21. And God made great whales, and every living Gödneh pōmleh läckrenneh [great], pynungyneh creature that moveth which the waters brought [fish] gadyeh plenty] pynungyneh. forth abundantly. 25. And God made the beast of the earth, Gōdneh pōmleh packilleh [bullock] illa [brush kangaroo], and he saw that it was very good. Gōdneh lapreh narreh cōōpeh. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our own image, Gōdneh kany, after our own likeness. likeh myneh. myneh pōmleh wibeh, 27. So God created man in his own image, Gödneh pōmleh wibeh likeh närreh. 31. God saw everything that he Gōdneh lapre gadyeh and behold närreh it was very good. narreh kany närreh coopeh cōōpeh! had made, pōmleh, The aboriginal words are for the most part placed under the analogous English ones. Those commencing with an English syllable are such as the aborigines have none representing the idea in their own language. Thus, they seem to have had no idea of the existence of a creative presiding power, nor any term corresponding with such a sentiment, in their vocabulary. The English word has, therefore, been adopted by the translator with the native termination added, making "Godneh." The same with respect to several others. Several of these Anglified terms are now in such constant use among the natives that they may be considered as incorporated in the language. The word "grassneh," for " grass, much more frequently used among those at the settlement than the original term given above, It is doubtful whether "myneh," for "me or "," may not be traced to the same origin. Monušpěllyātă and Chief of Big River Tribe and his wife. Trōōlpāněh and Lēgěhnýminněh, Chief of Port Dalrymple (and Launceston) Tribe and his wife. and Trygōōmypōōnāněh Panněhrōōněh Rōōmty ennă. and Pellonnýmynă. and Mynǎlättiny. and Mỹměhlannýěhnaný. Rōōlpāněhný, a great warrior of the Kōōněhbōnněh Lǎbrýěhnуnāny Trengĕrĕhbeh Lillěhlōěh Wawy tribe Munro's woman, Jumbo.' Nōtyěhkěhprěnnă SOME NOTES ON THE TRIBAL DIVISIONS OF THE ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA. By JAMES BACKHOUSE WALKER. THE estimates of the aboriginal population of Tasmania before the advent of Europeans vary very considerably. G. A. Robinson always maintained that, in 1804, the number of the aborigines was from 6000 to 8000. Captain Kelly, in his evidence before Colonel Arthur's Committee in 1830, estimated the native population at 5000; but he supposed that the number was still very great in the unsettled parts of the colony, which we now know was not the case. On the other hand, Backhouse put the number as low as 700 to 1000. Dr. Milligan says: "Assuming that the number of tribes and subtribes throughout the territory was about twenty, and that each mustered of men, women, and children, 50 to 250 individuals, and allowing them numbers proportioned to the means of subsistence within the limits of their respective hunting grounds, it does not appear probable that the aggregate aboriginal population did materially, if at all, exceed 2000." A like uncertainty exists as to their tribal divisions. G. A. Robinson, in a speech made in Sydney in 1838, shortly after he had left Flinders Island, states "that he had necessarily learnt four languages to make himself understood by the natives generally. But, as regarded nations, he could truly say that the island was divided and subdivided by the natives into districts, and contained many nations. Their divisions he intended at some future time to point out, as he intended to execute a map of the island on aboriginal principals, with the aborigines' names for mountains, rivers, and districts." Unfortunately, this map-if ever made-has been lost with the rest of Robinson's papers on the natives, and the information available is not sufficient to enable us to determine with any accuracy either the total number of the aborigines or the limits of the respective tribes. In considering the question of their numbers, it must be borne in mind that the parts of Tasmania capable of affording subsistence to a hunting people were limited in area. The West Coast is shut off from the eentre and east-for long the only settled parts-by a wide region of mountain and forest, extending throughout the whole length of the island. In the dense forests covering a large part of this region, the heavy timber is tangled with an almost impenetrable undergrowth, in which scarcely any animal or bird is found to disturb the silence. Where the forest gives place to bare mountain peak or to so-called "plain," the "button-grass "* or the stunted scrub constituting the sole growth, is not much more favourable to animal life. In places, wallaby and kangaroo are to be found, but, as a general rule, the badger" (ie., wombat) is the only game. It will be seen, therefore, that the native population was mainly confined to the seacoast, where they could obtain an abundant supply of shellfish and crayfish, and to the lightly timbered and open lands of the central valley and of parts of the east and north-east, where opossum, wallaby, kangaroo, emu, and other game were more or less plentiful. 66 It appears that the blacks were accustomed to take considerable pains, by means of periodical burnings, to keep down the scrub and promote the growth of grass on their favourite hunting-grounds. Many open plains, especially in the north, which were formally known as favourite resorts of the blacks, subsequently became overgrown with forest through the discontinuance of these annual burnings. They usually roamed the country in small groups or parties, probably composed of nearly related families living together. Their camps rarely contained more than 30 or 40 individuals-men, women, and children. At certain seasons of the year, however, large hunting parties were formed, in which the whole tribe, or possibly more than one tribe, joined forces to surround and drive the game. Such was, doubtless, the gathering of the Oyster Bay natives at Risdon in 1804, which was attended with such an unfortunate result. The number of natives, men and women, then engaged in driving the kangaroo, was variously stated at from 300 to 500, though it is probable that even the smaller number was exaggerated estimate. Captain Kelly, in his evidence before the Committee, says that he saw a mob of 300 at Brown's River in 1806, and about a dozen instances of mobs numbering from 150 to 300 are reported between an The "button-grass" is a species of sedge (Gymnoscoenus sphaerocephalus-Nat. Ord. Cyperaceae). R 1804 and 1826; but all these statements must be taken with considerable allowance for exaggeration. The natives were in the habit of visiting the coast in the winter, it is said between June and October, though some of the tribes in the interior may not have had access to the sea. Certain tribes must have lived on the coast almost constantly. Knopwood says that he had understood that the natives cross the country from east to west in the month of March; this would apply to the East Coast tribes only. Upon a consideration of the scanty available evidence and all the surrounding circumstances, we may reject as exaggerated the conjectural guesses of 7000, or even 5000, as the original number of the natives. We may accept as the best approximation to the truth that we are likely to obtain, Dr. Milligan's more moderate estimate that the total aboriginal population of Tasmania did not at any time exceed 2000 souls. Of the tribal organisation of the aborigines practically nothing is known, and the limits of the tribal divisions cannot be laid down with any approach to certainty. G. A Robinson and other writers use the word “tribe with a good deal of laxity. Sometimes it is used to designate a small sub-tribe living in one community-e.g., the Macquarie Harbour tribe, numbering 30 souls onlysometimes to indicate a whole group-e.g., the Oyster Bay and Big River tribes, which included several subtribes and a considerable population. As the whole group in some cases took its name from a prominent subtribe (e.g., Oyster Bay), it is often doubtful whether the group or the sub-tribe is intended. G. W. Walker says that the members of the same "tribe" spoke of each other as "brother" and "sister." Kelly, in his boat expedition, 1815-16, says that the chief, Laman-bunganah, at Ringarooma Point, on the North-East Coast, told him that he was at war with his "brother" Tolo-bunganah, a powerful chief at Eddystone Point, on the East Coast. The term translated "brother" must therefore have had a wide application, being used with relation to tribes or sub-tribes which were hostile, as well as to those which were friendly. In 1830, Robinson stated that he had been in communication with sixteen "tribes." As this was long after many of the native hunting grounds had been invaded by the whites, and the original tribal organisation had consequently, been much disturbed, it is probable that the number of tribes was originally greater. As we have seen, Milligan conjecturally puts the number at |