70
drawing water from the fountain of the great deep, as from a well, to water and irrigate the earth, in order that it may bring forth food for man and beast, it will be impossible to conceive any thing more appropriate, or more beautifully illustrative, than the Derbalese designation. Dyaat, the sun, is perhaps not less interesting, since, from its resemblance to Titan, the name by which that luminary was anciently known among the Greeks, it establishes the antiquity of the language and the remoteness of the date of their migration from the Asiatic continent.
The number of letters necessary to form the alphabet, a point not less difficult than important in the literary formation of a language, I have fixed at twenty-two. This is precisely the number of characters which compose the Hebrew alphabet. The Ong of the Hebrew, the pronunciation of which has been so long a desideratum to the philologists of Europe, is of frequent occurrence, and easily expressed by these people. Strange as it may seem, however, after contemplating these and other coincidences, they have neither the Zain, the Samech, nor the Shin of the Hebrews. The letter s, they are incapable of pronouncing. While, therefore, I have made a selection from the English alphabet in forming that for the language of Derbal —there being no reason for inventing, or selecting a foreign one—I have been obliged to throw out every character in the least allied to the letter s. Should the same characteristic in pronunciation prevail throughout the continent, and should the same number of letters, and precisely the same characters, be necessary to form the alphabet, it will dispel every doubt relative to the existence of a common original, and prove that the language of all the tribes of Australia was once the same,—and that they were originally one people.
Here opens an interesting view of the subject. The adoption of the English character and the use of a common alphabet, will not only afford a facility of communication between those who engage in the great work of evangelizing the Aboriginal inhabitants, but will tend ultimately to assimilate the different dialects, and thus obviate the difficulty of the provincialisms which time, circumstances, and locality of habitation have gendered; so that all the tribes of the Australian continent may again communicate with one another in their own tongue, and sing the praises of the Redeemer of men in the same language.
But, if ever the scriptures are to be translated into Derbalese or any other of the leading dialects—if ever the British government or the British people intend—and both are in duty bound—to civilize the Aboriginal inhabitants, and communicate to them a knowledge of the Christian religion, the language must be thoroughly and accurately acquired, and committed to
