Chap. XI. SHRUGGING THE SHOULDERS. 267 



Mr. Scott has frequently seen this gesture in the 

 Bengalees and Dhangars (the latter constituting a dis- 

 tinct race) who are employed in the Botanic Garden at 

 Calcutta; when, for instance, they have declared that 

 they could not do some work, such as lifting a heavy 

 weight. He ordered a Bengalee to climb a lofty tree; 

 but the man, with a shrug of his shoulders and a lat- 

 eral shake of his head, said he could not. Mr. Scott 

 knowing that the man was lazy, thought he could, 

 and insisted on his trying. His face now became 

 pale, his arms dropped to his sides, his mouth and 

 eyes were widely opened, and again surveying the tree, 

 he looked askant at Mr. Scott, shrugged his shoul- 

 ders, inverted his elbows, extended his open hands, 

 and with a few quick lateral shakes of the head de- 

 clared his inability. Mr. H. Erskine has likewise seen 

 the natives of India shrugging their shoulders; but 

 he has never seen the elbows turned so much in- 

 wards as with us; and whilst shrugging their shoulders 

 they sometimes lay their uncrossed hands on their 

 breasts. 



With the wild Malays of the interior of Malacca, and 

 with the Bugis (true Malays, though speaking a different 

 language), Mr. Geach has often seen this gesture. I 

 presume that it is complete, as, in answer to my query 

 descriptive of the movements of the shoulders, arms, 

 hands, and face, Mr. Geach remarks, " it is performed 

 in a beautiful style." I have lost an extract from a 

 scientific voyage, in which shrugging the shoulders by 

 some natives (Micronesians) of the Caroline Archipelago 

 in the Pacific Ocean, was well described. Capt. Speedy 

 informs me that the Abyssinians shrug their shoulders, 

 but enters into no details. Mrs. Asa Gray saw an Arab 

 dragoman in Alexandria acting exactly as described in 

 my query, when an old gentleman, on whom he attended, 



