Page:The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina.djvu/130

125 borne by the poor aborigines whilst in a state of semi-starvation as regards both food and warmth; therefore the first indication of spring makes them jubilant to a degree, as then the near approach of food in abundance and of all kinds seems tolerably tangible, and no longer mere visions of the brain, induced by taking infrequent as well as insufficient meals of very indigestable food.

They have no single term which includes all the seasons such as our year. Their method of computing time is by nowies (suns or days), mittians (moons), and kurties (summers), but having nothing save oral records their data, as may well be supposed, is oftentimes very far out in point of time, therefore the reliance to be placed on any dates which they may give with regard to occurrences, if even not more than a very few years back, can only be of the smallest.

After getting beyond twenty or, at the most, twenty-five in numbers, they become very hazy, and to get themselves out of the fog they say co co (many), which may mean ten; or five hundred, or, in fact, any other quantity, and theirthere [sic] is no means short of actual investigation whereby it is possible to know whether the greater or lesser number is meant when an aboriginal makes use of the term co co.

The entire absence of the organ of comparison in the native character tends very much to the creation of this difficulty, as, for example, ask a blackfellow which one of the two flocks of parrots is the largest, and his reply will be—"Two-fellow co co." This same reply will be given in every other matter of comparison which may come under observation, whether of numbers or quality, only in the latter talko (good) will be substituted for co co.