184 Charles Fenner : 



at a creek named by the blacks Werribee, and by Hume the Arndell, 

 they refreshed themselves," etc. The writer believes for the above 

 reasons, that the/ name was an aboriginal one. Whatever the mode 

 of origin may have been, the rather euphonious title of " The 

 Werribee," has now been firmly established. 



There are many other interesting facts on record concerning the 

 origin of place names in this area, but most of these are well known, 

 as, for instance, the complex story of the naming of the You Yangs 

 and the Anakies. While it is satisfactory to note the large per- 

 centage of aboriginal names preserved, some of these have locally 

 fallen into disuse, although still recorded on the maps. For 

 example, Wuid Kruirk, a dominating hill almost on the Divide, is 

 known only by the name of Blue Mountain — a name too common 

 to be of much value. Again, the Korjamumnip Creek is almost 

 always referred to either as Doctor's or Pyke's Creek, while the 

 Xorkuperrimul in its lower part is called Lyell's Creek. 



Four of the parallel northern tributaries of the Werribee are in- 

 teresting in that their aboriginal-sounding names all commence in 

 *' Kor," — i.e., Korweinguboora, Korjamumnip, Korobeit, and 

 Korkuperrimul; this Mr. Saxton believes to be an imitative refer- 

 ence to the sound made by a frog, and used to denote water. 



It is difficult to find any reliable translation of these or other 

 aboriginal place names. The early settlers often mistook ^^ords of 

 the blacks, and almost always finally came to mispronounce them. 

 Then, on being written and introduced into maps, further changes 

 of pronunciation would probably take place, and effectively dis- 

 guise whatever original meaning the words may have had. Added 

 to this there is a strong tendency among us, unfortunately, to 

 anglicise the pronunciation of native names, and thus, for 

 example, we find the pleasing name of Naracoorte (S.A.) pronounced 

 and written " Narrowcourt." 



Another peculiar feature is the giving of the same place name to 

 two well separated places. Thus we have Steiglitz, a volcanic eleva- 

 tion on the open plains of Ballan, while the mining town of Steig- 

 litz is in the heart of the heavily-timbered Brisbane ranges, about 

 twenty-five miles away. Both places are named after an early 

 settler (1838) von Steiglitz (ref. 62). More confusing and anomalous 

 is the application of the name of ** Mount Blackwood," long given 

 to the volcano north-west of Bacchus Marsh, to the mining town 

 seven miles away, in the valley of the Lerderderg River. There is 

 very little communication between the two places, and their postal 

 services come from quite different directions. 



