126 - THE ABORIGINAL NAMES OF RIVERS 
Riwer names in Bad, Wad.—Although we have taken up 
leading channels in which the aboriginal names are found to flow, 
et there are more isolated cases which yet have made a prominent: 
Lak 
Macquarie. This word bado is recorded by three of the earliest 
vocabulary writers, Tench, Hunter, and Collins. The forms bato, 
batoo, batu, and battu, are also found. When we turn to the 
maps and gazetteers, we find a lake called budda. Also, we have 
one of the more important rivers of New South Wales called the 
Murrumbidgee. This simply means the big water or river. Other 
illustrative names are such as Batmaroo Creek, Bethungra Creek, 
Botobolar Creek, Butheroo Creek, in New South Wales. Burrum- 
beet Creek and Lake are in Victoria. 
As to root words in wad or wat, or their equivalents, we have 
ga-wata, aswamp,atCape York. Weedi, to drink ; pa-wat, a swamp, 
kooeeweet, rain ; wadby, to swim ; as also watpulir and widyara, 
to drink, all in New South Wales. As to names of rivers, there 
is the Calewatta, a name of the Darling, Arrawatta Creek, Watte 
Creek, Watta River, Wattawa Creek, Watagan Creek. Here 
again it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that to the inhabitants 
on the banks of the different streams the watta was just the water. 
In Tasmania the form wattra is found joined to a river. There 1s 
the Waatra karoola, Piper’s River. As to Karoola, it may just be 
noticed in passing there is the Karaula, on the borders of Queens 
land, where Mitchell camped for some time, and there is an Ar- 
Caroola Creek in South Australia. 
king beyond Australian boundaries, we find the root now 
discussed to have a wide range of existence. The form bedu, 
water, has been preserved to us as an old Phrygian word. ere 
is the Sanscrit patwm, to drink ; the Latin poto, and the Greek 
kotidzo I give to drink ; poti, to drink, Sclavonic. Also, the Ger- 
man bad and English bath belong to the same extensive connection 
Budo, water, is an African form, and batean is water in arang: 
Wad and wat have also a very ancient and wide existence. Udus 
wet, Latin, and the word wet in English as well as the Sanserié 
udum belong to the same root. Wadi is a watercourse, Arabic. 
ama is rain in the Malay Archipelago. Udha, rain, wats 
low water, udhi wai, creek, are Feejeean ; wut and wit occur fre- 
quently in North West American words for water. Wata, water 
occurs in New Guinea ; wato is Gothic, voda is Russian, and the — 
forms ovata and wat, for water, are African. ; 
