72 Kkble^ Aboriginal Plant Names: [v^.'*^xxxi"v 



related to yang (g)ow Ian eit, to go away, occurs in moe ang 

 (mo yang), Blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon, R. Brown, and 

 berry yung. Straight-leaved Acacia, A. stricta, Willd. Moc is 

 a variation of mer, within, and with yang means " out of, to 

 throw " — a reference to the kur ruk, or throwing stick, which 

 was made of ]:)lackwood. The her ry yimg was widely used 

 for spears, hence ber, backwards and forwards, a resume of the 

 effort in throwing a spear with the kur ruk, and yang, the 

 flight of one. Ry has been drawn in by the last sylla])le. 



Tir ba twe bin (ter ba touit bin), Narrow-leaved Peppermint, 

 E. amygdalina, Labill., comes from ter, to add, hence to apply ; 

 ba, small ; touit, a fish ; and bin, to split. Bin occurs in bun 

 dike, to chip, cut in pieces ; bin duck, cut, carve, hew ; beaum 

 bean, a chisel ; num bem on, axe ; pin de bul lup, a saw, &c., 

 &c. The Narrow-leaved Peppermint was a favourite wood for 

 fish-spears (c/. woo lerp, woor un, moe ang^ and l)erry yang). 



Mo am bill had no name attached, but its syllables are 

 suggestive. It comes from mo, behind (c/. mer wan) ; am, 

 adjectival ending ; and bill or bal, to strike ; hence the wood 

 of a tree used for the mulga, a shield to ward off the blows of 

 the waddy, or the geeam, a shield for protection against spears. 



Bal and its variations bul, bil, pel, &c., &c., mean to strike, 

 pound, macerate, &c., and is often associated with lang, a stone 

 — ^the pounding agent. Bal lang in represents both Cymbo- 

 notus, Cymbonoius Lawsonianus, Gau., and Rough Fire Weed, 

 Erechtites arguta, Candolle, and is simply a general word for 

 those edible plants that needed pounding. Bal, in one or 

 another of its forms, is found in pel lin, flint of a gun ; pal rurt, 

 with vigour ; beel meek, pus (to express) ; bel eer rcr, a spade ; 

 beal, red gum, used for the kud gee run, or waddy ; bowl, a 

 fowl (to peck) ; bal lee, one of the woods used for the kur ruk 

 or throwing stick (cherry tree) ; bal ee, mistletoe, some ])art 

 of which was seemingly eaten ; bul gan ner, bullock ; kul bul 

 ling ur rook, stone tomahawk {vide p. 66) ; and numerous others. 



Mul ling (mul lang), a root eaten by the natives, no name 

 of which ap}x?ars in the list, comes from mul, after, above, as 

 kul mul, blood, from kul, a wound, and mul, after — i.e., " after 

 a wound " — and lang, a stone. The root was evidently pounded 

 with a stone. 



Boe boe. Twiggy Aster, Olearia ramulosu, Benth., and its 

 other form, pooi bony, Shni])by Everlasting, Hcliclirysum 

 ferrugineum, Lcssing, come from the j)rimitive bo or l)a ; oc, 

 oi, and oy arc virtually the o in no, the e, i, and y being caused 

 by closing the nasal ])assagc. It is identical with the world- 

 wide root pa, to protect, support, nourish, and occurring in 

 most languages as the word for father or mother, as i)a, i)ai)a. 



