Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-06-03
THE EsoUIMAUx CODE.

AtAG A~1NNN AA@aS-A NN-"
The following day / went out u
hunt with Aluktay. During tina
day he explained to me the Esqui
nlaux signal code. found it very
interesting at the time, and later or
It's usefulness was demonstrated al
most daily, dufitg my residence
with these people. Aluktay describ
ed to me that when an Esquimau1
wished TO talk to those at distancs
he would take n position on an emf
nence where his body could bs
plainly seen against the sky, or {
snow covered hillside. With hi:
body placed so as to directly face
those with whom he wishes &c
communicate, he extends his right
arm and moves it up and down like
a pump handle. This signal means
'sCome here.o When so far away
that the motion Of the arm could moi
be distinctly seen he would take of
his coat and, using that rs n flag,
make the same motion, which
would thus be more conspicuous. il
was with his coat he uade the sig
nal when communicating with Us
the previous day. IL after this
he moved his LEFT arm or the coat in
n similar manner, but on the left
side, he meant, "Bring dogs.H
Then, by pointing both arms nearly
straight up from the shoulder, as a
rude symbol Of the antlers Of q
reindeer, he would indicate that he
had killed reindeer, and the number
Of times the arms were raised would
denote the number killed, 20 thai
his friends would know how many
dogs to bring. The reply to the
message Is made by the receiver
turning his right side toward the
sender and bending his body for
ward, making night angle at tn,
waist, which would mean "Yes;''
in the opposite direction would
mean mo-" or that there was nc
one to send, or that there were nc
dogs around.
Once, when on a sledge journey
from Marble island, Hudson's bay,
to Depot island, about $50 miles &c
the north, / was three or four days
behind Lieut.. Schwatka, who was
in charge of another party Of our
native allies. One day we came
upoa four blocks Of snow placed
upon each other 20 as TO make a
wide pillar, and upon this were SET
the head and antlers Of a reindeer.
This was interpreted by my guides
as showing tEu. TooloOah, Schwat-
ka's hunter, had killed four reindeer
there three days before. The num-
Der Of blocks indicated the number
killed, and the number Of days was
apparent to my people by the con-
uitioa Of the snow. The knew II
was TOolooah by the way the blocks
were cut. could have learned
very easily how to read the symbol
that four reindeer had been killed
by somebody, but il would take a
vast amount Of experience to know
by whom and the time that had
elapsed. These savages can tell
Enthusiastically, and so. too, do they
know from the condition as to the
frost the length Of time the snow has
been cut. BY touching the tracks
of people or wild animals they can
tell when they passed that way al
most to an hour, IL the tracks have
been made within a day or two.
INDIAN SIGNALS.
The Indians Of the great western
plains have now a system hardly
exceeded in efficiency by the mill
tary code Of the civilized world.
For many years their only means
Of communicating at distance was
by signal fires upon the hilltops at
night and by columns Of smoke
during the day. They have q
method, not well known 10 those
outside the native tribes, of cover
ing a fire until a sufficient quantity
of smoke has been accumulated,
when IL will suddenly burst forth
into a column OF thick, heavy smoke
that cannot fail TO attract attention
even at n great distance. These
signal fires and smoke signals are
still IN use among them, but they
have besides n code Of signals that
is telegraphed from point TO point
by sun flashes made with small
mirror. Their code is not known
beyond their own ranks, further
than that 1t is not n system OF words,
but that certain flashes OF longer OF
shorter duration, or that vibrations
interningied with steady rays,
signify conditions or events that il
was previously arranged they should
Indicate The Indian balinuraph "a