hand, it was essential that, as a rule, no one should be sent out on a
geographical, anthropological, or ethnographical mission who was not
something of a linguist or who was not accompanied by a linguist, and
who had not given proof of sympathy with alien races. Hayward fell a
victim as much to his temper as to the greed and treachery of Mir Wali,
whom he had insulted. An Arabic proverb says that "the traveller even
when he sees is blind," and if, in addition to this artificial
blindness, he is practically both deaf and dumb owing to his ignorance
of the language of the people among whom he moves, it is almost certain
that he will make many mistakes, if not insure failure. Now few results
are apt to be more delusive than a mere collection of words, or even of
short sentences. The instances of "a dead policeman" as a Non-aryan
equivalent for the abstract term "death" which the inquirer wanted; of
the rejoinder of "what do you want?" for the repeated outstretching of
the "middle finger," a special term for which was sought, and numerous
other mistakes, are often perfectly avoidable, and it was therefore
desirable that the traveller, armed with an inexhaustible patience,
should not content himself with a collection of words, but also add the
sentences in which they occur, and, if possible, also collect fables,
songs, and legends. The process in dealing with a race whose language
one does not know at all is more difficult, but, even in initial
stages, the procedure of pointing to objects that are required will not
only generally give their native equivalents, but will also elicit the
orders or imperatives for these objects being brought, whilst the use
of these imperatives by the traveller will often elicit the indicative
or future in the assent or dissent of those to whom the imperatives are
addressed, or else an ejaculatory affirmative or negative. The early
training in, at least, two languages will also enable the inquirer to
discriminate between the substance of a fact or thought, if he might
use such a term, and the sound that represents it, for, if he has only
studied his own language early in life, he will never be able to
emancipate himself completely from the confusion which is naturally
engendered between the idea and his special manner of expressing it.
Adaptation, again, even more than translation, is what is required, and
in order that the adaptation, should be practised successfully,
geographical inquiry cann