DIFFICULTY OF UNDERSTANDING THE NATIVES, 23 



they were supposed to convey. The words given 

 below are from Mr. Earl's vocabulary, the result of 

 four years careful examination and experience. 



The great difference between the words at Shoal 

 Bay and Port Darwin, must now be apparent to the 

 reader ; a more extended acquaintance with the 

 aboriginal inhabitants of Australia, has shewn that 

 many words put down by us as meaning a certain 

 thing, signify in reality, " What do you mean ?"' 

 " I do not understand" — which shews at once the 

 great difficulty of arriving at the truth. This 

 must often be the case ; for what is more natural, 

 than that when a savage is asked the meaning of a 

 thing, and knows not, but that he should express his 

 ignorance ? How often this expression of ignorance 

 has been registered as the denomination of some 

 animal or thing, we leave the reader to conjecture. 

 Moreover, there are many words totally obliterated 

 from their dialects, which thus undergo constant 

 alteration. This in part arises from the circum- 

 stance of their never mentioning the name of a de- 



