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.