How they Say Good-by.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 8, 20 February 1902, Page 20

How they Say Good-by.

The Turk will solemnly cross hands upon hie breast and make prof und obeisance when he bids you farewell. The genial Jap will take his slipper off as you depart, and say, with a smile, ' You are going to leave my despicable house in your honorable journeying — I regard thee 1 ' In the Philippines the parting benediction is bestowed in the form of rubbing one's friend's face with one's hand. The German ' lebe wohl 1 ' is not particularly sympathetic in its Bound, but it is less embarrassing to those it speeds than the Hindoo performance, who, when you go from him, falls to the dust at your feet. The Fiji Islanders cross two red feathers. The natives of New Guinea exchange chocolate. The Burmese bend low and say, 1 Hib ! bib ! ' The ' Auf wiedersehen ' of the Austrians is the most feeling expression of farewell. The Cuban would consider his good-by anything but a cordial one unless be is given a good cigar. The South Sea Islanders rattle each other's whale-teeth necklace. The Siuox and Blackfeet will, at parting, dig their spears in the earth as a sign of confidence and mutual esteem. This is the origin of the term ' burying the tomahawk.' In the Islands in the Straite of the Sound the natives at your going will stoop down and clasp your foot. The Russian form of parting salutation is brief, consisting of the single word ' praschal,' said to sound like a sneeete. The Otuheite Islanders will twist the end of the departing guest's robe, and then solemnly shake his own hands three times.