the Canary Islands at the time
of the Spanish conquest, says: "When an enemy approached, they alarmed
the country by raising a thick smoke or by whistling, which was
repeated from one to another. This latter method is still in use among
the people of Teneriffe, and may be heard at an almost incredible
distance." (_Trans. Eth. Soc. Lond. vii_, 1869, sec. ser., pp. 109,
110.)

"The natives have an easy method of telegraphing news to their distant
friends. When Sir Thomas Mitchell was traveling through Eastern
Australia he often saw columns of smoke ascending through the trees
in the forests, and he soon learned that the natives used the smoke
of fires for the purpose of making known his movements to their
friends. Near Mount Frazer he observed a dense column of smoke, and
subsequently other smokes arose, extending in a telegraphic line far
to the south, along the base of the mountains, and thus communicating
to the natives who might be upon his route homeward the tidings of his
return.

"When Sir Thomas reached Portland Bay he noticed that when a whale
appeared in the bay the natives were accustomed to send up a column of
smoke, thus giving timely intimation to all the whalers. If the whale
should be pursued by one boat's crew only it might be taken; but if
pursued by several, it would probably be run ashore and become food
for the blacks." (Smyth, _loc. cit._, vol. 1, pp. 152, 153, quoting
Maj. T.L. Mitchell's _Eastern Australia_, vol. ii, p. 241.)

Jardine, writing of the natives of Cape York, says that a
"communication between the islanders and the natives of the mainland
is frequent; and the rapid manner in which news is carried from tribe
to tribe, to great distances, is astonishing. I was informed of the
approach of Her Majesty's Steamer Salamander, on her last visit, two
days before her arrival here. Intelligence is conveyed by means of
fires made to throw up smoke in different forms, and by messengers who
perform long and rapid journeys." (Smyth, _loc. cit._, vol. 1, p. 153,
quoting from _Overland Expedition_, p. 85.)

Messengers in all parts of Australia appear to have used this mode of
signaling. In Victoria, when traveling through the forests, they were
accustomed to raise smoke by filling the hollow of a tree with green
boughs and setting fire to the trunk at its base; and in this way,
as they always selected an elevated position for the fire when they
could, their movements were made known.

When enga