AMUSEMENTS. 325 



One of the most curious of spectacles is a story teller 

 and his audience when the sign language is used. Sitting 

 silent in a circle, all eyes are intently fixed on the story 

 teller, who, without a word of speech, is rapidly moving 

 his hands, now one, now the other, now both together. 

 Occasionally a grunt of satisfaction or approval runs 

 round the circle. More and more eagerness of attention, 

 writhings and twistings of the body, show the increase of 

 interest, and finally a burst of uproarious laughter and 

 applause marks the point of the story. 



The sign language is in universal use on the plains, 

 and two Indians who cannot speak or understand a word 

 of each other's language will converse as easily and 

 understandingly as if they had been reared in the same 

 lodge. Such a means of communication is almost an 

 absolute necessity to the Indians, split up as they are into 

 numberless tribes and bands, each speaking a language 

 different from the other. That scarcely any but his own 

 immediate people understand his spoken words, while all 

 are expected to understand a silent language of which he 

 is master, is undoubtedly the direct cause of the Indian 

 taciturnity in the presence of strangers. 



The fact that the human voice, whilst the most dis- 

 tinctly marked, is the least common of sounds on the 

 plains, that its use may notify enemies of their presence, 

 and scare game from their vicinity, leads to the constant 

 use of sign language in conversation while on raids, 

 expeditions, and hunting parties, and accounts for their 

 taciturnity at such times. They are silent, but may 

 possibly be ' talking ' all the time. In their own camps 

 and families this means of conversation is used at least 

 half the time. I know nothing of the sign language 

 taught to deaf mutes ; but I am told that the Indian sign 

 language is very similar, except that, there being no 

 alphabet, the signs express phrases and ideas rather than 

 words. 



The outdoor amusements of the plains Indians are 



