62 Keble, Aboriginal Plant Names. [vd'^xxxVv 



The Wurunjcrri-baluk belonged to the Kulin nation, which was 

 of considerable geographical extent, and was so designated 

 from the circumstance that in all its dialects the word " kulin " 

 is used to signify " biackfellow." The territory occupied by 

 the Wurunjerri is stated * to be east of the Saltwater River 

 from its confluence with the Yarra to Mount Macedon, south 

 of the Main Divide between Mount Macedon and Mount Baw 

 Baw, the head waters of the Yarra to the Dandenong Mountains, 

 and thence by Gardiner's Creek and the Yarra to the Saltwater 

 River — an area of over 700 square miles. It will be noticed 

 that this area exactly coincides with the Yarra drainage 

 system. The tribe, however, was again subdivided into clans 

 and lesser groups, each of which had their specific tracts of 

 country allotted to them as food grounds. The true Wurun- 

 jerri ("white gum country"!), with their headman, Jakka- 

 Jakka, occupied the Yarra flood plain, J and that portion of the 

 drainage system which empties into the trunk stream, the 

 Yarra, on its south bank. 



The Wurunjerri dialect comes within the second subdivision 

 of the geographical classification proposed by the Rev. John 

 Mathew.§ This subdivision, referred to as the Victorian Region, 

 comprises Victoria, part of Riverina and the Murray basin in 

 New South Wales, and the south-east corner of South' Australia. 

 Like other Australian dialects, they are mainly characterized 

 by imperfect suffix agglutination and included particles. That 

 the Wurunjerri were likewise possessed of a gesture language 

 is well known, and many examples of w^hich are given by 

 Howitt.ll 



As far back as 1878 the late Baron von Mueller, Government 

 Botanist of Victoria, identified specimens of a number of trees, 

 plants, and shrubs collected and preserved by Messrs. Green, 

 Hartmann, and Shaw, of the Coranderrk, Lake Hindmarsh, and 

 Lake Condah aboriginal stations, and labelled by them with the 

 native names. The collection forwarded by Mr. Green (assisted 

 by Mrs. Green) consisted of sixty-nine specimens, the double 

 identification of which is the basis of this etymological analysis. 



* A. W. Howitt, " The Native Tribes of South-East Australia," p. 70. 



t Howitt gives the meaning of wurunjerri as wurun, white gum tree 

 {Eucalyptus viminalis). and jerri, a grub found in that tree; jerri, 

 however, can also be interpreted "scrub," "bush," "forest," "wood," a 

 meaning which it has probably derived from association, the grub being 

 an article of diet occurring over tracts of country well known to the 

 biackfellow. Compare jerrin, p. 66 post, and kulk, p. 68 post. 



J The contrast afforded by the white, smooth bark of the "white 

 gums" of the Yarra flood plain and the dark, rough bark of the gums on 

 the highlands is most marked. 



§Rev. John Mathew, " Eaglehawk and Crow," p. 150. 



II "The Native Tribes of South-East Australia," pp. 727 to 735. 



