638 
PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION F. 
7.— NATIVE TRIBES OP PORT DARWIN AND ITS NEIGH- 
BOURHOOD. 
By T. A. PA RKH 0 US E, formerly Accountant and Pay master , South Australian 
• Government Railways , Port Darwin . 
Distribution . — The territory of the Larraki‘a, # in which Port 
Darwin is situate, embraces the seaboard from Shoal Bay to South- 
port, and extends inland to the forty-sixth mile on the railway line, 
the Waggait, whom both the Larrak i‘a and Awarra detest, being their 
westerly neighbours. The W ulnar tribe occupy the country to the east 
of the Larrak i‘a, from Marrakai cattle station on the Adelaide River to 
Shoal Bay and thence along the coast to beyond Escape Cliffs, their 
easterly neighbours being Alligator River blackfellows. The Larrakl‘a 
and the Wulnar are allied tribes, between whom intermarriages are 
frequent. 
At near Rum Jungle, on the railway line, and south to the 
Howley, is the country of the Awarra, who have the Berrigurruk, or 
Mary River tribe, to the east. South of the Awarra, from Fountain 
Head to Piue Creek, are the Awinnmul and Aggrakundi; their 
country extending near to the Evelyn, which is within the borders of 
an Alligator River tribe. Between the Aggrakundi and the Daly 
River are the Aggagowilli, and south the Adoweii and Mennagi, whose 
position I am unable to locate. The Awinnmul are natives of Burrundi, 
and at one time were a tribe distinct from the Aggrakundi ; but one 
disastrous season decimated the Awinnmul, and greatly reduced the 
number of the Aggrakundi, resulting in the amalgamation of the two 
tribes. It has been said that the Aggrakundi headman, Manuel, is the 
last of the Awinnmul tribe, but I have reasons for doubting whether 
more was meant than that he was the last representative of a family 
group in that tribe. 
The Awarra, Awinnmul, and Aggrakundi have been hitherto 
known to Europeans only as "\Vul wbngga, and a member of either tribe 
so. designates himself, keeping secret the fact that the Wulwbngga are 
subdivided. My Larrakha boy, in whose camp at Southport had 
lived for years the soil of an Awarra woman, knew him only as a 
Wulwougga until I referred to him as an Awarra; they spoke in 
Larrakila, and I heard my boy question it and the answer in confirma- 
tion. The tongues spoken by the Awarra and by the Aggrakundi or 
Awinnmul are distinct, although with more affinity than Larrak! a and 
Wulnar, and I can discover no closer tribal relationship than that 
existing between those tribes. Why the two latter should set forth 
their autonomy and the former obscure it remains to be determined ; 
the reserve maintained by the Wulwbngga inclines one to look for 
class marriage in explanation. 
Notes Principally Concerning the Ldrraki'a . — Between the 
LarrakTa and the neighbouring tribes a neutral zone of some eight or 
ten miles is reserved, upon which no habitations are erected, game 
remains unmolested, and none trespass without good reason. I gather 
— although my inference is upon this point from insufficient data, and, 
* The aspirate, indicated by the sign (‘) is often associated with the sound of y in 
the native tongues, and a letter italicised is often elided, or only indicated ; thus these 
names have been spelled Larreekeeyah, Larrakeeha, Larrikia, Woolna, WooJner. 
