NAMES FOR OPOSSUM AND DOG. 83 



selves, Thomas, who, had he been washed, would 

 have been a rather good-looking fellow, tall and well 

 made, had really graceful manners. We had a 

 small flask of brandy and water with us, and offered 

 them some : they all declined ; but seeing us press it, 

 he took the cup and raised it to his lips, and then 

 returned it with an inclination of the head, saving 

 something with a smile, which we interpreted, " 1 

 am not thirsty, thank you/' They had none of the 

 clothes which we had given to them the other day, 

 and, on our inquiring, they pointed to the south, 

 as if to say, they had left them there at head quar- 

 ters. " Little Jacket*' had a string round his waist, 

 from which there hung down in front a bunch of 

 strips of opossum skin. On pointing to them, he 

 said, kt unagua and Thomas, pointing to some 

 cuts in a tree (made by the natives in climbing to 

 hunt for opossums), likewise said, "unagua," which 

 I suppose, therefore, to be their name for that ani- 

 mal. We had a dog with us, which they always 

 called " alingo ;" very similar to the common word 

 "dingo,'* which, I presume, was derived from the 

 tribes in the neighbourhood of Sydney. They 

 could not pronounce our words very well, and, if 

 they ended in a consonant, always added " o" to 

 them, as "hato" for " hat." Their own language 

 was remarkably soft and vocalic, without that itera- 

 tion of the same sound usual in Australia; and they 

 spoke earnestly, rapidly, and with a continuous flow 

 of words. After a walk of half a mile, we sat down 



g2 



