LANGUAGES OF SOME NATIVE TRIBES. 161 



dialects may differ widely in intonation, although the 

 changes in vocabulary are comparatively slight, which 

 gives the superficial observer the impression that they are 

 altogether unlike. 



The initiation ceremonies of the Dyirringafi are described 

 in an article which I communicated to the Anthropological 

 Society at Washington, U.S.A., in 1896. 1 In common with 

 certain other tribes, their intermarrying laws, and the 

 Kudsha ceremony, are also dealt with by me in a previous 

 article to this Society in 1900. 2 The Dyirriagaii is one of 

 an aggregate of tribes whose sacred songs I have learnt 

 and published, with the accompanying music, in a paper 

 contributed to the Royal Geographical Society of Queens- 

 land. 3 These are the first sacred songs of the Australian 

 Aborigines which have ever been set to music. 



Nouns. 

 There are three numbers — singular, dual and plural. 

 Number. — Baiil, a man ; baiilwula, a couple of men ; 

 baiilma, several men. 



Gender. — Mulidya, a woman. Baiil, a man. Burru 

 biangwa, a male kangaroo. Burru ngigwa, a female 

 kangaroo. 



Case. — The principal cases are the nominative, accusative, 

 causative, genitive, instrumental, dative and ablative. The 

 nominative simply names the subject at rest, as, Baiil 

 bagama, the man sits. The causative indicates the agent 

 of a transitive verb, as, Baiillu wingal wammaba, a man a 

 child beat. 



1 "The Bunan Ceremony of New South Wales," American Anthro- 

 pologist, Vol. ix., pp. 327 - 344, plate vi. 



2 " The Organisation. Language and Initiation Ceremonies of the 

 Aborigines of the south-east coast of New South Wales," Journ. Roy. 

 Soc , N. S. Wales," Vol. xxxiv., pp. 263 - 264, and 276-281. 



3 " Aboriginal Songs at Initiation Ceremonies," Queensland Geo- 

 graphical Journal, Vol. xvn., pp. 6L - 63. 



K— Sept. 3, 1902. 



