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the course of one stream we often come upon
a change of dialect. ** And the differences are
not mere variations in the pronunciation. For the
most common objects they have names in the
sound of which no resemblance can be traced.
For instance the word signifying water is at
Newcastle "Kokoin", at the head of the Hunter and
over Liverpool plains and the Namoi, it is
Kolle"; at Moreton Bay "tabbil" and at Wide Bay
"kong". Fire is at Newcastle "Kuiyong",
on the Namoi "wi", and at Moreton Bay "kudum".
between Kuiyong and Kudum there is, indeed,
some resemblance; but wi is as different
from these as any word can be. The numerals
one, two, three, supply a striking illustration
of the diversity and still remaining unity of
the Australian tongues. Some tribes have a word
for 'four'; but most are limited to 1, 2, 3.
At Newcastle the numbers are wakol, buloara, ngoro,
on the Namoi mal, bular, gulibal; at
Moreton Bay kunnar, budla, muddan. At
Portland Bay, also, in Western Victoria