Notes by Howitt on Kulin from Barak
Transcription - Page 82
Letter D [??] Spencer
“They called the instrument by one or
other of the two following names –
I made them repeat them several
times & I think this reproduces
them accurately
“Berbero-gumm”
[possibly he meant the wood of some Gum tree?"
or
Mūnan-gurk”
If you do not know the word you might
like to add them to your vocabulary
Probably the variants are due to the
men belonging to different tribes:
Can you throw a light on the meaning
of 2 native words that I took down
from blackfellows[?living?] lately at
Corranderk. I bought a “bull roarer”
from the old “King” there (He looks
about 80 years of age). Neither he
nor any of the other blacks either
old or young knew another language word
“turndun” or “tundun” at all
nor anything resembling it. x
Document Details
Date
—
Letter From
—
Letter To
—
Author
Howitt, Alfred William
Country
Australia
Colony/State
Victoria
Holding Institution
State Library of Victoria
Collection Name
Alfred W. Howitt Collection
Registration Number
MS9356/391
Medium
Notes
Region
—
Locality
—
Summary
MS 9356 [Series] Correspondence and notes concerning aboriginal tribes - Aboriginal tribes of Victoria. [Sub Series] Kulin Nation [Item Title] Notes by Howitt titled 'The Kulin tribe. Informant 'Ber-uk' otherwise King William of the Yarra tribe'. [Summary note] 103 pages. Box 1053 [Folder] 2(b) & (c) [State Library Victoria record 2018]
Physical Description
Handwritten notes, undated and numbered pages. Additional notations and annotations in the left hand margins; includes a newspaper article.