"A black rook rears its bosom o'er the spray,
The haunt of birds, a desert to mankind.
There shrilly to the passing oar is heard
The startled echo of the ocean bird.
Who rears on his bare breast her callow brood,
The feather'd fishers of the solitude."
THE
ABORIGINES OF VICTORIA:
WITH
NOTES RELATING TO THE HABITS
OF THE
Natives of other Parts of Australia and Tasmania.
COMPILED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES FOR
THE GOVERNMENT OF VICTORIA
BY
R. BROUGH SMYTH,
F.L.S., F.G.S., ASSOC. INST. C.E., MEM. GEO. SOC. OF FRANCE, HON. CORR. MEM. SOC. OF ARTS AND SCIENCES OF UTRECHT, BOSTON SOC. OF NAT. HIST., ISIS SOC. OF DRESDEN, ETC., ETC., ETC.
VOL. II.
By Authority: JOHN FERRES, GOVERNMENT PRINTER. PUBLISHED ALSO BY GEORGE ROBERTSON, LITTLE COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE. LONDON: TRÜBNER AND CO., 57 AND 59 LUDGATE HILL; AND GEORGE ROBERTSON, 17 WARWICK SQUARE. 1878.
CONTENTS-VOL. II.
PAGE
List of Illustrations
v
Language.—Onomatopœia.—Words formed after the advent of the whites.—Sign-language.—Sanscrit roots.— Words resembling English.— Languages named after the negative.—Tables illustrative of the languages spoken by the natives of Victoria.—Pronouns.—Numeral adjectives.—Comparison of the language spoken in Victoria with the dialects of Moreton Bay, Dippil, Kamilaroi, Bulloo Creek, Lake Macquarie, Cornu tribe, Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Croker Island, Adelaide River, King George's Sound, Swan River, &c.—Sameness of personal pronouns.—Numerals.—Interjections, cries, terms of abuse, &c.—Language of the natives of Lake Tyers in Gippsland—Lake Wellington, Gippsland—Brabrolong, Gippsland—Lake Hindmarsh—Western district.—Lists of words compiled by the Local Guardians of Aborigines.—Inflections.— Vocabularies.—Yarra Yarra and other tribes.—Native names of trees, shrubs, plants, &c.—Native names of localities and natural features in Victoria
The Aborigines of Tasmania.—Physical character.—Mental characteristics.—Numbers.—Birth, &c.—Marriage.—Death and burial.—Encampments, &c.—Food.—Diseases.—Dress and ornaments.—Weapons.—Implements.—Canoes.—Stone implements.—Fire.—Language