Page:An Australian language as spoken by the Awabakal.djvu/452

 132 AN AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE.

Scriptures, every friendly hint will be most thankfully received- The accents are not marked for want of type, but the last arrangement of the verb will, it is hoped, be a sufficient guide. A table of the sounds, being an epitome of the plan pursued in the orthography of the language, will also be sufficient, it is presumed, to show the nature of the syllables ; it would have increased the work to an inconvenient size had it been further explained. To ascertain the ellipsis with which the language abounds is the best means to obtain satisfaction in the use of the particles, and without the knowledge of this it appears very often a mere jargon. Ma-ko-ro te-a, ' fish to me,' is all they say for ' give me some fisli ' ; but no possible mistake can arise, as in the English, using the nouns in a verbal sense. A double use of the preposition ' from ' puzzled me exceedingly ; but one day when the signal for a vessel was hoisted up at the signal-post, the remarks of a black man proved that it was from, on account of the vessel, the ball was hoisted from that cause. TJie cutting down a tree in the woods similarly showed from what part the log was to be chopped. I would also remark that we often think there is a difference in the language because the names of sub- !^tantives differ ; e.g., a man was asked one day what he had got ; ' ta-ra-kul,' was the reply — I.e.., peaches. But they had no peaches formerly ; whence came the new name ? — from a word ' to set the teeth, on edge !' Now, at the Hawkesbury, the natives may call it by a name meaning rough skin, or any other quality. At the Hawkesbury, the English say that 'kob-ba-ra' is what the natives call 'head,' but the blacks told me to say 'wol-lung,' and it was only by an anatomical drawing my black teacher showed that by ' kob-ba-ra ' he understood the ' skull bone.' ]N"o doubt there are provincialisms, but perhaps the language is radically the same. In presenting a copy to those in this colony who are connected with other societies, I beg to assure them that what- ever knowledge I may obtain of the aboriginal tongue shall be always available to them with cheerful readiness, the noble principles of Christianity forbidding the indulgence of any selfish motive or party feeling in those who profess to be the promul- gators of its precepts. An anxiety to satisfy the friends of humanity that our employment is not altogether without hope, as it respects attaining the language of the blacks, and that success may ultimately be expected, with the Divine aid, have suggested and urged the putting of these imperfect specimens to the press.

Eighteen months less interrupted than the time past will, it is hoped, enable me to make known salvation to the aborigines in their own tongue. To attempt instruction before I can argue with them as men would be injurious, because Christianity does not make its votaries mere machines, but teaches them how to

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