640 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G. 
There are also gestures appropriate to the four different class. 
names of the Aldolinga tribe :— 
Binanke __... ng} ... Lizard. 
Burale cb sae a cuy )eAIIb: 
Baltare ae 5Y. ... Haglehawk. 
Kuamare be Wels ... Wallaby. 
The sign for Binanke is that the right hand is moved up and 
down several times in front of the face, with all the fingers bent 
in towards the palm. For Burule, the same, but the second 
finger is extended and closed again several times. For Baltare, 
also, the same, but all fingers are extended, and the motion of 
the hand thus imitates the flight of the eaglehawk. For Kamare, 
the same, but the little finger “and third are kept pressed to the 
palm, while the thumb and other two fingers are extended. 
Mr. Kempe, also, in reply to my question whether a gesture 
was known in this tribe indicating an offer of, or request for, a 
temporary wife, replied that it was, and according to his descrip- 
tion, it is precisely that which I have seen used by the Dieri and 
other tribes in the Barcoo delta. 
The systematic use of gestures by the Australian aborigines in 
lieu of words, or in connection with speech, seems to have been 
almost overlooked until lately by writers on the Australian 
aborigines. It was observed that they used certain signs, such as 
shaking or nodding the head to signify dissent or assent. Ex- 
plorers have occasionally mentioned that the blackfellows they 
met with used gestures to them, as, for instance, Sir Thomas 
Mitchell, when travelling on the Thomson River.f But the idea 
did not arise that in such cases these signs and gestures were not 
merely the natural aids to speech, but, in fact, formed part of a 
recognised and well-understood system of peel language, by 
which these savages endeavoured to communicate with the white 
strangers passing through their country, just as they’°would have 
endeavoured to communicate with strangers of their own 
colour. 
The difficulty in the way of investigations into gesture language 
are very great. The ordinary enquirer needs to be almost 
specially trained in order to prevent his falling into errors in 
interpreting or describing the signs made. I have found that, 
unfortunately, there are but few who do not break down under 
the process of preliminary instruction and the subsequent cross- 
examination to which their statements must be subjected. There 
is, moreover, always a danger that the blackfellow may misunder- 
stand the meaning of the enquiry, and instead of giving such 
signs as were recognised in his tribe, or of saying that there were 
+ Stuart’s well-known statement that a blackfellow in the Northern Territory made 
Masonic signs may be merely based upon a use of gesture language. 
