May Q *l Spencer, What is Nardoo. n 



1918 j 



was used in connection with anything except Marsilea, its fruit, 

 and the cakes made from this. 



The above are the only two references that I can find in 

 numerous accounts of nardoo written by those who have had 

 actual experience amongst the natives, in which it is suggested 

 that the name is given to the product of any plant except 

 Marsilea, and even here the evidence can only be described as 

 very vague and most unconvincing. When Mr. Lees says 

 " We made nardoo " and " We have partaken of leguminous 

 nardoo," one naturally wants to know what exactly is his 

 authority for calling it by this name. The Arunta tribe, in 

 whose country Mr. Lees was travelling when he was accom- 

 panied by Mr. Gillen, does not (except possibly in its most 

 southern part, where it is in contact with the Urabunna) use 

 the sporocarps of Marsilea as a food, and the word " nardoo," 

 except as a borrowed word, does not exist in its language. 



So far as my experience goes, every plant, the leaves, 

 stems, roots, or seeds of which are used for food, has its own 

 special name. Nardoo, munyeru, parakilia, tjainda, itata, 

 erlipinna, ingwitchika, tiritipaua, kurangula, kudnagertikati, 

 katnungara, are a few of those known to me by personal 

 experience, but each of these names is applied to one and only 

 one plant and its product. 



So far as I can find out, also, every investigator who has made 

 a special study of the natives and has had first-hand experience 

 in the field is in complete agreement on this point. Dr. Roth,* 

 for example, gives pappa as the " generic " name for all seed- 

 foods in the language of the Pitta-pitta tribe in Queensland, 

 but, in addition, he records the native names of many in- 

 dividual food plants, and, without any exception, each such 

 name applies to one plant only. Amongst many different 

 forms he mentions " the hard-shelled seed of the ■ nardoo ' 

 (Marsilea), easily and speedily collected from the plant when 

 growing in marshy swamps." 



So, again, Gason,f in his account of the " Manners and 

 Customs of the Dieri Tribe," gives the names of various seeds, 

 &c, describing nardoo as " ardoo." He writes : — " In a dry 

 season they subsist mainly on ardoo, but in a good season, 

 with plenty of rain, they have an ample supply of seeds, which 

 they grind or pound, make into small cakes, and bake in the 

 ashes." He thus very clearly distinguishes between ardoo 

 and other vegetable foods. 



In Brough Smyth's " Aborigines of Victoria," when speaking 



* Roth, " Entomological Studies Amongst the Natives of N.W. Central 

 Queensland," 1897, p. 92. 

 f "The Native Tribes of South Australia," Adelaide, 1897, PP- 259, 



