southwards, all the way from the western shores of York Peninsula. The tribes of the Murray have several different dialects; the people of the Wimmera district speak a language that is almost the same in all parts; the dialects of the tribes of the western plains and the coast seem to change much as they are followed eastwards; the Yarra tribes and the Western Port tribes are allied to the tribes of the great western plains; and Gippsland appears to have been peopled either from a stream coming southwards along the coast, or from the head waters of the Murray. Their affinities are rather with the tribe of the Kiewa than with the tribes of the western plains.
It is indeed but reasonable to suppose that the lakes of Gippsland were peopled by a tribe that travelled southward by way of Twofold Bay; but some families may have entered it by crossing the Alps, so as to reach the head waters of the Tambo; or the men of the Goulburn may have penetrated the country near the point where the Thomson has its sources. The natives of Gippsland are different from the people of the west, both in dialect and in physical character; but both the dialect and the physical character have undergone alterations, undoubtedly, in consequence of the isolation of the tribes of this tract and the conformation of the country.
Here in Victoria, as in Europe and Asia, we see the effects produced by the aspects of nature, by climate, and by the infrequency of intercourse with larger populations. The people inhabiting Gippsland, cut off in the winter season certainly from intercourse with neighbouring tribes, and dwelling in the summer mouths on the lofty heights that overlook the lakes, were stout and brave fighting-men, exhibiting certain slight differences in physiognomy and structure that set them apart from the tribes of the west, and caused them to be regarded as enemies more than ordinarily dangerous.
The origin of the Australian race is still hidden from us. We cannot yet penetrate the thick darkness of pre-historic times. It may be that the continent was peopled from Timor. The physical geography of the area, it might be said, suggests this; and some strength is lent to the supposition from the occurrence of Australian words in the languages of Ombay, Timbora, and Mangarei. But there was one stream from the north-east.
The Rev. Mr. Ridley seems to think that Australia was peopled by a race that came by way of Torres Straits, and that the native names for New Guinea and Australia favor this supposition. Kai Dowdai, the name applied to Australia, he believes means "Little Country;" and Muggi Dowdai, or New Guinea, means "Great Country." "To those," he says, "who live near Cape York, and pass to and fro across the strait, without any means of knowing the real extent of Australia or New Guinea, the low narrow point of land which terminates in Cape York must appear very small compared with the great mountain ranges of New Guinea. Regarding dowdai as a variation of towrai, a country, I think it probable that 'Little Country' was the name given by the Aborigines to Australia. It may be that those of the race of Murri who first came into this land, passing from island to island, until they reached the low narrow point which forms the north-eastern extremity of this island-continent, gave the name Kai Towrai (Little Country) to the newly-discovered land; and
