BY HERMANN B. RITZ, M.A. 75 



A curious discrepancy exists in connection with por- 

 tions of the Book of Genesis, translated by Thos. Wil- 

 kinson at Flinders Island in 1833. One specimen of it 

 is given by Ling Roth in Appendix D ; another is in 

 the J. B. Walker Memorial Volume, and is evidently 

 an extract from Geo. W. Walker's Journal. 



Now, we should expect transcripts of the same text 

 to be practically identical ; but these two specimens 

 differ essentially from each other. 



In the first place, the spelling is quite different. A 

 few examples will suffice to s'how this : Walker gives 

 " pomleh " for " made ;" Ling Roth, " pomable." 

 Walker gives for " darkness " " lywerreh ;" Ling Roth, 

 " lewara." For " said," Walker gives " kany," Ling 

 Roth " carne." 



Walker states that Thos. Wilkinson translated three 

 chapters of Genesis, and also composed a considerable 

 vocabulary of words. If the rest of the translation and 

 that vocabulary could be found, they would be most 

 serviceable for the study of the language. 



In Appendix E, Ling Roth transcribes fairly accu- 

 rately the " Popular Song " from Walker's Journal, and 

 refers, for the purpose of comparison, to a version of 

 the same " song " by Milligan, in Appendix C, but over- 

 looks the version quoted by himself in Appendix D, 

 from Davies. 



These three versions of the same song are very in- 

 teresting, and may prove very important. 



To compare small things with great, we might 

 notice the curious analogy with the Rosetta stone, and 

 its inscription in three languages, which enabled Cham- 

 pollion and Young to find the key to the hieroglyphics 

 of Egypt ; and also with the trilingual rock inscriptions 

 at Behistan, which Led Rawlinson to discover the secret 

 of reading the ancient languages of Persia, Babylon, 

 and Assyria. 



Of course, our own task is not so difficult, nor is its 

 importance so great ; still, the trilingual record of the 

 same meaning should lead us to some definite result in 

 our quiet backwater of human life. 



