ot be altogether dissociated from philology,
nor can philology be dissociated, as it so often is, from ethnography,
history, and anthropology, which throw either a full light or at least
a side-light or half-light on linguistic problems, as has been pointed
out by Dr. Abel. The gestures too of a race are of importance in
eliciting correct information, for it is obvious that where, on rugged
mountain sides, ascent or descent can only be practised by the aid of
the hands as well as of the feet, the terms for "up" and "down" may be
significant of surrounding topography, just as, to reverse the
argument, where many meet only to fight, the putting of the fingers of
both hands together will mean "collision," instead of its being the
more usual sign for "multitude," or the limit of computation which a
savage race may have reached. Finally, in this age of subdivision of
labour on a basis of general knowledge, the present practice of
explorers working separately without the co-operation of colleagues in
the same or kindred branches, and sometimes even without a knowledge of
the material that already exists, should be discouraged. The first step
to be taken is the compilation of travellers' handbooks, dialogues, and
vocabularies for the various districts of the so-called "neutral zone,"
so as to give to these travellers the key of information and to the
sympathy of the people, and our Government of India especially might
with advantage steadily collect both old and new information, not at
the time _when_, but long _before_, an emergency arises, so that it may
be dealt with by a wealth of knowledge when it does arise. Had this
view obtained when the "poor relatives of the European" were seen by
Sale, Macnaghten, Wood, and others, thousands of Kafir men and women
would not have been carried into slavery by the Afghans, hundreds of
Kafir villages would not have been destroyed, and the area of Kafir
traditions would not have been both corrupted and narrowed by the
broadening of the belt of "Nimchas," or converted Kafirs, which so
increases the difficulties of an exhaustive inquiry into at least the
_past_ of an interesting race. Above all should we have had a faithful
ally in our operations against Kabul, for even as it was, the tardy
knowledge of that war by the Kafirs sufficed to bring thousands into
the field ready to be let loose on their hereditary foe, whilst it put
a stop, at any rate temporarily, to the internecine feuds, which