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When the white settlers brought their horses, cattle, and sheep, and many appliances of civilization to Australia, the natives were compelled to coin several new words, in order to make themselves understood. Some of these are expressive, and in their formation highly instructive. I will quote a few examples:—

Sign-language is used more or less throughout Australia. Men ignorant of each other's language manage to communicate their ideas by making signs with the hand.

Mr. Alfred Howitt, in his paper on the Natives of Cooper's Creek, gives a description of the gesture-language of the people of that country, and the subject is mentioned also by Mr. Samuel Gason.

The hands and fingers are often used by the natives when they find they have no words to express their meaning—as, for instance, when they desire to convey the idea of numbers exceeding those in their vocabulary. A native will hold up his hands, spread out his fingers, and open and shut them rapidly, when he wishes to give a notion of the great numbers of kangaroos he has seen, or great numbers of blacks.

It is believed that they have several signs, known only to themselves, or to those amongst the whites who have had intercourse with them for lengthened periods, which convey information readily and accurately. Indeed, because of their use of signs, it is the firm belief of many (some uneducated and some