677 



NGARRABUL AND OTHER ABORIGINAL TRIBES. 



Part II. — Distribution of the Tribes. 



By John MacPherson, M.A., B.Sc, M.B., Ch.M. 



(Plate xxi.) 



Following is an account of the distribution of the indigenous 

 tribes in the north-east of New South Wales and south of Queens- 

 land, as furnished by my native informants, in accordance with 

 the languages spoken. As Ridley"* observes, the language of a 

 tribe is often named after the expression of negation "No," 

 occasionally after that of affirmation "Yes." Thus "no" in 

 Kogai is ko; in Wailivun^ wail; in Wolaroi, wol. On the other 

 hand, '*yes" in Pikumbul is pika. My informant told me that 

 "no" in Kamilroi iskamil; in Koomilroi,koomil; and in Yookum- 

 bid, yookah. Strangely enough, "no" in Pikumbul is ydga 

 (Ridley), in Turrubul (Brisbane River) it is yugm' or wukka,aind 

 on the north-west coast gar. In Yookumbul " yes " is yo, and 

 "truly" is toroogah. Ridley also gives yoai as "yes" in Dippil 

 (north of Moreton Bay, Queensland) and Turrubul. In Kamil- 

 aroi, yo is "yes," and gir " verily." In Bundel "no" is ukumbi, 

 and in Koonibainga, bi-o-i. 



To pass on to the individual languages or dialects : — 



1. Giittdhn is spoken at Port Stephens. W. J. Enrightf 



gives Kuithung as the tribe occupying the south of Port Stephens, 



and mentions at Ireast seven other tribes in the vicinity. In 



Ngarrabul, however, they were collectively designated Guttahn, 



* Kamilaroi and other Australian Languages, 1875. 

 t Journ. Proc. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales, 1900, pp. lOH tt seq. 



