276 APPENDIX. 



often very remarkable, as in " aress," to strike, to fight, 

 war ; " sarreg," to shoot with a bow ; " essomi," to suck ; 

 " diskayer," to shake ; " nakesimu," or " ecasmy," to 

 split; "debelli," good, handsome; "kib kib," blunt; 

 " goobin goobin," soft. 



The enunciation of the Torres Strait islanders is re- 

 markably clear and distinct, a point in which their speech 

 greatly differs from that of most of the Australians, who 

 have always more or less of a jabber. 



There are no peculiar sounds in the language of the 

 islanders, if we except a rather peculiar pronunciation of 

 the " d" or the " dz," in which a kind of aspirate is some- 

 times heard. This sound might sometimes be represented 

 by " dh," sometimes by " dz/' and sometimes by " th," 

 or even by the English " j," as in John, where there is 

 also a dental sound. They seemed to have all the sounds 

 of the English language, except that I never heard those 

 of F, G soft, X, or Y consonant. 



The islanders always took much pleasure in teaching us 

 their language, and shewed a great readness in compre- 

 hending our signs, and great aptitude for giving us infor- 

 mation — qualities in which they likewise contrasted 

 favourably with the careless, apathetic, and easily tired 

 Australian natives. 



