[24] Sproat, op. cit. p. 165 sq.
[25] Powers, Tribes of California, p. 411.
[26] Fison and Howitt, Kamilaroi and Kurnai, p. 257.
[27] Guppy, Solomon Islands, p. 127.
[28] Lane, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, p. 298. See also Burton, Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, i. 51.
We should further remember that savages often take care not to display their emotions. Among the Melanesians, according to Dr. Codrington, “it is not the custom to say anything by way of thanks; it is rather improper to show emotion when anything is given, or when friends meet again; silence with the eyes cast down is the sign of the inward trembling or shyness which they feel, or think they ought to feel, under these circumstances. There is no lack of a word which may be fairly translated ‘thank’; and certainly no one who has given cause for it will say that Melanesians have no gratitude; others probably are ready enough to say it.”[29] Of the North American Chippewas Major Strickland writes:—“If an Indian makes a present, it is always expected that one equally valuable should be given in return. No matter what you give them, or how valuable or rich the present, they seldom betray the least emotion or appearance of gratitude, it being considered beneath the dignity of a red man to betray his feelings. For all this seeming indifference, they are in reality as grateful, and, I believe, even more so than our own peasantry.”[30] The Aleuts also, although they are chary of expressions of thanks, “do not forget kindness, and endeavour to express their thankfulness by deeds. If anyone assists an Aleut, and afterwards offends him, he does not forget the former favour, and in his mind it often cancels the offence.”[31] From the want of a word for a feeling we must not conclude that the feeling itself is wanting. Mr. Sproat observes:—“The Ahts have, it is true, no word for gratitude, but a defect in language does not absolutely imply defect in heart; and the Indian who, in return for a benefit received, says, with glistening eyes, that his heart is good towards his benefactor, expresses his gratitude quite as well perhaps as the English man who says ‘Thank you.’”[32]
[29] Codrington, Melanesians, p. 354.
[30] Strickland, Twenty-seven Years in Canada West, ii. 58.
[31] Veniaminof, quoted by Dall, Alaska, p. 395.
[32] Sproat, op. cit. p. 165. See also Ling Roth, Natives of Sarawak, i. 74 (Dyaks).