right or to the left, but directly in front. (_Dakota_ I. )

DRILL, MILITARY. 

"It is done by signals, devised after a system of the Indian's owninvention, and communicated in various ways. 

"Wonderful as the statement may appear, the signaling on a brightday, when the sun is in the proper direction, is done with a piece oflooking-glass held in the hollow of the hand. The reflection of thesun's rays thrown on the ranks communicates in some mysterious way thewishes of the chief. Once standing on a little knoll overlooking thevalley of the South Platte, I witnessed almost at my feet a drill ofabout one hundred warriors by a Sioux chief, who sat on his horse on aknoll opposite me, and about two hundred yards from his command in theplain below. For more than half an hour he commanded a drill, whichfor variety and promptness of action could not be equaled by anycivilized cavalry of the world. All I could see was an occasionalmovement of the right arm. He himself afterwards told me that he useda looking-glass. " (Dodge's _Plains of the Great West_, _loc. Cit. _, pp. 307, 308. )

FRIENDSHIP. 

If two Indians [of the plains] are approaching one another onhorseback, and they may, for instance, be one mile apart, or as far asthey can see each other. At that safe distance one wants to indicateto the other that he wishes to be friendly. He does this by turninghis horse around and traveling about fifty paces back and forth, repeating this two or three times; this shows to the other Indian thathe is not for hostility, but for friendly relations. If the secondIndian accepts this proffered overture of friendship, he indicatesthe same by locking the fingers of both hands as far as to the firstjoints, and in that position raises his hands and lets them rest onhis forehead with the palms either in or out, indifferently, as if hewere trying to shield his eyes from the excessive light of the sun. This implies, "I, too, am for peace, " or "I accept your overture. "(_Sac, Fox, and Kickapoo_ I. ) It is interesting in this connectionto note the reception of Father Marquette by an Illinois chief whois reported to have raised his hands to his eyes as if to shield themfrom overpowering splendor. That action was supposed to be made in acombination of humility and admiration, and a pretended inability togaze on the face of the illustrious guest has been taken to be theconception of the gesture, which in fact was probably only the holdingthe interlocked hands in the most demonstrative posture. An orientalgesture in which the flat hand is actually interposed as a shieldto the eyes before a superior is probably made with the poeticalconception erroneously attributed to the Indian. 

The display of green branches to signalize friendly or pacificintentions does not appear to have been noticed among the NorthAmerican Indians by trustworthy observers. Captain Cook makes frequentmention of it as the ceremonial greeting among islands he visited. Seehis _Voyage toward the South Pole. London_, 1784, Vol. II, pp. 30 and35. Green branches were also waved, in signal of _friendship_ by thenatives of the island of New Britain to the members of the expeditionin charge of Mr. Wilfred Powell in 1878. _Proceedings of the RoyalGeological Society_, February, 1881, p. 89. 

HALT!

---- Stand there! he is coming this way. 

Grasp the end of the blanket or robe; wave it downward several times. (_Omaha_ I. )

---- To inquire disposition. 

Wave the folded blanket to the right and left in front of the body, then point toward the person or persons approaching, and carry it froma horizontal position in front of the body rapidly downward and upwardseveral times. (_Dakota_ I. )

MANY. 

Wave the blanket directly in front of the body upward and downwardseveral times. Many of _anything_. (_Dakota_ I. )

PEACE, COUPLED WITH INVITATION. 

Motion of spreading a real or imaginary robe or skin on the ground. Noticed by Lewis and Clark on their first meeting with the Shoshoniin 1805. (_Lewis and Clark's Travels_, &c. , London, 1817, vol. Ii, p. 74. ) This signal is more particularly described as follows: Grasp theblanket by the two corners with the hands, throw it above the head, allowing it to unfold as it falls to the ground as if in the act ofspreading it. 

QUESTION. 

The ordinary manner of opening communication with parties known orsupposed to be hostile is to ride toward them in zigzag manner, or toride in a circle. (Custer's _My Life on the Plains_, _loc. Cit. _, p. 58. )

This author mentions (p. 202) a systematic manner of waving a blanket, by which the son of Satana, the Kaiowa chief, conveyed information tohim, and a similar performance by Yellow Bear, a chief of the Arapahos(p. 219), neither of which he explains in detail. 

---- I do not know you. Who are you?

Point the folded blanket at arm's length toward the person, and thenwave it toward the right and left in front of the face. You--I don'tknow. Take an end of the blanket in each hand, and extend the arms tofull capacity at the sides of the body, letting the other ends hangdown in front of the body to the ground, means, Where do you comefrom? or who are you? (_Dakota_ I. )

SAFETY. ALL QUIET. SEE NOTES ON CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO SIGNALS. 

SURRENDER. 

Hold the folded blanket or a piece of cloth high above the head. "Thisreally means 'I want to die right now. '" (_Dakota_ I. )

SURROUNDED, WE ARE. 

Take an end of the blanket in each hand, extend the arms at the sidesof the body, allowing the blanket to hang down in front of the body, and then wave it in a circular manner. (_Dakota_ I. )

SIGNALS MADE WHEN THE PERSON OF THE SIGNALIST IS NOT VISIBLE. 

Those noted consist of SMOKE, FIRE, or DUST signals. 

_SMOKE SIGNALS GENERALLY. _

They [the Indians] had abandoned the coast, along which bale-fireswere left burning and sending up their columns of smoke to advisethe distant bands of the arrival of their old enemy. (Schoolcraft's_History_, &c. , vol. Iii, p. 35, giving a condensed account of DeSoto's expedition. )

"Their systems of telegraphs are very peculiar, and though they mightseem impracticable at first, yet so thoroughly are they understood bythe savages that it is availed of frequently to immense advantage. Themost remarkable is by raising smokes, by which many important factsare communicated to a considerable distance and made intelligibleby the manner, size, number, or repetition of the smokes, whichare commonly raised by firing spots of dry grass. " (Josiah Gregg's_Commerce of the Prairies_. _New York_, 1844, vol. Ii, p. 286. )

The highest elevations of land are selected as stations from whichsignals with smoke are made. These can be seen at a distance of fromtwenty to fifty miles. By varying the number of columns of smokedifferent meanings are conveyed. The most simple as well as the mostvaried mode, and resembling the telegraphic alphabet, is arranged bybuilding a small fire, which is not allowed to blaze; then by placingan armful of partially green grass or weeds over the fire, as if tosmother it, a dense white smoke is created, which ordinarily willascend in a continuous vertical column for hundreds of feet. Havingestablished a current of smoke, the Indian simply takes his blanketand by spreading it over the small pile of weeds or grass from whichthe smoke takes its source, and properly controlling the edges andcorners of the blanket, he confines the smoke, and is in this way ableto retain it for several moments. By rapidly displacing the blanket, the operator is enabled to cause a dense volume of smoke to rise, thelength or shortness of which, as well as the number and frequency ofthe columns, he can regulate perfectly, simply by a proper use of theblanket. (Custer's _My life on the Plains_, _loc. Cit. _, p. 187. )

They gathered an armful of dried grass and weeds, which were placedand carried upon the highest point of the peak, where, everythingbeing in readiness, the match was applied close to the ground; butthe blaze was no sooner well lighted and about to envelop the entireamount of grass collected than it was smothered with the unlightedportion. A slender column of gray smoke then began to ascend in aperpendicular column. This was not enough, as it might be taken forthe smoke rising from a simple camp-fire. The smoldering grass wasthen covered with a blanket, the corners of which were held so closelyto the ground as to almost completely confine and cut off the columnof smoke. Waiting a few moments, until the smoke was beginning toescape from beneath, the blanket was suddenly thrown aside, when abeautiful balloon-shaped column puffed up ward like the white cloud ofsmoke which attends the discharge of a field-piece. Again casting theblanket on the pile of grass, the column was interrupted as before, and again in due time released, so that a succession of elongated, egg-shaped puffs of smoke kept ascending toward the sky in the mostregular manner. This bead-like column of smoke, considering the heightfrom which it began to ascend, was visible from points on the levelplain fifty miles distant. (Ib. , p. 217. )

 * * * * *

The following extracts are made from Fremont's _First and SecondExpeditions_, 1842-3-4, Ex. Doc. , 28th Cong. 2d Session, Senate, Washington, 1845:

"Columns of smoke rose over the country at scatteredintervals--signals by which the Indians here, as elsewhere, communicate to each other that enemies are in the country, " p. 220. This was January 18, 1844, in the vicinity of Pyramid Lake, andperhaps the signalists were Pai-Utes. 

"While we were speaking, a smoke rose suddenly from the cottonwoodgrove below, which plainly told us what had befallen him [Tabeau];it was raised to inform the surrounding Indians that a blow had beenstruck, and to tell them to be on their guard, " p. 268, 269. Thiswas on May 5, 1844, near the Rio Virgen, Utah, and was narrated of"Diggers, " probably Chemehuevas. 

ARRIVAL OF A PARTY AT AN APPOINTED PLACE, WHEN ALL IS SAFE. 

This is made by sending upward one column of smoke from, a firepartially smothered by green grass. This is only used by previousagreement, and if seen by friends of the party, the signal is answeredin the same manner. But should either party discover the presence ofenemies, no signal would be made, but the fact would be communicatedby a runner. (_Dakota_ I. )

SUCCESS OF A WAR PARTY. 

Whenever a war party, consisting of either Pima, Papago, or MaricopaIndians, returned from an expedition into the Apache country, theirsuccess was announced from the first and most distant elevationvisible from their settlements. The number of scalps secured wasshown by a corresponding number of columns of smoke, arranged in ahorizontal line, side by side, so as to be distinguishable by theobservers. When the returning party was unsuccessful, no such signalswere made. (_Pima and Papago_ I. ) Fig. 339. A similar custom appearsto have existed among the Ponkas, although the custom has apparentlybeen discontinued by them, as shown in the following proper name:Cú-de gá-xe, Smoke maker: He who made a smoke by burning grassreturning from war. 

_SMOKE SIGNALS OF THE APACHES. _

The following information was obtained by Dr. W. J. HOFFMAN from theApache chiefs named on page 407, under the title of TINNEAN, (_Apache_I):

The materials used in making smoke of sufficient density and colorconsist of pine or cedar boughs, leaves and grass, which can nearlyalways be obtained in the regions occupied by the Apaches of NorthernNew Mexico. These Indians state that they employ but three kinds ofsignals, each of which consists of columns of smoke, numbering fromone to three or more. 

ALARM. 

This signal is made by causing three or more columns of smoke toascend, and signifies danger or the approach of an enemy, and alsorequires the concentration of those who see them. These signals arecommunicated from one camp to another, and the most distant bands areguided by their location. The greater the haste desired the greaterthe number of columns of smoke. These are often so hastily made thatthey may resemble puffs of smoke, and are caused by throwing heaps ofgrass and leaves upon the embers again and again. 

[Illustration: Fig. 339. --Signal of successful war-party. ]

ATTENTION. 

This signal is generally made by producing one continuous column, andsignifies attention for several purposes, viz, when a band had becometired of one locality, or the grass may have been consumed by theponies, or some other cause necessitated removal, or should an enemybe reported, which would require farther watching before a decision asto future action would be made. The intention or knowledge of anythingunusual would be communicated to neighboring bands by causing onecolumn of smoke to ascend. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF A CAMP; QUIET; SAFETY. 

When a removal of camp has been made, after the signal for ATTENTIONhas been given, and the party have selected a place where they proposeto remain until there may be a necessity or desire for their removal, two columns of smoke are made, to inform their friends that theypropose to remain at that place. Two columns are also made at othertimes during a long continued residence, to inform the neighboringbands that a camp still exists, and that all is favorable and quiet. 

_FOREIGN SMOKE SIGNALS. _

The following examples of smoke signals in foreign lands are added forcomparison. 

Miss Haigh, speaking of the Guanches of the Canary Islands at the timeof the Spanish conquest, says: "When an enemy approached, they alarmedthe country by raising a thick smoke or by whistling, which wasrepeated from one to another. This latter method is still in use amongthe people of Teneriffe, and may be heard at an almost incredibledistance. " (_Trans. Eth. Soc. Lond. Vii_, 1869, sec. Ser. , pp. 109, 110. )

"The natives have an easy method of telegraphing news to their distantfriends. When Sir Thomas Mitchell was traveling through EasternAustralia he often saw columns of smoke ascending through the treesin the forests, and he soon learned that the natives used the smokeof fires for the purpose of making known his movements to theirfriends. Near Mount Frazer he observed a dense column of smoke, andsubsequently other smokes arose, extending in a telegraphic line farto the south, along the base of the mountains, and thus communicatingto the natives who might be upon his route homeward the tidings of hisreturn. 

"When Sir Thomas reached Portland Bay he noticed that when a whaleappeared in the bay the natives were accustomed to send up a column ofsmoke, thus giving timely intimation to all the whalers. If the whaleshould be pursued by one boat's crew only it might be taken; but ifpursued by several, it would probably be run ashore and become foodfor the blacks. " (Smyth, _loc. Cit. _, vol. 1, pp. 152, 153, quotingMaj. T. L. Mitchell's _Eastern Australia_, vol. Ii, p. 241. )

Jardine, writing of the natives of Cape York, says that a"communication between the islanders and the natives of the mainlandis frequent; and the rapid manner in which news is carried from tribeto tribe, to great distances, is astonishing. I was informed of theapproach of Her Majesty's Steamer Salamander, on her last visit, twodays before her arrival here. Intelligence is conveyed by means offires made to throw up smoke in different forms, and by messengers whoperform long and rapid journeys. " (Smyth, _loc. Cit. _, vol. 1, p. 153, quoting from _Overland Expedition_, p. 85. )

Messengers in all parts of Australia appear to have used this mode ofsignaling. In Victoria, when traveling through the forests, they wereaccustomed to raise smoke by filling the hollow of a tree with greenboughs and setting fire to the trunk at its base; and in this way, as they always selected an elevated position for the fire when theycould, their movements were made known. 

When engaged in hunting, when traveling on secret expeditions, whenapproaching an encampment, when threatened with danger, or when foesmenaced their friends, the natives made signals by raising a smoke. And their fires were lighted in such a way as to give forth signalsthat would be understood by people of their own tribe and by friendlytribes. They exhibited great ability in managing their system oftelegraphy; and in former times it was not seldom used to the injuryof the white settlers, who at first had no idea that the thin columnof smoke rising through the foliage of the adjacent bush, and raisedperhaps by some feeble old woman, was an intimation to the warriorsto advance and attack the Europeans. (R. Brough Smyth, F. L. S. , F. G. S. , _The Aborigines of Victoria_. _Melbourne_, 1878, vol. I, pp. 152, 153. )

_FIRE ARROWS. _

"Travelers on the prairie have often seen the Indians throwing upsignal lights at night, and have wondered how it was done. .. . Theytake off the head of the arrow and dip the shaft in gunpowder, mixedwith glue. .. . The gunpowder adheres to the wood, and coats it three orfour inches from its end to the depth of one-fourth of an inch. Chewedbark mixed with dry gunpowder is then fastened to the stick, and thearrow is ready for use. When it is to be fired, a warrior places it onhis bowstring and draws his bow ready to let it fly; the point of thearrow is then lowered, another warrior lights the dry bark, and it isshot high in the air. When it has gone up a little distance, it burstsout into a flame, and burns brightly until it falls to the ground. Various meanings are attached to these fire-arrow signals. Thus, onearrow meant, among the Santees, 'The enemy are about'; two arrowsfrom the same point, 'Danger'; three, 'Great danger'; many, 'Theyare too strong, or we are falling back'; two arrows sent up at thesame moment, 'We will attack'; three, 'Soon'; four, 'Now'; if shotdiagonally, 'In that direction. ' These signals are constantly changed, and are always agreed upon when the party goes out or before itseparates. The Indians send their signals very intelligently, andseldom make mistakes in telegraphing each other by these silentmonitors. The amount of information they can communicate by fires andburning arrows is perfectly wonderful. Every war party carries with itbundles of signal arrows. " (_Belden, The White Chief; or Twelve Yearsamong the Wild Indians of the Plains_. _Cincinnati and New York_, 1871, pp. 106, 107. )

With regard to the above, it is possible that white influence has beenfelt in the mode of signaling as well as in the use of gunpowder, but it would be interesting to learn if any Indians adopted a similarexpedient before gunpowder was known to them. They frequently usedarrows, to which flaming material was attached, to set fire to thewooden houses of the early colonists. The Caribs were acquainted withthis same mode of destruction as appears by the following quotation:

"Their arrows were commonly poisoned, except when they made theirmilitary excursions by night; on these occasions they convertedthem into instruments of still greater mischief; for, by arming thepoints with pledgets of cotton dipped in oil, and set on fire, theyfired whole villages of their enemies at a distance. " (_Alcedo. TheGeograph. And Hist. Dict. Of America and the West Indies_. Thompson'strans. _London_, 1812, Vol. I, p. 314. )

_DUST SIGNALS. _

When an enemy, game, or anything else which was the special objectof search is discovered, handfulls of dust are thrown into the airto announce that discovery. This signal has the same generalsignification as when riding to and fro, or, round in a circle on anelevated portion of ground, or a bluff. (_Dakota_ VII, VII. )

When any game or any enemy is discovered, and should the sentinel bewithout a blanket, he throws a handful of dust up into the air. Whenthe Brulés attacked the Ponkas, in 1872, they stood on the bluff andthrew up dust. (_Omaha_ I; _Ponka_ I. )

There appears to be among the Bushmen a custom of throwing up sand orearth into the air when at a distance from home and in need of help ofsome kind from those who were there. (_Miss L. C. Lloyd, MS. Letter_, dated July 10, 1880, from Charlton House, Mowbray, near Cape Town, Africa. )

_NOTES ON CHEYENNE AND ARAPAHO SIGNALS. _

The following information was obtained from WA-Uⁿ'(_Bobtail_), MO-HI'-NUK'-MA-HA'-IT (_Big horse_), Cheyennes, and O-QO-HIS'-SA (_TheMare_, better known as "Little Raven"), and NA'-WATC (_Left Hand_), Arapahos, chiefs and members of a delegation who visited Washington, D. C. , in September, 1880, in the interest of their tribes dwelling inIndian Territory:

A party of Indians going on the war-path leave camp, announcing theirproject to the remaining individuals and informing neighboring friendsby sending runners. A party is not systematically organized untilseveral days away from its headquarters, unless circumstances shouldrequire immediate action. The pipe-bearers are appointed, who precedethe party while on the march, carrying the pipes, and no one isallowed to cross ahead of these individuals, or to join the partyby riding up before the head of the column, as it would endanger thesuccess of the expedition. All new arrivals fall in from either sideor the rear. Upon coming in sight of any elevations of land likely toafford a good view of the surrounding country the warriors come toa halt and secrete themselves as much as possible. The scouts whohave already been selected, advance just before daybreak to within amoderate distance of the elevation to ascertain if any of the enemyhas preceded them. This is only discovered by carefully watching thesummit to see if any objects are in motion; if not, the flight ofbirds is observed, and if any should alight upon the hill or butteit would indicate the absence of anything that might ordinarily scarethem away. Should a large bird, as a raven, crow, or eagle, fly towardthe hill-top and make a sudden swerve to either side and disappear, itwould indicate the presence of something sufficient to require furtherexamination. When it is learned that there is reason to suspect anenemy the scout, who has all the time been closely watched by theparty in the rear, makes a signal for them to lie still, signifying_danger or caution. _ It is made by grasping the blanket with the righthand and waving it earthward from a position in front of and as highas the shoulder. This is nearly the same as civilized Americans usethe hand for a similar purpose in battle or hunting to direct "liequiet"!

Should the hill, however, be clear of any one, the Indian will ascendslowly, and under cover as much as possible, and gain a view of thecountry. If there is no one to be seen, the blanket is grasped andwaved horizontally from right to left and back again repeatedly, showing a clear surface. If the enemy is discovered, the scout willgive the _alarm_ by running down the hill, upon a side visible to thewatchers, in a zigzag manner, which communicates the state of affairs. 

Should any expedition or advance be attempted at night, the samesignals as are made with the blanket are made with a firebrand, whichis constructed of a bunch of grass tied to a short pole. 

When a war party encamps for a night or a day or more, a piece of woodis stuck into the ground, pointing in the direction pursued, with anumber of cuts, notches, or marks corresponding to the number of dayswhich the party spent after leaving the last camp until leaving thepresent camp, serving to show to the recruits to the main party thecourse to be followed, and the distance. 

A hunting party in advancing takes the same precautions as a warparty, so as not to be surprised by an enemy. If a scout ascends aprominent elevation and discovers no game, the blanket is grasped andwaved horizontally from side to side at the height of the shoulders orhead; and if game is discovered the Indian rides back and forth (fromleft to right) a short distance so that the distant observers can viewthe maneuver. If a large herd of buffalo is found, the extent traveledover in going to and fro increases in proportion to the size of theherd. A quicker gait is traveled when the herd is very large or hasteon the part of the hunters is desired. 

It is stated that these Indians also use mirrors to signal from oneelevation to another, but the system could not be learned, as they saythey have no longer use for it, having ceased warfare(?). 

SCHEME OF ILLUSTRATION. 

In the following pages the scheme of graphic illustration, intendedboth to save labor and secure accuracy, which was presented in the_Introduction to the Study of Sign Language_, is reproduced with someimprovements. It is given for the use of observers who may not seethat publication, the material parts of which being included inthe present paper it is not necessary that the former should now befurnished. The TYPES OF HAND POSITIONS were prepared for referenceby the corresponding letters of the alphabet to avoid tediousdescription, should any of them exactly correspond, or by alteration, as suggested in the note following them. These, as well as theOUTLINES OF ARM POSITIONS, giving front and side outline's with armspendant, were distributed in separate sheets to observers for theirconvenience in recording, and this will still be cheerfully donewhen request is made to the present writer. When the sheets are notaccessible the TYPES can be used for graphic changes by tracing theone selected, or by a few words indicating the change, as shown in theEXAMPLES. The OUTLINES OF ARM POSITIONS can also be readily traced forthe same use as if the sheets had been provided. It is hoped that thisscheme, promoting uniformity in description and illustration, will beadopted by all observers who cannot be specially addressed. 

Collaborators in the gestures of foreign uncivilized peoples willconfer a favor by sending at least one photograph or sketch in nativecostume of a typical individual of the tribe, the gestures of whichare reported upon, in order that it may be reproduced in the completework. Such photograph or sketch need not be made in the execution ofany particular gesture, which can be done by artists engaged on thework, but would be still more acceptable if it could be so made. 

OUTLINES FOR ARM POSITIONS IN SIGN LANGUAGE. 

The gestures, to be indicated by corrected positions of arms andby dotted lines showing the motion from the initial to the finalpositions (which, are severally marked by an arrow-head and across--see EXAMPLES), will always be shown as they appear to anobserver facing the gesturer, the front outline, Fig. 340, orside, Fig. 341, or both, being used as most convenient. The specialpositions of hands and fingers will be designated by reference tothe TYPES OF HAND POSITIONS. For brevity in the written description, "hand" may be used for "right hand, " when that one alone is employedin any particular gesture. When more convenient to use the profilefigure in which the right arm is exhibited for a gesture actuallymade by the left hand and arm it can be done, the fact, however, beingnoted. 

[Illustration: Fig. 340. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 341. ]

In cases where the conception or origin of any sign is ascertained orsuggested it should be annexed to the description, and when obtainedfrom the gesturer will be so stated affirmatively, otherwise itwill be considered to be presented by the observer. The graphicillustration of associated facial expression or bodily posturewhich may accentuate or qualify a gesture is necessarily left to theingenuity of the contributor. 

_ORDER OF ARRANGEMENT_. 

The following order of arrangement for written descriptions issuggested. The use of a separate sheet or part sheet of paper for eachsign described and illustrated would be convenient in the collation. It should always be affirmatively stated whether the "conception ororigin" of the sign was procured from the sign-maker, or is suggestedor inferred by the observer. 

 _Word or idea expressed by Sign_: __________________

 DESCRIPTION:

 ____________________________________________________

 ____________________________________________________

 ____________________________________________________

 CONCEPTION OR ORIGIN:

 ____________________________________________________

 _Tribe_: ________________________________

 _Locality_:______________________________

 _Date_: _____________________ 188_. 

 __________________________ _Observer_. 

TYPES OF HAND POSITIONS IN SIGN LANGUAGE. 

[Illustration: A--Fist, palm outward, horizontal. ]

[Illustration: B--Fist, back outward, oblique upward. ]

[Illustration: C--Clinched, with thumb extended against forefinger, upright, edge outward. ]

[Illustration: D--Clinched, ball of thumb against middle offorefinger, oblique, upward, palm down. ]

[Illustration: E--Hooked, thumb against end of forefinger, upright, edge outward. ]

[Illustration: F--Hooked, thumb against side of forefinger, oblique, palm outward. ]

[Illustration: G--Fingers resting against ball of thumb, back upward. ]

[Illustration: H--Arched, thumb horizontal against end of forefinger, back upward. ]

[Illustration: I--Closed, except forefinger crooked against end ofthumb, upright, palm outward. ]

[Illustration: J--Forefinger straight, upright, others closed, edgeoutward. ]

[Illustration: K--Forefinger obliquely extended upward, others closed, edge outward. ]

[Illustration: L--Thumb vertical, forefinger horizontal, othersclosed, edge outward. ]

FIG. 342a. 

[Illustration: M--Forefinger horizontal, fingers and thumb closed, palm outward. ]

[Illustration: N--First and second fingers straight upward andseparated, remaining fingers and thumb closed, palm outward. ]

[Illustration: O--Thumb, first and second fingers separated, straightupward, remaining fingers curved edge outward. ]

[Illustration: P--Fingers and thumb partially curved upward andseparated, knuckles outward. ]

[Illustration: Q--Fingers and thumb, separated, slightly curved, downward. ]

[Illustration: R--Fingers and thumb extended straight, separated, upward. ]

[Illustration: S--Hand and fingers upright, joined, back outward. ]

[Illustration: T--Hand and fingers upright, joined, palm outward. ]

[Illustration: U--Fingers collected to a point, thumb resting inmiddle. ]

[Illustration: V--Arched, joined, thumb resting near end offorefinger, downward. ]

[Illustration: W--Hand horizontal, flat, palm downward. ]

[Illustration: X--Hand horizontal, flat, palm upward. ]

[Illustration: Y--Naturally relaxed, normal; used when hand simplyfollows arm with no intentional disposition. ]

FIG. 342b. 

NOTE CONCERNING THE FOREGOING TYPES. 

The positions are given as they appear to an observer facing thegesturer, and are designed to show the relations of the fingers to thehand rather than the positions of the hand relative to the body, which must be shown by the outlines (see OUTLINES OF ARM POSITIONS)or description. The right and left hands are figured above withoutdiscrimination, but in description or reference the right hand willbe understood when the left is not specified. The hands as figuredcan also with proper intimation be applied with changes eitherupward, downward, or inclined to either side, so long as the relativepositions of the fingers are retained, and when in that respect no oneof the types exactly corresponds with a sign observed, modificationsmay be made by pen or pencil on that one of the types, or a tracing ofit, found most convenient, as indicated in the EXAMPLES, and referredto by the letter of the alphabet under the type changed, with theaddition of a numeral--e. G. , A 1, and if that type, i. E. , A, werechanged a second time by the observer (which change would necessarilybe drawn on another sheet of types or another tracing of a typeselected when there are no sheets provided), it should be referred toas A 2. 

EXAMPLES. 

_Word or idea expressed by sign: To cut, with an ax. _

DESCRIPTION. 

[Illustration: Fig. 343. ]

With the right hand flattened (X changed to right instead of left), palm upward, move it downward to the left side repeatedly fromdifferent elevations, ending each stroke at the same point. Fig. 343. 

CONCEPTION OR ORIGIN. 

From the act of felling a tree. 

_Word or idea expressed by sign: A lie. _

DESCRIPTION. 

Touch the left breast over the heart, and pass the hand forward fromthe mouth, the two first fingers only being extended and slightlyseparated (L, 1--with thumb resting on third finger, Fig. 344a). Fig. 344. 

CONCEPTION OR ORIGIN. 

Double-tongued. 

[Illustration: L1, Fig. 344a. ]

[Illustration: Fig. 344. ]

_Word or idea expressed by sign: To ride. _

[Illustration: N1 Fig. 345a. ]

DESCRIPTION. 

[Illustration: Fig. 345. ]

Place the first two fingers of the right hand, thumb extended (N 1, Fig. 345a) downward, astraddle the first two joined and straightfingers of the left (T 1, Fig. 345b), sidewise, to the right, thenmake several short, arched movements forward with hands so joined. Fig. 345. 

CONCEPTION OR ORIGIN. 

The horse mounted and in motion. 

[Illustration: T1 Fig. 345b. ]

_Word or idea expressed by signs: I am going home. _

DESCRIPTION. 

[Illustration: Fig. 346. ]

(1) Touch the middle of the breast with the extended index (K), then(2) pass it slowly downward and outward to the right, and when thehand is at arm's length, at the height of the shoulder, (3) clinch it(A) suddenly and throw it edgewise toward the ground. Fig. 346. 

CONCEPTION OR ORIGIN. 

(1) I, personality; (2) motion and direction; (3) locality of mypossessions--home. 

EXPLANATION OF MARKS. 

The following indicative marks are used in the above examples:

. .. .. .. .. .. Dotted lines indicate movements to place the hand and armin position to commence the sign and not forming part of it. 

-----------Short dashes indicate the course of hand employed in thesign, when made rapidly. 

-- -- -- --Longer dashes indicate a less rapid movement. 

---- ---- Broken lines represent slow movement. 

> Indicates commencement of movement in representing sign, or part ofsign. 

X Represents the termination of movements. 

[Symbol: Circle about a dot] Indicates the point in the gesture lineat which the hand position is changed. 

INDEX. 

 Abbreviations in signs, 338 Abnaki, Intelligence communicated by, 369 Absaroka, Tribal signs for, 458 Abstract ideas expressed in signs, 348 Actors, modern, Use of gestures by, 308 Addison, Gestures of orators, 294 Æschylus, Theatrical gestures, 286 Affirmation, Sign for, 286, 454 Alarm, Signs for, 529, 538 Alaskan Indians, Dialogue between, 492 Alaskans, Sign language of the, 313 Alive, Sign for, 421 All together, Sign for, 523 Anger, Sign for, 301, Signal for, 529 Antelope, Signs for, 410 Antiquity of gesture speech, 285 Apache pictographs connected with signs, 372, Tribal signs for, 459 Apaches, Smoke signals of the, 538 Aphasia, Gestures in, 276 Applause, Signs for, 300 Application, Practical, of sign language, 346 Approbation, Sign for, 286 Arapaho, Tribal signs for, 460 Arbitrary signs, 340 Archæologic research connected with sign language, 368 Argyle, Duke of, Gestures of Fuegans, 293 Arikara, Tribal signs for, 461 Arm positions, Outlines of, in sign language, 545 Arrangement in descriptions of signs, 546 Art, Modern Italian, exhibiting gestures, 292 Articulate speech, preceded by gesture, 274, 284 Artificial articulation, 275, 307 Asking, Signs for, 291, 297 Assinaboin, Tribal signs for, 461 Astute, Sign for, 305 Athenæus, Account of Telestes, 286, Classification of gestures, 285 Atsina, Tribal signs for, 462 Attention, Signal for, 539 Austin, Rev. Gilbert, Chironomia, 289 Australians, Gestures of, 306 Authorities in sign language, List of, 401 Ax, Sign for, 380 Bad, Signs for, 411 Banak, Tribal signs for, 462 Battle, Sign for, 419 Bear, Signs for, 412 Bede, The venerable, Treatise on gestures, 287 Bell, Prof. A. Graham, Vocal articulation of dogs, 275 Blackfeet, Tribal signs for, 462 Blind, Gestures of the, 278 Born, Signs for, 356 Bossu, M. , Signs of the Atakapa, 324 Brave, Signs for, 352, 364, 414 Brother, Sign for, 521 Brule Dakota colloquy in signs, 491 Buffalo, Sign for, 488 Signals for, discovered, 532 Bushmann, J. C. E. , Signs of Accocessaws, 324 Butler, Prof. James D. , Italian signs, 408 Burton, Capt. R. F. , Arapaho language, 314 Cabéça de Vaca, Signs of Timucuas, 324 Caddo, Tribal sign for, 464 Camp, Signals for, 532, 539 Capture, Sign for, 506 Chesterfield, Lord, Gestures of orators, 311 Cheyenne, Tribal signs for, 464 Chief, Signs for, 353, 416 Child, Signs for, 304, 356 Children, Gestures of young, 276 Chinese characters connected with signs, 356, 357, Expedient of the, in place of signs, 306 Chinook jargon, 313 Chironomia, by Rev. Gilbert Austin, 289 Cistercian monks, Gestures of the, 288, 364 Clarke, Mr. Ben. , Local source of sign language, 317 Classic pantomimes, 286 Cold, Signs for, 345, 486 Collaborators in sign language, List of, 401 Collecting signs, Suggestions for, 394 Comanche, Tribal signs for, 466 Come here, Signals for, 529, 532 Comédie Française, Gestures of the, 309 Comparison, Degrees of, in sign language, 363 Conjunctions in sign language, 367 Conventionality of signs, 333, 336, 340 Corbusier, Dr. William H. , local source of sign language, 317, Sign for strong, 304 Corporeal gestures generally, 270, 273 Correspondents, Foreign, on sign language, 407 Crafty, Sign for, 303 Cree, Tribal signs for, 466 Cresollius, Precedence of gestures, 282 Value of gestures, 280 Cut with an ax, Sign for, 550 Dakota calendar, 373, 377, 382, 384, Tribal signs for, 467 Dalgarno, George, Gestures real writing, 355, Works of, 284, 287 Danger, Signals for, 529, 532 Darwin, Charles, Analysis of emotional gestures, 270, Gestures of Fuegans, 293 Day, Signs for, 371 Deaf and dumb, American annals of the, 293 Deaf-Mute College, National, Test of signs at the, 321 Deaf-mutes, Methodical signs of, 362, Milan Convention on instruction of, 307, Signs of instructed, 362, 397, Signs of uninstructed, 277, Sounds uttered by uninstructed, 277 Death, Signs for, 353, 420, 497 Deceit, Signs for, 303 Defiance, Signals for, 530 Denial of the existence of sign language, Mistaken, 326 Derision, Sign for, 301 Dialects, Numerous, connected with gesture language, 294, 306 Dialogues in sign language, 486 Dictionary of sign language, Extracts from, 409 Disappearing Mist, Account of, 327 Discontinuance of sign language, Circumstances connected with the, 312 Discourses in signs, 521 Discovery, Signals for, 533 Diversities in signs, Classes of, 341 Divisions of sign language, 270 Dodge, Col. Richard I. , Abbreviations of signs, 339, Identity of sign language, 316, 335 Dog, Signs for, 321, 387 Done, finished, Sign for, 513, 522, 528 Dorsey, Rev. J. Owen, Mistaken denial of signs, 326 Doubt, Sign for, 512 Drink, Sign for, 301, 344, 357 Dumas, Alexandra, Sicilian signs, 295 Dupe, Sign for, 305 Dust signals, 541 Eat, Sign for, 301, 480 Egyptian characters connected with signs, 304, 355, 357, 358, 359, 370, 379, 380 Emblems distinguished from signs, 389 Ethnologic facts connected with signs, 384 Etymology of words from gestures, 352 Evening, Signs for, 353 Evolution, distinguished from invention of sign language, 319, 388 Exchange, Signs for, 454 Facial expression generally, 270, 273 play, giving detailed information, 271 Fatigue, Sign for, 305 Fay, Prof. E. A. , contributions on signs, 309, 408 Fear, Sign for, 506 Female, Signs for, 300, 357 Ferdinand, King of Naples, speech in signs, 294 Fingers, Details of position of, in sign language, 392, Special significance in disposition of, by Italians, 285 Fire arrows, Signals by, 540, Signs for, 344, 380 Flathead, Tribal signs for, 468 Fool, Signs for, 297, 303, 345, 505, 506 Foreign correspondents on sign language, 407 Fox, Tribal sign for, 468 Frémont, General J. C. , Signs of Pai-Utes and Shoshonis, 324 Friend, friendship, Signs for, 384, 491, 527 Gallaudet, President T. H. , Facial expression, 271, President E. M. , Test of Utes in signs, 321, 323 Gender in sign language, 366 Gestures as an occasional resource, 279 as survival of a sign language, 330, blind, of the, 278, Etymology of words from, 352 in mental disorder, 276, Involuntary response to, 280, fluent talkers, of, 279 Language not proportionate to development of, 293, 314 low tribes of men, of, 279 lower animals, of, 275 modern actors, used by, 308 modern orators, used by, 311 young children, of, 276 Gilbert, G. K. , Pueblo etchings, 371, 372, 373 Glad, Sign for, 495 Good, Signs for, 424 Grammar, Sign language with reference to, 359 Grass, Sign for, 343 Greek vases, Figures on, explained by modern Italian gestures, 289, 290 Grow, Sign for, 343 Habitation, Signs for, 427 Haerne, Mgr. D. De, Works on sign language, 292 Hale, Horatio, Mohawk signs, 327 Halt! Signals for, 530, 535 Hand positions, Types of, 547 Hand-shaking, connected with signs, 385 Harpokrates, Erroneous character for, 304 Hear, Signs for, 376 Hénto (Gray Eyes), Wyandot signs, 327 Heredity, Cases of, in speech, 276, 277 Hesitation, Signs for, 291 Hidatsa, Tribal signs for, 469 History of sign language, 285 Hoffman, Dr. W. J. Collaboration of, in sign language, 399 Holmes, W. H. , Artistic aid of, 400 Home, Signs for, 483, 485 Homomorphy of signs with diverse meanings, 342 Horn sign, Italian, 298, 299 Horse, Signs for, 433 House, Signs for, 427 Humboldt, Signs of South Americans, 307 Hunger, Signs for, 304, 485 Illustration, Scheme of, in sign language, 544 Illustrations, Examples of, for collaboration on sign language, 550 Indian, generically, Signs for, 469 languages, Discussion of, 516 Indians, Condition of the, favorable to sign language, 311, Theories respecting the signs of, 313 Innuits, Sign language of, 307 Inquiry, Signs for, 291, 297, 303, 447, 480, 486, 494, Signals for, 531, 536 Insult, Sign of, 304 Interjectional cries, 283 Interrogation, Mark of, in sign language, 367 Invention of new signs in sign language, 387 Involuntary response to gestures, 280 Isolation, Loss of speech by, 278 Italians, Modern, Signs of, 285, 305 Jacker, Very Rev. Edward, Disuse of signs, 325 Jorio, The canon Andrea de, Works on sign language, 289 Joy, Signs for, 300 Justice, Sign for, 302 Kaiowa, Tribal signs for, 470 Keep, Rev. J. R. , Syntax of Sign language, 360 Kickapoo, Tribal signs for, 470 Kill, Signs for, 377, 437 Kin Chē-ĕss, Address of, 521 Knife, Sign for, 386 Kutine, Tribal signs for, 470 Language, Primitive, theories upon, 282 Lately, Signs for, 366 Lean Wolf's Complaint, in signs, 526 Leibnitz, Signs connected with philology, 349 syntax, 360 Leonardo da Vinci, 292 Lie, falsehood, Signs for, 345, 393, 550 Lightning, Signs for, 373 Lipan, Tribal sign for, 471 Loss of speech by isolation, 278 Love, Signs for, 345, 521 Low tribes of men, Gestures of, 279 Lower animals, Gestures of, 275 Lucian, de saltatione, 287 Man, Sign for, 416 Mandan, Tribal sign for, 471 Mano in fica, Neapolitan sign, 300 Many, Signs for, 445, 496, 524, 535 Marriage, Signs for, 290 Maya characters connected with signs, 356, 376 Medicine, Signs for, 386 Medicine-man, Signs for, 380 Mental disorder, Gestures in, 276 Methodical signs of deaf-mutes, 362 Mexican characters connected with signs, 357, 375, 377, 380, 382 Michaëlius, Algonkin signs, 324 Milan convention on instruction of deafmutes, 307 Missouri River, Sign for, 477 Modern use of sign language, 293 Money, Sign for, 297 Moose, Sign for, 495 Moqui pictographs connected with signs, 371, 373 Morgan, Lewis H. , Atsina signs, 312 Morse, E. S. , Japanese signs, 442 Mother, Sign for, 479 Motions relative to parts of body in sign language, 393 Much, Signs for, 446 Müller, Max, Theories relating to language, 277, 281, 283 Narratives in sign language, 500 Natci's narrative in signs, 500 National Deaf-Mute College, 321, 408 Natural pantomime, 280 signs, 307, 340 Na-wa-gi-jig's story in signs, 508 Neapolitan gestures and signs, 289, 296-305 Negation of affirmative in sign language, 391, Signs for, 290, 299, 300, 304, 355, 440, 494 Night, Signs for, 358 Nothing, none, Signs for, 322, 355, 356, 443 Now, Signs for, 366 Occasional resource, Gestures as an, 279 Ojibwa dialogue in signs, 499 pictographs connected with signs, 371, 372, 376, 380, 381, Tribal sign for, 472 Old man, Sign for, 338 Omaha colloquy in signs, 490 Onomatopeia, 283 Opposite, Signs for, 353 Opposition in sign language, 364 Oral language defined, 273, primitive, 274 Orators, modern, Gestures used by, 311 Origin of sign language, 273 Osage, Tribal signs for, 472 Ouray, head chief of Utes, 315, 328 Pani, Tribal signs for, 472 Pantomime, Natural, 280 Pantomimes, Classic, 286 Partisan, Signs for, 384, 418 Patricio's narrative in signs, 505 Peace, Signals for, 530, 534, 535, Signs for, 438 Pend d'Oreille, Tribal sign for, 473 Period, Mark of, in sign language, 368 Permanence of signs, 329 Peruvian characters connected with signs, 371 Philology, Relation of sign language to, 349 Phrases in sign language, 479 Pictographs connected with sign language, 368 Porter, Prof. Samuel, Thought without language, 277 Possession, Sign for, 484, 524 Powell, J. W. , Indian orthography, 484, Inflexions in Indian languages, 351, Linguistic classification, 403 Prepositions in sign language, 367 Pretty, Signs for, 300 Primitive language, Theories upon, 282 oral language, 274 Prisoner, Sign for, 345 Proper names in sign language, 364, 476 Pueblo pictographs connected with signs, 373, Tribal sign for, 473 Punctuation in sign language, 367 Quantity, Signs for, 291, 359, 445 Question, Signs for, 291, 297, 303, 447, 480, 486, 494, Signals for, 531, 536 Quintilian, Antiquity of gesture language, 285, Powers of gesture, 280, Questioning by gesture, 449, Rules for gesture, 285 Rabbit, Sign for, 321 Rabelais, Forced and mistaken signs, 338, Head shaking, 441, Primitive language, 282, Sign for marriage, 290, Signs addressed to women, 310, Universal language, 287 Raffaelle, Attention to gestures, 292 Railroad cars, Sign for, 322 Rain myth, Signs for, 344, 357, 372 Rapport necessary in gestures, 310 Rejection, Signs for, 298, 299 Researches in sign language, how made, 395 Results sought in study of sign language, 346 Ride, Sign for, 551 Ruxton, 324 Sac, or Sanki, Tribal sign for, 473 Safety, Signals for, 536 Sahaptin, Tribal sign, for, 473 Same, similar, Sign for, 385 Sayce, Prof. A. H. , Origin of language in gestures, 283, 284 Scocciare, Italian sign for, 298 Seraglio, mutes of the, Gestures of the, 307 Shawnee, Tribal sign for, 474 Sheepeater, Tribal signs for, 474 Shoshone, Tribal signs for, 474 Sibscota, Mutes of Seraglio, 307 Sicard, Abbé, Deaf mute signs, 277, 288, 362 Sicily, Gesture language in, 295 Sign language, Abstract ideas expressed in, 348, Alaskans, of the, 513, Antiquity of, 285, Apache pictographs connected with, 372, Archæologic research connected with, 368, Arrangement in description of signs in, 546, Australian, 306, Authorities in, list of, 401, Chinese characters connected with, 356, 357, Cistercian monks, of, 283, 364, collaborators in, List of, 401, comparison, Degrees of, in, 363, Conjunctions in, 367, Convention, not requiring, 334, Corporeal gestures in, 270, 273, correspondents, Foreign, on, 407, deaf-mutes, of uninstructed, 277, dialects, numerous, connected with, 294, Dialogues in, 486, Dictionary of, Extracts from, 409, Discontinuance of, 312, Discourses in, 521, Egyptian characters connected with, 304, 355, 357-359, 370, 379, 380, Emotional gestures in, 270, Ethnologic facts connected with, 384 evolved rather than invented, 319, Facial expression in, 270, 273, fingers, Details of position of, in, 392, 547, Gender in, 366, Grammar connected with, 359, hand positions, Types of, in, 547, History of, 285, illustration, Scheme of, in, 544, Indian and deaf-mute, compared, 320 and foreign, compared, 319 Special and peculiar is the, 319 Indians, North American, Once universal among, 324-326 Conditions favorable to, 311 Innuits, of the, 307, interrogation, Mark of, in, 367, Invention of new signs in, 387, Italians, modern, of, 285, 305, languages, Indian, compared with, 351, Maya characters connected with, 356, 376, Mexican characters connected with, 357, 375, 377, 380, 382, Mistaken denial of existence of, 326, Modern use of, 293, Modern use of, by other than North American Indians, 320, Motions relative to parts of body in, 393, 545, Narratives in, 500, Negation or affirmative in, 391, Ojibwa pictographs connected with, 371, 372, 380, 381, Opposition in, 364, Oral language not proportioned to development of, 293, 314, Origin of, 273, Origin of, from a particular tribe, 316, Outlines of arm positions in, 545, period, Mark of, in, 368, Peruvian characters connected with, 371, Phrases in, 479, Pictographs connected with, 368, Practical application of, 346, preceded articulate speech, 274, 284, Prepositions in, 367, Prevalence of Indian system of, 323, Proper names in, 364, 476, Pueblo pictographs connected with, 373, Punctuation, in, 367, Philology, relation of, to, 349, Researches, Mode in which made on, 395, Resemblance to Indian languages, 351, Results sought in the study of, 346 Seraglio, of the mutes of the, 307, Sicilian, 295, Sociologic conditions connected with, 293, 304, South American, 307, Survival of, 306, Syntax connected with, 359, Tense in, 366, Time in, 366, Tribal signs in, 458, writing, Origin of, connected with, 354 Signals, Apache, 534, bodily action, Executed by, 529, Cheyenne and Arapaho, 542, Dust, 541, Fire arrows used in, 540, Foreign, 549, Smoke, 536 when person signaling is not seen, 536 with objects in connection with personal action, 532 Signs, Abbreviation in, 338, Arbitrary, 340, Conventional, 333, 336, 340 deaf-mutes, of uninstructed, 277, diversities in, Classes of, 341, Forced, 336, Homomorphy of, with diverse meanings, 342, Mistaken, 336, Natural, 307, 340, Oral language, not proportioned to development of, 293, 314, Permanence of, 329, Power of, compared with speech, 347, 349, Surviving in gesture, 330, Symmorphs in, 343, Synonyms in, 341, Systematic use of, distinguished from uniformity of, 330, Theories of Indians, respecting the, 313 Silence, Sign for, 304 Small, Sign for, 302 Smoke, Sign for, 343, 380 signals, 536, Foreign, 539 Smyth, E. Brough, Australian, signs, 306, 408 Sociologic conditions connected with use of gestures, 293 Soldier, Signs for, 344, 449, 505 South Americans, Signs of, 307 Speak, speech, Signs for, 345, 373 Squirrel, Sign for, 321 Steamboat, Sign for, 388 Stone, Signs for, 386, 515 Stupidity, Signs for, 303 Submission, Signals for, 531 Suggestions for collecting signs, 394 Sun, Signs for, 344, 370 Sunrise, Sign for, 371 Surrender, Signals for, 531, 536 Surrounded, Signal for, 536 Suspicion, Sign for, 306 Swedenborg, Primitive language, 288 Symbols, distinguished from signs, 388 Symmorphs in signs, 343 Synonyms in signs, 341 Syntax, Sign language with reference to, 359 Talkers, fluent, Gestures of, 279 Tendoy-Huerito dialogue in signs, 486 Tennanah, Tribal sign for, 475 Tense in sign language, 336 Theft, Signs for, 292, 345 Time, in sign language, 386, long, Sign for, 522, Signs for, 350, 508 To-day, Signs for, 386 Trade, Signs for, 381, 450, 495 Tree, Signs for, 343, 496, 524 Tribal signs, 458 Trumbull, Dr. J. Hammond, Composition of Indian words, 351 Tso-di-á-ko's Report, in signs, 524 Tylor, Dr. E. B. , Sign language, 293, 320, 323 Uniformity of signs distinguished from their systematic use, 330 Ute, Tribal signs for, 475 Village, Signs for, 386 Vinci, Leonardo da, use of gestures, 292 Wagon, Sign for, 322 Want, Sign for, 344 Warning, Sign for, 301, 302 Washington, City of, Sign for, 470 Water, Signs for, 357, 494 White man, Signs for, 450, 469, 491, 000, 526 Whitney, Prof. W. D. , Primitive speech, 283 Wichita, Tribal signs for, 476 Wilkins, Bishop, Philosophic language, 288 Williams, Mr. B. O. , 326 Wiseman, Cardinal, Gesture of blind man, 278, Italian signs, 408 Woman, Sign for, 497 Worthlessness, Sign for, 301 Writing, origin of, Gestures connected with the, 354 Wyandot, Tribal sign for, 476