Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-02-05
MESSAGES OF SAVAGEs.
HOW THEY SEND LETTERS
WITHOUT WRITING.
by Means of Cowry Shells They Are
Able to Conduct tho Most Islabo-
rate COrrespondence-
Knotted Strings. M ~

fore the art or writing was under
stood? asks the Washington Star.
Some suggestions on the subject can
be got from the methods used by
primitive races to-day. For example,
in the Yoruba country. West Africa
the natives send messages by means
OF shells feathers. peppers corn.
stones. coal razors powder and shot
and many other things. The mean
| ing OF each object is known. and all of
them together make up a sort OF
"code," by which intelligence relat-
ing to anything whatsoever may be
! transmitted.
Simply by means OF cowry shells
these savages are able to conduct the
most elaborate correspondence. They
are strung on bits of grass fiber and
| by the manner of their arrangement
may be made to convey the widest
variety of meanings. One she'll signi-
fes defiance. two. strung face to face.
mean friendliness; but pair OF cow
ries strung back TO back aye to be in
terpreted as an expression OF enmity.
Two couries, with feather fastened
between them say Come as quick
ly as you can NY.
Some years ago n white man was
captured in the course of raid made
by the Amazon warriors of Daho.ney
upon a missionary settlement. A few
weeks later his anxious wife received
from him message, which consisted
simply o. pebble a piece of char
COAL a pepper. grain OF parched
corn and rag. There was no diff
Guilty in translating it by the native
code. The pebble said: II am IN
good health" i. e., hard in body; the
piece Of charcoal signifed: .'But my
prospects are very black and gloomy"
the pepper meant. II am very anxious
about the future lest be killed or
sold into slavery" the grain OF
parched corn indicated: Il have be-
como very thin. and the scrap OF rag
added: My clothing is in tatters"
A toothbrush. when sent by one
native to another. signifies friendship.
African savages have the best teeth in
the world and one reason for this
fact is that they take such excellent
care of them cleaning them several
times day. For this purpose they
use short piece of wood which be-
comes softened by rubbing in the
mouth. Thus the message of the
toothbrush is: las l remember my
teeth constantly, so often l think Of
YOU"
Sugar means peace and love; powder
and shot convey notice of war; razor
is sent 10 a murderer by the victims
relatives to notify him that il is ex-
pected he will kill himself for their
satisfaction. Six cowry shells signify
Il love you" Such string sent by
a young man to girl expresses his
desire to form an engagement Of mar
riage.
Among the natives of australia
notched and carved sticks are used
for messages. For instance. q piece
OF wood carried from one village 70
another. with straight. and curved
lines cut upon it. means there is
fight on hand; fetch your spears and
boomerangs The North American
Indians have utilized wampumA belts
from time immemorial for like pur-
poses the arrangement Of the different
colored b7ads conveying the siguifica-
ton desired. On several occasions
pipes of peace and other symbolic
missives have been received py the
president OF the United States from
various tribes. The Moquis of New
Mexico once sent him a small quantity
OF wild honey wrapped in the inner
husk of an ear of corn. He was re-
quested to take piece OF the husk,
chew it and spit it out upon the ground
in order that the couotry might have
rain.
1t is recorded in history that when
Darius king Of Persia invaded
Scythia> the ruler OF the latter coun.
try, Idanthuras, sent him message,
consisting of a mouse a frog. bird.
an arrow and pillow. The wisest
men in the army puzzled over the
meaning Of IL, which was conjectured
to be that the empire had surrendered
1t was supposed that the mouse signi-
fed the dwellings, the frog the waters
the bird the air. the arrow the arms
and the pillow the land. But it turned
out that the Interpretation intended
was that unless Darius and his soldiers
could fly like birds. burrow like mice
OF Uobdh0 InemSelNeS ike rugs 10 Iu6
water they would never escape the
weapons OF the Scythians and make
their way out OF the country.
Knotted strings were employed by the
ancient people OF Peru for messages.
They had no written characters TO ex-
press single sounds and so they put
words together for purposes of COM
munication and also for records by the
dexterous tying OF knots on cords.
To one thick cord they attached sew
eral thinner cues and on the latter
the knots were tied. A single knot
meant ten, double knot 100 and a
triple knot /, 600. The little strings
were of different colors. so as to repre-
sent various kinds OF things On one
such ..quipu" all accounts OF Me army
kept. A red string gave the number
of soldiers with sings white string
the soldiers with spears and a black
string the soldiers with Clubs, etc.
Similarly all the books OF the nation
were posted.
}