Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/158

132 The Raminyeri are the most westerly clan of the Narrinyeri.

The Tanganarin occupy the country at the bend of the Murray mouth. Tradition says that the tribe was nonplussed when they came down the river and found that it went into the sea, and said to one another "Where shall we go?" The Kandarl-inyeri inhabit a tract of country near the Murray mouth. Whales were frequently stranded on their coast, being possibly flurried by getting into the volume of fresh water of the Murray River. The Park-inyeri owned the deepest part of the Coorong. The Kaikalab-inyeri occupied a promontory running partly across the Coorong, and were in a good position to watch all that went to and fro. The Rangul-inyeri and the Karat-inyeri had a country infested by wild dogs. The Karat-inyeri possess a bold bluff on the shores of Lake Alexandrina, which was a good position for making and observing signals, and at this spot a lighthouse has since been built. The Pilt-inyeri is the name by which this clan is usually known, Talk-inyeri and Wulloke being in some sort sub-clans. Their arrangement of totem is singular, there being three kinds of leeches, catfish, and lace-lizards, and each one of these has a distinct name. Maninki is a large dark-coloured leech; Pomeri is the largest kind of cat-fish, and also is the name of cat-fish generally. Kallkalli is the ark-coloured lace-lizard. These are the totems belonging to the Pilt-inyeri. The Tiyawi, belonging to the Talk-inyeri, is a spotted lace-lizard. The Warrangumbi belonging to the Wulloke is a very large species of lace-lizard. The Luth-inyeri called themselves by this name, but their neighbours call them Kalatin-yeri. "Kalatin" means shining, this clan having grassy slopes that are visible at a long distance when the sun shines on them. Lath-inyeri is probably a corruption of the same word. Wunyakulde is evidently a corruption of "Walkande," north; and it was almost impossible to distinguish the difference between the two words Ngrangatari and Gurrangwari, indeed an old black would tell you to sound the "t" or not as you liked. The narrow sheet of water which trends to the south-east from the Murray mouth, and which is called