NOTES ON THE LIST OF NATIVE WORDS OF TFIE 



OYSTER BAY TRIBE, PRESENTED BY 



MR. J. W. BEATTIE. (1) 



By Hermann B. Ritz, M.A. 

 (Read 8tli Sept., 1913.) 



This list bears the colophon "H.W. M., 1824," which may 

 mean that it was drawn up by Sergeant Montgomery, of the 

 51st Foot (King's Own Light Infaniry), stationed in Tas- 

 mania in 1824 There certainly was such a person here at 

 that time, and the list itself shows that it was written by a 

 man who conscientions'y paid strict a+^^tention to details, and 

 recorded them faithfully, as far as his literary attain nients 

 enabled him to do so. The punctilious respect for persons in 

 authority is sliown by the way the recorder mentions " the 

 Minister, Rev. Mr. Bedford," and *' His Honor the 

 Governor," both of whom entered upon their duties in 1824, 

 the former as Incumbent of St. David's, and the latter as 

 Lieutenant-Governor. 



In taking down the native words, H.W.M. evidently took 

 great pains, getting the Aboriginals to pronounce them in 

 syllables, and carefully, and on the whole very succe>sfully, 

 separating these by hyphens. 



At first sight, these words seem quite different from those 

 recorded in the lists previously published ; but on closer 

 inspection they are found to be quite in harmony with them; 

 indeed, more than half of them are practically identical with 

 them. 



In my paper, " The Speech of theTasmanian Aborigines," 

 read before the Royal Society of Tasmania, on the 14tli 

 June, 1909, (2) I explained my theory on the etymology of 

 the Tasmanian vocabulary, and the present list decidedly 

 confirms \ny conclusions, as will be seen when we examine each 

 word of H. VV.M.'s list in detail. I may fairly claim to have 

 shown in my previous papers on tliis subject, that by my 

 theory every Tasmanian word and phrase that has been 

 published, can be rationally explained to be in strict 

 accordance with the known primitiveness of the life and 

 manners of tlie Tasmanian A'^ioriginals, and the present list 

 strongly confirms the soundness of my theory. It will be 



(1) See pages 79-81. 



(2) These Papers and Proceedlngn, 190:3, pp. 44-81. 



