Imitate, by the waving of the hand or forefinger, the forward crawling
motion of a snake. (_Burton_, also _Blackmore_ in introduction to
Dodge's _Plains of the Great West_. _New York_, 1877, p. xxv.) The
same sign is used for the Shoshoni, more commonly called "Snake",
Indians, who as well as the Comanches belong to the Shoshonian
linguistic family. "The silent stealth of the tribe." (_Dodge; Marcy_
in _Thirty Years of Army Life on the Border_. _New York_, 1866,
p. 33.) Rev. A.J. Holt remarks, however, that among the Comanches
themselves the conception of this sign is the trailing of a rope, or
lariat. This refers probably to their well-known horsemanship.