Smoke signal

Native Americans on a painting by Frederic Remington

A smoke signal is a form of optical communication used over a long distance, developed in the Americas and in China. By covering a fire with a blanket and quickly removing it, a puff of smoke can be generated. With some training, the sizes, shapes, and timing of these puffs can be controlled. Puffs may be observed from a long distance, and are apparent to anyone in visual range. With this in mind, signaling stations were often created to maximize the viewable distance. Examples of signaling stations include stone bowls used by Native Americans and the towers of the Great Wall of China. There is no standardized code for smoke signals; the signals are often of a predetermined pattern discerned by sender and receiver. Because of this, smoke signals tend to convey only simple messages, and are a limited form of communication.

Examples

Yámana

Yámanas used fire to send messages by smoke signals, for instance if a whale drifted ashore.^[1] The large amount of meat required notification of many people, so that it would not decay.^[2] They might also have used smoke signals on other occasions, thus it is possible that Magellan saw such fires (which inspired him to name the landscape Tierra del Fuego) but maybe he saw the smokes or lights of natural phenomena.^[3]

Noon Gun

• Noon Gun time signalling used to set marine chronometers in Table Bay.

Notes

References

• Gusinde, Martin (1966). Nordwind—Südwind. Mythen und Märchen der Feuerlandindianer (in German). Kassel: E. Röth. 
• Itsz, Rudolf (1979). "A kihunyt tüzek földje", Napköve. Néprajzi elbeszélések (in Hungarian). Budapest: Móra Könyvkiadó, 93–112.  Translation of the original: Итс, Р.Ф. (1974). Камень солнца (in Russian). Ленинград: Издательство «Детская Литература».  Title means: “Stone of sun”; chapter means: “The land of burnt-out fires”.