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Regarding Toowomba.

I believe that on the north eastern portion of the
[Darling downs] the Wakka language was spoken by the blacks, and
so the words for "water sit down" would be"Koong nyenan".

I do not think that any translator got the meaning of the
name from the blacks. One, [A.Meston], gives the interpretation
as"toowoom" a native melon, and "ba", place of. Another
has given us the translation as "Tarm" a yam and"ba" place of.

Both translations are, I think, guess work.

Other give the meaning " great in the future" (Could you
imaginethat from an aboriginal?). The are some other absurdities
not worth mentioning. Personally ,I am of opinion that,as the
whites called the place "The Swamp" while the principal town-
ship was at [Drayton], or the Springs", the blacks, in whose
vocabulary no silibant occurs and whose manner of speech and
thick lips did not lend themmselves to the abrupt word endings
of the labials B & P , in trying to pronounce the word Swamp
would say Twamp-a and that many whites thought that they were
saying a word of their own language. A similar case occured
to me in the North Queensland when I asked a young black-fellow
to give their word for "scrub" (jungle) he,of course,knew
scarcely a word of English, and all I could get out of him
was am imitation of my word "scrub" in the form of "Gub".

[FJW]