similar in character to what have been reported
from many islands in Polynesia and Melanesia, and the tribes of North
America. Separate forms for "we two," and "he and I," were observed by
Rev. James Guenther among the pronouns of the Wiradyuri natives at
Wellington,[5] but as he does not mention anything of the kind in the
plural, we may conclude that he did not observe it.

The materials from which this paper has been prepared have been
gathered by me while travelling through various parts of the Wiradyuri
country, for the purpose of visiting and interviewing the old native
men and women who still speak the native tongue, from whom I noted
down all the information herein reproduced. When the difficulties
encountered in obtaining the grammar of any language which is purely
colloquial are taken into consideration, I feel sure that all
necessary allowances will be made for the imperfections of my work.

The initiation ceremonies of the Wiradyuri tribes, which are of a
highly interesting character, have been fully described by me in
contributions to several societies and other learned institutions.[6]

It will be as well to state that in 1892, Dr. J. Fraser, from the MSS.
of the late Rev. James Guenther, published some gramatical rules and a
vocabulary of the Wiradyuri language. This forms part of a volume
entitled _An Australian Language_ (Sydney, 1892), Appendix, pp.
56-120.

Mr. E. M. Curr published several vocabularies collected in different
parts of the Wiradyuri territory.--_The Australian Race_, vol. iii, pp.
363-401.

Orthography.

The system of orthoepy adopted is that recommended by the Royal
Geographical Society, London, with the following qualifications:

_Ng_ at the beginning of a word or syllable has a peculiar sound,
which I have previously illustrated.[7] At the end of a syllable or
word, it has substantially the sound of _ng_ in "sing."

_Dh_ and _nh_ have nearly the sound of _th_ in "that," with a slight
initial sound of the _d_ or _n_ as the case may be.

_Ty_ and _dy_ at the commencement of a word or syllable, as _dyirril_
(a spear), has nearly the sound of _j_. At the end of a word, as
_gillaty_ (to-day), _ty_ or _dy_ is pronounced nearly as _tch_ in the
word "batch," but omitting the final hissing sound.

_w_ always commences a syllable or word, and has its ordinary sound.
_G_ is hard in all cases. _R_ has a rough trilled sound, as in
"hurrah!"

The sound of the Spanish _n_ is frequent