of the tribes to which contiguous groups of natives may belong, there is
a corresponding change in the dialect or language spoken; thus the
Narwij-jerook speak a dialect called Narwijjong, the Karn-brickolenbola
tribe the Aiawong dialect, and so on.

In many of these dialects there appears to be little more difference than
exists among the counties in England. Such is the case up the course of
the Murray from Lake Alexandrina to the Darling; and such Captain Grey
found to be the case throughout a great part of Western Australia. In
others the dialects are so totally unlike one another, that natives,
meeting upon opposite sides of a river, cannot speak to or understand a
word of what each other say, except through the medium of a third
language, namely that spoken by the natives of the river itself, and
which is totally unlike either of the other two.

This is the case at Moorunde, where three different dialects meet, the
Yakkumban, or dialect spoken by the Paritke tribe, or natives inhabiting
the scrub to the west and north-west of the Murray. The
Boraipar or language of the Arkatko tribe, who
inhabit the scrub to the east of the Murray, and the Aiawong or river
dialect, extending, with slight variations, from the junction of the
Murray and Lake Alexandrina to the Darling.




Chapter V.