The telegraph manual: a complete history and description of the semaphoric, electric and magnetic telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, ancient and modern.

26 THE TELEGRAPH.
earth some few feet, the charcoal and ash beds are found.
How many centuries they have been there no human being can
divine. It remains a sealed history to the world.
The savage Indians, that rove in the wild regions of America, have their means of communicating by beacons and other
modes of signaling. When Lieut. Fremont penetrated into
the fastnesses of Upper California, his appearance created an
alarm among the Indians. He there observed the primitive
telegraph communicating his presence to tribes far distant. In
his report, he says: " Columns of smoke rose over the country
at scattered intervals-signals, by which the Indians, here, as
elsewhere, communicate to each other, that enemies are in the
country. It is a signal of ancient and very universal application among barbarians."
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY ARMY SIGNALS.
During the American Revolutionary war,
the people had their modes of signaling to
each other the movements of the enemy,
and especially when they were approaching. Among the different plans of communicating between the divisions of the
army, was the next representation, of a
barrel at the head of a mast, a flag below
it, and the basket hanging to a cross-beam.
This mast was moveable. The parts were
moveable, and any arranged system of signaling could be carried out by this simple
contrivance. For example, suppose the
enemy was approaching, the pole might be
left bare, so that there would be no reason
for the enemy to suspect the objects of
its use. The basket or either of the others,
alone or combined, or any transposition,
could be made to communicate a variety
of information.
di /,ff~