ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA. 185 



had excellent " flint " quarries at Stocker's Bottom and 

 Glen Morriston, to the south-east of Ross. In the 

 Tasmanian Museum there is a fine collection of stone 

 implements procured at Glen Morriston by the late Mr. 

 Scott. It is said that the Oyster Bay natives also 

 obtained "flints" from the same localities. The Stony 

 Creek natives were a strong tribe and gave much trouble 

 to the settlers. Part of their district was included in the 

 " Black Line " operations. 



(b) — The Port Dairy mple Tribe. 



The country to the north of the Stony Creek 

 natives — including the neighbourhood of Perth, Evan- 

 dale, Launceston, the North Esk, and probably both 

 banks of the Tamar — was occupied by the Port Dai- 

 ry mple tribe.* They are said to have mustered in large 

 numbers on various occasions. Once 200 of them pro- 

 ceeded from the neighbourhood of Launceston, by way 

 of Paterson's Plains (Evandale) to the Lake River. 

 Native Point, near Perth, a favourite haunt. Here 

 they got stone for their implements. They probably 

 roamed westward as far as Longford and Westbury, if 

 not further. The districts they occupied are some of 

 the finest in Tasmania ; in its native state, a well grassed 

 country with abundance of game. Their relation to 

 other tribes is uncertain. They appear to have been in 

 league with their Southern neighbours — the Stony 

 Creek natives — and were, probably, also related to the 

 North-Eastern group. The tribes as far as Port Sorell, 

 and even as far as the Mersey, may have belonged to 

 this group. But there is no evidence to show how far to 

 the eastward the North- Western group of tribes ex- 

 tended. Possibly, the boundary may be placed in the 

 forest country on the west bank of the Mersey. But it 

 is uncertain to which group the Mersey and Port Sorell 

 natives belonged. The evidence of language is not of 

 much assistance. The Tamar was Ponrabbel; the 

 Mersey was Paranapple or PirinappL The variation is 

 hardly sufficient to establish either difference or consan- 

 guinity. 



* The settlements on the Tamar were at first known under the name of 

 Port Dalrymple. 



