New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-14
GREAT WRESTLING.
MountGneers of Gomera Send Mes
Sages That Way.

Iomera, the sixth in size ana iLhpoI 'aHOe u ~
seven Canary Islands" says Chambers journal
THE crowd of British tourists that yearly turns
Las Palmas and Orotava into an Atiantc RIVIERA
takes little or no note of the outlying lsets since
they have no hotels and--so far as the ordlHdis
tourist knows-no sights Yet Gomera, at all
events can show q wonder second to no curiosity
of the archipelago in its ancient custom OF taIkus
across almost incredible distances OF mountain oS
means of the 'whistling language.
The Guanches-the original inhabitants OF the
islands who were conquered by the Spanards oul-
ing the fifteenth century-seem 10 nave oee" a.
most entirely pastoral nation; ana II was or'
of the constant necessity of signaling anu sP
ing to one another across the numoerless FaN4
of the islands that the custom OF "ilS''i'e g.
ually -, :. .
san Sebastian the tiny port and capital Is :"
strangely wild desolate forsaken looking Spot
living in the mouth of huge barren raNii's az
surrounded by dusty palm trees shaking enuieS'
to the ever blowing trade wind A square oio Aot
6od tower stands I'D in the middle of the low nat
rooted houscs-rellc of the days when rough au
venturers took this route to the golden 0pai
Main and were little particular as 10 "hat nc
took besides The dark. sleepy, somewhat ugly
church is famous the last building OF the O4N
World entered by Columbus before he sailed ava!
across the unknown seas beyond Ihe great us
coverer put in at San Sebastian FOR water an
before leaving the island. went to the chuFcl -
ask the blessing of heaven upon the voyage 'He"
commencing. Not much of the building remains
unchanged since 1892 but there is at least enough
create an atmosphere Of historical interest apou
what would otherwise be very ordinary H''ie
Spanish chapel
we try to obtain mules horses here, and have
| probably considerable difficulty in doing So Inc
sun smites the beggars swarm, and unwholesoHie
looking children, curously degenerate ana hlail'lo
IN EXPRESSION harass the visitors like CLOUDS OF MES
If is relief to ride away out of the town and piou
slo,,,,, ~, the rough mountain bride track which
| lies beyond There are no roads in Gomera' ana
the bride paths so steep that saddles are sure
to slip over the shoulders or quarters oil the hueS
| unless we'll secured by breast-grth and crupper
| with the help of experienced frleno we nav
| succeeded in finding a muleteCr who knows the
| whistling language; but, in reply TO our broken
Spanish requests for display he tells US thal we
must wait until get up among the nils ana meet
| with some one else who understands the sltVahuo
! or whistling. So ride on for an hour or TWO
| through Il strange wilderness of volcanic cHfts ana
| Eorges unspeakabIy tantazing to would-oe eA-
| piorers who have but half day TO spare
The arriero scans the slopes to right and !ett'
but there is no in sight Still there may De
| some one out Of sight; he places his two fore
| fingers together at angle of IS degrees pun
| them to his mouth, and begins TO call
| THAT is indeed a whistle, 1t seems almost in
credible that no instrument helps in its production
as we hear if rise and swell shriller and louder,
and shriler and louder yet piercing our very oTans
| with its keenness, and speeding like an arrow OF
| sound far away into the distance, over the deep
ravines and up the stony terraces, right into the
heart of the hills. The whistler stops at last and
holds I'D his hand for silence. All hold their breath
| 10 listen as cut of the far distance. from some
invisible hidden among the heights, comes
tiny silvcry reply, thin the ghosty shrlhing OF
a bat the distant pipe of a mosquito. Inc caIi
has been answered
The muetoer listens. with his head cooked on
one side like a fox terrier to locate the sound ana
when it stops he begins to talk in whistles, evi-
| IDENTIFY using the echoes OF the rocky mountain
| walls to catch and toss onward his calls with Won
| derful Skill 1t seems to be a sort of Morse whs-
| Ting code elaborated into long calls short calls,
high and low calls dropping and rising infections.
and curiousIy articulated calls like mingling of
| bird notes and human words. The power OF the
whistle marvellous. but still notable are its
intensity and carrying force; one cannot but feel
that those clothyard shafts of sound would spit a
man breastbone to spine if he came in the way
Of their flight!
THE short sentence with which muleteer be-
gins is answered by long one; another is replied
to at greater length and third elicits quite COM
| plicated and emphatic reply The whistler trans
| lates:
II saw TO them, How many are your and they
answer I'VE are two. up IN the hills" I say.
What arc you doing?" and they answer. I've are
very busy; have done much work cutting grass "a
Then 1 say. Il have got two English here; and
they say. ASK them viii they buy our cow We
will bring it down for them to see
THE English burst out laughing this new
| variant the nation of shopkeepers,' and ex-
| planned that cows-especialy Canarian cows-were
|
home from an excursion, but that they would not
mind buying some milk If the could be brought
down.
More whistlng, more replying, and then set
off having arranged that the propretors of the COW
should walk down toward US. while rode W
toward them. We were going at a smart mule
walk all the way. and the cattle owners prob
ably fastening lest they should miss the and
precious visitors; but it nearly three-quarters
Of an hour before the meeting took place. We
calculated that the whistlers have been over
three miles away in a direct line when they first
answered muleteer's call-not amazing feat
Of silvando but still a remarkable one especially
as my companion told me that the best whstlers
never used their fingers, muleteer had done
former.
The whistlers answered exactly to their own de
scription when they appeared. There We're two OF
| them; they had reapIng hooks and they brought a
mich COW, with which they very anxious tc
trade
Is the silvando much used in Gomera? We
| asked guide.
There many in the towns who do know
It. and the old men better whisters than tbs
! young. Yes, the whistle too and they car
| be heard far can
1T seems certain, the whole, that the silyandC
is beginning TO decline; but time slowly II
Gomera and even another couple of generation.
will hardly see the extinction of the custom II
and difficult TO investigate, scientific inquiry
may be made into the history and nature Of th.
| | most curious art"
WOLF HUNTING IN ENGLAND
In the wild fell country to the west of Northum
berland hundreds OF the inhabitants continue L
follow the track OF the wolf which during the