BY HERMANN B. RITZ, M.A. 



345 



A curious discrepancy occurs in the list of names at 

 the end of the MS. Calder-Curr's Hst gives only three 

 names of the Big River Mob; the ]MS. gives twenty-three. 

 The missing twenty are found in Calder-Curr's names of 

 the Ben Lomond Mob, but not together, as one might 

 expect when a whole page goes astray, but four in one 

 place, six in another, five in a third place, and five more 

 at the end of that Mob. 



Calder-Curr's note, " Sexes of the Big River tribe not 

 distinguished " is not in the Xorman MS.; it is above the 

 heading " Big River ]\Iob '' instead of below it, and is too 

 vague to be of any value. As a matter of fact, the names 

 used by the Aboriginals were really descriptions of the 

 individuals denoted. Some of these descriptions would, 

 of course, apply to women only, but others were cjuite 

 general. For instance, " swift foot " might evidently be 

 equally applicable to a man or a woman. 



The Xorman AIS. has several words marked as 

 " adopted," but while in some cases the resemblance to 

 English equivalents is striking, in others it is doubtful, 

 and it would be very difficult for anyone to speak with 

 certainty unless he happened to be present when the word 

 was first adapted to the Tasmanian habits of speech. The 

 words for soldier (tooyer) and tobacco (pyagurner, i.e., 

 bacca-na) seem to be the only instances of nearly certain 

 adaptation; and even of these the latter looks suspiciously 

 like pugana, i.e., tail, suggesting the twisted tobacco used 

 by sailors. 



In conclusion, it may be pointed out that Calder's 

 transcription or the work of the printer, or the united 

 labours of both, in many instances make the Calder-Curr 

 words different from the corresponding word in the MS. 

 It will therefore be advisable to base any philological 

 arguments on the latter rather than on the former, espe- 

 cially as they agree with other A^ocabularies in a far 

 greater measure. 



H. Ling Roth's edition of the Xorman Vocabulary in 

 " The Aborigines of Australia " is evidenth' taken from 

 Curr, as it contains the same peculiar discrepancies, and 

 is, of course, later in date. 



