Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-02-10
sign langHaEe q the American
Hon tie EE1ges C0ageTsf Uah0Ef Knowiag
~LazgsnzN-Nr. KohPs NarTasiue.

E1EFanze-Hr. EOhfs AaYratfuc.
he EngEsh journals praise Mr. G. KobPs
reu bsokf American travel. "Kit~bi CAM f.
a.. ~ sdedngE Round Lake Superior.o Read
srs pbo hlTs not already perused Mt. KohPs
rvresable pages, viii be Interested IA bis de-
ssrirsioH d The sign languages now 10 CEN
mon use among tbs abougines Of America:
When speaking, Fer instance, OF the Great
sDidt. they usually direct a rsversntial or
tfnis glance upward, or point The forefngsr
psrpe1diculsriy, but gently to the sky.
aWhen abiding 10 the sun or to ths time,
uhich is much tie same tling, % the SUP 10
tbsir eisek. ard Indicating the spot at which
he sun stood when the eveat 70 which they
are aH1iinE occurred, they point hxedly to
ma DO nt, and bold their arm in that position
for several moments.
nWtsn speaking Of a day, they pass the
f1esr slowly alunE the entire vault Of heaven,
-conukucinf ar the east ana terminating In he
wee his il TIE sign FOR one day
Ell a shot hss - Be mentioned in TIE story.
the-&-Faly strike The palm Of the left with
81 Pc u right 20 as to produce q slight
describing a ioufrsy70n horseback, the
ret fingers Of tue right are placed astride
f~orshnEsr Of the left hand, and both re-
nj The eslopLng movements Of a horse.
e e foot journey, thew wave the two In
Several times through the air.
In counting, the ten fingers are naturally
q, and the numoer ia not oaly held up, but
nto.sd.
In this manner, and bv many hundred sim
lar gestures, they supplement and support
n cir oral remarks. And % win be seen, from
the gertlres / have dssgeibed, that the tongue
can Be- Frequently allowed q rest, and the
meaning perfectly conveyed BY signs.
"suppOss a. Indian wished to tell another
that bshsd ridden three DAYS over the prairie,
BE- first points TO his own worthy person; that
indicates IL Tn be sets bis fingers a gal
loping AZ I have described. This perfects The
idea, 4 Travelled on horseback Next be
passes bis hand once sthwart The sky, which
Furnishes the notion Of q fday@ aud finally
holds I'D three fingers before bic friends ewes,
70 shoB be spent three DAYS.
at Is 8 curious fact that though Indian dia-
lects differ 60 greatly their language Of signs
IL the SAINT for immense distances. An trsY-
elers who have crossed TIE prairies told ne
thst there was only one g~n-language, which
Al The Indians eomprehenGed, and any ons who
had learned il could travel with Il from one
end Of America 10 TIE other.
@For such signs as those of which 7 have
given epecimei =, such a. the SIM. a day. a num-
Der, a horseman, etc, when nothing better or
more natural could De chosen, this is easily to
be understood. Bot the s~ign-lsnguage derel-
oBed itself 10 a fuller extent. and took !
D.. w r " AE.NAA A.MEH XIX
much must naturally become conventional.
Thus, for instance, Il DESTROYS TO express the
idea Of beauty this could not Be inflated Ike
rhe explosion Of sEgn. still, some signto ex-
press this idea could be agreed on. Most curi-
ously, the indian races were unanimous in sc-
cepdng the same sign. When they wish 10
explain that they saw q beautiful woman
they pass The fat hand gently and slowly
rough the air a. in initiating the wave line.
dEWTFIF1esSuh1 unanimously. When
king Of a woman, tHe Indians pass the
fn once down the face and the whole BODY, I
a II wishing TO Indicate tbe lorg waving
dresses or the graceful contour Of The female
body This smoothing Of the face universally 1
e member OF the fair sex
"a copious grammer OF this language Of
rigus could be written. How rich Il would I
Be mav be drawn from the fact that Indians
Of two different tribes, who do not understand
a word Of each others spoken language. will
sit for half a day on one spot, talking and
ehaftering. and telling each other an sorts Of
stories, with movements Of their fingers, heads /
and feet.
"a b low band, with the motion Of drawing
water. signifies water. When the finger traces
serpentine lines on the ground, il Is a river. A
hand moved ~ and down IN the air signifies a
mountain.
arhs several beasts have naturally their
special signs. Usually only souie character
istlc portion Of the animal is imiiatet-for fa- /
'sfafce, the horns. The horns Of the buffalo
drfer from those Of The elk, AMI thus the en-
tire animal r. indicated.
"Tbe idea ~ a large number or many, is /
By clutehing at the air several times
with both hands. The motion greatly resem-
blss that Of the d~anseuse playing the casti-
netteg.
@sLittIs,' or snotbi1g,'is signIhed by pass
ing one band over the o her.
"Very curious, but quite universal, Is Che
sign for admiration among The American Indi-
ans. They bold The hollow hand for some
time before the mouth. This is, however, ]
suspect, a species Of quid pro gao, and tbe real
sign-nsmsiy, the mouth wide open in amaze
meni-is concealed behind L. They carry tie
zTdto shs mouth and conceal The face behind
Il because If is Improper 70 display emotion or
admiration-0
Emperoran and Empress ON Skates.
oorrsspsudsnce Of ne n. T. IasEI
PARIS, January IS, 1861.
The local excitement OF the moment is the
skatinr IN the Bots de BoloDge- Three weeks
LNNr~ 49,