A version of this was presented as a paper at the Northern Landscapes Symposium 23-4 September 1999. Field material referred to in the text has been assembled under the auspices of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority. Additional funding for work undertaken on the Fitzmaurice River was provided under an AIATSIS small grant. Grateful acknowledgment is extended to Kuiyen Jebinyi, Patricia Karui, Veronica Dumu, Polly Wandanga, Marcia Keringbo, the late Gypsy Mudthayi, Captain, Rusty, Robin and Mabel Waditj and Mark Crocombe who have all participated in place name mapping and supported the site-recording exercises on the river. The title of this paper was suggested to me following a discussion with Debbie Rose about the marked contrast between the evident abundance of Aboriginal place names and the comparative paucity of European ones.