FL661483

husband. As to the longevity of the Aborigines we
have no certain data to go upon, as they never know
their age; but there is sufficient proof that some of them
reach at least three score & ten.

If I have not wearied out your patience
I shall now [crossed out: say] in conclusion say a few words as to
the language of the Aborigines & give you
a few specimens of [crossed out: words & there] its grammati-
cal peculiarities. And first I would oberseve
that almost every district throughout the
length & breadth of these colonies has
its own dialect,[Inserted in margin: probably there are more than 100 from Moreton Bay to S. Australia.] This need not surprise us
when we realise that even in Europe where
there is a written language, every country has
its various provinces, keeps up its peculiar dialects.
Thus it is in England, France & Germany. Hence
we must expect among untutored savages
where there is no trace of litterature
to bring its inhabitants to one standard a
very great variety of idioms & dialects [crossed out: must
exist.] I have had specimens from Moreton
Bay, from South Australia, and from the Reverend
Threlkeld's Grammar of the Abor: language
as spoken about the Newcastle & Maitland
district & [crossed out: various others, they all vary more
or less]also of the [indecipherable] spoken about

husband. As to the longevity of the Aborigines we
have no certain data to go upon, as they never know
their age; but there is sufficient proof that some of them
reach at least three score & ten.

If I have not wearied out your patience
I shall now [crossed out: say] in conclusion say a few words as to
the language of the Aborigines & give you
a few specimens of [crossed out: words & there] its grammati-
cal peculiarities. And first I would oberseve
that almost every district throughout the
length & breadth of these colonies has
its own dialect,[Inserted in margin: probably there are more than 100 from Moreton Bay to S. Australia.] This need not surprise us
when we realise that even in Europe where
there is a written language, every country has
its various provinces, keeps up its peculiar dialects.
Thus it is in England, France & Germany. Hence
we must expect among untutored savages
where there is no trace of litterature
to bring its inhabitants to one standard a
very great variety of idioms & dialects [crossed out: must
exist.] I have had specimens from Moreton
Bay, from South Australia, and from the Reverend
Threlkeld's Grammar of the Abor: language
as spoken about the Newcastle & Maitland
district & [crossed out: various others, they all vary more
or less]also of the [indecipherable] spoken about