HORN EXPEDITION—ANTHROPOLOGY. 
9 
stories of interference with the lubras*— teterriwa belli causa —consequent reprisals 
and excessive and indiscriminate revenge, but such instances have not been so 
numei'ous as they have in some other parts of the continent, and I am glad to bear 
witness to the humanity and even kindliness with which the natives are now 
treated by the present settlers. 
In spite of great provocation at Tempe Downs the owner has under great 
temptation and even peril of his life persistently refused to fire on the marauders 
even when taken flagrante delicto. It is quite true that such forbearance has 
been deemed injurious to the interests of the district, and not always imitated 
either in the past or present, but still on the whole the natives are well and 
kindly treated. 
At Alice Springs, another favourite gathering ground, they have in Mr. 
Gillen, the Sub-protector of Aborigines, a man who is not only kindly disposed 
towards them, but who, also, from his long residence and intimate knowledge of 
their ways, has acquired a position amongst them of entire trust and confidence. 
Reference will be made elsewhere to the labours of the German Lutheran 
Missionaries at Herman nsburg. 
Territorial Distribution. 
\For the system of Orthography for native naines adopted in this paper see 
Appendix /.] 
Simple as the matter appears it was not without much difficulty and repeated 
questioning that information could be elicited concei'ning the territorial distribu¬ 
tion of the tribes of Central Australia. The natives with whom we came in 
contact do not habitually speak of individuals as belonging to such and such 
a tribe, specifically named and having defined territorial limits, but they designate 
them by the name of the direction in whioli their country lies. Thus among 
the Arunta tribe—that which will be principally dealt with in this paper 
» It is perhaps hardly necessary to explain that the term Lubra, used by the whites in South Australia 
and Victoria, and generally understood by the blacks of those regions signifies wife or woman. Gin, sometimes 
written Jin, has the same significance north of the Murray River. Professor Morris, of the Melbourne University, 
who has lately been prosecuting inquiries on the subject of “Australian English,” informs me that both words are of 
Australasian origin. From the same gentleman I have it that the term Wurley, applied by the white of South 
Australia to native shelters of boughs and other materials, is probably derived from Oorla, a word of the dialect of 
the natives of the south-east of South Australia, which means a house, a camp, a bird’s nest. It was spelt Wurley 
as early as 18C2. In the eastern colonies the equivalent term is Mia-mia, sometimes written and nearly always 
pronounced as Mi-mi (vowel sound like that of “y” in my)- Some of the results of Professor Morris’s imiuiries are 
embodied in an interesting lecture reported in the Melbourne Arr/as of 28th December, 1895. 
