NAMES FOR SHELLS, 



189 



extent than they now do, as also to keep sheep, 

 pigs or poultry, as they seemed very fond of pets, 

 and had one or two tamed pigeons and boobies among 

 them. As it got dusk, the two young natives 

 became so uneasy at being on board, that Yule sent 

 them ashore again, 



April 1, 3. — I got old Mammoos on board to 

 give me his names for all the shells I had collected 

 in the neighbourhood, a list of which will be found 

 in the vocabulary. He had almost as many names 

 as there were genera, and for some species of one 

 genus he had different names. These names of 

 course only referred to the general form, as, for 

 instance, murex, auricula, and cassis, having all 

 wrinkled mouths, were called " ass f* pyrula, fusus, 

 triton being all longish shells, were " mabaer a 

 species of area, corbis, and psammobia, having a 

 general resemblance in form and wrinkles, were all 

 " kaip." Still there were many more distinct names 

 for the different shells than we have in common 

 English, where all bivalves are called either oysters, 

 or cockles, or mussels, and all univalves, winkles, or 

 limpets, or snail shells. 



Remarks on their language will be found in the 

 appendix attached to the vocabulary ; but I may 

 mention here its great superiority in sound and dis- 

 tinctness of enunciation to the jabber of the Austra- 

 lian languages. They took also great pleasure in 

 teaching us their names for things, another charac- 

 teristic in which they differ from the Australians. 



