[180] Cf. Tylor, _l.c._ pp. 74-79, on the improbability of the stories about tribes who cannot make themselves understood by each other without the help of gestures. Dr. Tylor’s criticism of Captain Burton’s statement that the Aropahos “can hardly converse with one another in the dark” has been amply confirmed by the subsequent researches of Mallery. Cf. _Rep. Bur. Ethn._ i. pp. 314, 315. Naturally, therefore, one feels inclined to adopt a sceptical attitude with regard to Miss Kingsley’s assertion that the language of the Bubis “depends so much on gesture that they cannot talk in it to each other in the dark” (_Travels in West Africa_, p. 439). Cf., however, with regard to the element of gesture in West African languages, Kingsley, _West African Studies_, p. 237. [181] Wood, _Nat. Hist. of Man_, i. p. 266 (Bushmen); Cranz, _Historie von Grönland_, i. p. 279. As to the Australians the statements are somewhat contradictory. Mr. Curr (_The Australian Race_, i. p. 93) says that “some tribes express a few things by signs made with their hands; but, on the whole, the Australian is very little given to gesticulation.” This statement, however, has been expressly encountered by Mr. Stirling, who describes a very extensive system of signs. _Rep. Horn Exped._ iv. Anthropology, pp. 111-125. Cf. also Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes_, p. 500. [182] Stirling, _l.c._ p. 112. [183] Roth, W. E., _N.W.C. Queensland Aborigines_, pp. 71 _sq._ [184] Fraser, _Aborigines of New South Wales_, p. 25. [185] Roth, W. E., _N.W.C. Queensland_, p. 71. Cf. a remark in the same direction by Mallery, _Rep. Bur. Ethn._ i. p. 312. [186] See Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, i. p. 187; Mallery, _l.c._ pp. 295, 307; Sayce, _Introd. Science of Lang._ i. p. 93. Compare also the classic instance of Sicily, meeting-ground of so many peoples. [187] Fraser, _Aborigines of New South Wales_, p. 25; Roth, _l.c._ p. 71. [188] Steinen, _Unter den Naturvölkern Central-Brasiliens_, p. 72; Mallery, _l.c._ p. 307. [189] Mallery, _l.c._ pp. 311, 312. That the gesture-language of the North American Indians is to be explained as a result of peculiar geographical conditions was remarked already by Dugald Stewart, _Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind_, iii. pp. 19-22. [190] Cf. the interesting descriptions of Maori political meetings in Earle, _New Zealand_, p. 91; Shortland, _Traditions of the New Zealanders_, p. 171. [191] Home, _Elements of Criticism_, i. p. 435. [192] For an appreciation of pantomimic action as means of conveying religious feelings see Mr. Tylor’s description of the service in the deaf-dumb institution of Berlin, _Early History of Mankind_, p. 33. [193] Mallery in _Rep. Bur. Ethnol._ i. p. 370. [194] Von den Steinen, _Unter den Naturvölkern Central-Brasiliens_, p. 244.