the head with it, but holding up the right hand, shake it by turning it
half round and back again two or three times. [1122] The throwing back
of the head with a cluck of the tongue is said to be used as a negative
by the modern Greeks and Turks, the latter people expressing _yes_ by a
movement like that made by us when we shake our heads.[1123] The
Abyssinians, as I am informed by Captain Speedy, express a negative by
jerking the head to the right shoulder, together with a slight cluck,
the mouth being closed; an affirmation is expressed by the head being
thrown backwards and the eyebrows raised for an instant. The Tagals of
Luzon, in the Philippine Archipelago, as I hear from Dr. Adolf Meyer,
when they say yes, also throw the head backwards. According to the
Rajah Brooke, the Dyaks of Borneo express an affirmation by raising the
eyebrows, and a negation by slightly contracting them, together with a
peculiar look from the eyes. With the Arabs on the Nile, Professor and
Mrs. Asa Gray concluded that nodding in affirmation was rare, whilst
shaking the head in negation was never used, and was not even
understood by them. With the Esquimaux[1124] a nod means _yes_ and a
wink _no_. The New Zealanders elevate the head and chin in place of
nodding acquiescence. [1125]
With the Hindoos Mr. H. Erskine concludes from inquiries made from
experienced Europeans, and from native gentlemen, that the signs of
affirmation and negation vary a nod and a lateral shake being sometimes
used as we do; but a negative is more commonly expressed by the head
being thrown suddenly backwards and a little to one side, with a cluck
of the tongue. What the meaning may be of this cluck of the tongue,
which has been observed with various people, I cannot imagine. A native
gentleman stated that affirmation is frequently shown by the head being
thrown to the left. I asked Mr. Scott to attend particularly to this
point, and, after repeated observations, he believes that a vertical
nod is not commonly used by the natives in affirmation, but that the
head is first thrown backwards either to the left or right, and then
jerked obliquely forwards only once. This movement would perhaps have
been described by a less careful observer as a lateral shake. He also
states that in negation the head is usually held nearly upright, and
shaken several times.
Mr. Bridges informs me that the Fuegians nod their heads vertically in
affirmation, and shake them laterally in denial. With the wild Indians
of North America, according to Mr. Washington Matthews, nodding and
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