This Name Continues Until After Marriage And The Birth Of The First Child, Upon Which The Father Takes The Name

Of this child, and has the word binna or spinna, (an adult,) affixed, as Kadli; name of a child, Kadlitpinna,

The father of Kadli; the mother is called Kadli ngangki, or mother of Kadli, from ngangki, a female or woman. The names of the father and mother are changed at the birth of every child in the same manner.

At Moorunde, and among many other tribes, I have not found any numerical names to be given at birth, the first name usually being that derived from some object in nature. This is occasionally changed after marriage and the birth of a child; as among the Adelaide or northern natives, the father taking the name of the child with the affix of imbe or nimbe (implying father), as Kartul, a child's name, Kartulnimbe the father of Kartul, Memparne, a child's name, Memparnimbe the father of Memparne. This paidronymic is not, however, always adhered to in preference to the original name; thus Memparnimbe is as often called by his former name of Tenberry as his paidronymic; he is also called occasionally Worrammo, from his being left-handed. Neither have I found the name of the parent change at the birth of every child; thus Memparnimbe has other children, younger than Memparne, as Warrulan, Timarro, etc. yet he is never called Warrulanimbe, Timarronimbe, etc. The mother's name, similarly to that of the father, is also occasionally altered to that of the child, with the affix of arwer, or emarwer, as Kartulemarwer, the mother of Kartul, Memparnemarwer, the mother of Memparne, yet is the original name of the mother as often used as the paidronymic. Old men are frequently called by the name of the place which belongs to them, with the affix of bookola thus Mooroondooyo Bookola is the old man who owns Mooroonde, etc.

At other times nicknames are given to natives, and so generally made use of by the others that the proper or original name becomes almost lost. Thus a native named Marloo, from a habit he had of looking about him and saying, "I see, I see," is called Nairkinimbe, or the father of seeing. Another named Ngalle-ngalle is called Eukonimbe, the father of eukodko, from his being very fond of the crayfish of that name, and so on. Other local appellations are given referring to some peculiarity of personal appearance, Parn-gang-gapko, the baldheaded, Towang Makkeroo, the broken-thighed, etc. Others again refer to family bereavements, as Roo ptootarap, a father without children, Parntomakker, a childless mother, Parnko, an orphan, Wirrang, one who has lost a brother, Rockootarap, one whose wife is dead, Thaltarlpipke, an unmarried man, Rartchilock, one who owns a wife, Rang, a widow, Waukerow, an unmarried woman, etc. These are all distinctions, which though readily discoverable by a person tolerably well versed in the dialect, or long resident among the same natives, present many difficulties, and lead to many mistakes, amongst casual inquirers, or those whose pursuits do not keep them long at the place of their inquiries. There are others which are still more difficult to be understood, from the almost utter impossibility of learning (with any reasonable sacrifice of time) the language with sufficient accuracy to enable the inquirer thoroughly to comprehend the meanings of the proper names, and deduce the roots from which they are derived.

Even among the Adelaide tribes, where there appears to be a greater uniformity in the system of nomenclature than I have met with any where else, and where Mr. Moorhouse has devoted more time and attention to the subject than perhaps any other person, there are still difficulties and uncertainties. Thus an Adelaide boy about the age of ten, is called by the name of Koar (the crow), from early infancy, but between ten and twelve, after undergoing one of their ceremonies, the name was changed to Mannara, (which I believe means the crow's nest). According, however, to the usual system adopted, this boy's name ought to have remained Koar, until, by becoming a married man and a father, it gave way to a paidronymic.

There is another subject somewhat analogous to that of nomenclature, and about which still less is known; - that of every native adopting some object in creation as his crest, or tiende. The same thing is noticed by Captain Grey in his narrative (vol. ii. p. 228).

"But as each family adopts some animal or vegetable, as their crest or sign, or KOBONG as they call it, I imagine it more likely, that these have been named after the families, than that the families have been named after them.

"A certain mysterious connection exists between a family and its KOBONG, so that a member of a family will never kill an animal of the species, to which his KOBONG belongs, should he find it asleep; indeed, he always kills it reluctantly, and never without affording it a chance to escape. This arises from the family belief, that some one individual of the species is their nearest friend, to kill whom would be a great crime, and to be carefully avoided. Similarly, a native who has a vegetable for his KOBONG, may not gather it under certain circumstances, and at a particular period of the year."

From the foregoing quotation, it is apparent that very little difference exists in the custom as practised in Western and Southern Australia. In the former, however, there appears to be an unwillingness to destroy the object represented by the kobong or tiende that I have never observed in the latter. But very little appears to be known on this subject at present, as far as regards the reason for assuming the tiende, or its connection with the individual or family it may represent. The same tiende seems to descend from a father to his children; but I have been told occasionally of instances where such has not been the case.

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