tliemfelves o n ly to th e m in d : fo r in ftan ce , a fp ear was an o b je d both
v ifib le and tan g ib le , and a name fo r it w a s e a fily obtained ; but the ufe
o f it w en t th ro u g h a n um b e r o f v aria tions and in fle x io n s , w h ich it was
e x tr em e ly difficult to afcertain ; indeed I n e v e r co u ld , w ith a n y degree
o f c e r ta in ty , f ix the in fin itiv e m ood o f a n y one o f th e ir verbs. T h e fo llow
in g fk e tch is therefore v e r y lim ited , th o u g h , as fa r as it does proceed,
th e reader m a y be aflured o f its a c curacy .
T h e i r lan gu a g e is e x t r em e ly g ra te fu l to the. ear, b e in g in many inftances
e x p re fliv e and fon orous . It c e r ta in ly has n o a n a lo g y w i th a n y other
' k n ow n lan gu a g e , (at le a d fo fa r as m y k n ow le d g e o f a n y o th e r lan gu a g e
ex ten d s ,) one o r tw o inftances e x cep ted , w h ic h w i ll be n o ticed in th e fp e -
c im en . T h e d ia le d fp o k en b y th e n ativ e s at S y d n e y n o t o n ly differs entire
ly from th a t le ft us b y C ap tain C o o k o f the p eop le w i th w h om h e
had in te r courfe to th e n o r thw a rd , (about E n d e a vo u r r iv e r ,) bu t alfo from
th a t fp ok en b y th o fe natives w h o liv ed at P o r t Steph en s , and to th e
fo u thw a rd o f B o ta n y -B a y , (about A d v en tu r e B a y ,) as w e l l as on the
b an k s o f th e H aw k e fb u r y . W e often h eard , th a t p eop le from the
n o r thw a rd had been met w i th , w h o could no t be e x a d l y und erfto od b y
o u r f r ie n d s ; b u t this is no t fo w o n d e r fu l as th a t p eop le liv in g a t the-
d iftance o f o n ly f i f t y o r f ix t y miles fh o u ld call th e fu n and m oo n b y
d ifferent n am e s ; fu ch , h ow e v e r , w a s th e f a d . I ii an e x cu r fio n to the
banks o f the H aw k e fb u r y , a c com pan ied b y tw o S y d n e y nativ e s, w e
fir ft d ifcov e red this d iffe r en c e ; b u t o u r com pan ion s con v e r fed w i th th e
r iv e r nativ es w i th o u t a n y apparent d ifficu lty , each u n d e r ftan d in g o r
com p r eh en d in g th e o th e r . -
W e h a v e o ften remarked a fenfible difference on h e a r in g th e fame
w o rd found ed b y tw o p e o p le ; and, in f a d , th e y h a v e been ob fe rv ed
fome tim e s to d iffer from th em fe lv e s , fu b ftitu tin g o ften the le tte r b fo r
p , and g fo r c, and vice verfa. In th e ir alphabet th e y h a v e n e ith e r s n o r
v ; and fom e o f th e ir letters w o u ld requ ire a n ew ch a r a d e r to afcertain
th em p re c ife ly .
W h a t fo llow s is offered o n ly as a fp e c im en , n o t as a p e r fe d v oc ab u la
r y o f th e ir language.
4 1 Names