136 THE ABORIGINAL NAMES OF RIVERS 
take nine forms, such as ml, mn, mr, bl, bn, br, wl, wn, wr— : 
where we have the liquids and soft labial—and compare them — 
with any such forms as wg, wh, wd, wt, pg, pk, pd, pt—where these 
about 3,000 are aboriginal. Of these, again, nearly 800 are 
names applied to rivers, creeks, and streams generally, as well as 
to water in its other forms. 
to say not oe 
duced in the vocabulary of a language would be very considerable. 
But, in full view of all such considerations, it is pretty plain that if 
the forefathers of the aborigines of Australia broke off from a parent — 
stock only 2,000, or 3,000, or 4,000 years ago, their descendants — 
waters and streams, and have given them a permanent existence 3 
in the numerous names which have been adopted from the black 
S80) 
