F. B. W. WOOLRYCH. NATIVE NAMES OP' 63 



NATIVE NAMES OF SOME OF THE RUNS &c. IN THE 



LACHLAN DISTRICT. 



By F. B. W. Woolrych, l.s. 



Communicated by John F. Mann, l.s. 



[Read before the Royal Society of N.S.W., June 4, 1890.'] 



The following notes were made by me in or about the year 1863 

 after some conversations with Regan of the Coora Burrima run, 

 who was managing it for old " Jim White" of Burrangong. He 

 had been twenty years or more resident in the Level Country* 

 and could converse freely with the Levels tribe in their own 

 language. He told me that although the Burrowa tribe were 

 entirely separated from the Levels tribe their dialect was the same; 

 but the tribes of the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers had 

 dialects of their own. He could not converse with them although 

 he understood many of the words spoken by them. The pro- 

 nunciation of the same word sometimes differed among the different 

 tribes, for example boolla or bulla, the word for two would rhyme 

 with our word ' cooler,' comparative of cool, if pronounced by a 

 1 Levels ' blackfellow ; but with ' duller ' the comparative of dall 

 by a Murrumbidgee black, hence probably the different spelling 

 and pronunciation of the town of Burrowa or Booroowa, said to 

 mean a very small kind of kangaroo, &c. 



The present names of many of the sheep and cattle stations or 



runs in the pastoral district of the Lachlan have been derived front 



the original names of the ' camping places ' of the blacks. These 



names were always significant they recalled to mind some scene, 



some simple occurrence or event, or characterized the peculiarity 



of some leading landmark and therefore indicated the exact locality. 



When the white settlers overran the country they appropriated 



all the finest waterholes for their head stations, consequently 



these occupy what were at that time the chief camping grounds 



of the blackfellow and therefore possessed of native names. 



Burrangong — The head station on the Burrangong Creek, from 



Booroon-gong — ' Booroon ' a small animal like a rabbit-rat 



spotted like a native cat, and ' gong,' going. The whole word 



suggests a scene in which a ' booroon ' running was the chief 



object. 



Merri-merri-gal — Name of a head station of a run on the Lachlan 



River, from ' Merri ' a dog, and 'gal ' bold, (or impudent). 



Picture some unusually bold native dog approaching the camp. 



* See appended sketch. 



