The Arizona sentinel., 1888-03-24
QUEER LANGUAGES.
Savages That Talk by Whistling, Drum
 ming or Finger-Pinching.

ming or Finger-PInching.
 At the last meeting of the Berlin An
 thropological Society. Lieutenant
 Quedenfeldt. German officer who has
 lived on Gomero Island, one of the
 Canary group, described a whistling
 language which is used by the inhabit-
 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 own
 fingers and lips when whistling, and
 Lieutenant Qleden feldt asserts that he
 can carry on a conversation with
 eighbor a mile of, who perfectly un-
 derstands all he is saying. The prac-
 tlce is 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. It is traversed by
 numerous gullies and deep ravines
 running out in all directions from the
 central plateau. As they are not
 bridged, they can only be crossed with
 great difficulty; hence a man living
 within a stones throw of another in a
 straight line has often to go round
 many miles when he wishes to see and speak to his neighbor. This. it is conjectured, led to the adoption of whistling as useful means of com- munication, which has gradually as- sumed the proportions of true sub- stitute for speech. It is described as being any thing but unpleasing to the ear.
 This reminds one of the drum lan- guage of the natives of the Came rooms. mentioned in Buchholz's book on West Africa, by means of which the most complicated message can be con- veyed to villagers at distance when
 occasions nccessitate it. For this pur- pose a peculiarly-shaped drum is em- ploved. By dividing the surface into uneven halves the instrument on be- ing struck may be made to yield two distinct notes. By these and shorten ing or engthening the intervals be- tween each note, code is established, with regular sequence of taps, strokes, and intervals capable of ex- pressing every syllable in the lan- guage. All the natives underst and this code; and so highly elaborated is it, that chief can by its means sum- mon to his presence any villager whom he desires 10 see, intimating to the latter at the same time the purpose for which he is required. In this way. too, messages can be sent from village to village over wide stretches of country -the drummer in one hamlet trans mitting to the next the signals he hears-and with extraordI- 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 unreasonable time, and BuchhOlz got 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 his master was very angry with him, and tn of In few minutes the man returned with the inevitable apologies for the length of time he had been away. He had perfectly understood the message drummed out to him, as Buchholz as- certained by inquiring of him.
 Equally curious is the so- o-called sign language. or finger speech of Oriental traders. largely employed on the east coast of Africa in the direction of Zan- zihar: Walking through market place in this region of the world, the traveller will often witness a strange sight. A couple of grave, long-bearded Arabs will step aside. each will put his hand up the others apparently to pinch each others fingers for few minutes. Often the performance will be varied. One will unrole his long turban cloth, or perhaps lift up his mantle and [ then cover his hand, and concealed beneath this the pinching of the fingers will proceed as before. The initiated know that this is a method of bargain ing by means of code of finger speech understood by Eastern traders from Southern Arabia and Northern Africa to the borders of Persia It has been adopted in the first instance for a simple reason. In the East, especially along the coast of the Red Sea. Zanzi- bar and Southern Arabia, all business Is transacted in the open air. And in all such transactions the bystanders, dlers. riff-raff and meddlesome busy bodies generally contrive to have a good deal to say, rendering their ad- rice to both buyer and seller. The lnwritten etiquette of the East re- luires that such friendly counsel should not be resented. But as the and dealers find it an un- mitigated nuisance and a great hin- deran ce to business, they have adopted a certain code of finger signs, which hey exchange when bargaining, with heir hands concealed under their sleeves or turban cloth. Each finger md each joint of a finger represents a certain figure. So the pair can bar gain by the hour-as they often do-to heir hearts content, and none of the loisy and gaping busy bodies around