The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1888-03-24
QUEER LANGUAGES.
] avases That Talk By whistling, Drun.
ming or Finger Pinching.

oavases That Talk BY whistiing, Drun.
ming or Finger P~inching.
At the last meeting Of the Berlin An
chronological Society, Lieutenant
Quedenfeldt, . German officer who has
lived on Gomero Island. one Of tho
Canary group. described a whistling
language which is used by the inhsbit.
ants. The language does not consist
Of any arbitrary series of signals Or
rounds; it is described as ordinary
speech translated into articulate whist.
ling, each syllable having its W
fingers and lips when whistling, and
Lieutenant Quedenfeldt asserts that he
can carry on q conversation with .
n eighbor a mile of. who perfectly I'm.
derstands all he is saying. The prac.
tlce 10 confined to Gomero Island. and
Is quite unknown in the other islands
Of the Archipelago. The adoption Of
the whistling language is said to be
the peculiar geological construction
of Gomero Island. 1t is traversed by
numerous gullies and deep ravines
running ont in all directions from the
central plateau. As they are not
bridged, they can only be crossed with
great difficulty; hence q man living
within q stones throw Of another in q
straight line has often to 60 round
many miles when he wishes to see and
speak to his neighbor. This, it is
conjectured. led to the adoption of
whistling as a useful means of COM.
municalion. which has gradually as
sumed the proportions Of a true sub
stitute for speech. 1t is described as
being any thing but unpleasing to the
ear.
This reminds one Of the drum Ian.
guage of tho natives of the Came.
Rooms, mentioned in Buchholz's book
on West Africa, by means of which the
m ost complicated message can be cor.
veyed to villagers at a distance when
occasions necessitate il. Forthis pur.
pose a peculiarly-shaped drum is em-
ployed. BY dividing the surface into
uneven halves tho instrument OH be.
ing struck may be made to yield two
distinct notes. By these and shorten.
ing or frightening the intervals be-
tween each note, a code is established,
with a regular sequence Of taps,
strokes. and intervals capable of ex-
pressing every syllable in the LAM
guage. All the natives understand
this code; and $ highly elaborated is
it, that a chief can by its means sum-
mon to his presence any villager whom
he desires to see, intimating to the
latter at the same time the purpose for
which he is required. In this way. too,
messages can be sem from village to
village over wide stretches Of country
the drummer In one hamlet trans
hitting to the next the signals
he hears-and with extraordl-
nary rapidity. Buchholz had proof
on one occasion Of the utility Of this
drum language and its capabilities as
a medium Of communication. The
negro who had charge Of his canoe
obtained leave one morning to attend
to some private business Of his own.
which took him to the other side Of the
river. The man remained away an
unreasona able time, and Buchholz 60,
very angry, as he was waiting to leave
the place. Another negro suggested
that they should drum for him. The
drummer was sent for and instructed
to inform the missing servant that hi:
master was very angry with him. and
that lie was to return at once. III {
few minutes the man returned with
the inevitable apologies for the longtl
of time he had been away. He hae
perfectly understood the message
drummel out to him. as Buchholz rs
certained by inquiring of him.
Equally curious is the so-called sign
language, or finger speech of Orienta
traders. largely employed on the cas-
coast of Africa in the direction of q IN
zibar. Walking through a market
place in this r'gion Of the world, thu
, traveller will often witness q strang'
sight. A couple of grave. long-beardel
Arabs will step aside, each will put his
, hand up the others apparently II
pinch each others fingers for a few
, minutes. Often tho peri ,rmance vii
DO varied. One will unrole his Ion!
|, turban cloth, or perhaps lift VI
, his mantle and G then cove
his hand, and concealed benea.l
! this the pinching of tho fingers vii
, proceed as before. The initiated
know that this is a method Of bargain
ing by means Of a code Of tinge'
, speech understood by Eastern trader
from Southern Arabia and Northern
: Africa to tho borders Of Persia 1t ha'
, been adopted in the first instance for I
simple reason. In the East. especial.
, along tho coast Of the Red Sea. Z,nzi
bar and Southern Arabia. all busines
is transacted in the open air. And il
, all such transactions the bystanders
idlers riff.raff and meddlesome busy
bodies generally contrive to have I
good deal to say, rendering their ad
eice to both buyer and seller. TIL
. unwritten etiquette Of the East re
ouircs that such friendly counse
should not be resented. But as tn