Читать книгу Primitive Time-reckoning. A study in the origins and first development of the art of counting time among the primitive and early culture peoples онлайн

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For the indication of a point of time within the day the reference to the course of the sun is the means that lies nearest to hand, and the indication can indeed be given quite concretely by means of a gesture in the direction of the heavens. This language of signs is especially common in Africa. The Cross River natives of Southern Nigeria indicate the time by pointing to the position in the heavens which the sun occupies at that time of the day[36]. When someone asked a Swahili what time it was, he answered, “Look at the sun”, although this tribe knew other ways of indicating time[37]. The Wagogo in order to shew the time of day indicate with the hand the position of the sun in the heavens[38]. In Loango the people indicate the time satisfactorily enough from the motion of the sun, in divisions of two hours, by dividing the vault of the sky with outstretched arm, often using both arms as indicators[39]. Moreover most peoples have descriptive expressions for parts of the day, as for instance the inhabitants of the Lower Congo[40], the Masai of East Africa, who estimate the time of day from the position of the sun[41], and the Hottentots, who express with certainty and clearness both points and duration of time by referring to the position of the sun[42]. In Dahomey the natives tell the hours by means of the sun; they say that the sun is here or there, in order to give the time of day[43]. The Caffres are able to give the exact time of day by pointing with outstretched arm to the spot at which the sun appears at the time they wish to indicate. So, for example, when the Caffre wishes to shew that he will come at two o’clock in the afternoon of the next day, he will say, “I will be here to-morrow, when the sun is there”,—pointing to the position occupied by the sun at 2 p. m.[44]. The Waporogo of German East Africa estimate the divisions of the day from the position of the sun, which they indicate with outstretched arm. When the arm is vertically raised, that means 12 o’clock noon, and the other hours of the day they are able to give with a sure instinct by means of a greater or lesser inclination of the arm towards the body, corresponding to the position of the sun[45]. In other parts of the world we find the same thing. Thus in the New Hebrides the hours of the day are indicated by pointing with the finger to the altitude of the sun[46]. If a native of Australia is asked at what time anything took place or is going to take place, his answer will take the form of pointing to the position which the sun occupied or will occupy in the sky at that particular time[47]. The Bontoc Igorot of Luzon point to the heavens in order to indicate the position the sun occupied when a particular event occurred[48]. The Kanyans of Sarawak, if asked at what time anyone will arrive, point to the sun and say, “When the sun stands there”[49]. In the Dutch East Indies the time of day is given from the position of the sun[50]. The inhabitants of Java divide the day into ten natural but vague and unequal subdivisions, and for astrological purposes the day of 24 hours is divided into five parts. They also determine the time of day by the length of the shadow and by the working-time, but the most common method is by pointing to the situations of the sun in the heavens, when such and such an event took place[51]. In order to indicate the time the natives of Sumatra also point to the height in the sky at which the sun stood when the event of which they are speaking occurred[52]. The natives of the western tribe of the Torres Straits, though they have learned to tell the time from the clock, also know how to give it very accurately by observing the height of the sun[53]. The Tahitians determine the six parts of their day from the sun’s altitude[54]. Among the Omaha Indians the sun indicates the time of day. A motion towards the zenith meant noon, midway between the zenith and the west, afternoon, and midway towards the east, forenoon[55]. The Karaya of Central Brazil divide up the day according to the position of the sun. Indications of time are given by pointing with the hand to the place occupied by the sun at the time in question[56].