THE GESTUEE-LANGUAGE. 



39 



the head, accompanied, as of course all these signs are, with 

 an approving smile, is in use. Possibly the ideas of stroking 

 or patting may lie at the bottom of all these signs of approving 

 and blessing. 



" Think/' pass the fore-finger sharply across the breast from 

 right to left, meaning of course that a thought passes through 

 one's heart. 



" Trade, exchange, swop," cross the fore-fingers of both hands 

 before the breast. This sign is also used. Captain Burton says, 

 to denote Americans, or indeed any white men, who are ge- 

 nerally called by the Indians west of the Eocky Mountains, 

 " shwop," from their trading propensities. As given by Burton, 

 the sign is hardly intelligible. But Dr. James describes the 

 gesture of which this is a sort of abridgement, which consists 

 in holding up the two fore-fingers, and passing them by each 

 other transversely in front of the breast so that they change 

 places, and nothing could be clearer than this. 



The sign in the Berlin gesture-language for " day " is made 

 by opening out the palms of the hands. I supposed it to be 

 an arbitrary and meaningless sign, till I found the Indian sign 

 for " this morning" to consist in the same gesture. It refers, 

 perhaps, to awaking from sleep, or to the opening out of 

 the day* 



As a means of communication^ there is no doubt that the 

 Indian pantomime is not merely capable of expressing a few 

 simple and ordinary notions, but that, to the uncultured savage, 

 with his few and material ideas, it is a very fair substitute for 

 his scanty vocabulary. Stansbury mentions a discourse de- 

 livered in this way in his presence, which lasted for some hours 

 occupied in continuous narration. The only specimen of a 

 connected story I have met with is a hunter's simple history 

 of his day's sport, as Captain Burton thinks that an Indian 

 would render it in signs. The story to be told is as follows : — 

 " Early this morning, I mounted my horse, rode off at a gallop, 

 traversed a kanyon or ravine, then over a mountain to a plain 

 where there was no water, sighted bison, followed them, killed 

 three of them, skinned them, packed the flesh upon my pony, 

 remounted, and returned home." The arrangement of the 



