Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/29

 INTRODrCTIOy. XIX

serious error; so are all sciences, If not managed with care and ability. A student in chemical analysis and synthesis may get results which are clearly erroneous ; instead of declaring the pre- scribed methods to be faulty or his materials to be bad, he ought to blame only his own want of skill in manipulation. As to the utility of philology, I would only remark that it was by the study of languages that the place o£ Sanskrit (and consequently of the Hindu race) was determined in its relation to the other members of the family I have named, and it was philology alone that settled the claim of the Keltic, and consequently of the Kelts, to be regarded as one of the most ancient members of the Aryan family. In the case of the cuneiform inscriptions, the services which philology has rendered are inestimable. And It is quite possible that, amid the conflicting opinions as to the origin of our Australian race, the via prima salutis, the first dawn of a sure daylight, may in the future arise from a careful examination of their language.

As is well known, the Australian numeral system Is very limited in its range ; our natives say ' one,' ' two ' ; sometimes ' three ' ; occasionally 'hand' for 'five'; all else is 'many,' 'a great number.' It was alleged by Sir John Lubbock, and has since been repeated by everybody, that their having separate words only for 'one' and ' two ' is a proof that Australians possess very limited mental powers, since they cannot count higher than 'two.' Every colonist, who has been much in contact with the blacks, can addtice proofs to show that their mental powers are not so limited, and that, when our indigenes are taken out of their adverse environment and encouraged to cultivate their intellectual faculties, they readily develope a decided capacity for improvement. A friend of mine, fifty years ago, taught two young black boys to play chess ; they soon acquired a liking for the game, and learned to play with caution and skill, and even with success. If it were possible to surround the blacks with favourable influences continued from generation to generation, I have no doubt that their whole position would be altered ; but any final separation from their ancestral habits would lead to their S2:)cedy extinction as a race ; this was the issue that was rapidly approaching after the last remnants of the Tasmanians were removed to Flinders' Island. But, for many hundreds of years, no one can tell how many, i\\e Australian race has lived in the midst of adverse surroundings, tribe warring against tribe, each, tribe restricted to its own boundaries, the supply of food in our precarious climate often scanty, the paralysing terror produced by their strong belief in the supernatural power of demons and of their own wizards, the ravages of Avaves of disease and death sweeping over them from time to time ; all these and other causes com- pelled them to think only of their daily subsistence and the

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