Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 02Eyre, Edward John
History
Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans — Volume 02
Eyre, Edward John
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Ethnology -- Australia
Returning to the north-west coast, and tracing down the route of the
third division of the parent family, from the south-east Bight of
Carpentaria, towards Fort Bourke upon the Darling, we shall find, that by
far the greatest and most fertile portion of New Holland appears to have
been peopled by it. In its progress, offsets and ramifications would have
branched off in every direction along the various ranges or watercourses
contiguous to the line of route. All the rivers running towards the
eastern coast, together with the Nammoy, the Gwyder, the Castlereagh,
Macquarie, Bogan, Lochlan, Darling, Hume, Goulburn, etc. with their many
branches and tributaries, would each afford so many routes for the
different sub-divisions of the main body, to spread over the varied and
fertile regions of Eastern, South-eastern, and part of Southern
Australia. As tribe separated from tribe, each would retain, in a greater
or less degree, some of the language, habits, or customs of the original
division; but such points of resemblance would naturally again undergo
many changes or modifications, in proportion to the time, distance, or
isolated character of the separation. If we look at the progress of any
two parties of natives, branching off upon different rivers, and trace
them, either upwards or downwards, we shall find, that the further they
went, the more isolated they would become, and the less likely to come
again in contact with each other, or with the original division from
which they separated. We may, therefore, naturally expect a much greater
variety of dialects or customs in a country that is much intersected by
rivers, or ranges, or by any features that tend to produce the isolating
effect that I have described, than in one whose character has no such
tendency; and this in reality we find to be the case. In Western and
South-western Australia, as far as the commencement of the Great Bight,
the features and character of the country appear to be but little
diversified, and here, accordingly, we find the language of the natives
radically the same, and their weapons, customs, and ceremonies very
similar throughout its whole extent; but if, on the other hand, we turn
to Eastern, South-eastern, and part of Southern Australia, we find the
dialects, customs, and weapons of the inhabitants, almost as different as
the country itself is varied by the intersection of ranges and rivers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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