Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/19



1. ... ... Frontispiece

This map is the issue of ten years' thought and inquiry on the location of our native tribes; nothing of the kind has been attempted before. The basis of the whole is the boundaries of the Kamalarai tribe, which were marked out for me by a friend who knew the tribe well fifty years ago ; his information I have tested and extended by answers I got from others, who also knew the tribe about that time. The Walarai dialect differs only a little from the Kamalarai proper ; so also the Wailwun, spoken by the Ngaiamba blacks ; for this reason, and because they have the classification of the Kamalarai, these are regarded as only subdivisions of the great Kamalarai tribe. The Walarai dialect extends into Queensland.

The next great tribe is the Kuringgai on the sea coast. Their 'taurai' (hunting ground or territory) is known to extend north to the Macleay River, and I found that southwards it reached the Hawkesbury. Then, by examining the remains of the language of the natives about Sydney and southwards, and by other tests, I assured myself that the country there-about was occuipied by sub-tribes of the Kurringgai.

In a similar manner, I determined the territory of the Murrinjari on the south-east coast.

The boundaries of the Wiradhari tribe have long been known. Probably they did not extend quite to the Murray, but that river is their natural limit on the south.

From Moulamein westwards, as shown on the map, or from a line drawn from the Murrumbidgee to the Murray somewhat farther east than that, and on both side's of the Murray, there is a patch of associated tribes whose dialects are called Yerry-yerry, Marrawarra, Yuyu, Tataty, Watty-watty, &c. , all from the local words for ' no.' Their position in fragments there is curious, and may be the result of some displacement from above by the in-coming of stronger tribes, such as the Wiradhari.

The Bakanji is another strong tribe whose locality is well defined on the east by the \Viradhari. A sub-tribe of it is the Berriait, bordering on the Lachlan River and the Wiradhari frontier. A small portion of the north-west of New South Wales and much more of the adjoining territory in Queensland and South Australia has a tribe which some call the Kornu, but I am not sure that that is the correct name for it.

The boundaries of the Paikalyung tribe were given me by the Rev. H. Livingstone, who knows it well. Its territory runs along the coast up nearly to Brisbane.

The next tribe (I have called it Wachigari) has its ' taurai ' limited by the Paikalyung on the north and the Kuringgai on the south.

The Yakkajari speak the Pikambal dialect, and extend across our border some distance into Queensland.