Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia

<hw>Eagle</hw>, n. There are nine species of the true Eagle, all confined to the genus Haliaetus, such as the Baldheaded Eagle (H. leucocephalus), the national emblem of the United States. (`Century.') In Australia the name is assigned to—

Little Eagle—
Aquila morphnoides, Gould.

Wedge-tailed E. (Eagle-hawk)—
A. audax, Lath.

Whistling E.—
Haliaetus sphenurus, Vieill.

White-bellied Sea E.—
H. leucogaster, Gmel.

White-headed Sea E.—
Haliaster girrenera, Vieill.

<hw>Eaglehawk</hw>, n. an Australian name for the bird Uroaetus, or Aquila audax, Lath. The name was applied to the bird by the early colonists of New South Wales, and has persisted. In `O.E.D.' it is shown that the name was used in Griffith's translation (1829) of Cuvier's `Regne Animal' as a translation of the French aigle-autour, Cuvier's name for a South American bird of prey of the genus Morphnus, called Spizaetus by Vieillot; but it is added that the word never came into English use. See Eagle. There is a town in Victoria called Eaglehawk. The Bendigo cabmen make the name a monosyllable, "Glawk."

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar, p. 56:

"The large eaglehawk, which devours young kangaroos, lambs, etc."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. i. pl. 1:

"Aquila Fucosa, Cuv., [now A. audax, Lath.] Wedge-tailed eagle. Eaglehawk, Colonists of New South Wales."

1863. B. A. Heywood, `Vacation Tour at the Antipodes,' p. 106:

"We knew it was dying, as two large eaglehawks were hovering about over it."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 251:

"The hair of a person is tied on the end of the throwing-stick, together with the feathers of the eagle hawk."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia', p. 106:

"Since the destruction of native dogs and eagle-hawks by the squatters, who stocked the country with sheep, the kangaroos have not a single natural enemy left."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 35:

"On the New South Wales side of the river the eagle-hawk is sometimes so great a pest amongst the lambs that the settlers periodically burn him out by climbing close enough to the nest to put a fire-stick in contact with it."

<hw>Eagle-hawking</hw>, n. bush slang: plucking wool off dead sheep.

<hw>Eagle-Ray</hw>, n. name belonging to any large Ray of the family Myliobatidae; the New Zealand species is Myliobatis nieuhofii.

<hw>Eastralia</hw>, n. recent colloquial name, fashioned on the model of Westralia (q.v.), used in West Australia for the Eastern Colonies. In Adelaide, its application seems confined to New South Wales.

<hw>Ebony</hw>, n. a timber. The name is applied in Australia to two species of Bauhinia, B. carronii, F. v. M., and B. hookeri, F. v. M., N.O. Leguminosae. Both are called Queensland or Mountain Ebony.

<hw>Echidna</hw>, n. a fossorial Monotreme, in general appearance resembling a Porcupine, and often called Spiny Ant-eater or Porcupine, or Porcupine Ant-eater. The body is covered with thick fur from which stiff spines protrude; the muzzle is in the form of a long toothless beak; and the tongue is very long and extensile, and used largely for licking up ants; the feet are short, with strong claws adapted for burrowing. Like the Marsupials, the Echidna is provided with a pouch, but the animal is oviparous, usually laying two eggs at a time, which are carried about in the pouch until the young ones are hatched, when they are fed by a secretion from mammary glands, which do not, however, as in other mammals, open on to a nipple. The five-toed Echidnas (genus Echidna) are found in New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania, while the three-toed Echidnas (genus Proechidna) are confined to New Guinea. The species are—Common E., Echidna aculeata, Shaw; Bruijn's E., Proechidna bruijni, Peters and Doria; Black-spined E., Proechidna nigro-aculeata, Rothschild. The name is from Grk. 'echidna, an adder or viper, from the shape of the long tongue.

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. ii. p. 29:

"The native porcupine or echidna is not very common."

1843. J.Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies,' p. 89:

"The Porcupine of this land, Echidna hystrix, is a squat species of ant-eater, with short quills among its hair: it conceals itself in the day time among dead timber in the hilly forests."

1851. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 178:

"Mr. Milligan mentioned that one of the Aborigines of Tasmania reports having often discovered the nest of the Echidna Setosa, porcupine or ant eater, of the colony; that on several occasions one egg had been found in it, and never more: this egg has always been found to contain a foetus or chick, and is said to be round, considerably less than a tennis ball, and without a shell. The mother is said to sit continuously (for a period not ascertained) in the manner of the common fowl over the eggs; she does not leave the young for a considerable time after having hatched it; at length, detaching it from the small teat, she moves out hurriedly and at long intervals in quest of food, the young one becoming, at each successive return, attached to the nipple. . . The Platypus (Ornithorhyncus paradoxus) is said to lay two eggs, having the same external membranous covering, but of an oblong shape."

1860. G. Bennett,' Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia,' p. 147:

"The Porcupine Ant-eater of Australia (Echidna hystrix) (the native Porcupine or Hedgehog of the colonists), and the Ornithorhynchus, to which it is allied in internal organization, form the only two genera of the order Monotremata."

1888. Cassell's' Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 230:

"Among the gigantic boulders near the top he may capture the burrowing ant-eating porcupine, though if perchance he place it for a moment in the stoniest ground, it will tax all his strength to drag it from the instantaneous burrow in which it will defiantly embed itself."

1892. A.Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 273:

"The echidna is an animal about a foot or 18 inches long, covered with spines like a hedgehog. It lives chiefly upon ants. With its bill, which is like a duck's but narrower, it burrows into an ant's-hill, and then with its long, whip-like, sticky tongue, draws the ants into its mouth by hundreds."

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia and Monotremata,' p. 247:

"In order to enable them to procure with facility their food of ants and their larvae, echidnas are provided with very large glands, discharging into the mouth the viscid secretion which causes the ants to adhere to the long worm-like tongue when thrust into a mass of these insects, after being exposed by the digging powers of the claws of the echidna's limbs. . . . When attacked they roll themselves into a ball similar to the hedgehog."

<hw>Echu</hw>, n. the name of an Australian bird which has not been identified. The word does not occur in the ornithological lists.

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems—Evening Hymn,' p. 53:

"The echu's songs are dying with the flute-bird's mellow tone."

1896. `The Australasian,' Jan. 11, p. 73, col. 1:

"`Yeldina' (Rochester) writes—While I was on the Murray, a few days before Christmas last, some miles below Echuca, my attention was attracted to the melancholy note, as of a bird which had lost its mate, calling ee-k-o-o, e-e-koo, which was repeated several times, after which a pause, then ee-koo, ee-ko, coolie, coolie, ee-koo. This happened in the scrub at sunset, and came, I think, from a bird smaller than the Australian minah, and of a greenish yellowish hue, larger, but similar to the members of the feathered tribe known to young city `knights of the catapult' as greenies. It was while returning to camp from fishing that I noticed this bird, which appeared of solitary habits."

"`Crossbolt' (Kew) writes—The echu is probably identical with a handsome little bird whose peculiar cry `e-e-choo' is familiar to many bush ramblers. It is the size of a small wood-swallow; black head, back, wings, and tail more or less blue-black; white throat; neck and breast light to rich brown. The female is much plainer, and would scarcely be recognized as the mate of the former. The melodious `e-e-choo' is usually answered from a distance, whether by the female or a rival I cannot say, and is followed by a prolonged warbling."

<hw>Eel</hw>, n. The kinds present in Australia are—

Common Eel—
Anguilla australis, Richards.

Conger E.—
Conger labiatus, Castin., and
Gonorhynchus grayi, Richards.

Green E. (New South Wales)—
Muroena afra, Bl.

Silver E.—
Muroenesox cinereus, Forsk.; also called the Sea-eel
(New South Wales).
Conger wilsoni, Castln. (Melbourne).

The New Zealand Eels are—

Black Eel—
Anguilla australis, Richards.

Conger E.—
Conger vulgaris, Cuv.

Sand E.—
Gonorynchus grayi, Richards.

Serpent E.—
Ophichthys serpens, Linn.

Silver E.—
Congromuroena habenata, Richards.

Tuna E.—
Anguilla aucklandii, Richards.

The Sand Eel does not belong to the Eel family, and is only called an Eel from its habits.

<hw>Eel-fish</hw>, n. Plotosus tandanus, Mitchell. Called also Catfish (q.v.), and Tandan (q.v.).

1838. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. i. pl. 5, p.. 44 and 95 [Note]:

"Plotosus tandanus, tandan or eel-fish. Tandan is the aboriginal name."

<hw>Egret</hw>, n. an English bird-name. The following species are present in Australia, some being European and others exclusively Australian—

Lesser Egret—
Herodias melanopus, Wagl.

Little E.—
H. garzetta, Linn.

Pied E.—
H. picata, Gould.

Plumed Egret—
H. intermedia, v. Hasselq.

White E.—
H. alba, Linn.

<hw>Elder</hw>, n. See next word.

<hw>Elderberry, Native</hw>, n. The two Australian species of the Elder are Sambucus gaudichaudiana, De C., and S. xanthocarpa, F. v. M., N.O. Caprifoliaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 56:

"Native elderberry. The fruit of these two native elders is fleshy and sweetish, and is used by the aborigines for food."

<hw>Elephant-fish</hw>, n. a fish of New Zealand, South Australian, and Tasmanian waters, Callorhynchus antarcticus, Lacep., family Chimaeridae. "It has a cartilaginous prominence of the snout, ending in a cutaneous flap" (Gunth.), suggesting a comparison with an elephant's trunk. Called also King of the Herrings (q.v.).

1802. G. Barrington, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 388:

"The sea affords a much greater plenty, and at least as great a variety as the land; of these the elephant fish were very palatable food."

<hw>Ellangowan Poison-bush</hw>, n. a Queensland name for Myoporum deserti, Cunn., N.O. Myoporinae,; called "Dogwood Poison-bush" in New South Wales. Ellangowan is on the Darling Downs in Queensland. Poisonous to sheep, but only when in fruit.

<hw>Emancipatist</hw>, and <hw>Emancipist</hw>, n. (the latter, the commoner), an ex-convict who has served out his sentence. The words are never used now except historically.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 118:

"Emigrants who have come out free from England, and emancipists, who have arrived here as convicts, and have either been pardoned or completed their term of servitude."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 302:

"Men who had formerly been convicts, but who, after their period of servitude had expired, were called `emancipists.'"

1837. Jas. Mudie, `Felonry of New South Wales,' p. vii:

"The author begs leave to record his protest against the abuse of language to the misapplication of the terms emancipists and absentees to two portions of the colonial felonry. An emancipist could not be understood to mean the emancipated but the emancipator. Mr. Wilberforce may be honoured with the title of emancipist; but it is as absurd to give the same appellation to the emancipated felons of New South Wales as it would be to bestow it upon the emancipated negroes of the West Indies."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 69:

"The same emancipist will, however, besides private charity, be among the first and greatest contributors to a new church."

1852. `Fraser's Magazine,' vol. xlvi. p. 135:

"The convict obtained his ticket-of-leave . . . became an emancipist . . . and found transportation no punishment."

<hw>Emu</hw>, n. an Australian bird, Dromaius novae-hollandiae, Lath. There is a second species, Spotted Emu, Dromaius irroratus, Bartlett. An earlier, but now unusual, spelling is Emeu. Emeus is the scientific name of a New Zealand genus of extinct struthious birds. The word Emu is not Australian, but from the Portuguese Ema, the name first of the Crane, afterwards of the Ostrich. Formerly the word Emu was used in English for the Cassowary, and even for the American Ostrich. Since 1885 an Emu has been the design on the twopenny postage stamp of New South Wales.

1613. `Purchas Pilgrimmage,' pt. I. Vol v. c. xii. p. 430 (`O.E.D.'):

"The bird called Emia or Eme is admirable."

1774. Oliver Goldsmith, `Natural History,' vol. iii. p. 69, Book III. c. v. [Heading]

"The Emu."

1788. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 53:

"A bird of the ostrich genus, but of a species very different from any other in the known world, was killed and brought in. Its length was between seven and eight feet; its flesh was good and thought to resemble beef. It has obtained the name of the New South Wales Emu."

1789. Captain W. Tench, `Expedition to Botany Bay,' p. 123:

"The bird which principally claims attention is a species of ostrich, approaching nearer to the emu of South America than any other we know of."

1793 Governor Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 69:

"Some were of opinion that it was the emew, which I think is particularly described by Dr. Goldsmith from Linneus: others imagined it to be the cassowary, but it far exceeds that bird in size . . . two distinct feathers grew out from every quill."

1802. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 307:

"These birds have been pronounced by Sir Joseph Banks, of whose judgment none can entertain a doubt, to come nearer to what is known of the American ostrich than to either the emu of India or the ostrich of Africa."

1804. `Rev. R. Knopwood's Diary' (J. J. Shillinglaw— `Historical Records of Port Phillip,' 1879), p. 115:

[At the Derwent] 26 March, 1804—"They caught six young emews [sic], about the size of a turkey, and shot the old mother."

1832. J. Bischof, `Van Diemen's Land,' p. 165:

"We saw an emu track down the side of a hill."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. i. c. ix. p.276

"The face of the emu bears a most remarkable likeness to that of the aborigines of New South Wales."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 160:

"They will pick up anything, thimbles, reels of cotton, nails, bullets indiscriminately: and thus the proverb of `having the digestion of an emu' has its origin."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi. pl. I:

"Dromaius Novae Hollandiae. The Emu. New Holland Cassowary.—'Governor Phillips' Voyage, 1789.'"

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 42:

"The emu strides with such rapidity over the plains as to render its capture very difficult even by the swiftest greyhound."

1872. C. H. Eden, "My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 52:

"A couple of grave-looking emus. These wobble away at an ungainly but rapid pace directly they sight us, most probably vainly pursued by the dray dogs which join us farther on, weary and unsuccessful—indeed the swiftest dog finds an emu as much as he can manage."

1878. A. Newton, in `Encyclopedia Britannica' (9th edit.), vol. viii. p. 173:

"Next to the ostrich the largest of existing birds, the common emeu. . .''

1881. A.C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 210:

". . . points out two emus to John. . . . They resemble ostriches, but are not so large, and the tail droops more. . . . John can distinguish every point about them, from their black cast-iron looking legs, to the bare neck and small head, with its bright eye and strong flat beak."

1890. `Victorian Statutes—Game Act, Third Schedule':

"Emu. [Close Season.] From the 14th day of June to the 20th day of December following in each year."

1893. `The Argus,' March 25,p. 4, col. 5:

"The chief in size is the egg of the cassowary, exactly like that of the emu except that the colour is pale moss green instead of the dark green of the emu."

<hw>Emu-Apple</hw>, n. See Apple.

<hw>Emu-Bush</hw>, n. an Australian shrub, Eremophila longifolia, F. v. M., N.O. Myoporineae.

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 206:

"Emu-tree. A small Tasmanian tree; found on low marshy ground used for turners' work."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 317:

"Emu-bush. Owing to emus feeding on the seeds of this and other species. Heterodendron oleaefolium, Desf."

Ibid. p. 132:

"The seeds, which are dry, are eaten by emus."

<hw>Emu-Wren</hw>, n. a bird-name. See Malurus.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 31:

"Stipituras Malachurus, Less. Emu Wren. The decomposed or loose structure of these [tail] feathers, much resembling those of the emu, has suggested the colonial name of Emu-Wren for this species, an appellation singularly appropriate, inasmuch as it at once indicates the kind of plumage with which the bird is clothed, and the Wren-like nature of its habits."

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 213:

"The delicate little emeu wren."

1865. Lady Barker (letter from `Melbourne), `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 8:

"Then there is the emu-wren, all sad-coloured, but quaint, with the tail-feathers sticking up on end, and exactly like those of an emu, on the very smallest scale, even to the peculiarity of two feathers growing out of the same little quill."

<hw>Eopsaltria</hw>, n. scientific name for the genus of Australian birds called Shrike-Robins (q.v.). (Grk. 'aeows, dawn, and psaltria, a female harper.)

<hw>Epacris</hw>, n. scientific name of the typical genus of the order Epacrideae, a heath-like flower of which there are twenty- five species, mostly Australian. From Greek 'epi, upon, and 'akron, top (the flowers grow in spikes at the top of the plant). In Australia they are frequently confused with and called Ericas.

<hw>Ephthianura</hw>, n. scientific name of a genus of very small Australian birds, anglicized as Ephthianure. For species see quotation, 1848. A fourth species has been discovered since Gould's day, E. crocea, Castln. and Ramsay, which inhabits Northern Australia. The name was first given by Gould, in the `Proceedings of the Zoological Society of 1837,' p. 148, as a genus novum. The origin of the word is not certain, but as the tail is unusually small, it is suggested that the name is from the Greek 'oura, tail, and Homeric imperfect 3rd person sing. 'ephthien, wasted away, from phthiow (= phthinow). [The word occurs Iliad xviii. 446.] //phthio is ONLY in Homer!! Iliad AND Odyssey GJC//

1848. J. Gould,' Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 64:

"Ephthianura Albifrons, White-fronted Ephthianura," pl. 65. "Aurifrons, Gould, Orange-fronted E.," pl. 66. "Tricolor, Gould, Tricoloured E.'"

1890. `Victorian Statutes—Game Act, Third Schedule':

"Close season.—Ephthianuras. The whole year."

<hw>Escapee</hw>, n. one who has escaped. Especially used of French convicts who escape from New Caledonia. The word is formed on the model of absentee, refugee, etc., and is manifestly influenced by Fr. e/chappe/. Escaper is the historical English form. (See Bible, 2 Kings ix. 15, margin.) //He means, of course, the so-called Authorised Version" which reads, ftn. 5: "let no escaper go, etc." Even though the Revised Version was published in 1885. GJC//

1880. `Melbourne Argus,' July 22, p. 2, col. 3 (`O.E.D.'):

"The ten New Caledonia escapees . . . are to be handed over to the French consul."

<hw>Eucalyn</hw>, n. a sugar obtained, together with laevulose, by fermentation of melitose (q.v.) with yeast, or by boiling it with dilute acids.

<hw>Eucalypt</hw>, n. shortened English form of Eucalyptus used especially in the plural, Eucalypts. Eucalypti sounds pedantic.

1880. T. W. Nutt, `Palace of Industry,' p. 11:

"Stems of the soaring eucalypts that rise
Four hundred friendly feet to glad the skies."

1887. J. F. Hogan, `The Irish in Australia,' p. 126:

"There is no unmixed good, it is said, on this mundane sphere, and the evil that has accompanied the extensive settlement of Gipps Land during recent years is to be found in the widespread destruction of the forests, resulting in a disturbance of the atmospheric conditions and the banishment of an ever-active agent in the preservation of health, for these eucalypts, or gum-trees, as they are generally called, possess the peculiar property of arresting fever-germs and poisonous exhalations. They have been transplanted for this especial purpose to some of the malaria-infested districts of Europe and America, and with pronounced success. Australia, to which they are indigenous, has mercilessly hewn them down in the past, but is now repenting of its folly in that respect, and is replanting them at every seasonable opportunity."

1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 270:

"Throughout the whole of Australia the prevailing trees are eucalypts, known generally as gum-trees on account of the gum which they secrete, and which may be seen standing like big translucent beads on their trunks and branches."

<hw>Eucalyptene</hw>, n. the name given by Cloez to a hydrocarbon obtained by subjecting Eucalyptol (q.v.) to dehydration by phosphorus pentoxide. The same name has also been given by other chemists to a hydrocarbon believed to occur in eucalyptus oil.

<hw>Eucalyptian</hw>, adj. playfully formed; not in common use.

1870. A. L. Gordon, `Bush Ballads,' p. 8:

"Gnarl'd, knotted trunks Eucalyptian
Seemed carved, like weird columns Egyptian,
With curious device—quaint inscription
And hieroglyph strange."

<hw>Eucalyptic</hw>, adj. full of gumtrees.

1873. J. Brunton Stephens, `Black Gin, etc.,' p.6:

"This eucalyptic cloisterdom is anything but gay."

<hw>Eucalyptol</hw>, n. a volatile oil of camphor-like smell, extracted from the oil of Eucalyptus globulus, Labill., E. amygdalina, Labill., etc. Chemically identical with cineol, got from other sources.

<hw>Eucalyptus</hw>, n. the gum tree. There are 120 species, as set forth in Baron von Mueller's `Eucalyptographia, a Descriptive Atlas of the Eucalypts of Australia.' The name was first given in scientific Latin by the French botanist L'Heritier, in his Sertum Anglicum, published in 1788. From the Greek 'eu, well, and kaluptein, to cover. See quotation, 1848. N.O. Myrtaceae. The French now say Eucalyptus; earlier they called it l'acajou de la nouvelle Hollande. The Germans call it Schoenmutze. See Gum.

1823. Sidney Smith, `Essays,' p. 440:

"A London thief, clothed in Kangaroo's skins, lodged under the bark of the dwarf eucalyptus, and keeping sheep, fourteen thousand miles from Piccadilly, with a crook bent into the shape of a picklock, is not an uninteresting picture."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. i. c. ii. p. 80:

"A large basin in which there are stunted pines and eucalyptus scrub."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 132:

"The scientific term Eucalyptus has been derived from the Greek, in allusion to a lid or covering over the blossom, which falls off when the flower expands, exposing a four-celled capsule or seed-vessel."

1851. G. W. Rusden, `Moyarra,' canto i. p. 8:

"The eucalyptus on the hill
Was silent challenge to his skill."

1879. `Temple Bar,' Oct., p. 23 ('0. E. D.'):

"The sombre eucalypti . . . interspersed here and there by their dead companions."

1886. J. A. Froude, `Oceana,' p. 118:

"At intervals the bush remained untouched, but the universal eucalyptus, which I had expected to find grey and monotonous, was a Proteus it shape and colour, now branching like an oak or a cork tree, now feathered like a birch, or glowing like an arbutus with an endless variety of hue—green, orange, and brown."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right, c. v. p. 46:

"A lofty eucalyptus . . . lay with its bared roots sheer athwart a tiny watercourse."

<hw>Euro</hw>, n. one of the aboriginal names for a Kangaroo (q.v.); spelt also Yuro.

1885. Mrs. Praed, `Head Station,' p. 192:

"Above and below . . . were beetling cliffs, with ledges and crannies that afforded foothold only to yuros and rock-wallabies."

<hw>Exclusionist</hw>, n. and adj. See quotation.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. ii. pp. 118-19:

". . . one subdivision of the emigrant class alluded to, is termed the exclusionist party, from their strict exclusion of the emancipists from their society."

<hw>Exileism</hw>, n. a word of same period as Exiles (q.v.).

1893. A. P. Martin, `Life of Lord Sherbrooke,' vol. i. p. 381:

"A gentleman who was at this time engaged in pastoral pursuits in New South Wales, and was therefore a supporter of exileism.'"

<hw>Exiles</hw>, n. euphemistic name for convicts. It did not last long.

1847, A. P. Martin, `Life of Lord Sherbrooke' (1893), vol. i. p. 378:

"The cargoes of criminals were no longer to be known as `convicts,' but (such is the virtue in a name!) as `exiles.' It was, as Earl Grey explained in his despatch of Sept 3, 1847, `a scheme of reformatory discipline.'"

1852. G. B. Earp, `Gold Colonies of Australia,' p. 100:

"The convict system ceased in New South Wales in 1839; but `exiles' as they were termed, i.e. men who had passed their probation at home, were forwarded till 1843."

<hw>Expiree</hw>, n. a convict whose term of sentence had expired.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (ed. 1885), p. 107:

"A hireling convict - emancipist, expiree, or ticket of leave."

<hw>Expiree</hw>, adj. See preceding.

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 271:

"Very many of their servants, being old hands or expiree convicts from New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, are thoroughly unprincipled men."

1883. E. M. Curr, `Recollections of Squatting in Victoria' (1841-1351), p. 40:

"Hiring men in Melbourne in 1841 was not by any means an agreeable job, as wages were high, and labourers (almost all old gaol-birds and expiree convicts) exceedingly independent and rowdy."

F

<hw>Fairy Gardens</hw>, n. a miner's term, explained in quotation.

1852. F. Lancelott, `Australia, as it is', vol. ii. p. 221:

"On the south-eastern portion of this county is the world-famed Burra Burra copper mine. . . . Some of the cuttings are through solid blocks of ore, which brilliantly glitter as you pass with a lighted candle, while others are formed in veins of malachite, and from their rich variegated green appearance are not inaptly called by the miners `Fairy gardens.'"

<hw>Fake-mucker</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for the Dusky Robin (Petroica vittata). See Robin.

<hw>Falcon</hw>, n. English bird-name. The Australian species are—

Black Falcon—
Falco subniger, Gray.

Black-cheeked F.—
F. melanogenys, Gould.

Grey F.—
F. hypoleucus, Gould.

Little F.—
F. lunulatus, Lath.

G

<hw>Galah</hw>, n. a bird.(The accent is now placed on the second syllable.) Aboriginal name for the Cacatua roseicapilla, Vieill., the Rose-breasted Cockatoo. See Cockatoo. With the first syllable compare last syllable of Budgerigar (q.v.)

1890. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 5:

"They can afford to screech and be merry, as also the grey, pink-crested galahs, which tint with the colours of the evening sky a spot of grass in the distance."

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. xiv. p. 127:

"The galahs, with their delicate grey and rose-pink plumage, are the prettiest parrots."

1891. Francis Adams, `John Webb's End,' p. 191:

"A shrieking flock of galahs, on their final flight before they settled to roost, passed over and around him, and lifting up his head, he saw how all their grey feathers were flushed with the sunset light, their coloured breasts deepening into darkest ruby, they seemed like loosed spirits."

<hw>Gallows</hw>, n. Explained in quotation. Common at all stations, where of course the butchering is done on the premises.

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 64:

"The gallows, a high wooden frame from which the carcases of the butchered sheep dangle."

<hw>Gang-gang</hw>, or <hw>Gan-gan</hw>, n. the aboriginal word for the bird Callocephalon galeatum, Lath., so called from its note; a kind of cockatoo, grey with a red head, called also Gang-gang Cockatoo. See Cockatoo.

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. i. Intro. p. xxxviii:

"Upon the branches the satin-bird, the gangan, and various kinds of pigeons were feeding."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pl. 14:

"Callocephalon Galeatum, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Colonists of New South Wales."

<hw>Gannet</hw>, n. the English name for the Solan Goose and its tribe. The Australian species are—

The Gannet—
Sula serrator, Banks.

Brown G. (called also Booby)—
S. leucogastra, Bodd.

Masked G.—
S. cyanops, Sunder.

Red-legged G.—
S. piscator, Linn.

The species in New Zealand is Dysporus serrator, Grey;
Maori name, Takapu.

<hw>Garfish</hw>, n. In England the name is applied to any fish of the family Belonidae. The name was originally used for the common European Belone vulgaris. In Melbourne the Garfish is a true one, Belone ferox, Gunth., called in Sydney "Long Tom." In Sydney, Tasmania, and New Zealand it is Hemirhamphus intermedius, Cantor.; and in New South Wales, generally, it is the river-fish H. regularis, Gunth., family Sombresocidae. Some say that the name was originally "Guard-fish," and it is still sometimes so spelt. But the word is derived from xGar, in Anglo-Saxon, which meant spear, dart, javelin, and the allusion is to the long spear-like projection of the fish's jaws. Called by the Sydney fishermen Ballahoo, and in Auckland the Piper (q.v.).

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 288:

"Charley brought me . . . the head bones of a large guard-fish."

1849. Anon., `New South Wales: its Past, Present, and Future Condition,' p. 99:

"The best kinds of fish are guard, mullet, and schnapper."

1850. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip,' c. iii. p. 44:

"In the bay are large quantities of guard-fish."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June I9, p. 81, col.1:

"Common fish, such as trout, ruffies, mullet, garfish."

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 83:

"Of the garfishes we have four species known to be found on our coasts. One, Hemirhamphus regularis, is the favourite breakfast fish of the citizens of Sydney. H. melanochir, or `river garfish,' is a still better fish, but has become very scarce. H. argentcus, the common Brisbane species . . . and H. commersoni."

<hw>Gastrolobium</hw>, n. scientific name of a genus of Australian shrubs, N.O. Leguminosae, commonly known as Poison Bushes (q.v.). The species are—

Gastrolobium bilobum, R. Br. G. callistachys, Meissn. G. calycium, Benth. G. obovatum, Benth. G. oxylobioides, Benth. G. spinosum, Benth. G. trilobum, Benth.

All of which are confined to Western Australia. The species Gastrolobium grandiflorum, F. v. M. (also called Wall-flower), is the only species found out of Western Australia, and extends across Central Australia to Queensland. All the species have pretty yellow and purple flowers. The name is from the Greek gastaer, gastros, the belly, and lobion, dim. of lobos, "the capsule or pod of leguminous plants." (`L. & S.')

<hw>Geebung</hw>, or <hw>Geebong</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the fruit of various species of the tree Persoonia, and also for the tree itself, N.O. Proteaceae.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 221:

"The jibbong is another tasteless fruit, as well as the five corners, much relished by children."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition, p. 478:

"We gathered and ate a great quantity of gibong (the ripe fruit of Persoonia falcata)."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' c. vi,. p. 176, 3rd edition 1855:

"The geebung, a native plum, very woolly and tasteless."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 113:

"We gathered the wild raspberries, and mingling them with geebongs and scrub berries, set forth a dessert."

1885. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 255:

"You won't turn a five-corner into a quince, or a geebung into an orange."

1889. J. M. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 584:

"A `geebung' (the name given to the fruits of Persoonias, and hence to the trees themselves)."

<hw>Gerygone</hw>, n. scientific and vernacular name of a genus of small warblers of Australia and New Zealand; the new name for them is Fly-eater (q.v.). In New Zealand they are called Bush-warblers, Grey-warblers, etc., and they also go there by their Maori name of Riro-riro. For the species, see Fly-eater and Warbler. The name is from the Greek gerugonae, "born of sound," a word used by Theocritus.

1895. W. O. Legge, `Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science' (Brisbane), p. 447:

"[The habits and habitats of the genus] Gerygone suggested the term Fly-eater, as distinguished from Fly-catcher, for this aberrant and peculiarly Australasian form of small Fly-catchers, which not only capture their food somewhat after the manner of Fly-catchers, but also seek for it arboreally."

<hw>Ghilgai</hw>, n. an aboriginal word used by white men in the neighbourhood of Bourke, New South Wales, to denote a saucer-shaped depression in the ground which forms a natural reservoir for rainwater. Ghilgais vary from 20 to 100 yards in diameter, and are from five to ten feet deep. They differ from Claypans (q.v.), in being more regular in outline and deeper towards the centre, whereas Claypans are generally flat-bottomed. Their formation is probably due to subsidence.

<hw>Giant-Lily</hw>, n. See under Lily.

<hw>Giant-Nettle</hw>, i.q. Nettle-tree (q.v.).

<hw>Gibber</hw>, n. an aboriginal word for a stone. Used both of loose stones and of rocks. The G is hard.

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. x. [In a list of `barbarisms']:

"Gibber, a stone."

[Pace Mr. Threlkeld, the word is aboriginal, though not of the dialect of the Hunter District, of which he is speaking.]

1852. `Settlers and Convicts; or Recollections of Sixteen Years' Labour in the Australian Backwoods,' p. 159:

"Of a rainy night like this he did not object to stow himself by the fireside of any house he might be near, or under the `gibbers' (overhanging rocks) of the river. . . ."

1890. A .J. Vogan, `Black Police,' p. 338:

"He struck right on top of them gibbers (stones)."

1894. Baldwin Spencer, in `The Argus,' Sept. 1, p. 4, col. 2:

"At first and for more than a hundred miles [from Oodnadatta northwards], our track led across what is called the gibber country, where the plains are covered with a thin layer of stones—the gibbers—of various sizes, derived from the breaking down of a hard rock which forms the top of endless low, table-topped hills belonging to the desert sandstone formation."

<hw>Gibber-gunyah</hw>, n. an aboriginal cave-dwelling. See Gibber and Gunyah, also Rock-shelter.

1852. `Settlers and Convicts; or, Recollections of Sixteen Years' Labour in the Australian Backwoods,' p. 211:

"I coincided in his opinion that it would be best for us to camp for the night in one of the ghibber-gunyahs. These are the hollows under overhanging rocks."

1863. Rev. R. W. Vanderkiste, `Lost, but not for Ever,' p. 210:

"Our home is the gibber-gunyah,
Where hill joins hill on high,
Where the turrama and berrambo
Like sleeping serpents lie."

1891. R. Etheridge, jun., `Records of the Australian Museum,' vol. i. no. viii. p. 171:

"Notes on Rock Shelters or Gibba-gunyahs at Deewhy Lagoon."

<hw>Giddea</hw>, <hw>Gidya</hw>, or <hw>Gidgee</hw>, adj. aboriginal word of New South Wales and Queensland for—

(1) a species of Acacia, A. homalophylla, Cunn. The original meaning is probably small, cf. gidju, Warrego, Queensland, and kutyo, Adelaide, both meaning small.

(2) A long spear made, from this wood.

1878. `Catalogue of Objects of Ethno-typical Art in National Gallery, Melbourne,' p. 46:

"Gid-jee. Hardwood spear, with fragments of quartz set in gum on two sides and grass-tree stem. Total length, 7 feet 8 inches."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 51:

"Gidya scrubs."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 357:

"A. homalophylla. A `Spearwood.' Called `Myall' in Victoria. . . . Aboriginal names are . . . Gidya, Gidia, or Gidgee (with other spellings in New South Wales and Queensland). This is the commonest colonial name . . . much sought after for turner's work on account of its solidity and fragrance. . . . The smell of the tree when in flower is abominable, and just before rain almost unbearable."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 211:

"I sat . . . watching the shadows of the gydya trees lengthen, ah! so slowly."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 37:

"Kind of scrub, called by the colonists gydya-scrub, which manifests itself even at a distance by a very characteristic, but not agreeable odour, being especially pungent after rain."

1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Home Expedition in Central Australia,' Narrative, p. 22:

"We camped beside a water-pool on the Adminga Creek, which is bordered for the main part by a belt of the stinking acacia, or giddea (A. homalophylla). When the branches are freshly cut it well deserves the former name, as they have a most objectionable smell."

<hw>Gill-bird</hw>, n. an occasional name for the Wattle-bird (q.v.).

1896. `Menu' for October 15:

"Gill-bird on Toast."

<hw>Gin</hw>, n. a native word for an aboriginal woman, and used, though rarely, even for a female kangaroo. See quotation 1833. The form gun (see quotation 1865) looks as if it had been altered to meet gunae, and of course generate is not derived from gunae, though it may be a distant relative. In `Collins's Vocabulary' occurs "din, a woman." If such a phonetic spelling as djin had been adopted, as it well might have been, to express the native sound, where would the gunae theory have been?

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' Vocabulary, p. 612:

"Din—a woman."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 152:

"A proposition was made by one of my natives to go and steal a gin (wife)."

Ibid. p. 153:

"She agrees to become his gin."

1833. Lieut. Breton, R.N., `Excursions in New South Wales,' p. 254:

"The flying gin (gin is the native word for woman or female) is a boomall, and will leave behind every description of dog."

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. x:

"As a barbarism [sc. not used on the Hunter], jin—a wife."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 8:

"A gin (the aboriginal for a married woman)."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 367:

"Gin, the term applied to the native female blacks; not from any attachment to the spirit of that name, but from some (to me) unknown derivation."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. I. c. iv. p. 74:

"Though very anxious to . . . carry off one of their `gins,' or wives . . . he yet evidently holds these north men in great dread."

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,'p. 126, n.:

"When their fire-stick has been extinguished, as is sometimes the case, for their jins or vestal virgins, who have charge of the fire, are not always sufficiently vigilant."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 98:

"Gins—native women—from gune, mulier, evidently!"

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. 2, p. 46:

"The females would be comely looking gins,
Were not their limbs so much like rolling-pins."

1865. S. Bennett, `Australian Discovery,' p. 250:

"Gin or gun, a woman. Greek gunae and derivative words in English, such as generate, generation, and the like."

1872. C. H. Eden, `MY Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 118:

"The gins are captives of their bow and spear, and are brought home before the captor on his saddle. This seems the orthodox way of wooing the coy forest maidens. . . . All blacks are cruel to their gins."

1880. J. Brunton Stephens, `Poems' [Title]:

"To a black gin."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 23:

"Certain stout young gins or lubras, set apart for the purpose, were sacrificed."

<hw>Ginger, Native</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Alpinia caerulea, Benth., N.O. Scitamineae. The globular fruit is eaten by the natives.

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 296:

"Fresh green leaves, especially of the so-called native ginger (Alpinia caerulea)."

<hw>Give Best</hw>, v. Australian slang, meaning to acknowledge superiority, or to give up trying at anything.

1883. Keighley, `Who are You?' p. 87:

"But then—the fact had better be confessed, I went to work and gave the schooling best."

1887. J. Farrell, `How he Died,' p. 80:

"Charley gave life best and died of grief."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xviii. p. 174:

"It's not like an Englishman to jack up and give these fellows best."

<hw>Globe-fish</hw>, n. name given to the fish Tetrodon hamiltoni, Richards., family Gymnodontes. The Spiny Globe-fish is Diodon. These are also called Toad-fish (q.v.), and Porcupine-fish (q.v.). The name is applied to other fish elsewhere.

<hw>Glory Flower</hw>, or <hw>Glory Pea</hw>, i.q. Clianthus (q.v.).

<hw>Glory Pea</hw>, i.q. Clianthus (q.v.).

<hw>Glucking-bird</hw>, n. a bird so named by Leichhardt, but not identified. Probably the Boobook (q.v.), and see its quotation 1827; see also under Mopoke quotation, Owl, 1846.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 23:

"The musical note of an unknown bird, sounding like `gluck gluck' frequently repeated, and ending in a shake . . . are heard from the neighbourhood of the scrub."

Ibid. p. 29:

"The glucking bird—by which name, in consequence of its note, the bird may be distinguished—was heard through the night."

Ibid. p. 47:

"The glucking-bird and the barking owl were heard throughout the moonlight nights."

Ibid. pp. 398, 399:

"During the night, we heard the well-known note of what we called the `Glucking bird,' when we first met with it in the Cypress-pine country at the early part of our expedition. Its re-appearance with the Cypress-pine corroborated my supposition, that the bird lived on the seeds of that tree."

<hw>Glue-pot</hw>, n. part of a road so bad that the coach or buggy sticks in it.

1892. `Daily News,' London (exact date lost):

"The Bishop of Manchester [Dr. Moorhouse, formerly Bishop of Melbourne], whose authority on missionary subjects will not be disputed, assures us that no one can possibly understand the difficulties and the troubles attendant upon the work of a Colonial bishop or clergyman until he has driven across almost pathless wastes or through almost inaccessible forests, has struggled through what they used to call `glue-pots,' until he has been shaken to pieces by `corduroy roads,' and has been in the midst of forests with the branches of trees falling around on all sides, knowing full well that if one fell upon him he would be killed."

<hw>Goai</hw>, n. common name in southern island of New Zealand for Kowhai (q.v.), of which it is a corruption. It is especially used of the timber of this tree, which is valuable for fencing. The change from K to G also took place in the name Otago, formerly spelt Otakou.

1860. John Blair, `New Zealand for Me,':

"The land of the goai tree, mapu, and pine,
The stately totara, and blooming wild vine."

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,' p. 104:

"I remember nothing but a rather curiously shaped gowai-tree."

<hw>Goanna</hw>, <hw>Guana</hw>, and <hw>Guano</hw>, n. popular corruptions for Iguana, the large Lace-lizard (q.v.), Varanus varius, Shaw. In New Zealand, the word Guano is applied to the lizard-like reptile Sphenodon punctatum. See Tuatara. In Tasmania, the name is given to Taliqua schincoides, White, and throughout Australia any lizard of a large size is popularly called a Guana, or in the bush, more commonly, a Goanna. See also Lace-lizard.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. viii. p. 285:

"Among other reptiles were found . . . some brown guanoes."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present state of Australia,' p. 118:

"At length an animal called a guana (a very large species of lizard) jumped out of the grass, and with amazing rapidity ran, as they always do when disturbed, up a high tree."

1864. J. Ropers, `New Rush,' p. 6:

"The shy guana climbs a tree in fear."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 99:

"A goanna startled him, and he set to and kicked the front of the buggy in."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 139:

"And the sinister `gohanna,' and the lizard, and the snake."

<hw>Go-ashore</hw>, n. an iron pot or cauldron, with three iron feet, and two ears, from which it was suspended by a wire handle over the fire. It is a corruption of the Maori word Kohua (q.v.), by the law of Hobson-Jobson.

1849. W. Tyrone Power, `Sketches in New Zealand with Pen and Pencil,' p. 160:

"Engaged in the superintendence of a Maori oven, or a huge gipsy-looking cauldron, called a `go-ashore.'"

1877. An Old Colonist, `Colonial Experiences,' p. 124:

"A large go-ashore, or three-legged pot, of the size and shape of the cauldron usually introduced in the witch scene in Macbeth."

1879. C. L. Innes, `Canterbury Sketches,' p. 23:

"There was another pot, called by the euphonious name of a
`Go-ashore,' which used to hang by a chain over the fire.
This was used for boiling."

<hw>Goborro</hw>, n. aboriginal name for Eucalyptus microtheca, F. v. M. See Dwarf-box, under Box.

<hw>Goburra</hw>, and <hw>Gogobera</hw>, n. variants of Kookaburra (q.v.).

<hw>Goditcha</hw>. See Kurdaitcha.

<hw>Godwit</hw>, n. the English name for birds of the genus Limosa. The Australian species are—

Black-tailed G.,—
Limosa melanuroides, Gould;

Barred-rumped G.,—
L. uropygialis, Gould.

<hw>Gogobera</hw>, and <hw>Goburra</hw>, n. variants of Kookaburra (q.v.).

<hw>Gold</hw>-. The following words and phrases compounded with "gold" are Australian in use, though probably some are used elsewhere.

<hw>Gold-bearing</hw>, verbal adj. auriferous.

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 13:

"A new line of gold-bearing quartz."

<hw>Gold-digging</hw>, verbal n. mining or digging for gold.

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Gold. fields,' p. 36:

"There were over forty miners thus playing at gold-digging in Hiscock's Gully."

<hw>Gold-digger</hw>, n.

1852. J. Bonwick [Title]:

"Notes of a Gold-digger."

<hw>Gold-fever</hw>, n. the desire to obtain gold by digging. The word is more especially applied to the period between 1851 and 1857, the early Australian discovery of gold. The term had been previously applied in a similar way to the Californian excitement in 1848-49. Called also Yellow fever.

1888. A. J. Barbour, `Clara,' c. ix. p. 13:

"The gold fever coursed through every vein."

<hw>Gold-field</hw>, n. district where mining for gold is carried on.

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria, c. xv. p. 215:

"All were anxious to get away for the gold fields."

1880. G. Sutherland, [Title] `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 19:

"Edward Hargreaves, the discoverer of the Australian goldfields . . . received L15,000 as his reward."

<hw>Gold-founded</hw>, part. adj. founded as the result of the discovery of gold.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. ix. p. 91:

"I rode up the narrow street, serpentine in construction, as in all gold-founded townships."

<hw>Gold-hunter</hw>, n. searcher after gold.

1852. G. S. Rutter [Title]:

"Hints to Gold-hunters."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. v. p. 48:

"I was not as one of the reckless gold-hunters with which the camp was thronged."

<hw>Gold-mining</hw>, verbal n.

1852. J. A.Phillips [Title]:

"Gold-mining; a Scientific Guide for Australian Emigrants."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 23:

"He had already had quite enough of gold-mining."

<hw>Gold-seeking</hw>, adj.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xv. p. 150:

"The great gold-seeking multitude had swelled . . . to the population of a province."

<hw>Golden Bell-Frog</hw>, n. name applied to a large gold and green frog, Hyla aurea, Less., which, unlike the great majority of the family Hylidae to which it belongs, is terrestrial and not arboreal in its habits, being found in and about water-holes in many parts of Australia.

1881. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria,' Dec. 6, pl. 53:

"So completely alike was the sound of the Bell-frogs in an adjoining pond at night to the noise of the men by day."

<hw>Golden-chain</hw>, n. another name for the Laburnum (q.v.).

<hw>Golden-eye</hw>, n. the bird Certhia lunulatu, Shaw; now called Melithreptus lunulatus, Shaw, and classed as White-naped Honey-eater (q.v.).

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 315:

"`This bird,' Mr. Caley says, `is called Golden-eye by the settlers. I shot it at Iron Cove, seven miles from Sydney, on the Paramatta road.'"

<hw>Golden-Perch</hw>, n. a fresh-water fish of Australia, Ctenolates ambiguus, Richards., family Percidae, and C. christyi, Castln.; also called the Yellow-belly. C. ambiguus is common in the rivers and lagoons of the Murray system.

<hw>Golden-Rosemary</hw>, n. See Rosemary.

<hw>Golden-Wattle</hw>, n. See Wattle.

1896. `The Argus,' July 20, p. 5, col. 8:

"Many persons who had been lured into gathering armfuls of early wattle had cause to regret their devotion to the Australian national bloom, for the golden wattle blossoms produced unpleasant associations in the minds of the wearers of the green, and there were blows and curses in plenty. In political botany the wattle and blackthorn cannot grow side by side."

1896. `The Melburnian,' Aug. 28, p. 53:

"The last two weeks have been alive with signs and tokens, saying `Spring is coming, Spring is here.' And though this may not be the `merry month of May,' yet it is the time of glorious Golden Wattle,—wattle waving by the river's bank, nodding aloft its soft plumes of yellow and its gleaming golden oriflamme, or bending low to kiss its own image in the brown waters which it loves."

<hw>Goodenia</hw>, n. the scientific and popular name of a genus of Australian plants, closely resembling the Gentians; there are many species. The name was given by Sir James Smith, president of the Linnaean Society, in 1793. See quotation.

1793. `Transactions of the Linn.can Society,' vol. ii. p. 346:

"I [Smith] have given to this . . . genus the name of Goodenia, in honour of . . . Rev. Dr. Goodenough, treasurer of this Society, of whose botanical merits . . . example of Tournefort, who formed Gundelia from Gundelscheimer."

[Dr. Goodenough became Bishop of Carlisle; he was the grandfather of Commodore Goodenough.]

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 188:

"A species of Goodenia is supposed to be used by the native gins to cause their children to sleep on long journeys, but it is not clear which is used."

<hw>Goodletite</hw>, n. scientific name for a matrix in which rubies are found. So named by Professor Black of Dunedin, in honour of his assistant, William Goodlet, who was the first to discover the rubies in the matrix, on the west coast.

1894. `Grey River Argus,' September:

"Several sapphires of good size and colour have been found, also rubies in the matrix—Goodletite."

<hw>Goondie</hw>, n. a native hut. Gundai = a shelter in the Wiradhuri dialect. It is the same word as Gunyah (q.v.).

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 204:

"There were a dozen `goondies' to be visited, and the inmates started to their work."

<hw>Goose</hw>, n. English bird-name. The Australian species are—

Cape Barren Goose—
Cereopsis novae-hollandiae, Lath. [Gould (`Birds of
Australia,' vol. vii. pl. 1) calls it the Cereopsis Goose, or
Cape Barren Goose of the Colonists.]

Maned G. (or Wood-duck, q.v.)—
Branta jubata, Lath.

Pied G.—
Anseranus melanoleuca, Lath.
Called also Magpie-Goose and Swan-Goose.

1843. J. Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian
Colonies,' p. 75:

"Five pelicans and some Cape Barren Geese were upon the beach of Preservation Island [Bass Strait]."

<hw>Goose-teal</hw>, n. the English name for a very small goose of the genus Nettapus. The Australian species are—

Green,—
 Nettapus pulchellus, Gould;

White-quilled,—
N. albipennis, Gould.

<hw>Gooseberry-tree</hw>, Little, n. name given to the Australian tree Buchanania mangoides, F. v. M., N.O. Anacardiaceae.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition, p. 479:

"My companions had, for several days past, gathered the unripe fruits of Coniogeton arborescens, R. Br., which, when boiled, imparted an agreeable acidity to the water. . . . When ripe, they became sweet and pulpy, like gooseberries. . . . This resemblance induced us to call the tree `the little gooseberry-tree.' "

<hw>Gordon Lily</hw>, n. See under Lily.

<hw>Gouty-stem</hw>, n. the Australian Baobab-tree (q.v.), Adansonia gregori, F. v. M. According to Maiden (p. 60), Sterculia rupestris, Benth., is also called Gouty-stem, on account of the extraordinary shape of the trunk. Other names of this tree are the Sour-gourd, and the Cream-of-tartar tree.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. II. c. iii. p. 115:

"The gouty-stem tree . . . bears a very fragrant white flower, not unlike the jasmine." [Illustration given at p. 116.]

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 2S9 [Note]:

"This tree is distinguished by the extraordinary swollen appearance of the stem, which looks as though the tree were diseased or the result of a freak of nature. The youngest as well as the oldest trees have the same deformed appearance, and inside the bark is a soft juicy pulp instead of wood, which is said to be serviceable as an article of food. The stem of the largest tree at Careening Bay was twenty-nine feet in girth; it is named the Adansonia digitata. A species is found in Africa. In Australia it occurs only on the north coast."

<hw>Government</hw>, n. a not unusual contraction of "Government service," used by contractors and working men.

<hw>Government men</hw>, n. an obsolete euphemistic name for convicts, especially for assigned servants (q.v.).

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 122:

"Three government men or convicts."

1852. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 127:

"Government men, as assigned servants were called."

<hw>Government stroke</hw>, n. a lazy style of doing work, explained in quotations. The phrase is not dead.

1856. W. W. Dobie, `Recollections of a Visit to Port Phillip,' p. 47:

"Government labourers, at ten shillings a-day, were breaking stones with what is called `the Government stroke,' which is a slow-going, anti-sweating kind of motion. . . ."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. ix. [near end] p. 163:

"In colonial parlance the government stroke is that light and easy mode of labour—perhaps that semblance of labour—which no other master will endure, though government is forced to put up with it."

1893. `Otago Witness,' December 2r, p. 9, col. 1:

"The government stroke is good enough for this kind of job."

1897. `The Argus,' Feb. 22, p. 4, col. 9:

"Like the poor the unemployed are always with us, but they have a penchant for public works in Melbourne, with a good daily pay and the `Government stroke' combined."

<hw>Grab-all</hw>, n. a kind of net used for marine fishing near the shore. It is moored to a piece of floating wood, and by the Tasmanian Government regulations must have a mesh of 2 1/4 inches.

1883. Edward O. Cotton, `Evidence before Royal Commission on the Fisheries of Tasmania,' p. 82:

"Put a graball down where you will in `bell-rope' kelp, more silver trumpeter will get in than any other fish."

1883. Ibid. p. xvii:

"Between sunrise and sunset, nets, known as `graballs,' may be used."

<hw>Grammatophore</hw>, n. scientific name for "an Australian agamoid lizard, genus Grammatophora." (`Standard.')

<hw>Grape, Gippsland</hw>, n. called also Native
Grape. An Australian fruit tree, Vitis hypoglauca,
F. v. M., N.O. Viniferae; called Gippsland Grape in
Victoria.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 66:

"Native grape; Gippsland grape. This evergreen climber yields black edible fruits of the size of cherries. This grape would perhaps be greatly improved by culture. (Mueller.)"

<hw>Grape, Macquarie Harbour</hw>, or <hw>Macquarie Harbour Vine</hw> (q.v.), n. name given to the climbing shrub Muehlenbeckia adpressra, Meissn. N.O. Polygonaceae. Called Native Ivy in Australia. See under Ivy.

<hw>Grape-eater</hw>, n. a bird, called formerly Fig-eater, now known as the Green-backed White-eye (q.v.), Zosterops gouldi, Bp.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 82:

"Zosterops chloronotus, Gould, Green-backed Z.; Grape and Fig-eater, Colonists of Swan River."

<hw>Grass</hw>, n. In Australia, as elsewhere, the name Grass is sometimes given to plants which are not of the natural order Gramineae, yet everywhere it is chiefly to this natural order that the name is applied. A fair proportion of the true Grasses common to many other countries in the world, or confined, on the one hand to temperate zones, or on the other to tropical or sub-tropical regions, are also indigenous to Australia, or Tasmania, or New Zealand, or sometimes to all three countries. In most cases such grasses retain their Old World names, as, for instance, Barnyard- or Cock-spur Grass (Panicum crus-galli, Linn.); in others they receive new Australian names, as Ditch Millet (Paspalum scrobitulatum, F. v. M.), the `Koda Millet' of India; and still again certain grasses named in Latin by scientific botanists have been distinguished by a vernacular English name for the first time in Australia, as Kangaroo Grass (Anhistiria ciliata, Linn.), which was "long known before Australia became colonized, in South Asia and all Africa" (von Muller), but not by the name of the Kangaroo.

Beyond these considerations, the settlers of Australia, whose wealth depends chiefly on its pastoral occupation, have introduced many of the best Old-World pasture grasses (chiefly of the genera Poa and Festuca), and many thousands of acres are said to be "laid down with English grass." Some of these are now so wide-spread in their acclimatization, that the botanists are at variance as to whether they are indigenous to Australia or not; the Couch Grass, for instance (Cynodon dactylon, Pers.), or Indian Doub Grass, is generally considered to be an introduced grass, yet Maiden regards it as indigenous.

There remain, "from the vast assemblage of our grasses, even some hundred indigenous to Australia" (von Muller), and a like number indigenous to New Zealand, the greater proportion of which are endemic. Many of these, accurately named in Latin and described by the botanists, have not yet found their vernacular equivalents; for the bushman and the settler do not draw fine botanical distinctions. Maiden has classified and fully described 158 species as "Forage Plants," of which over ninety have never been christened in English. Mr. John Buchanan, the botanist and draughtsman to the Geographical Survey of New Zealand, has prepared for his Government a `Manual of the Indigenous Grasses of New Zealand,' which enumerates eighty species, many of them unnamed in English, and many of them common also to Australia and Tasmania. These two descriptive works, with the assistance of Guilfoyle's Botany and Travellers' notes, have been made the basis of the following list of all the common Australian names applied to the true Grasses of the N.O. Gramineae. Some of them of very special Australian character appear also elsewhere in the Dictionary in their alphabetical places, while a few other plants, which are grasses by name and not by nature, stand in such alphabetical place alone, and not in this list. For facility of comparison and reference the range and habitat of each species is indicated in brackets after its name; the more minute limitation of such ranges is not within the scope of this work. The species of Grass present in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand are—

1. Alpine Rice Grass—
Ehrharta colensoi, Cook. (N.Z.)

2. Alpine Whorl G.—
Catabrosa antarctica, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

3. Bamboo G.—
Glyceria ramigera, F. v. M. (A.)
Called also Cane Grass.
Stipa verticillata, Nees.(A.)

4. Barcoo G. (of Queensland)—
Anthistiria membranacea, Lindl. (A.)
Called also Landsborough Grass.

5. Barnyard G.—
Panicum crus-galli, Linn. (A., not endemic.)
Called also Cockspur Grass.

6. Bayonet G.—
Aciphylla colensoi.(N.Z.)
Called also Spear-Grass (see 112), and
Spaniard (q.v.).

7. Bent G.—Alpine—
Agrostis muellerii, Benth. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)
Deyeuxia setifolia, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

8. Bent G.—Australian—
Deyeuxia scabra, Benth. (A., T., N.Z.)

9. Bent G.—Billardiere's—
D. billardierii, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

10. Bent G.—Brown—
Agrostis carina, Linn. (N.Z.)

11. Bent G.—Campbell Island—
A. antarctica, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

12. Bent G.—Dwarf Mountain—
A. subululata, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

13. Bent G.—Oat-like—
Deyeuxia avenoides, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

14. Bent G.—Pilose—
D. pilosa, Rich. (N.Z.)

15. Bent G.—Slender—
Agrostis scabra, Willd. (A., T., N.Z.)

16. Bent G.—Spiked—
Deyeuxia quadriseta, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)
Called also Reed Grass.

17. Bent G.—Toothea—
D. forsteri, Kunth. (A., T., N.Z.)

18. Bent G.—Young's—
D. youngii, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

19. Blady G.—
Ipperata arundinacea, Cyr. (A.)

20. Blue G.—
Andropogon annulatus, Forst. (A.)
A. pertusus, Willd. (A.)
A. sericeus, R. Br. (A.)

21. Brome G.—Seaside.—
8romus arenarius, Labill. (A., N.Z.)
Called also Wild Oats.

22. Canary G.—
Phalaris canariensis. (A.)

23. Cane G.—
(i.q. Bamboo Grass. See 3.)

24. Chilian G.—
(i.q. Rat—tailed Grass. See 97.)

25. Cockspur G.—
(i.q. Barnyard Grass. See 5.)

26. Couch G.—
Cynodon dactylon, Pers. (A., not endemic.)
Called also Indian Doub Grass.

27. Couch G.—Native—
Distichlys maritima, Raffinesque. (A.)

28. Couch G.—Water—
(i.q. Seaside Millet. See 50.)

29. Feather G.—
(Several species of Stipa. See 101.)

30. Fescue G.—Hard—
Festuca duriuscula, Linn. (Australasia, not endemic.)

31. Fescue G.—Poa-like—
F. scoparia, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

32. Fescue G.—Sandhill—
F. littoralis, R. Br., var. triticoides,
Benth. (A., T., N.Z.)

33. Fescue G.—Sheeps'—
F. ovina, Linn. (A., T.)

34. Finger G.—Cocksfoot—
Panicum sanguinale, Linn. (A., not endemic.)
Called also Hairy Finger Grass, and Reddish Panic
Grass.

35. Finger G.—Egyptian—
Eleusine aegyptica, Pers. (A., not endemic.)

36. Finger G.—Hairy—
(i.q .Cocksfoot Finger Grass. See 33.)

37. Foxtail G.—
(i.q. Knee jointed Foxtazl Grass. See 42.)

38. Hair G.—Crested—
Koeleria cristata, Pers. (A., T., N.Z.)

39. Hair G.—Turfy—
Deschampia caespitosa, Beavo. (N.Z., not endemic.)

40. Holy G.—
Hierochloe alpina, Roem. & Schult. (Australasia, not
endemic.)

41. Indian Doub G.—
(i.q. Couch Grass. See 26.)

42. Kangaroo G. (A., T., not endemic)—
Andropogon refractus, R. Br.
Anthistiria avenacea, F. v. M. (Called also Oat
Grass.)
A. ciliata, Linn. (Common K.G.)
A. frondosa, R. Br. (Broad-leaved K.G.)

43. Knee-jointed Fox-tail G.— Alopecurus geniculatus, Linn. (Australasia, not endemic.)

44. Landsborough G.—
(i.q. Barcoo Grass. See 4.)

45. Love G.—Australian—
Eragrostis brownii, Nees. (A.)

46. Manna G.—
Glyceria fluitans, R. Br. (A.,T.)

47. Millet—Australian—
Panicum decompositum, R. Br. (A., not endemic.)
Called also Umbrella Grass.

48. Millet—Ditch—
Paspalum scrobitulatum, F. v. M. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)
The Koda Millet of India.

49. Millet—Equal-glumed—
Isachne australis, R. Br. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)

50. Millet-Seaside—
Paspalum distichum, Burmann. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)
Called also Silt Grass, and Water Couch Grass.

51. Mitchell G.—
Astrebla elymoides, F. v. M. (A., True Mitchell
Grass.)
A. pectinata, F. v. M. (A.)
A. tritzcoides, F. v. M. (A.)

52. Mouse G.—
(i.q.) Longhaired Plume Grass. See 72.)

53. Mulga G.—
Danthonia racemosa, R. Br. (A.)
Neurachnea Mitchelliana, Nees. (A.)

54. New Zealand Wind G.—
Apera arundinacea, Palisot. (N.Z., not endemic.)

55. Oat G.—
Anthistiria avenacea, F. v. M. (Called also Kangaroo
Grass. See 41.)

56. Oat G.—Alpine—
Danthonia semi-annularis, R. Br., var. alpina.
(N.Z.)

57. Oat G.—Buchanan's—
D. buchanii; Hook. f. (N.Z.)

58. Oat G.—Few-flowered—
D. pauciflora, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

59. Oat G.—Hard—
D. pilosa, R. Br., var. stricta. (N.Z.)

60. Oat G.—Naked—
D. nuda, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

61. Oat G.—New Zealand—
D. semi-annularis, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

62. Oat G.—Purple-awned—
D. pilosa, R. Br. (A., T., N.Z.)

63. Oat G.—Racemed—
D. pilosa, R. Br., var. racemosa. (N.Z.)

64. Oat G.—Shining—
Trisetum antarcticum, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

65. Oat G.—Sheep—
Danthonia semi-annularis, R. Br., var. gracilis.(N.Z.)

66. Oat G.—Spiked—
Trisetum subspicatum, Beauv. (Australasia, not
endemic.)

67. Oat G.—Thompson's Naked—
Danthonia thomsonii (new species).

68. Oat G.—Wiry-leaved—
D. raoulii, Steud, var. Australis, Buchanan. (N.Z.)

69. Oat G.—Young's—
 Trisetum youngii, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

70. Panic G.—Reddish—
(i.q. Cocksfoot Finger-Grass. See 34.)

71. Panic G.—Slender—
Oplismenus salarius, var. Roem. and Schult. (A., N.Z.,
not endemic.)

72. Paper G.—Native—
Poa caespitosa, Forst. (A., T., N.Z.)
Called also Wiry Grass, Weeping Polly,
and Tussock Poa Grass; and, in New Zealand,
Snow Grass.

73. Plume G.—Long-haired—
Dichelachne crinita, Hook. f. (A., T., N.Z.)

74. Plume G.—Short-haired—
D. sciurea, Hook. f. (A., T., N.Z.)

75. Poa G.—Auckland Island—
Poa foliosa, Hook. f., var. a. (N.Z.)

76. Poa G.—Brown-flowered—
P. lindsayi, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

77. Poa G.—Brown Mountain
P. mackayi (new species). (N.Z.)

78. Poa G.—Colenso's—
P. colensoi, Hook. f.(N.Z.) 79.

79. Poa G.—Common Field—
P. anceps, Forst., var. b, foliosa, Hook. f.
(N.Z.)

80. Pea G.—Dense-flowered
P. anceps, Forst., var. d, densiflora,
Hook. f. (N.Z.)

81. Poa G.—Dwarf—
P. pigmaea (new species). (N.Z.)

82. Pea G.—Hard short-stemmed—
P. anceps, Forst., var. c, brevicalmis,
Hook. f. (N.Z.)

83. Poa G.—Kirk's—
P. kirkii (new species). (N.Z.)

84. Poa G.—Large-flowered—
P. foliosa, Hook. f., var. B. (N.Z.)

85. Poa G.—Little—
P. exigua, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

86. Poa G.—Minute—
P, foliosa, Hook. f., var. C. (N.Z.)

87. Poa G.—Minute Creeping—
P. pusilla, Berggren. (N.Z.)

88. Pea G.—Nodding Plumed—
P. anceps, Forst., var. A, elata,
Hook. f. (N.Z.)

89. Poa G.—One-flowered—
P. unifora (new species). (N.Z.)

90. Poa G.—Short-glumed—
P. breviglumus, Hook. f.(N.Z.)

91. Poa G.—Slender—
P. anceps, Forst., var. E, debilis, Kirk,
Ms. (N.Z.)

92. Poa G.—Small Tussock—
P. intemedia (new species). (N.Z.)

93. Poa G.—Tussock—
P. caespitosa, Forst. (A., T., N.Z. See 71.)

94. Poa G.—Weak-stemmed—
Eragrostis imbebecilla, Benth. (A., N.Z.)

95. Poa G.—White-flowered—
Poa sclerophylla, Berggren. (N.Z.)

96. Porcupine G. (q.v.)—
Triodia (various species).

97. Rat-tailed G.—
Sporobulus indicus, R. Br. (A., N.Z., not endemic.)
Called also Chilian Grass.
Ischaeum laxum, R. Br. (A.)

98. Reed G.—
Pragmites communis, Trin. (N.Z. See 16.)

99. Rice G.—
Leersia hexandria, Swartz. (A.)

100. Rice G.—Bush—
Microtaena avenacea, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

101. Rice G.—Knot-jointed—
M. polynoda, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

102. Rice G.—Meadow—
M. stipoides, R. Br. (A.,T., N.Z.)
Called also Weeping Grass.

103. Roly-Poly G.—
Panicum macractinum, Benth. (A.)

104. Rough-bearded G.—
Echinopogon ovatus, Palisot. (A., T., N.Z.)

105. Sacred G.—
Hierochloe redolens, R. Br. (Australasia, not endemic.)
Called also Scented Grass, and Sweet-scented
Grass.

106. Scented G.—
Chrysopogon parviforus, Benth. (A.) See also 105.

107. Seaside Brome G.—
(i.q. Brome Grass. See 21.)

108. Silt G.—
(i.q. Seaside Millet. See 50.)

109. Seaside Glumeless G.—
Gymnostychum gracile, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

110. Snow G. (q.v.)—
(i.q. Paper Grass. See 72.) (N.Z.)

111. Spear G. (q.v.)—
Aciphylla colensoi. (N.Z.)
Called also Spaniard (q.v.).
Heteropogon contortus, Roem. and Shult. (N.Z.),
and all species of Stipa (A., T.).

112. Spider G.—
Panicum divaricatissimum, R. Br. (A.)

113. Spinifex G. (q.v.)—
Spinifex hirsutus, Labill. (A., T., N.Z., not endemic.)
Called also Spiny Rolling Grass.

114. Star G.—Blue—
Chloris ventricosa, R. Br. (A.)

115. Star G.—Dog's Tooth—
C. divaricata, R. Br. (A.)

116. Star G.—Lesser—
C. acicularis, Lindl. (A.)

117. Sugar G.—
Pollinia fulva, Benth.(A.)

118. Summer G.—
(i.q. Hairy-Finger Grass. See 36.)

119. Sweet G.—
Glyceria stricta, Hook. f. (A., T., N.Z.)

120. Sweet-scented G.—
(i.q. Sacred Grass. See 105.)

121. Traveller's G. (N.O. Aroideae).—
(i.q. Settlers' Twine, q.v.)

122. Tussock G.—
(See 93 and 72.)

123. Tussock G.— Broad-leaved Oat—
Danthonia flavescens, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

124. Tussock G.—Erect Plumed—
Arundo fulvida, Buchanan. (N.Z.) Maori name,
Tot-toi (q.v.).

125. Tussock G.—Narrow-leaved Oat— Danthonia raoulii, Steud. (N.Z.)

126. Tussock G.—Plumed— Arundo conspicua, A. Cunn. (N.Z.) Maori name, Toi-toi (q.v.).

127. Tussock G.—Small-flowered Oat—
Danthonia cunninghamii, Hook. f. (N.Z.)

128. Petrie's Stipa G.—
Stipa petriei (new species). See 101. /?111?/ (N.Z.)

129. Umbrella G.—
(i.q. Australian Millet. See 47.)

130. Wallaby G.—
Danthonia penicileata, F. v. M. (A., N.Z.)

131. Weeping G.—
(i.q. Meadow Rice Grass. See 102.)

132. Weeping Polly G.—
(i.q. Paper Grass. See 72.)

133. Wheat G.—Blue—
Agropyrum scabrum, Beauv. (A., T., N.Z.)

134. Wheat G.—Short-awned—
Triticum multiflorum, Banks and Sol. (N.Z.)

135. White-topped G.—
Danthonia longifolia, R. Br. (A.)

136. Windmill G.—
Chloris truncata, R. Br. (A.)

137. Wire G.—
Ehrharta juncea, Sprengel; a rush-like grass of hilly
country. (A., T., N.Z.)
Cynodon dactylum, Pers.; so called from its knotted,
creeping, wiry roots, so difficult to eradicate in gardens
and other cultivated land. (Not endemic.) See 26.

138. Wiry G.—.
(i.q. Paper Grass. See 72.)

139. Wiry Dichelachne G.—
Stipa teretefolia, Steud. (A., T., N.Z.)

140. Woolly-headed G.—
Andropogon bombycinus, R. Br. (A.)

141. Vandyke G.—
Panicum flavidum, Retz. (A.)

<hw>Grass-bird</hw>, n. In New Zealand, Sphenoeacus //sic. otherwhere Sphenaeacus GJC// punctatus, Gray, the same as Fern-bird (q.v.); in Australia, Megalurus (Sphenaeacus) gramineus, Gould.

<hw>Grass-leaved Fern</hw>, n. Vittaria elongata, Swartz, N.O. Filices.

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 693:

"Grass-leaved fern. . . . Frond varying in length from a few inches to several feet, and with a breadth of from one to five lines. . . . This curious grass-like fern may be frequently seen fringing the stems of the trees in the scrubs of tropical Queensland, in which situation the fronds are usually very long."

<hw>Grass-Parrakeet</hw>, n. a bird of the genus Euphema. The Australian species are—

Blue-winged Parrakeet
Euphema aurantia, Gould.

Bourke's P.—
E. bourkii, Gould.

Grass-P.—
E. elegans, Gould.

Orange-bellied P.—
E. chrysogastra, Lath.

Orange-throated P.—
E. splendida, Gould.

Red-shouldered P.—
E. pulchella, Shaw.

Warbling Grass-P.—
Gould's name for Budgerigar (q.v.).

See also Rock-Parrakeet (Euphema petrophila, Gould), which is sometimes classed as a Grass-Parrakeet.

<hw>Grass-tree</hw>, n. (2) The name applied to trees of the genus Xanthorrhoea, N.O. Liliaceae, of which thirteen species are known in Australia. See also Richea.

(2) In New Zealand Pseudopanax crassifolium, Seemann, N.O. Araleaceae. When young, this is the same as Umbrella-tree, so called from its appearance like the ribs of an umbrella. When older, it grows more straight and is called Lancewood (q.v.).

(3) In Tasmania, besides two species of Xanthorrhoea the Grass-tree of the mainland, the Richea dracophylla, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae, found on Mount Wellington, near Hobart, is also known by that name, whilst the Richea pandanifolia, Hook., found in the South-west forests, is called the Giant Grass-tree. Both these are peculiar to the island.

(4) An obsolete name for Cordyline australis, Hook., N.O. Liliaceae, now more usually called Cabbage- tree (q.v.).

1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 153:

"A grass tree grows here, similar in every respect to that about Port Jackson."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 347:

"Yielding frequently a very weak and sour kind of grass, interspersed with a species of bulrush called grass-trees, which are universal signs of poverty.":

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' Vol II. c. iii. p. 54:

"The grass-tree is not found westward of the mountains."

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. ii. p. 303:

"We approached a range of barren hills of clay slate, on which grew the grass-tree (Xanthorhoea) and stunted eucalypti."

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 74:

"The shimmering sunlight fell and kissed
The grass-tree's golden sheaves."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 132:

"Here and there, in moist places, arises isolated the `grass-tree' or `cabbage-tree' (Ti of the natives; Cordyline Australis)."

1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 80:

"The grass-trees in front, blame my eyes,
Seemed like plumes on the top of a hearse."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 119:

"How strikingly different the external features of plants may be, though floral structure may draw them into congruity, is well demonstrated by our so-called grass-trees, which pertain truly to the liliaceous order. These scientifically defined as Xanthorhoeas from the exudation of yellowish sap, which indurates into resinous masses, have all the essential notes of the order, so far as structure of flowers and fruits is concerned, but their palm-like habit, together with cylindric spikes on long and simple stalks, is quite peculiar, and impresses on landscapes, when these plants in masses are occuring, a singular feature."

1879. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia' (ed. 1893), p. 52:

"The grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) are a peculiar feature to the Australian landscape. From a rugged stem, varying from two to ten or twelve feet in height, springs a tuft of drooping wiry foliage, from the centre of which rises a spike not unlike a huge bulrush. When it flowers in winter, this spike becomes covered with white stars, and a heath covered with grass trees then has an appearance at once singular and beautiful."

1882. A. Tolmer, `Reminiscences,' vol, ii. p. 102:

"The root of the grass-tree is pleasant enough to eat, and tastes something like the meat of the almond-tree; but being unaccustomed to the kind of fare, and probably owing to the empty state of our stomachs, we suffered severely from diarrhoea."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 43:

"Grass-trees are most comical-looking objects. They have a black bare stem, from one to eight feet high, surmounted by a tuft of half rushes and half grass, out of which, again, grows a long thing exactly like a huge bullrush. A lot of them always grow together, and a little way off they are not unlike the illustrations of Red-Indian chiefs in Fenimore Cooper's novels."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 59:

"It [Pseudopanax crassifolium, the Horoeka] is commonly called lance-wood by the settlers in the North Island, and grass-tree by those in the South. This species was discovered during Cook's first voyage, and it need cause no surprise to learn that the remarkable difference between the young and mature states led so able a botanist as Dr. Solander to consider them distinct plants."

1896. Baldwin Spencer. `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Narrative, p. 98:

"As soon as the came upon the Plains we found ourselves in a belt of grass trees belonging to a species not hitherto described (X. Thorntoni). . . . The larger specimens have a stem some five or six feet high, with a crown of long wiry leaves and a flowering stalk, the top of which is fully twelve feet above the ground."

[Compare Blackboy and Maori-head.

<hw>Grayling</hw>, n. The Australian fish of that name is Prototroctes maroena, Gunth. It is called also the Fresh-water Herring, Yarra Herring (in Melbourne), Cucumber-Fish, and Cucumber-Mullet. The last two names are given to it from its smell. It closely resembles the English Grayling.

1880. W. Senior, `Travel and Trout,' p. 93:

"These must be the long-looked-for cucumber mullet, or fresh- water herring. . . . `The cucumber mullet,' I explain, `I have long suspected to be a grayling.'"

1882. Rev._I. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 109:

"Though not a fish of New South Wales, it may be as well to mention here the Australian grayling, which in character, habits, and the manner of its capture is almost identical with the English fish of that name. In shape there is some difference between the two fish. . . . A newly caught fish smells exactly like a dish of fresh-sliced cucumber. It is widely distributed in Victoria, and very abundant in all the fresh-water streams of Tasmania. . . . In Melbourne it goes by the name of the Yarra herring. There is another species in New Zealand."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 206:

"The river abounds in delicious grayling or cucumber fish, rather absurdly designated the `herring' in this [Deloraine] and some other parts of the colony [Tasmania]."

<hw>Grebe</hw>, n. common English bird-name, of the genus Podiceps. The species known in Australia are—

Black-throated Grebe—
Podiceps novae-hollandiae, Gould.

Hoary-headed G.—
P. nestor, Gould.

Tippet G.—
P. cristataes, Linn.

But Buller sees no reason for separating P. cristatus from the well-known P. cristatus of Europe. Some of the Grebes are sometimes called Dabchicks (q.v.).

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 285:

"The Crested Grebe is generally-speaking a rare bird in both islands."

<hw>Greenhide</hw>, n. See quotation. Greenhide is an English tannery term for the hide with the hair on before scouring.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 27:

"Drivers, who walked beside their teams carrying over their shoulders a long-handled whip with thong of raw salted hide, called in the colony `greenhide.'"

<hw>Greenie</hw>, n. a school-boys' name for Ptilotis penicillata, Gould, the White-plumed Honey-eater.

1896. `The Australasian,' Jan. 11, p. 73, col. 1:

"A bird smaller than the Australian minah, and of a greenish yellowish hue, larger, but similar to the members of the feathered tribe known to young city `knights of the catapult' as greenies."

1897. A. J. Campbell (in `The Australasian,'Jan. 23), p. 180, col. 5:

"Every schoolboy about Melbourne knows what the `greenie' is—the white-plumed honey-eater (P. penicillata). The upper-surface is yellowish-grey, and the under-surface brownish in tone. The white-plumed honey-eater is common in Victoria, where it appears to be one of the few native birds that is not driven back by civilisation. In fact, its numbers have increased in the parks and gardens in the vicinity of Melbourne."

<hw>Green-leek</hw>, n. an Australian Parrakeet. See quotation.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pl. 15:

"Polytelis Barrabandi, Wagl., Barraband's Parrakeet; Green-leek of the colonists of New South Wales."

1855. R. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 123:

"We observed m the hollow trees several nests of the little green paroquet,—here, from its colour, called the leek."

<hw>Green Lizard</hw>, n. sometimes called the Spotted Green Lizard, a New Zealand reptile, Naultinus elegans, Gray.

<hw>Green Oyster</hw>, n. name given in Queensland to the sea-weed Ulva lactuca, Linn., N.O. Algae. From being frequently found attached to oysters, this is sometimes called "Green Oyster." (Bailey.) See Oyster.

<hw>Greenstone</hw>, n. popular name of Nephrite (q.v.). Maori name, Pounamu (q.v.).

1859. A.S. Thomson, `Story of New Zealand,' p. 140:

"The greenstone composing these implements of war is called nephrite by mineralogists, and is found in the Middle Island of New Zealand, in the Hartz, Corsica, China and Egypt. The most valuable kind is clear as glass with a slight green tinge."

1889. Dr. Hocken, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 181:

"This valued stone—pounamu of the natives—nephrite, is found on the west coast of the South Island. Indeed, on Captain Cook's chart this island is called `T'Avai Poenammoo'—Te wai pounamu, the water of the greenstone."

1892. F. R. Chapman, `The Working of Greenstone by the Maoris' (New Zealand Institute), p. 4:

"In the title of this paper the word `greenstone' occurs, and this word is used throughout the text. I am quite conscious that the term is not geologically or mineralogically correct; but the stone of which I am writing is known by that name throughout New Zealand, and, though here as elsewhere the scientific man employs that word to describe a totally different class of rock, I should run the risk of being misunderstood were I to use any other word for what is under that name an article of commerce and manufacture in New Zealand. It is called `pounamu' or `poenamu' by the Maoris, and `jade,' `jadeite,' or `nephrite' by various writers, while old books refer to the `green talc' of the Maoris."

<hw>Green-tops</hw>, n. Tasmanian name for the Orchid, Pterostylis pedunculata, R. Br.

<hw>Green-tree Ant</hw>, n. common Queensland Ant.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 294:

"It was at the lower part of the Lynd that we first saw the green-tree ant; which seemed to live in small societies in rude nests between the green leaves of shady trees."

<hw>Green Tree-snake</hw>, n. See under Snake.

<hw>Grevillea</hw>, n. a large genus of trees of Australia and Tasmania, N.O. Proteaceae, named in honour of the Right Hon. Charles Francis Greville, Vice-President of the Royal Society of London. The name was given by Robert Brown in 1809. The `Century' Dictionary gives Professor Greville as the origin of the name but "Professor Robert K. Greville of Edinburgh was born on the 14th Dec., 1794, he was therefore only just fourteen years old when the genus Grevillea was established." (`Private letter from Baron F. von Mueller.')

1851. `Quarterly Review,' Dec., p. 40:

"Whether Dryandra, Grevillea, Hakea, or the other Proteaceae, all may take part in the same glee—

"It was a shrub of orders grey
Stretched forth to show his leaves."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia, vol. iii. p. 138:

"Graceful grevilleas, which in the spring are gorgeous with orange-coloured blossoms."

<hw>Grey-jumper</hw>, n. name given to an Australian genus of sparrow-like birds, of which the only species is Struthidea cinerea, Gould; also called Brachystoma and Brachyporus.

<hw>Grey Nurse</hw>, n. a New South Wales name for a species of Shark, Odontaspis americanus, Mitchell, family Lamnidae, which is not confined to Australasia.

<hw>Gridironing</hw>, v</i. a term used in the province of Canterbury, New Zealand. A man purchased land in the shape of a gridiron, knowing that nobody would take the intermediate strips, which later he could purchase at his leisure. In other provinces free-selection (q.v.) was only allowed after survey.

<hw>Grinder</hw>, n. See Razor-grinder and Dishwasher.

<hw>Groper</hw>, n. a fish. In Queensland, Oligorus terrae-reginae, Ramsay; in New Zealand, O. gigas, "called by the Maoris and colonists `Hapuku,'" (Guenther)—a large marine species. Oligorus is a genus of the family Percidae, and the Murray-Cod (q.v.) and Murray Perch (q.v.) belong to it. There is a fish called the Grouper or Groper of warm seas quite distinct from this one. See Cod, Perch, Blue-Groper and Hapuku.

<hw>Ground-berry</hw>, i.q. Cranberry (q.v.).:

<hw>Ground-bird</hw>, n. name given in Australia to any bird of the genus Cinclosoma. The species are—

Chestnut-backed Ground-bird—
Cinclosoma castaneonotum, Gould.

Chestnut-breasted G.-b.—
C. castaneothorax, Gould.

Cinnamon G.-b.—
C. cinnamomeum, Gould.

Northern, or Black-vented G.-b.—
C. marginatum, Sharpe.

Spotted G.-b.—
C. punctatum, Lath., called by Gould Ground-Dove
(q.v.).

<hw>Ground-Dove</hw>, n. (1) Tasmanian name for the Spotted Ground-bird (q.v.).

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 4:

"Cinclosoma punctatum, Vig. and Horsf., Spotted Ground-thrush. In Hobart Town it is frequently exposed for sale in the markets with bronze-wing pigeons and wattle-birds, where it is known by the name of ground-dove . . . very delicate eating."

(2) The name is given by Gould to three species of Geopelia.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pls. 72, 73, 74:

"Geopelia humeralis, Barred-shouldered Ground-dove" (pl. 72);

"G. tranquilla" (pl. 73);

"G. cuneata, Graceful Ground-dove" (pl. 74).

<hw>Ground-Lark</hw>, n. (1) In New Zealand, a bird also called by the Maori names, Pihoihoi and Hioi.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 63:

"Anthus Novae Zelandiae, Gray, New Zealand Pipit; Ground-Lark of the Colonists."

(2) In Australia, the Australian Pipit (Anthus australis) is also called a Ground-lark.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 73:

"Anthus Australis, Vig. and Horsf., Australian Pipit. The Pipits, like many other of the Australian birds, are exceedingly perplexing."

<hw>Ground-Parrakeet</hw>, n. See Parrakeet and Pezoporus.

<hw>Ground-Parrot</hw>, n. (1) The bird Psittacus pulchellus, Shaw. For the Ground Parrot of New Zealand, see Kakapo.

1793. G. Shaw, `Zoology [and Botany] of New Holland,' p. 10:

"Long-tailed green Parrot, spotted with black and yellow,. . . the Ground Parrot."

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 278:

"The settlers call it ground-parrot. It feeds upon the ground."

Ibid. p. 286:

"What is called the ground-parrot at Sydney inhabits the scrub in that neighbourhood."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 298:

"The ground-parrot, green, with mottlings of gold and black, rose like a partridge from the heather, and flew low."

(2) Slang name for a small farmer. See Cockatoo, n. (2).

<hw>Ground-Thrush</hw>, n. name of birds found all over the world. The Australian species are—

Geocincla lunulata, Lath.

Broadbent Ground-Thrush—
G. cuneata.

Large-billed G.—
G. macrorhyncha, Gould.

Russet-tailed G.—
G. heinii, Cab.

<hw>Grub</hw>, v. to clear (ground) of the roots. To grub has long been English for to dig up by the roots. It is Australian to apply the word not to the tree but to the land.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 185:

"Employed with others in `grubbing' a piece of new land which was heavily timbered."

1868. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Memory of 1834,' p. 10:

"A bit of land all grubbed and clear'd too."

<hw>Guana</hw>, or <hw>Guano</hw>, n. i.q. Goanna (q.v.).

<hw>Guard-fish</hw>, n. Erroneous spelling of Garfish (q.v.).

<hw>Gudgeon</hw>, n. The name is given in New South Wales to the fish Eleotris coxii, Krefft, of the family of the Gobies.

<hw>Guitar Plant</hw>, a Tasmanian shrub, Lomatia tinctoria, R. Br., N.O. Proteaceae.

<hw>Gull</hw>, n. common English name for a sea-bird. The Australian species are—

Long-billed Gull—
Larus longirostris, Masters.

Pacific G.—
L. pacificus, Lath.

Silver G.—
L. novae-hollandiae, Steph.

Torres-straits G.—
L. gouldi, Bp.

<hw>Gully</hw>, n. a narrow valley. The word is very common in Australia, and is frequently used as a place name. It is not, however, Australian. Dr.Skeat (`Etymological Dictionary') says, "a channel worn by water." Curiously enough, his first quotation is from `Capt. Cook's Third Voyage,' b. iv. c. 4. Skeat adds, "formerly written gullet: `It meeteth afterward with another gullet,' i.e. small stream. Holinshed, `Description of Britain,' c. 11: F. goulet, `a gullet . . . a narrow brook or deep gutter of water.' (Cotgrave.) Thus the word is the same as gullet." F. goulet is from Latin gula. Gulch is the word used in the Pacific States, especially in California.

1773. `Hawkesworth's Voyages,' vol. iii. p. 532—Captain Cook's First Voyage, May 30, 1770:

"The deep gullies, which were worn by torrents from the hills."

1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 214:

"A man, in crossing a gully between Sydney and Parramatta, was, in attempting to ford it, carried away by the violence of the torrent, and drowned."

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 17:

"The gums in the gully stand gloomy and stark."

1867. A.L. Gordon, `Sea-spray, etc.,' p. 134:

"The gullies are deep and the uplands are steep."

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 16:

"The terrible blasts that rushed down the narrow gully, as if through a funnel."

<hw>Gully-raker</hw>, n. a long whip.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 40:

"The driver appealing occasionally to some bullock or other by name, following up his admonition by a sweeping cut of his `gully-raker,' and a report like a musket-shot."

<hw>Gum</hw>, or <hw>Gum-tree</hw>, n. the popular name for any tree of the various species of Eucalyptus. The word Gum is also used in its ordinary English sense of exuded sap of certain trees and shrubs, as e.g. Wattle-gum (q.v.) in Australia, and Kauri-gum (q.v.) in New Zealand. In America, the gum-tree usually means "the Liquidambar styraciflua, favourite haunt of the opossum and the racoon, whence the proverbial possum up a gum-tree." (`Current Americanisms,' s.v. Gum)

The names of the various Australian Gum-trees are as follows—

Apple Gum, or Apple-scented Gum—
Eucalyptus stuartiana, F. v. M.

Bastard G.—
Eucalyptus gunnii, Hook.

Bastard Blue G.—
E. leucoxylon, F. v. M. (South Australia).

Bastard White G.—
E. gunnii, Hook. (South Australia);
E. radiata (Tasmania).

Black G.—
E. stellulata, Sieb.

Black-butted G.—
E. pillularis, Smith (Victoria);
E. regnans, F. v. M. (New South Wales).
See Blackbutt.

Blue G. [see also Blue-Gum] E. botryoides, Smith (New South Wales); E. diversicolor, F. v. M. [Karri]; E. globulus, Labill.; E. goniocalyx, F. v. M.; E. leucoxylon, F. v. M. (South Australia) [Ironbark]; E. saligna, Smith; E. tereticornis, Smith; E. viminalis, Labill. (West New South Wales).

Botany Bay G,—
E. resinifera, Smith.

Brittle G.—
E. haemastonza, Smith;
E. micrantha, Smith.

Brown G.—
E. robusta, Smith.

Cabbage G.—
E. sieberiana, F. v. M. (Braidwood, New South Wales).

Cider G.—
E. gunnii, Hook. (Tasmania).

Citron-scented G.—
E. maculata, Hook.

Creek G.—
E. rostrata, Schlecht (West New South Wales).

Curly White G.—
E. radiata (Tasmania).

Dark Red G.—
E. rostrata, Schlecht.

Desert G.—
E. eudesmoides, F. v. M. (Central Australia);
E. gracilis, F. v. M.

Drooping G.—
E. pauciflora, Sieb. (Drooping Gum in Tasmania is
E. risdoni, Hook., N.O. Myrtaceae; the tree is
peculiar to Tasmania);
E. viminalis, Labill. (New South Wales).

Flood, or Flooded G.—
E. gunnii, Hook. (Bombala, New South Wales);
E. microtheca, F. v. M. (Carpentaria and Central
Australia);
E. rostrata, Schlecht;
E. saligna, Smith;
E. tereticornis, Smith (New South Wales).

Fluted G.-
E. salubris, F. v. M.

Forest G.—
E. rostrata, Schlecht (South Australia).

Giant G.—
E. amygdalina, Labill.

Gimlet G.—
E. salubris, F. v. M.

Green G.—
E. stellulata, Sieb. (East Gippsland).

Grey G.—
E. crebra, F. v. M.;
E. goniocalyx, F. v. M. (New South Wales, east of
Dividing range);
E. punctata, De C. (South Coast of New South Wales);
E. raveretiana, F.v.M;
E. resinifera, Smith;
E. saligna, Smith (New South Wales);
E. tereticornis, Smith (New South Wales);
E. viminalis, Labill (Sydney);

Honey-scented G.—
E. melliodora, Cunn.

Iron G.—
E. raveretiana, F. v. M.

Lemon-scented, or Lemon G.—
E. citriodora, Hook. f.

Lead G.—
E. stellulata, Cunn.

Mallee G.—
E. dumosa (generally called simply Mallee, q.v.).

Mountain G.—
E. tereticornis, Smith (South New South Wales).

Mountain White G.—
E. pauciflora, Sieb. (Blue Mountains).

Nankeen G.—
E. populifolia, Hook. (Northern Australia).

Olive Green G.—
E. stellulata, Cunn. (Leichhardt's name).

Pale Red G.—
E. rostrata, Schlecht.

Peppermint G.—
E. viminalis, Labill.

Poplar-leaved G.—
E. polyanthema, Schau.

Red G.—
E. amygdalina, Labill. (Victoria);
E. calophylla, R. Br.;
E. gunnii, Hook. (Bombala);
E. melliodora, Cunn. (Victoria);
E. odorata, Behr (South Australia);
E. punctata, De C.;
E. resinifera, Smith;
E. rostrata, Schlecht;
E. stuartiana, F. v. M. (Tasmania);
E. tereticornis, Smith (New South Wales).

Ribbon G.—
E. amygdalina, Labill. Ribbony G.
E. viminalis, Labill.

Risdon G.—
E. amygdalina, Labill.

River G.—
E. rostrata, Schlecht (New South Wales, Queensland,
and Central Australia).

River White G.—
E. radiata.

Rough-barked, or Rough G.—
E. botryoides, Smith (Illawarra).

Rusty G.—
E. eximia, Schau.

Scribbly G.—
E. haemastoma, Smith.

Scribbly Blue G.—
E. leucoxylon, F. v. M. (South Australia).

Scrub G.—
E. cosmophylla, F. v. M.

Slaty G.—
E. saligna, Smith (New South Wales);
E. tereticornis, Smith (New South Wales and
Queensland);
E. largiflorens, F. v. M.

Spotted G.—
E. capitellata, Smith (New England);
E. goniocalyx, F. v. M.;
E. haemastonza, Smith;
E. maculata, Hook.

Sugar G.—
E. corynocalyx, F. v. M.;
E. gunnii, Hook.

Swamp G.—
E. gunnii, Hook.;
E. microtheca, F. v. M.;
E. pauciflora, Sieb.;
E. viminalis, Labill. (Tasmania).

Weeping G.—
E. pauciflora, Sieb. (Tasmania);
E. viminalis, Labill. (New South Wales).

White G.—
E. amygdalina, Labill.;
E. gomphocephala, De C. (Western Australia);
E. goniocalyx, F. v. M. ; E. haemastoma, Smith;
E. hemiphloia, F. v. M. (Sydney);
E. leucoxylon, F. v. M. (South Australia);
E. pauciflora, Sieb.;
E. populifolia, Hook. (Queensland);
E. radiata (New South Wales);
E. redunca, Schau. (Western Australia);
E. robusta, Schlecht. (South Australia);
E. saligna, Smith (New South Wales);
E. stellulata, Cunn.;
E. stuartiana, F. v. M. (Victoria);
E. viminalis, Labill.

White Swamp G.—
E. gunnii, Hook. (South Australia).

Yellow G.—
E. punctata, De C.

York G.—
E. foecunda, Schau. (Western Australia).

This list has been compiled by collating many authorities. But the following note on Eucalyptus amygdalina (from Maiden's `Useful Native Plants,' p. 429) will illustrate the difficulty of assigning the vernacular names with absolute accuracy to the multitudinous species of Eucalyptus—

"Eucalyptus amygdalina, Labill., Syn. E. fissilis, F. v. M.; E. radiata, Sieb.; E. elata, Dehn.; E. tenuiramis, Miq.; E. nitida, Hook, f.; E. longifolia, Lindl. ; E. Lindleyana, DC.; and perhaps E. Risdoni, Hook, f.; E. dives, Schauer.—This Eucalypt has even more vernacular names than botanical synonyms. It is one of the `Peppermint Trees' (and variously `Narrow-leaved Peppermint,' `Brown Peppermint,' `White Peppermint,' and sometimes `Dandenong Peppermint'), and `Mountain Ashes' of the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria, and also of Tasmania and Southern New South Wales. It is also called `Giant Gum' and `White Gum.' In Victoria it is one of the `Red Gums.' It is one of the New South Wales `Stringybarks,' and a `Manna Gum.' Because it is allied to, or associated with, `Stringybark,' it is also known by the name of `Messmate.' . . . A variety of this gum (E. radiata) is called in New South Wales `White Gum' or `River White Gum.' . . . A variety of E. amygdalina growing in the south coast district of New South Wales, goes by the name of `Ribbon Gum,' in allusion to the very thin, easily detachable, smooth bark. This is also E. radiata probably. A further New South Wales variety goes by the name of `Cut-tail' in the Braidwood district. The author has been unable to ascertain the meaning of this absurd designation. These varieties are, several of them, quite different in leaves, bark, and timber, and there is no species better than the present one to illustrate the danger in attempting to fit botanical names on Eucalypts when only the vernacular names are known."

Various other trees not of the genus Eucalyptus are also sometimes popularly called Gums, such as, for instance—

Broad-leaved Water Gum—
Tristania suavolens, Smith.

Orange G.—
Angophora lanceolata, Cave.

Water G.—
Callistemon lanceolatus, DeC.
Tristania laurina, R. Br.
T. neriifolia, R. Br.

And others.

In addition to this, poets and descriptive writers sometimes apply epithets, chiefly denoting colour or other outward appearance, which are not names of distinct species, such as Cinnamon, Morrell, Salmon, Cable, Silver, etc. [See quotation under Silver Gum.]

1642. Abel Tasman, `Journal of the Voyage to the Unknown Southland' (Translation by J. B. Walker in `Abel J. Tasman: His Life, etc.' 1896)

[Under date Dec. 2, 1642, after describing the trees at Fredrik Hendrik's Bay (now Blackman's Bay, Forestier's Peninsula, Tasmania) 2 to 21/2 fathoms thick, 60 to 65 feet to the first branch, and with steps 5 feet apart cut in them, Tasman says that they found] "a little gum, fine in appearance, which drops out of the trees, and has a resemblance to gum lac (gomma lacca)."

1770. `Captain Cook's Journal' (ed. Wharton, 1893), p. 245:

"May 1st.—We found two sorts of gum, one sort of which is like gum dragon, and is the same, I suppose, Tasman took for gum lac; it is extracted from the largest tree in the woods.

"May 6th.—The biggest trees are as large or larger than our oaks in England, and grow a good deal like them, and yield a reddish gum; the wood itself is heavy, hard, and black like Lignum vitae."

1788. Governor Phillip (Despatch, May 15) in `Historical Records of New South Wales', vol. i. pt. ii. p. 128:

"What seeds could be collected are sent to Sir Joseph Banks, as likewise the red gum taken from the large gum-tree by tapping, and the yellow gum which is found on the dwarf palm-tree."

1789. Captain Watkin Tench, `Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay,' p. 119:

"The species of trees are few, and . . . the wood universally of so bad a grain, as almost to preclude the possibility of using it. . . . These trees yield a profusion of thick red gum (not unlike the Sanguis draconis)."

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 231:

"The red gum-tree, Eucalyptus resinifera. This is a very large and lofty tree, much exceeding the English oak in size."

1793. Governor Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 69:

"I have likewise seen trees bearing three different kinds of leaves, and frequently have found others, bearing the leaf of the gum-tree, with the gum exuding from it, and covered with bark of a very different kind."

1820. W. C. Wentworth, `Description of New South Wales,' p. 66:

"Full-sized gums and iron barks, alongside of which the loftiest trees in this country would appear as pigmies, with the beefwood tree, or, as it is generally termed, the forest oak, which is of much humbler growth, are the usual timber."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 200:

"The gum-trees are so designated as a body from producing a gummy resinous matter, while the peculiarities of the bark usually fix the particular names of the species—thus the blue, spotted, black-butted, and woolly gums are so nominated from the corresponding appearance of their respective barks; the red and white gums, from their wood; and the flooded gums from growing in flooded land."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. II. c. iii. p. 108:

"The silvery stems of the never-failing gum-trees."

1857. H. Parkes, `Murmurs of Stream,' p. 56:

"Where now the hermit gum-tree stands on the plain's heart."

1864. J. S. Moore, `Spring Life Lyrics,' p. 114:

"Amid grand old gums, dark cedars and pines."

1873. A.Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. xiii. p. 209:

"The eternal gum-tree has become to me an Australian crest, giving evidence of Australian ugliness. The gum-tree is ubiquitous, and is not the loveliest, though neither is it by any means the ugliest, of trees."

1877. F. v. Muller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 7:

"The vernacular name of gum-trees for the eucalypts is as unaptly given as that of most others of our native plants, on which popular appellations have been bestowed. Indeed our wattles might far more appropriately be called gum-trees than the eucalypts, because the former exude a real gum (in the chemical meaning of the word); whereas the main exudation from the stems and branches of all eucalypts hardens to a kino-like substance, contains a large proportion of a particular tannin (kino-tannic acid), and is to a great extent or entirely soluble in alcohol, thus very different from genuine gum."

1884. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 176:

"Golden, 'mid a sunlit forest,
Stood the grand Titanic forms
Of the conquerors of storms;
Stood the gums, as if inspired,
Every branch and leaflet fired
With the glory of the sun,
In golden robes attired,
A grand priesthood of the sun."

1889. P. Beveridge, `Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina,' p. 61:

"Nearly all the eucalyptus species exude gum, which the natives utilise in the fabrication of their various weapons as Europeans do glue. The myall and mimosa also exude gum; these the natives prefer before all other kinds when obtainable, they being less brittle and more adhesive than any of the others."

i891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"This is an exact representation of the camps which were scattered over the country not more than fifty years ago, and inhabited by the original lords of the soil. The beautiful she-oak and red-gum forest that used to clothe the slopes of Royal Park was a very favourite camping-ground of theirs, as the gum-tree was their most regular source of food supply. The hollows of this tree contained the sleek and sleepy opossum, waiting to be dragged forth to the light of day and despatched by a blow on the head. It was to the honey-laden blossoms of this tree that the noisy cockatoos and parrots used to flock. Let the kangaroo be wary and waterfowl shy, but whilst he had his beloved gum-tree, little cared the light-hearted black."

1892. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 2:

"The immense extent of gum-trees stretches indefinitely, blotting out the conception of anything but its own lightly-timbered pasture. It has not even the gloom and impressiveness which we associate in England with the name of forest land, for the trees are thinly scattered, their long leaves hang vertically from the branches, and sunlight filters through with sufficient force to promote the growth of the tussocked grass beneath. The whole would be indescribably commonplace, but that the vastness becomes at last by its own force impressive."

The following quotations illustrate special uses of the word in composition.

Apple Gum—

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 283:

"On the small flats the apple-gum grew."

Ibid. c. viii. p. 264:

"Another Eucalyptus with a scaly butt . . . but with smooth upper trunk and cordate ovate leaves, which was also new to me; we called it the Apple-gum."

Blue Gum—

1802. D.Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 235:

"The blue gum, she-oak, and cherry-tree of Port Jackson were common here."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' p. 22:

"The Blue Gum is found in greater abundance; it is a loose-grained heavy wood."

1851. James Mitchell, `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' p. 125:

"The name blue gum appears to have been derived from the bluish gray colour of the whole plant in the earliest stages of its growth, which is occasioned by a covering of dust or bloom similar to that upon the sloe or damson."

1884. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 199:

"I love to see the blue gums stand Majestically tall;
The giants of our southern woods,
The loftiest of all."

Black-butted Gum—

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. II. c. viii. p. 236:

"One species . . . resembling strongly the black-butted gum."

Cable Gum—

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. II. c. iv. p. 132:

"Cable-gum . . . like several stems twisted together, abundant in interior."

Cider Gum (or Cider Tree)—

1830. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 119:

"That species of eucalyptus called the cider tree, from its exuding a quantity of saccharine liquid resembling molasses. Streaks of it were to be seen dripping down the bark in various parts, which we tasted, and found very palatable. The natives have a method at the proper season of grinding holes in the tree, from which the sweet juice flows plentifully, and is collected in a hole at the root. We saw some of these covered up with a flat stone, doubtless to prevent the wild animals from coming to drink it. When allowed to remain some time, and to ferment, it settles into a coarse sort of wine or cider, rather intoxicating."

Cinnamon Gum—

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 19, p. 7, col. 1:

"A forest only fit for urban gnomes these twisted trunks. Here are no straight and lofty trees, but sprawling cinnamon gums, their skin an unpleasing livid red, pock-marked; saplings in white and chilly grey, bleeding gum in ruddy stains, and fire-black boles and stumps to throw the greenery into bright relief."

Drooping Gum—

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. II. c. xii. p. 387:

"The trees, which grew only in the valleys, were small kinds of banksia, wattles and drooping gums."

Flooded Gum—

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 7:

"Large flooded gum-trees (but no casuarinas) at the low banks of the lagoons."

Lemon-scented Gum—

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 265:

"Among the Eucalypti or gum-trees growing in New South Wales, a species named the lemon-scented gum-tree, Eucalyptus citriodora, is peculiar to the Wide Bay district, in the northern part of the colony."

Mountain Gum—

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. I. c. iii, p. 118:

"The cypresses became mixed with casuarina, box and mountain-gum."

Red Gum [see also Red-gum]—

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. xi. p. 461:

"The red gum-tree. This is a very large and lofty tree, much exceeding the English oak in size."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 33:

"Red gum, a wood which has of late years been exported to England in great quantities; it has all the properties of mahogany."

1868. W. Carleton, `Australian Nights,' p. 14:

"While she, the younger, went to fill
Her red-gum pitcher at the rill."

1870. J. O. Tucker, `The Mute,' etc., p. 85:

"Then the dark savage `neath the red gum's shade
Told o'er his deeds."

1890. `The Argus,' June 14, p. 4, col. I

"Those of the leaden hue are red gums."

Rough Gum—

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. I. c. iii. p. 118:

"The rough-gum abounded near the creek."

Rusty Gum—

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 48:

"The range was openly timbered with white gum, spotted gum,
Iron-bark, rusty gum and the cypress pine."

Salmon Gum—

1893. `The Australasian,' Aug. 3, p. 252, col. 4:

"The chief descriptions are salmon, morrel and white gums, and gimlet-wood. The bark of the salmon gum approaches in colour to a rich golden brown, but the satin-like sheen on it has the effect of making it several shades lighter, and in the full glare of the sun it is sufficiently near a rich salmon tint to justify its name."

Silver Gum—

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 113:

"When so many of our Australian trees were named `gums,' a distinguishing prefix for each variety was clearly necessary, and so the words red, blue, yellow, white and scarlet, as marking some particular trait in the tree, have come into everyday use. Had the pioneer bush botanist seen at least one of those trees at a certain stage in its growth, the term `silver gum' would have found expression."

Spotted Gum—

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 11:

"Ironbark ridges here and there with spotted gum . . . diversified the sameness."

Swamp Gum—

1853. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii, p. 132 [James Mitchell, On the Strength of Timber, etc., read Nov.12, 1851]:

"The Swamp Gum grows to the largest size of any of this family in Van Diemen's Land. Its growth is nearly twice as rapid as that of the Blue Gum: the annular layers are sometimes very large; but the bark, and the whole tree indeed, is so like the Blue Gum, as not to be easily distinguished from it in outward appearance. It grows best in moist places, which may probably have given rise to its name. Some extraordinary dimensions have been recorded of trees of this species. I lately measured an apparently sound one, and found it 21 feet in circumference at 8 feet from the ground and 87 feet to the first branches. Another was 18 1/2 feet in circumference at 10 feet from the ground, and 213 feet to the highest branch or extreme top. A third reached the height of 251 feet to the highest branch: but I am told that these are pigmies compared to the giants of even the Blue Gum species found in the southern districts."

1880. Garnet Watch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 100:

"Groups of native trees, including the black wattle, silver box, messmate, stringy bark, and the picturesque but less useful swamp gum."

Water Gum—

1847. L. Leichhhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 387:

"Long hollows surrounded with drooping tea-trees and the white watergums."

Weeping Gum—

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 169:

"A kind of Eucalyptus, with long drooping leaves, called the `Weeping Gum,' is the most elegant of the family."

White Gum—

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p, 278:

"The natives tell me that it [the ground-parrot] chiefly breeds in a stump of a small White Gum-tree."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 48:

"The range was openly timbered with white gum."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 471:

"E. leucoxylon, F. v. M. The `blue or white gum' of South Australia and Victoria is a gum-tree with smooth bark and light-coloured wood (hence the specific name). The flowers and fruit of E. leucoxylon are very similar to those of E. sideroxylon, and in this way two trees have been placed under one name which are really quite distinct. Baron Mueller points out that there are two well-marked varieties of E. leucoxylon in Victoria. That known as `white-gum' has the greater portion of the stem pale and smooth through the outer layers of the bark falling off. The variety known chiefly as the `Victorian Ironbark,' retains the whole bark on the stem, thus becoming deeply fissured and furrowed, and very hard and dark coloured."

Yellow Gum—

1848. T. L. Mitchell, `Tropical Australia,' p. 107:

"We this day passed a small group of trees of the yellow gum, a species of eucalyptus growing only on the poor sandy soil near Botany Bay, and other parts of the sea-coast near Sydney."

York Gum—

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. II. c. iv. p. 132:

"York gum . . . abundant in York on good soil."

<hw>Gum-</hw> (In Composition). See Gum.

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 134:

"I said to myself in the gum-shadowed glen."

1868. W. L. Carleton, `Australian Nights,' p. 1:

"To see the gum-log flaming bright
Its welcome beacon through the night."

1890. `The Argus,' August 2, p. 4, col. 3:

"Make a bit of a shelter also. You can always do it with easily-got gum-boughs."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 201:

"The edge of the long, black, gum-shrouded lagoon."

<hw>Gummy</hw>, n. name given to a shark of Victorian and Tasmanian waters, Mustelus antarcticus, Gunth., and called Hound (q.v.) in New South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand. The word Gummy is said to come from the small numerous teeth, arranged like a pavement, so different from the sharp erect teeth of most other sharks. The word Hound is the Old World name for all the species of the genus Mustelus. This fish, says Hutton, is much eaten by the Maoris.

<hw>Gum-sucker</hw>, n. slang for Victorian-born, not now much used; but it is not always limited to Victorians.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 201:

"The acacias are the common wattles of this country; from their trunks and branches clear transparent beads of the purest Arabian gum are seen suspended in the dry spring weather, which our young currency bantlings eagerly search after and regale themselves with."

[The practice of `gum-sucking' is here noticed, though the word does not occur.]

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 24:

"If he had not been too 'cute to be bitten twice by the over-'cute `gumsuckers,' as the native Victorians are called."

1890. `Quiz `(Adelaide), Dec. 26:

"Quiz will take good care that the innocent Australians are not fooled without a warning. Really L. and his accomplices must look upon gumsuckers as being pretty soft."

<hw>Gunyah</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a black-fellow's hut, roughly constructed of boughs and bark; applied also to other forms of shelter. The spelling varies greatly: in Col. Mundy's book (1855) there are no fewer than four forms. See Humpy and Gibber. What Leichhardt saw (see quotation 1847) was very remarkable.

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' in an aboriginal vocabulary of Port Jackson, p. 610:

"Go-nie—a hut."

1830. R.Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 70:

"One of their gunyers (bark huts)."

Ibid. p. 171:

"A native encampment, consisting of eight or ten `gunyers.' This is the native term for small huts, which are supported by three forked sticks (about three feet long) brought together at the top in a triangular form: the two sides towards the wind are covered by long sheets of bark, the third is always left open to the wind."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. I. c. ii. p. 78:

"We observed a fresh-made gunneah (or native hut)."

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' c. ii. p. 35:

"Three huts, or gunyahs, consisted of a few green boughs, which had just been put up for shelter from the rain then falling."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 10:

"Their only habitation . . . is formed by two sheets of bark stripped from the nearest tree, at the first appearance of a storm, and joined together at an angle of 45 degrees. This, which they call a gunnya, is cut up for firewood when the storm has passed."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 238:

"Behind appears a large piece of wood hooded like a `gunnya' or `umpee.'"

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 290:

"We saw a very interesting camping place of the natives, containing several two-storied gunyas."

1852. `Settlers and Convicts; or, Recollections of Sixteen Years' Labour in the Australian Backwoods,' p. 211:

"I coincided in his opinion that it would be best for us to camp for the night in one of the ghibber-gunyahs. These are the hollows under overhanging rocks."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' ed. 1855, p. 164:

"A sloping sheet of bark turned from the wind—in bush lingo, a break-weather—or in guneeahs of boughs thatched with grass." [p. 200]: "Guneah." [p. 558]: "Gunneah." [p. 606]: "Gunyah."

1860. G.Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 114 [Footnote]:

"The name given by the natives to the burrow or habitation of any animals is `guniar,' and the same word is applied to our houses."

1880. P. J. Holdsworth, `Station, Hunting':

"hunger clung Beneath the bough-piled gunyah."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 19:

"The sleepy blacks came out of their gunyahs." [p. 52]:
"A gunya of branches."

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. ii. p. 16:

"Where this beautiful building now stands, there were only the gunyahs or homes of the poor savages."

1890. A. J. Vogan, `Black Police,' p. 98:

"One of the gunyahs on the hill. . . . The hut, which is exactly like all the others in the group,—and for the matter of that all within two or three hundred miles,—is built of sticks, which have been stuck into the ground at the radius of a common centre, and then bent over so as to form an egg-shaped cage, which is substantially thatched on top and sides with herbage and mud."

<hw>Gunyang</hw>, n. the aboriginal word for the Kangaroo Apple (q.v.), though the name is more strictly applied not to Solanum aviculare, but to S. vescum.

1877. F. von Muller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 106:

"The similarity of both [S. vescum and S. aviculare] to each other forbids to recommend the fruit of the Gunyang as edible."

1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `Australian Botany,' p. 73:

"Kangaroo Apple, Solanum aviculare. . . . The Gunyang (Solanum vescum) is another variety found in Victoria."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 222:

"A couple of tiny streams trickle across the plains to the sea, a dwarfed ti-tree, clinging low about the ground, like the gunyang or kangaroo apple, borders the banks."

<hw>Gurnard</hw>, n. i.q. Gurnet (q.v.).

<hw>Gurnet</hw>, n. The species of Trigla found in British waters, called Gurnards are of the family of Cottidae. The word Gurnet is an obsolete or provincial form of Gurnard, revived in Australia, and applied to the fish Centropogon scorpoenoides, Guich., family Scorpoenidae. The original word Gurnard is retained in New Zealand, and applied to the new species Trigla kumu (kumu being the Maori name), family Cottidae. The Flying Gurnet is Trigla polyommata, Richards., found on all the Australian coasts from New South Wales to Western Australia, family Cottidae. It is a distinct species, not included in the British species. They have large pectoral fins, but are not known to possess the power of supporting themselves in the air like the "flying fish" which belong to other genera. Sir Fredk. McCoy says that Sebastes Percoides, Richards., is called Gurnet, or Garnet-perch, by the fishermen and dealers, as well as the more common Neosebastes scorpoenoides, Guich., and Scorpoena panda, Richards.

<hw>Gutter</hw>, n. in Australian goldmining, "the lower and auriferous part of the channel of an old river of the Tertiary period " (`Century'). "The lowest portion of a lead. A gutter is filled with auriferous drift or washdirt, which rests on the palaeozoic bed-rock." (Brough Smyth, `Glossary of Mining Terms.')

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 55:

"Duffers are so common And golden gutters rare."

1871. J. J. Simpson, `Recitations,' p. 23:

"Privations and hardships you all have to suffer
Ere you can expect to get on to the gutter."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. viii. p. 81:

"If we happened to drop right down on the `gutter' or main course of the lead, we were all right."

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p.23:

"The Company . . . are putting in a drive to strike the old
Shakspeare gutter."

1891. `The Australasian,' Nov. 21, p. 1015:

"Evidently both claims had been driving for a `gutter.' One of them had got to the end of its tether before reaching it."

<hw>Gutter-flags</hw>, n. Flags fixed on the surface to denote where the course of a gutter or lead underground has been discovered." (Brough Smyth, `Glossary of Mining Terms.')

<hw>Gweeon</hw>, n. a stone tomahawk of the aborigines. Gweh-un, in Mukthang language, Gippsland. Apparently a remnant of a term occurring along the east side of Australia; Burgoin, New South Wales; bulgoon and balgon, Burdekin River, Queensland; related to balgoungo, to chop.

<hw>Gymnobelideus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus confined to Australia of Squirrel Phalangers, or Squirrel Opossums, as they have been called. See Opossum. The name was given by Sir Frederick McCoy in 1867. Only two specimens have been found, and they are in the Melbourne Museum of Natural History. There is only one species, G. leadbeateri, M'Coy. In general form they resemble the so-called Australian Flying Squirrel (q.v.), save for the absence of the parachute. They have large naked ears. (Grk. gymnos, naked, and Latin, belideus, the Flying-Phalanger or Squirrel.)

<hw>Gymnorrhina</hw>, n. the scientific name of the Australian genus of Piping Crow-Shrikes, called locally by the vernacular name of Magpies (q.v.). They have the nostrils and beak unfeathered. (Grk. gymnos, naked, and rhis, nose.) For the species see under Magpie.

H

<hw>Haddock</hw>, n. The New Zealand Haddock is Gadus australis, Hutton, Pseudophycis barbatus, Gunth., and Merlucius gayi, Guich., or australis, Hutton, all belonging to the family Gadidae or Cod-fishes. The European species of Merlucius is known as the "Hake."

<hw>Haeremai</hw>, interj. Maori term of welcome, lit. come hither; haere is the verb. It has been colloquially adopted.

1769. J. Hawkesworth, `Voyages,' vol. iii. p. 229 (ed. 1785):

"When they came near enough to be heard, they waved their hands, and called out `Horomai.' These ceremonies we were told were certain signs of their friendly disposition."

1832. `Henry Williams' Journal,' in H. Carleton's `Life of Henry Williams,' p. 112:

"After breakfast we went to them all; they were very glad to see us, and gave us the usual welcome, `Haeremai! Haeremai!'"

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' p. 249:

"As I ascended the steep hill with my train, scarcely any greeting was addressed to me, no shouts of haeremai, so universal a welcome to the stranger, were to be heard."

1863. F. E. Maning (The Pakeha-Maori ), `Old New Zealand,' p. 14:

"The boat nears the shore, and now arises from a hundred voices the call of welcome, `Haere mai! haere mai! hoe mai!' Mats, hands, and certain ragged petticoats all waving in the air in sign of welcome. Then a pause. Then, as the boat came nearer, another burst of haere mai! But unaccustomed as I was then to the Maori salute, I disliked the sound. There was a wailing, melancholy cadence that did not strike me as being the appropriate note of welcome."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' (English edition) p. 438:

"Rev. Mr. Chapman received me at his garden gate with a hearty welcome, the natives shouted their friendly `haeremai,' and ere long we were all in comfortable shelter beneath the missionary's roof."

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 34:

"Haire mai ho! 'tis the welcome song
Rings far on the summer air."

<hw>Hair-trigger</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for any plant of genus Stylidium. Called also Trigger-plant, and Jack in a Box (q.v.).

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 71:

"The Stylidium, or as we named it, the `Hair-trigger,' is common all over the colony."

<hw>Haka</hw>, n. Maori word for a dance.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' p. 198:

"A haka was now performed by about one hundred and fifty men and women. They seated themselves in ranks in one of the courtyards of the pa, stripped to the waist. An old chieftainess, who moved along the ranks with regular steps, brandishing an ornamental spear in time to her movements, now recited the first verse of a song in a monotonous, dirge-like measure. This was joined in by the others, who also kept time by quivering their hands and arms, nodding their heads and bending their bodies in accordance with each emphasis and pause."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' c. xvi. p. 409 (3rd ed. 1855):

"I witnessed a national spectacle which was new to me—a sort of incantation performed by women alone—the haka, I think it is called."

1872. A.Domett, `Ranolf,' XV. c. vi. p. 242:

"The haka-dances, where she shone supreme."

1873. `Appendix to Journal of House of Representatives,' G. I, B., p. 8:

"Thursday was passed by them [the natives] in feasting and hakas."

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 34:

"A rushing throng in the furious haka share."

1896. `Otago Witness,' Jan. 23, p. 50, col. 5:

"He also received a visit from three or four hostile natives, who, with blood-curdling yells, duly performed the indispensable haka."

<hw>Hakea</hw>, n. the scientific name given, in honour of Baron Hake of Hanover, to "a large Australian genus of plants belonging to the follicular section of the Proteaceae, tribe Grevilleae, and distinguished from Grevillea by its axillary inflorescence and samaroid seeds. The species, nearly 100 in number [Maiden's index to `Useful Native Plants' gives sixteen], are all evergreen shrubs, or small trees, with alternate coriaceous, variously lobed, often spiny leaves. They are ornamental in cultivation, and several have acquired special names—H. ulicina, Native Furze; H. laurina, Cushion-flower; H. acicularis (Lissosperma), Native Pear; H. flexilis, Twine-bush." (`Century.')

1877. F. v. Muller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 50:

"Proteaceae are more extensively still represented in Victoria by the well known genera Grevillea and Hakea, the former dedicated to the Right Hon. C. F. Greville, of Paddington, the latter genus named in honour of Baron Hake, of Hanover, both having been alike patrons of horticulture at the end of the last century."

1897. `The Australasian,' Jan. 30, p. 226, col. 3:

"Recently, according to `Nature,' Mr. G. M. Thomson, an eminent authority on New Zealand botany, has shown that one of the genera, namely Hakea, though absent at present from the islands [of New Zealand], formerly existed there. Plant remains were found at St. Bathans, in a bed of clay, which have been identified by him as Hakea. The question of the identification of fossil plants is always a difficult one, but as Mr. Thomson announces that he has obtained fruit capsules and leaves there can be but little doubt as to the correctness of his determinations. Hitherto the genus has been regarded as Australian only, and about 100 species are known, of which no less than 65 are West Australian. It would seem then that the Hakeas had obtained a footing in Eastern Australia before the connection with New Zealand had disappeared, and that probably the genus is a far older one than had been anticipated. Why, after finding its way to New Zealand, it should have died out there is a question to which no answer can as yet be supplied."

<hw>Hand-fish</hw>, n. a Tasmanian fish, Brachionichthys hirsutus, Lacep., family Pediculati. The name is used in the northern hemisphere for a different fish, which is also called there the Frog-fish and Toad-fish. The name arises from a fancied resemblance of the profile of the fish to a human hand. It is also called Frog-fish and Tortoise-shell fish. Mrs. Meredith calls it Tortoise-shell Fish from its colour, when figuring it in `Tasmanian Friends and Foes' under its former scientific name of Cheironectes Politus. The surface of its skin is hirsute with minute spines, and the lobe at the end of the detached filament of the dorsal fin—called the fintacle—hangs loose. The scientific names of the genus are derived from Grk. brachiown, "the arm," and cheir, "the hand." The armlike pectoral fins are used for holding on to stones or seaweed.

1850. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' Jan. 9, vol. i. p. 268:

"A little spotted fish belonging to the genus Chironectes . . . Mr. Champ writes thus respecting the frog fish:— `It was found in the sea at Port Arthur by a person who was with me, and when caught had all the appearance of having four legs, from the position and shape of the fins; the two longest of which, from the sort of elbow in them, and the division into (rays) what resemble fingers, seem to form a connecting link between fins and legs or arms.'"

1880. Mrs.'Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 249:

"It has fins like feet; one small pair where pectoral fins usually are, and a larger pair, with absolute elbows to them, and apparently shoulder-blades too, only those do not belong to the fore pair of feet! A very antipodean arrangement truly! The markings on the body and on the delicate pellucid fins are like tortoise-shell."

<hw>Hand, Old</hw>, n. one who has been a convict.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 141:

"The men who have been convicts are termed `old hands'; they are mostly rude, rough men, with no moral principle or religious feeling, and who have little sympathy for humanity."

1865. J. O. Tucker, `Australian Story,' c. i. p. 85:

"Reformed convicts, or, in the language of their proverbial cant, `old hands.'"

1865. F. H. Nixon, `Peter Perfume,' p. 102:

"`Boshman' in the old-hand vernacular signifies a fiddler."
["Bosh in gypsy means music and also violin." -Barrere and
Leland.]

1885. J. Rae, `Chirps by an Australian Sparrow,' p. 99:

"The old hands were quite tidy too
With hats of cabbage-tree."

<hw>Hang up</hw>, v. to tie up a horse.

1860. W. Kelly, `Life in Victoria,' p. 49 [Footnote]:

"In Melbourne there are posts sunk in the ground almost opposite every door. . . . Fastening your horse to one of these posts is called `hanging him up.'"

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 32:

"We got off, hung our horses up to a tree."

1890. E. W. Hornung, `Bride from the Bush,' p. 296:

"The mail-boy is waiting impatiently in the verandah, with his horse `hung up' to one of the posts."

<hw>Hapalote</hw>, n. Anglicized form of Hapalotis (Grk. hapalos, soft, and 'ous, 'owtis) ear), a peculiar Australian genus of rodents of the mouse family. They are called Jumping Mice, and have soft ears, and enlarged hind limbs like the jerboa, but are not marsupial like the kangaroo. There are many species.

<hw>Hapu</hw>, n. Maori word for sub-tribe; sometimes even, family.

1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand, the Britain of the South,' vol. i. p. 162:

"The 70,000 semi-civilised natives now in New Zealand are divided into some dozen chief tribes, and into numerous sub-tribes and `harpu.'"

1873. `Appendix to Journals of House of Representatives,' vol. iii. G. 7, p. 87:

"Were not all your hapu present when the money was paid? My hapu, through whom the land Nvas claimed, were present: we filled the room."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 171:

"An important structure that engaged the united labours of the hapu."

1887. J. White, `Ancient History of the Maori,' vol. i. p. 290:

"Each of which is subdivided again into Hapu, or smaller communities."

1891. Rev. J. Stacks, `Report of Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,' vol. iii. sect. G. p. 378:

"On arriving in New Zealand, or Ao-tea-roa, the crews of the colonizing fleet dispersed themselves over the length and breadth of these islands, and formed independent tribes or nations, each of which was divided into hapus and the hapus into families."

<hw>Hapuku</hw>, n. Maori name for a fish, Oligorus gigas, Gunth., called later Polyprion prognathus (see quotation, 1895), pronounced hapuka, frequently corrupted into habuka, the Groper (q.v.). It is variously called a Cod, a Perch and a Sea-Perch. See quotations.

1845 (about). `New Plymouth's National Song,' Hursthouse's `New Zealand,' p 217:

"Lowing herds on every side,
Hapuka in every tide."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui, p. 411:

"Hapuku, or whapuku, commonly called the cod, but a much richer fish in flavour: externally it more resembles the salmon, and is known in New Holland as the dew or Jew-fish. It attains a large size and is considered the best fish of New Zealand."

1862. Anon., `From the Black Rocks on Friday,' `All the Year Round,' May 17, 1862, No. 160:

"A kind of codfish called by the natives whapuku or hahpuka."

1878. P. Thomson, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. XI. art. lii. p. 383:

"The hapuka, or groper, was in pretty regular supply."

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 392:

"The second (Oligorus gigas) is found in the sea, on the coast of New Zealand, and called by the Maoris and colonists `Hapuku' . . . Dr. Hector, who has had opportunities of examining it in a fresh state, has pointed out anatomical differences from the Murray Cod."

1880. W. Colenso, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. XIII. art. ii. p. 46:

"A feast of good things prepared—eels, and hapuku (codfish), and taro."

1884. W. D. Hay, in the `Field,' May 10, p. 637, col. 1:

"The pakirikiri(Percis colias) is the fish to which settlers in the north of New Zealand generally give the name of whapuka."

1895. `Oxford English Dictionary' (s.v.Cod):

"In New Zealand, a serranoid fish Polyprion prognathus, called by the Maories hapuku."

<hw>Hardhead</hw>, n, the English sportsman's name for the ruddy duck (Erismatura rubida). Applied by sportsmen in Australia to the White-eyed Duck, Nyroca australis, Gould. See Duck.

<hw>Hardwood</hw>, n. The name is applied to many Australian timbers something like teak, but especially to Backhousia bancroftii, F. v. M. and Bailey, N.O. Myrtaceae. In Tasmania, it means any gum-timber (Eucalyptus). It is in constant and universal use for building and fencing in Australia.

1888. Candish, `Whispering Voices,' p. 108:

"Sitting on a block of hardwood . . . is the gray-haired forest feller."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. iii. p. 24:

"It was a hammer-like piece of hardwood above a plate of tin."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 93:

"A hardwood slab-door weighs a goodish deal, as any one may find out that has to hump it a hundred yards."

Hardyhead, n. name given in Sydney to the fish Atherina pinguis, Lacep., family Atherinidae.

<hw>Hare-Kangaroo</hw>, n. a small Kangaroo, resembling the British hare. Called also Hare-Wallaby. The scientific name is Lagorchestes (q.v.).

1871. G. Krefft, `Mammals of Australia':

"The Hare-kangaroos, so called from their resemblance to that well known rodent, are the fleetest of the whole tribe, and though they do not exceed a common hare in bulk, they can make clear jumps of eight and ten feet high."

<hw>Hare-Wallaby</hw>, n. See Hare-Kangaroo, Wallaby, and Lagorchestes.

<hw>Harlequin-Pigeon</hw>, n. formerly referred to the genus Peristera, but now to the genus Phaps. It is commonly called in the interior the "flock" pigeon.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 296:

"Large flocks of Peristera histrionica (the harlequin- pigeon) were lying on the patches of burnt grass on the plains."

<hw>Harmonic Thrush</hw>, n. See Port Jackson Thrush.

<hw>Harpagornis</hw>, n. a scientific name for a partly fossilised, huge raptorial bird of New Zealand. From Greek HARPA? harpax robbing, and 'ornis, a bird.

1878. A. Newton, `Encyclopaedia Britannica,' vol. iii. p. 731:

"There is a harpagornis, a bird of prey of stature sufficient to have made the largest dinornis its quarry."

<hw>Harrier</hw>, n. English bird-name (that which harries), assigned in New Zealand to Circus gouldii, Bonap. (also called Swamp-hawk), and in Australia to C. assimilis, Jard. and Selb., or C. approximans, Bonap., called Spotted Harrier.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 206:

"Circus Gouldi, Bonap., New Zealand harrier, or Gould's harrier."

<hw>Hat, Black</hw>, n. slang for a new immigrant.

1887. R. M. Praed, `Longleat of Kooralbyn,' c. xxviii. p. 277:

"Lord! if I were Mr. Dyson Maddox, I'd never let it be said that a black hat had cut me out sweetheartin'."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. iii. p. 21:

"A `black hat' in Australian parlance means a new arrival."

<hw>Hat, Old</hw>. See Old-hat.

<hw>Hatter</hw>. (1) A solitary miner—miner who works without a mate partner: sc. one who has everything under his own hat.

1869. Brough Smyth, `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 613 (`Glossary of Mining Terms'):

"One who works alone. He differs from the fossicker who rifles old workings, or spends his time in trying abandoned washdirt. The hatter leads an independent life, and nearly always holds a claim under the bye-laws."

1884. R. L. A.Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 267:

"Oh, a regular rum old stick; . . . he mostly works a `hatter.' He has worked with mates at times, and leaves them when the claim is done, and comes up a `hatter' again. He's a regular old miser."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Miner's Right,' p. 37:

"Instead of having to take to fossicking like so many `hatters' —solitary miners."

(2) By extension to other professions.

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Aug. 28, p. i. col. 7:

"He had been a burglar of the kind known among the criminal classes as `a hatter.' That is to say, he burgled `on his own hook,' never in a gang. He had never, he told me, burgled with a companion."

<hw>Hatteria</hw>, n. scientific name for a genus of reptiles containing a Lizard peculiar to New Zealand, the only living representative of the order Rhynchocephalinae. See Tuatara.

<hw>Hatting</hw>, quasi pres. partic., solitary mining. See Hatter.

1891. `The Age,' Nov. 25, p. 6, col. 7:

"Two old miners have been hatting for gold amongst the old alluvial gullies."

<hw>Hat-tree</hw>, n. name given to a species of Sterculia, the Bottle-trees (q.v.).

<hw>Hau-hau</hw>, n. a Maori superstition. This superstition arose in Taranaki in 1864, through the crazy fancies of the chief Te Ua, who communed with angels and interpreted the Bible. The meaning of the word is obscure, but it probably referred to the wind which wafted the angels to the worshippers whilst dancing round an erect pole. Pai Marire was another name for the superstition, and signifies "good and peaceful." (See Gudgeon's `War in New Zealand,' p. 23 sq.; also Colenso's pamphlet on `Kereopa,' p. 4.)

<hw>Hawk</hw>, n. This common English bird-name is applied in Australia to many species—

Brown-Hawk—
Hieracadiea orientalis, Sehl.

Crested-H.—
Baza subcristata, Gould.

Eagle-H.—
Another name for Wedge-tailed Eagle. (See Eagle
and Eagle-hawk.)

Fish-H.—
Another name for Osprey. (See Fish-hawk.)

Gos-H.—
Astur approximans, V. and H.

Grey Gos-H.—
A. cinereus, Vieill.

Lesser Gos-H.—
A. cruentus, Gould.

Lesser White Gos-H.—
A. leucosomus, Sharpe.

Red Gos-H.—
A. radiatus, Lath.

Sparrow-H.—
Accipiter cirrhocephalus, Vieill.

Striped Brown-H.—
Hieracidea berigora, V. and H. [See Berigora.]

Swamp-H. [See Harrier.]

White Gos-H.— Astur novae-hollandiae, Gm.

See also Nankeen-Hawk, and Night-Hawk.

In New Zealand, the varieties appear in the quotation, 1889.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 206:
[A complete description.]

1889. Prof. Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 117:

"Of the three species recognized, two, the quail-hawk (Harpa Novae Zealandiae) and the bush-hawk (H. ferox) [or sparrow-hawk], belong to a genus peculiar to New Zealand." [The third is the New Zealand harrier, Circus Gouldi, also found in Australia.]

<hw>Hazel</hw>, n. name applied in Victoria to the tree Pomaderris apetala, Labill., N.O. Rhamnaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden. `Useful Native Plants,' p. 590:

"Called `hazel' in `Victoria. A tall shrub, or small tree. The wood is excellent, of a beautiful satiny texture, and adapted for carvers' and turners' work. [Grows in] all the colonies except Western Australia and Queensland."

<hw>Head</hw>, n. the rammer for crushing quartz in gold-mining.

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p.7:

"Forty additional heads will be shortly added to the crushing power, bringing the battery up to sixty heads."

<hw>Head-Station</hw>, n. the principal buildings, including the owner's or manager's house, the hut, store, etc., of a sheep or cattle run.

1885. Mrs. Campbell Praed [Title]:

"The Head Station."

<hw>Heart-Pea</hw>, n. i.q. Balloon-Vine (q.v.).

<hw>Heartsease</hw>, n. i.q. Brooklime, (q.v.).

<hw>Heartseed</hw>, n. i.q. Balloon-Vine (q.v.)

<hw>Heartwood</hw>. n. See Ironwood.

<hw>Heath</hw>, n. In Tasmania, where the Epacris is of very beautiful colour, this name is popularly used for Epacris impressa, Labill., N.O. Epacrideae. See Epacris.

<hw>Hedgehog-Fruit</hw>, n. Popular name applied to the fruit of Echinocarpus australis, Benth., N.O. Tiliaceae. The tree is also called Maiden's Blush (q.v.).

<hw>Hedge-Laurel</hw>, n. a name given to the tree Mapau (q.v.), an evergreen shrub of New Zealand, of the genus Pittosporum (q.v.). It has dark glossy foliage and handsome flowers, and is planted and cultivated in the form of tall garden hedges. See also Laurel.

<hw>Hei-tiki</hw>, n. Maori name for a neck ornament made of greenstone (q.v.).

1835. W. Yate, `Account of New Zealand,' p. 151:

"The latter idea [that they are representatives of gods] was conceived from the hei-tiki being taken off the neck, laid down . . . and then wept and sung over."

1889. Dr. Hocken, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 81:

"Hei means ornament for the neck. Tiki was the creator of man, and these are the representations of him. By a sort of license, they are occasionally taken to represent some renowned ancestor of the possessor; but wooden Tikis, some of immense size, usually represented the ancestors, and were supposed to be visited by their spirits. These might be erected in various parts of a pa, or to mark boundaries, etc. The Maories cling to them as sacred heirlooms of past generations, and with some superstitious reverence."

<hw>Helmet-Orchis</hw>, n. This English name is applied in Australia to the orchid Pterostylis cucullata, R. Br.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 168:

"I also found three varieties of a singular green orchis, of a helmet shape, growing singly, on rather tall slender footstalks."

<hw>Hemp, Queensland</hw>, n. name given to the common tropical weed Sida rhombifolia, Linn., N.O. Malvaceae. Called also Paddy Lucerne, and in other colonies Native Lucerne, and Jelly Leaf. It is not endemic in Australia.

<hw>Hemp-bush, n.</hw> the plant Plagianthus pulchellus, A. Gray, N.O. Halvaceae, native of Australia and New Zealand. Though not true hemp (cannabis), it yields a fibre commercially resembling it.

<hw>He-Oak</hw>, n. See Oak and She-Oak.

Heron, n. common English bird-name. The species present in Australia are—

Ashy Reef H.—
Demiegretta asha, Sykes.

Great-billed H.—
Ardea sumatrana, Rafll.

Grey H.—
A. cinerea, Linn.

Night H.—
Nycticorax caledonicus, Lath.

Reef H.—
Demiegretta sacra, Gmel.

White-fronted H.—
Ardea novae-hollandiae, Lath.

White-necked H.—
A. pacifica, Lath.

The Cranes and the Herons are often popularly confused.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' p. 11:

"There did I shoot . . . a blue crane—the Australian heron."

<hw>Herring</hw>, n. Various species of Clupeidae, to which the European Herring belongs, are known by this name in Australasia, and the word is also applied to an entirely different fish, Prototroctes maraena, Gunth., the Yarra Herring, Freshwater Herring, Grayling (q.v.), or Cucumber-Mullet, found in the rivers of Victoria or Tasmania. The Clupeidae are Clupea sagax (called also Maray, q.v., and Pilchard), C. sundaica, C. hypselosoma Bleek., C. novae-hollandiae, Cuv, and Val., C. vittata, Castln, (called the Smelt, q.v.), and others. In Western Australia Chatoessus erebi, Richards., is called the Perth Herring. See also Picton Herring, Aua, and Sardine.

<hw>Herring-cale</hw>, n. name given in New South Wales to the fish Olistherops brunneus, Macl., family Labridae, or Wrasses.

<hw>Hickory</hw>, n. The name Hickory is originally American, and is derived from the North-American Indian; its earliest form was Pohickery. The tree belongs to the genus Carya. The wood is excellent for gig-shafts, carriage-poles, fishing-rods, etc. The name is applied in Australia to various trees whose wood is suitable for similar purposes. In Tasmania, the name Hickory is given to Eriostemon squameus, Labill., N.O. Rutacea. Native Hickory, or Hickory-Acacia, is Acacia leprosa, Sieb., N.O. Leguminosae, and in the southern part of New South Wales, Acacia melanoxylon. (Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 358.)

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. v. p. 35:

"The beautiful umbrageous blackwood, or native hickory, one of the handsomest trees in Australia."

<hw>Hickory-Eucalypt</hw>, n. one of the names for the tree Eucalyptus punctata, DeC., N.O. Myrtaceae. Called also Leather-jacket (q.v.).

<hw>Hickory-Wattle</hw>, n. a Queensland name for Acacia aulacocarpa, Cunn., N.O. Leguminosae; called Hickory about Brisbane.

<hw>Hielaman</hw>, n. a word of Sydney and neighbourhood. The initial h, now frequently used by the natives, is not found in the earliest forms. The termination man is also English. Elimang (Hunter), e-lee-mong (Collins), hilaman (Ridley). A narrow shield of an aboriginal, made of bark or wood. Notice Mr. Grant's remarkable plural (1881 quotation).

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' p. 612:

"E-lee-mong-shield made of bark."

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. 5:

"As an initial, h occurs in only a few words, such as hilaman, a `shield.'"

Ibid. p. 10:

"As a barbarism, `hillimung-a shield.'"

[A barbarism means with Mr. Threlkeld little more than "not belonging to the Hunter district."]

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' vol. ii. p. 349:

"There is much originality in the shield or hieleman of these people. It is merely a piece of wood, of little thickness, and two feet, eight inches long, tapering to each end, cut to an edge outwards, and having a handle or hole in the middle, behind the thickest part."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1355), p. 102:

"The hieleman or shield is a piece of wood, about two and a half feet long, tapering to the ends, with a bevelled face not more than four inches wide at the broadest part, behind which the left hand passing through a hole is perfectly guarded."

1865. S. Bennett, `Australian Discovery,' p. 251:

"Hieleman, a shield. Saxon, heilan; English, helm or helmet (a little shield for the head)."

[This is a remarkable contribution to philological lore. In no dictionary is the Saxon "heilan" to be found, and a misprint may charitably be suspected. There is no doubt that the h is an English Cockney addition to the aboriginal word. It would need an ingenious fancy to connect "e-leemong" with "helm."]

1873. J. B. Stephens, `Black Gin, etc.,' p. 26:

"No faint far hearing of the waddies banging
Of club and heelaman together clanging,
War shouts and universal boomeranging."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 66:

"Nullah-nullahs, paddy-melon sticks, boomerangs, tomahawks, and heelimen or shields lay about in every direction."

<hw>Hielaman-tree</hw>, n. another name for the Bats-wing Coral (q.v.), Erythrina vespertilio, Benth., N.O. Leguminosae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 426:

"`Heilaman [sic] tree.' The wood is soft, and used by the aborigines for making their `heilamans' or shields."

<hw>Hinau</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand tree, Elaeocarpus dentatus, Vahl., N.O. Tiliaceae.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 317:

"Another export was much talked of. This was the bark of the hinau, a large forest tree which abounds all over the country near Cook's Strait. The natives extract from this bark the black dye for their mats."

1873. `Catalogue of Vienna Exhibition':

"Hinau—a white wood used for turner's work."

Ibid.:

"The natives produce the black dye for their flax-work, for which purpose the bark is first bruised and boiled for a short time. When cold the flax is put into the mixture . . . it is then steeped thoroughly for two days in red swamp mud, rich in peroxide of iron."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 130:

"Hinau, a small tree about fifty feet high and eighteen inches thick in stem, with brown bark which yields a permanent blue-black dye, used for tanning . . . used by Maoris for colouring mats and baskets. Wood a yellowish brown colour and close-grained; very durable for fencing and piles."

<hw>Hoki</hw>, n. a New Zealand fish, Coryphaenoides novae-zelandiae. Coryphaenoides belongs to the family Macruridae, which are deep-sea Gadoids. See Tasmanian Whip-tail.

<hw>Holly, Native</hw>, n. name given in Australia to the tree Lomatia ilicifolia, R. Br., N.O. Proteaceae, and in Tasmania to Coprosma hirtella, Labill., N.O. Rubiaceae; called also Coffee Plant.

<hw>Holly, Smooth</hw>, n. name given to the tree Hedycarya angustifolia, A. Cunn., N.O. Monimiaceae; called also Native Mulberry.

<hw>Hollyhock-tree</hw>, n. name given to Hibiscus splendens, Fraser, N.O. Malvaceae.

<hw>Holy City</hw>, n. a nickname for Adelaide. See Farinaceous City.

1875. R. and F. Hill, `What we Saw in Australia,' p. 264:

". . . including so many churches that we are at a loss to understand why Adelaide should, in virtue of her supposed superabundance, be nicknamed by her neighbours the Holy City."

<hw>Holy-cross Toad</hw>, n. See Catholic Frog.

<hw>Holy-Dollar</hw>, n. punning name for a dollar out of which a Dump (q.v.) had been punched.

1822. `Hobart Town Gazette,' Aug. 10 [Proclamation by Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor-in-Chief of New South Wales and its dependencies, then including Van Diemen's Land]

"Whereas in the Year of our Lord 1813, it was deemed expedient to send a Quantity of Spanish Dollars to the Colony. . . . And whereas His Excellency, the then Governor, thought proper to direct, that every such Dollar, with a small circular Piece of Silver, struck out of its Centre, should be current within this Territory, and every part thereof, for the Sum of Five Shillings."

[These were called holy (holey) dollars, or ring dollars, though the name does not occur in the above quotation.]

1857. D. Bunce, `Australasiatic Reminiscences,' p. 59:

"We were more particularly struck with the character and various kinds of currency [in Tasmania in 1833]. Our first change for a pound consisted of two dumps, two holy dollars, one Spanish dollar, one French coin, one half-crown, one shilling, and one sixpence."

<hw>Honey-Ant</hw>, n. name given to various species of Ants, in which the body of certain individuals becomes enormously distended by sweet food with which they are fed by the worker ants, for whom this store of honey serves as a food supply. When the side of the distended abdomen is tapped, the ant passes the `honey' out of its mouth, and it is then eaten. Three species are known in Australia, Camponotus inflatus, Lubbock; C. cowlei, Froggatt; and C. midas, Froggatt. The aboriginal name of the first is `Yarumpa.'

1896. W. W. Froggatt, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' pt. ii. p. 386:

"Our Australian honey ants belong to the genus Camponotus, members of which are found to all parts of the world, and are known as `sugar-ants,' from their fondness for all kinds of sweets."

<hw>Honey-bird</hw>, n. See next word.

<hw>Honey-eater</hw>, n. an Australian bird, with a tongue specially adapted for being formed into a tube for the absorption of honey from flowers. The name is applied to the following species—

Banded Honey-eater—
Myzomela pectoralis, Gould.

Black H.—
M. nigra, Gould.

Black-chinned H.—
Melithreptus gularis, Gould.

Black-headed H.—
M. melanocephalus, Gould.

Blue-faced H.—
Entomyza cyanotis, Swain. [See Blue-eye.]

Bridled H.—
Ptilotis frenata, Ramsay.

Broadbent H.—
Stigmatops alboauricularis, Ramsay.

Brown H.—
S. ocularis, Gould.

Brown-backed H.—
Glyciphila modesta, Gray.

Brown-headed H.—
Melithreptus brevirostrus.

Cockerill H.-
Ptilotis cockerelli, Gould.

Crescent H.—
Meliornis australasiana, Shaw.

Dusky H.—
Myzomela obscura, Gould.

Fasciated H.—
Ptilotis fasciogularis, Gould.

Fuscous H.—
P. fusca, Gould.

Gay H.—
Melithreptus vinitinatus, Gould.

Golden-backed H.—
M. latior, Gould.

Helmeted H.—
Ptilotis cassidix, Jard.

Least H.—
Stigmatops subocularis,

Long-billed H.—
Meliornis longirostris, Gould.

Moustached H.—
M. mystacalis, Gould.

New Holland H.—
M. novae-hollandiae, Lath.

Painted H.—
Entomophila picta, Gould.

Pied H.—
Certhionyx leucomelas, Cuv.

Red-headed Honey-eater—
Myzomela erythrocephala, Gould.

Red-throated H.—
Entomophila rufigularis,

Rufous-breasted H.—
E. albigularis, Gould.

Sanguineous H.—
Myzomela sanguineolenta, Lath. [See Blood-bird.]

Singing H.—
Ptilotis vittata, Cuv.

Spiny-cheeked H.—
Acanthochaea rufigularis, Gould.

Streak-naped H.—
Ptilotis filigera, Gould.

Striped H.—
Plectorhyncha lanceolata, Gould.

Strong-billed H.— Melithreptus validirostris, Gould. [See also Cherry picker.]

Tawny-crowned H.—
Glyciphila fulvifrons, Lewin.

Varied H.—
Ptilotis versicolor, Gould.

Warty-faced H.— Meliphaga phrygia, Lath. (Called also the Mock Regent-bird, q.v.)

Wattle-cheeked H.—
Ptilotis cratitia, Gould.

White-breasted H.—
Glyciphila fasciata, Gould.

White-cheeked H.—
Meliornis sericea, Gould.

White-eared H.—
Ptilotis leucotis, Lath.

White-fronted H.—
Glyciphila albifrons, Gould.

White-gaped H.—
Stomiopora unicolor, Gould.

White-naped H.—
Melithreptus lunulatus, Shaw. [See also Golden-Eye.]

White-plumed H.—
Ptilotis penicillata, Gould.

White-quilled H.—
Entomyza albipennis, Gould.

White-throated H.—
Melithreptus albogularis, Gould.

Yellow H.—
Ptilotis flavescens, Gould.

Yellow-eared H.—
P. lewini, Swains.

Yellow-faced H.—
P. chrysops, Lath.

Yellow-fronted H.—
P. plumula, Gould.

Yellow-plumed H.—
P. ornata, Gould.

Yellow-spotted H.—
P. gracilis, Gould.

Yellow-streaked H.—
P. macleayana, Ramsay.

Yellow-throated H.—
P. flavicollis, Vieill.

Yellow-tinted H.—
P. flava, Gould.

Yellow-tufted H.—
P. auricomis, Lath.

Gould enumerated the species, nearly fifty years ago, in his `Birds of Australia' (vol. iv.) as follows:—

Plate

Meliphaga Novae-Hollandiae, Vig. and Horsf, New Holland Honey-eater … … … … 23

M. longirostris, Gould, Long-billed H. … 24

M. sericea, Gould, White-cheeked H. … … 25

M. mystacalis, Gould, Moustached H. … … 26

M. Australasiana, Vig. and Horsf, Tasmanian H. 27

Glyciphila fulvifrons, Swains., Fulvous-fronted H. … … 28

G. albifrons, Gould, White-fronted H. … 29

G. fasciata, Gould, Fasciated H. … … 30

G. ocularis, Gould, Brown H. … … 31

Ptilotis chrysotis, Yellow-eared H…. … 32

P. sonorus, Gould, Singing H. … … 33

P. versicolor, Gould, Varied H. … … 34

P. flavigula, Gould, Yellow-throated H. … 35

P. leucotis, White-eared H. … … 36

P. auricomis, Yellow-tufted H. … … 37

P. cratilius, Gould, Wattle-cheeked H. … 38

P. ornatus, Gould, Graceful Ptilotis … 39

P. plumulus, Gould, Plumed P. … … 40

P. flavescens, Gould, Yellow-tinted H. … 41

P. flava, Gould, Yellow H. … … 42

P. penicillatus, Gould, White-plumed H. … 43

P. fuscus, Gould, Fuscous H. … … 44

P. chrysops, Yellow-faced H. … … 45

P. unicolor, Gould, Uniform H. … … 46

Plectorhyncha lanceolata, Gould, Lanceolate H. 47

Zanthomyza Phrygia, Swains., Warty-faced H. .. 48

Melicophila picata, Gould, Pied H. … … 49

Entomophila pitta, Gould, Painted H. … 50

E. albogularis, Gould, White-throated H. … 51

E. rufogularis, Gould, Red-throated H. … 52

Acanthogenys rufogularis, Gould, Spiny-cheeked H. … 53

Anthochaera inauris, Wattled H. … … 54

A. Carunculata, Wattled H. … … 55 [Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 106.]

Myzomela sanguinolenta, Sanguineous H. … 63

M. erythrocephala, Gould, Red-headed H. … 64

M. pectoralis, Gould, Banded H. … … 65

M. nigra, Gould, Black H. … … 66

M. obscura, Gould, Obscure H. … … 67

Entomyza cyanotis, Swains., Blue-faced Entomyza 68

E. albipennis, Gould, White-pinioned H. … 69

Melithreptus validirostris, Gould, Strong-billed H. … … 70

M. gularis, Gould, Black-throated H. … 71

M. lunulatus, Lunulated H. … … 72

M. brevirostris, Gould,

M. chloropsis, Gould, Swan River H. … 73

M. albogularis, Gould, White-throated H. (as well as pl. 51) … … 74

M. melanocephalus, Gould, Black-headed H. … 75

Myzantha garrula, Vig. and Horsf, Garrulous H. 76

M. obscura, Gould, Sombre H. … … 77

M. lutea, Gould, Luteous H. … … 78

In the Supplement of 1869 Gould adds—

Plate

Ptilotis cassidix, Jard., Helmeted H. … 39

P. fasciogularis, Gould, Fasciated H. … 40

P. notata, Gould, Yellow-spotted H. … 41

P. filigera, Gould, Streaked H. … 42

P. Cockerelli, Gould, Cockerell's H. … 43

Tropidorhynchus buceroides, Helmeted H. … 44

[Note.—The Brush Wattle-birds, Friar-birds, Spine-bills, and the Yellow-throated Minah, are known as Honey-eaters, and the whole series are sometimes called Honey-birds.]

1897. A. J. Campbell (in `The Australasian,' Jan. 23), p. 180, col. i:

"The honey-eaters or meliphagous birds are a peculiar and striking feature in Australian ornithology. As Gould points out, they are to the fauna what the eucalypts, banksias, and melaleucas are to the flora of Australia. They are closely adapted to feeding on these trees. That great author asks:— `What can be more plain than that the brushlike tongue is especially formed for gathering the honey from the flower-cups of the eucalypti, or that their diminutive stomachs are especially formed for this kind of food, and the peculiar insects which constitute a portion of it?'"

<hw>Honey-Eucalypt</hw>, n. See Box-tree, Yellow.

<hw>Honey-flower</hw>, n. Lambertia formosa, Smith, N.O. Proteaceae.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. iv. p. 101:

"They . . . returned . . . dreadfully exhausted, having existed chiefly by sucking the wild honey-flower and shrubs."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 37:

"`Honey-flower' or `honeysuckle,' a plant as well known to small boys about Sydney as to birds and insects. It obtains its vernacular name on account of the large quantity of a clear honey-like liquid the flowers contain. After sucking some quantity the liquid generally produces nausea and headache."

<hw>Honey-plant</hw>, n. name given in Tasmania to Richea scoparia Hook., N.O. Epacris.

<hw>Honeysuckle</hw>, n. name given to the Banksias (q.v.); also called Bottle-brush (q.v.). The species are—

Coast Honeysuckle—
Banksia integrifolia, Linn.

Common H.—
B. marginata, Cav.

Heath H.—
B. serrata, Linn.

New Zealand H.—
Knightia excelsa, R.Br.

Silvery H.—
Grevillea striata, R.Br.

Tasmanian H.—
Banksia margirata, Cav. /sic. Probably marginata/

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 125:

"Some scattered honeysuckles, as they, are called, but which, being specimens of a ligneous evergreen shrub (Banksia Australis), my English reader will please not to assimilate in his mind's eye in any respect with the woodbine."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 84:

"The honeysuckle (Banksia integrifolia) will greatly disappoint those who, from its name, expect to see anything similar to the sweet-scented climbers of English hedges and gardens—this being a tree attaining to thirty or forty feet in height, with spiral yellow flowers. The blossoms at the proper seasons yield a great quantity of honey, which on a dewy morning may be observed dropping from the flowers."

1848. Letter by Mrs. Perry, given in Goodman's `Church in Victoria during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 83:

"In the course of our journey today we passed through a thin wood of honeysuckle trees, for, I should think, about three miles. They take their name from the quantity of honey contained in the yellow cone-shaped flower, which is much prized and sucked by the natives—the aborigines, I mean."

1852. Mrs. Meredith, 'My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 164:

"The honeysuckle-tree (Banksia latifolia) is so unreasonably named . . . so very unlike any sort or species of the sweet old flower whose name it so unfittingly bears. . . . The blossoms form cones, which when in full bloom, are much the size and shape of a large English teazel, and are of a greenish yellow. . . . The honeysuckle trees grow to about thirty feet in height."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 10:

"Banksia, spp., N.O. Proteaceae. The name `honeysuckle' was applied to this genus by the early settlers, from the fact that the flowers, when in full bloom, contain, in a greater or lesser quantity, a sweet, honey-like liquid, which is secreted in considerable quantities, especially after a dewy night, and is eagerly sucked out by the aborigines."

1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 271:

"It [banksia] is called the `honeysuckle' by the people of Australia, though it has no resemblance to an English honeysuckle. Many of the banksias grow into stately trees."

<hw>Honeywood</hw>, n. name given in Tasmania to the tree Bedfordia salicina, DeC., N.O. Compositae; also there called Dogwood (q.v.).

<hw>Hoop-Pine</hw>, n. another name for the tree Araucaria cunninghami or Moreton-Bay Pine. See Pine.

<hw>Hoot</hw>, n. slang term for compensation, payment, money; characteristic corruption of Maori Utu (q.v.)

1896. `Truth' (Sydney), Jan. 12:

"There are several specimens of bush slang transplanted from the Maori language. `Hoot' is a very frequent synonym for money or wage. I have heard a shearer at the Pastoralist Union office in Sydney when he sought to ascertain the scale of remuneration, enquire of the gilt-edged clerk behind the barrier, `What's the hoot, mate?' The Maori equivalent for money is utu, pronounced by the Ngapuhi and other northern tribes with the last syllable clipped, and the word is very largely used by the kauri-gum diggers and station hands in the North Island. The original meaning of utu in Maori is `revenge.' When the missionaries first settled in New Zealand, they found that the savage inhabitants had no conception of any recompense except the grim recompense of blood. Under Christianizing influences the natives were induced to forego the blood-revenge for injuries, on receiving a solatium in goods or land, and so utu came to have the double meaning of revenge and recompense, and eventually became recognized as the Maori word for money."

<hw>Hop-bush</hw>, n. "the name for all species of Dodonaea" (Maiden, p. 417), N.O. Sapindaceae.

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Queensland Flora,' Synopsis, p. 82:

"The capsules of many Dodonaeas are used for hops, and thus the shrubs are known as hop-bushes in Queensland."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 621:

"`Hop-bush,' called `switch-sorrel' in Jamaica, and according to Dr. Bennett, `apiri' in Tahiti. Found in all the colonies."

<hw>Hopping-fish</hw>, or <hw>Climbing-fish</hw>, n. a fish of the north of New South Wales and of Queensland, Periophthalmus australis, Castln., family Gobiidae. Called also Skipper.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 27:

"On the confines of the northern boundaries of New South Wales may be seen a very remarkable Goby called the `Hopping-fish.' The pectoral fins are developed into regular legs, with which the fish hops or leaps along the mud flats . . . The eyes are on the top of the head, and very prominent, and moreover they can be thrust very far out of their sockets, and moved independently of one another, thus the fish can see long distances around, and overtake the small crabs in spite of the long stalks to their optics. It is a tropical form, yet it is said to be found on the mud-flats of the Richmond River."

<hw>Hops, Native</hw>, or <hw>Wild</hw>, n. In Australia, the fruit of the Hop-bush (see above), Dodonaea spp. In Tasmania, Daviesia latifolia, R.Br., N.O. Leguminosae, and called also there Bitter-Leaf.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 23:

"`Native hops,' on account of the capsules bearing some resemblance to hops, both in appearance and taste. In the early days of settlement the fruits of these trees were extensively used, yeast and beer of excellent quality being prepared from them. They are still so used to a small extent. D. attenuata, A. Cunn., for instance, was largely used in the Western District. In times of drought cattle and sheep eat them."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 7:

"The wild-hop scrub grew thickly, and the hidden ground was full
Of wombat-holes, and any slip was death."

<hw>Horizontal</hw>, n. a Tasmanian shrub, Anodopetalum biglandulosum, Cunn., N.O. Saxifrageae. Horizontal Scrub, peculiar to the island, occurs in the western forests; it derives its name from the direction of the growth of its lower stems, and constitutes a tedious obstacle to the progress of the traveller.

1888. R. M. Johnston, `Geology of Tasmania' [Introd. p. vii:

"The Horizontal is a tall shrub or tree. . . . Its peculiar habit—to which it owes its name and fame—is for the main stem to assume a horizontal and drooping position after attaining a considerable height, from which ascend secondary branches which in turn assume the same horizontal habit. From these spring tertiary branchlets, all of which interlock, and form . . . an almost impenetrable mass of vegetation."

1891. `The Australasian,' April 4: "That stuff as they calls horizontal, a mess of branches and root."

<hw>Hornerah</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a throwing-stick; a dialectic variation of Woomera (q.v.). a nonce-use.

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 20:

"I observed, too, that they used a stick, shaped thus __, \ called the hornerah (which assists them in throwing the spear)."

<hw>Horn-Ray</hw>, n. a New Zealand and Australian Ray, the fish Rhinobatus banksii, Mull and Heule. In this genus of Rays the cranial cartilage is produced into a long rostral process (Guenther): hence the name.

<hw>Horopito</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand shrub, Drimys axillaris, Forst., N.O. Magnoliaceae; called also Pepper-tree (q.v.).

1847. G. F. Angas, `Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 17:

A delicious fragrance, like that of hyacinth and jessamine mingled, filled the warm still air with its perfume. It arose from the petals of a straggling shrub, with bright green shining leaves resembling those of the nutmeg-tree; and a profusion of rich and delicate blossoms, looking like waxwork, and hanging in clusters of trumpet-shaped bells: I observed every shade of colour amongst them, from pinkish white to the deepest crimson, and the edges of the petals were irregularly jagged all round. The natives call this plant horopito."

Ibid. p. 75:

"The fuchsia and the horopito were also abundant."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 129:

"Horopito, pepper-tree, winter's bark. A small slender evergreen tree, very handsome. Whole plant aromatic and stimulant; used by the Maoris for various diseases. Wood very ornamental in cabinet-work."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 1:

"The Horopito, or pepper-tree of the settlers, is an ornamental shrub or small tree occurring in woods, on the margin of which it is sometimes found in great abundance."

<hw>Horse-Mackerel</hw>, n. The name is applied in Sydney to the fish Auxis ramsayi, Castln., family Scombridae. In New Zealand it is Caranx (or Trachurus) trachurus, Cuv. and Val., which is the same fish as the Horse-Mackerel of England. This is called Yellow-tail on the Australian coasts. See Trevally.

<hw>Horseradish-tree</hw>, n. name given to Codonocarpus cotinifolius, F. v. M., N.O. Phytolaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 164:

"`Quinine-tree,' `medicine-tree' of the interior. Called also `horse-radish tree' owing to the taste of the leaves. The bark contains a peculiar bitter, and no doubt possesses medicinal properties. The taste is, however, quite distinct from quinine."

<hw>Horseshoe-Fern</hw>, n. name given in New Zealand to the fern Marattia fraxinia, Sm., called in Australia the Potato-Fern. See under Fern.

<hw>Hot Wind</hw>, n. an Australian meteorological phenomenon. See quotations, especially 1879, A. R. Wallace. The phrase is of course used elsewhere, but its Australian use is peculiar. The hot wind blows from the North. Mr. H. C. Russell, the Government Astronomer of New South Wales, writes—"The hot wind of Australia is a circulation of wind about the anticyclone in the rear of which, as it moves to the east, there is a strong force of wind from north to north- west, which blowing over the heated plains of the interior gathers up its excessive temperature and carries it to the southern colonies. They seldom last more than two or three days in Sydney, and the great heat by which they are remembered never lasts more than a few hours of one day, and is always a sign of the end, which is an inrush of southerly wind, the circulation forming the front of the new incoming anticyclone."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' Vol. II. c. iii. p. 66:

"This was the only occasion upon which we felt the hot winds in the interior."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' Vol. II. c. vi. p. 243:

"These squalls generally succeed the hot winds that prevail at this season in South Australia, coming from the interior."

Footnote—"During the hot winds we observed the thermometer, in the direct rays of the sun, to be 135 degrees."

1846. Ibid. c. xii. p. 403:

"A hot wind set in; . . . at one time the thermometer at the public offices [Adelaide] was 158 degrees."

1849. C. Sturt, `Expedition into Central Australia,' vol. ii. p. 90:

"I sought shelter behind a large gum tree, but the blasts of heat were so terrific that I wondered the very grass did not take fire. . . . Everything, both animate and inanimate, gave way before it: the horses stood with their backs to the wind, and their noses to the ground, without the muscular strength to raise their heads; the birds were mute, and the leaves of the trees, under which we were sitting, fell like a snow shower around us. At noon I took a thermometer, graduated to 127 degrees, out of my box, and observed that the mercury was up to 125 degrees. Thinking that it had been unduly influenced, I put it in the fork of a tree close to me, sheltered alike from the wind and the sun. In this position I went to examine it about an hour afterwards, when I found that the mercury had risen to the top of the instrument, and that its further expansion had burst the bulb. . . . We had reached our destination, however, before the worst of the hot wind set in."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 25:

"The immediate cause of the hot winds has given rise to much speculation. . . . The favourite theory is that they are generated in the sandy plains of the interior, which becoming powerfully heated, pour their glowing breath upon the fertile regions of the south."

1871. Dingo, `Australian Rhymes,' p. 7:

"A hot wind swift envelopes me
In dust from foot to head."

1879. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' (1893) vol. i. p. 39:

"They are evidently produced by the sinking down to the surface of that north-westerly current of heated air which . . . is always passing overhead. The exact causes which bring it down cannot be determined, though it evidently depends on the comparative pressure of the atmosphere on the coast and in the interior. Where from any causes the north-west wind becomes more extensive and more powerful, or the sea breezes diminish, the former will displace the latter and produce a hot wind till an equilibrium is restored. It is the same wind passing constantly overhead which prevents the condensation of vapour, and is the cause of the almost uninterrupted sunny skies of the Australian summer."

1879. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' p. 40:

"Scientific men, however, tell us that those hot winds are just what make Australia so healthy a climate—that they act as scavengers, and without them the death-rate of the colonies would be alarmingly great."

<hw>Hot-windy</hw>, adj. See above.

1871. Dingo, `Australian Rhymes,' p. 18:

"A spell that still makes me forget
The dust and the hot-windy weather."

<hw>Houhere</hw>, or <hw>Hohere</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Hoheria populnea, A. Cunn., N.O. Malvaceae; called also Lacebark (q.v.) and xeRibbonwood (q.v.).

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 130:

"Houhere, ribbonwood of Dunedin. [The name is now more general.] An ornamental shrub-tree ten to thirty feet high. Bark fibrous and used for cordage, and affords a demulcent drink. Wood splits freely for shingles, but is not durable. . . . Bark used for making a tapa cloth by the Maoris in olden times."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 87:

"In one or other of its varied forms the `houhere' is found in nearly every district in N.Z. It is everywhere admired for its handsome foliage, and the beauty of its pure white flowers, which are produced in vast profusion during the early winter months. . . . The bark is capable of division into a number of layers. . . . By settlers all forms are termed `ribbonwood,' or less frequently `lace-bark'—names which are applied to other plants; they are also termed `thousand-jacket.'"

1895. `Longman's Geography Reader for New Zealand,' p. 231:

"The houhere is a small tree with beautiful white flowers, and the bark splits up into thin layers which look like delicate lace; hence the plant is called lace-bark or ribbon-wood by the colonists."

<hw>Houi</hw>, n. Maori name for New Zealand tree, Ribbonwood (q.v.), N.O. Malvaceae, kindred to Hoheria, Plagianthus Betulinus, sometimes called Howi. In Maori, the verb houwere means to tie, to bind: the outer bark was used for tying.

<hw>Hound</hw>, n. (sometimes <hw>Smooth Hound</hw>), the Old World name for all the sharks of the genus Mustelus ("the Hell-hound of the Deep"); applied specially in New South Wales and New Zealand to the species Mustelus antarcticus, Guenth., also called Gummy (q.v.).

<hw>Hovea</hw>, n. scientific name for a genus of shrubs. "After Anthony Pantaleon Hove, a Polish botanist. A small genus of highly ornamental leguminous shrubs, from Australia, having blue or purple flowers in axillary clusters, or very short racemes, alternate simple leaves, and short turgid pods." (`Century.')

<hw>Huia</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand bird, like a starling, Heteralocha acutirostris, Gould, of limited occurrence, chiefly found in North Island; having beak straight and short in the male, long and curved in female. The tail feathers are highly prized for ornament by the Maoris.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 91:

"The huia is a black bird about as large as a thrush, with long thin legs and a slender semi-circular beak, which he uses in seeking in holes of trees for the insects on which he feeds. In the tail are four long black feathers tipt with white. These feathers are much valued by the natives as ornaments for the hair on great occasions. . . . The natives attracted the birds by imitating the peculiar whistle, from which it takes the name of huia."

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 36:

"One snow-tipped hui feather graced his hair."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 7:

[A full description.]

<hw>Hump, to</hw>, v. to shoulder, carry on the back; especially, to hump the swag, or bluey, or drum. See Swag, Bluey, Drum.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 226:

"He `humped his swag,' in digger's phrase, that is, shouldered his pack and disappeared in the woods."

1857. `Geelong Advertiser,' quoted in `Argus,' Oct. 23, p. 5, col. 3:

"The despised old chum bought his swag, `humped it,' grumbled of course."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 93:

"A hardwood slab-door weighs a goodish deal, as any one may find out that has to hump it a hundred yards."

1893. Haddon Chambers, `Thumbnail Sketches of Australian Life,' p. 224:

"I `humped my swag'—i.e. tied my worldly possessions, consisting of a blanket, a pannikin, and an odd pair of boots, upon my back-and `footed it' for the capital."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 134:

"But Bill preferred to hump his drum
A-paddin' of the hoof."

<hw>Hump</hw>, n. a long walk with a swag on one's back.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. 3, p. 46:

"We get a fair share of exercise without a twenty-mile hump on
Sundays."

<hw>Humpy</hw>, n. (1) a native hut. The aboriginal word is Oompi; the initial h is a Cockney addition, and the word has been given an English look, the appearance of the huts suggesting the English word hump. [The forms himbing and yamba occur along the East coast of Australia. Probably it is kindred with koombar, bark, in Kabi dialect, Mary River, Queensland.] The old convict settlement in Moreton Bay, now broken up, was called Humpy Bong (see Bung), sc. Oompi Bong, a dead or deserted settlement. The aboriginal names for hut may be thus tabulated

Gunyah )
. . . New South Wales.
Goondie )

Humpy (Oompi) . . . Queensland.

Mia-mia . . . Victoria and Western Australia.

Wurley (Oorla) . . . South Australia.

Whare . . . New Zealand.

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 228:

"A `gunyia' or `umpee.'"

1873. J. Brunton Stephens, `Black Gin,' p. 16:

"Lo, by the `humpy' door, a smockless Venus."

(2) Applied to a settler's house, very small and primitive.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 133:

"To dwell in the familiar old bark `humpy,' so full of happy memories. The roof was covered with sheets of bark held down by large wooden riders pegged in the form of a square to one another."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 57:

"A lonely hut . . . and a kitchen—a smaller humpey—at the back."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' p. 247:

"He's to bed in the humpy."

1893. Gilbert Parker, `Pierre and his People,' p. 135:

"Shon McGann was lying on a pile of buffalo robes in a mountain hut,—an Australian would call it a humpey."

<hw>Hungry Quartz</hw>, n. a miner's term for unpromising Quartz (q.v.)

<hw>Huon-Pine</hw>, n. a large Tasmanian evergreen tree, Dacrydium franklinii, Hook, N.O. Coniferae. The timber is prized in cabinet-work, being repellent to insects, durable, and fairly easy to work; certain pieces are beautifully marked, and resemble bird's-eye maple. The Huon is a river in the south of Tasmania, called after a French officer. See Pine.

1800. J. J. Labillardiere, `Voyage a la Recherche de la Perouse,' tom. i., Introd. p. xi:

"Ces deux flutes recurent des noms analogues au but de l'entreprise. Celle que montoit le general, Dentrecasteaux, fut nommee la Recherche, et l'autre, commandee par le major de vaisseau, Huon Kermadec, recut le nom de l'Esperance. . . . Bruny Dentrecasteaux [fut le] commandant de l'expedition, [et] Labillardiere [fut le] naturaliste."

[Of these gentlemen of France and their voyage the names Bruni
Island, D'Entrecasteaux Channel, Recherche Bay, Port Esperance,
Kermandie [sic] River, Huon Island, Huon River, perpetuate the
memory in Southern Tasmania, and the Kermadec Islands in the
Southern Ocean.]

1820. C. Jeffreys, R.N., `Geographical and Descriptive Delineations of the Island of Van Diemen's Land,' p. 28:

"On the banks of these newly discovered rivers, and the harbour, grows the Huon Pine (so called from the river of that name, where it was first found)."

1829. `The Tasmanian Almanack,' p. 87:

"1816. Huon pine and coal discovered at Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' Vol. ii. p. 23:

"Huon-pine is by far the most beautiful wood found in the island."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' (edition 1855) p. 515:

"Knots of the beautiful Huon pine, finer than bird's-eye maple for ornamental furniture."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 71:

"The river was named the Huon, and has since become celebrated for the production which yields the pretty cabinet-wood known as Huon pine."

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. xii. p. 102:

"The huon-pine is of immense height and girth."

<hw>Hut</hw>, n. the cottage of a shepherd or a miner. The word is English but is especially common in Australia, and does not there connote squalor or meanness. The "Men's Hut" on a station is the building occupied by the male employees.

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 11, pt. 1, c. 3:

"At the head station are a three-roomed hut, large kitchen, wool-shed, etc."

1862. G. T. Lloyd, `Thirty-three Years in Tasmania,' p. 21:

"If a slab or log hut was required to be erected . . . a cart-load of wool was pitchforked from the wasting heap, wherewith to caulk the crevices of the rough-hewn timber walls."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. vi. p. 42:

"`The hut,' a substantial and commodious structure, arose in all its grandeur."

1890. Id. `Miner's Right,' c. vi. p. 62:

"Entering such a hut, as it is uniformly, but in no sense of contempt, termed—a hut being simply lower in the scale than a cottage—you will find there nothing to shock the eye or displease the taste."

1891. W. Tilley, `Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 29:

"Bark and weatherboard huts alternating with imposing hotels and stores."

<hw>Hut-keep</hw>, v. to act as hut-keeper.

1865. S. Sidney, `Three Colonies of Australia,' p. 380

"At this, as well as at every other station I have called at, a woman `hutkeeps,' while the husband is minding the sheep."

1890. `Melbourne Argus,' June 14th, p. 4, col. 2:

"`Did you go hut-keeping then?' `Wrong again. Did I go hut-keeping? Did you ever know a hut-keeper cook for sixty shearers?'"

<hw>Hut-keeper</hw>, n. Explained in quotations.

1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 285:

"Old men, unfit for anything but to be hut-keepers who were to remain at home to prevent robbery, while the other inhabitants of the hut were at labour."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. II. c. iii. p. 458

"My object was to obtain these heads, which the . . . hut-keeper instantly gave."

1853. G. Butler Earp, `What we Did in Australia,' p. 17:

"The lowest industrial occupation in Australia, viz. a hut-keeper in the bush . . . a station from which many of the wealthiest flockmasters in Australia have risen."

1883. E. M. Curr, `Recollections of Squatting in Victoria' (1841-1851), p. 21:

"A bush hut-keeper, who baked our damper, fried our chops."

<hw>Hyacinth, Native</hw>, n. a Tasmanian flower, Thelymitra longifolia, R. and G. Forst., N.O. Orchideae.

<hw>Hyaena</hw>, n. See Thylacine, and Tasmanian Tiger.

<hw>Hypsiprymnodon</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus of the Australian animal called Musk Kangaroo. (Grk. hupsiprumnos, with a high stern.) A very small, rat-like, arboreal kangaroo, about ten inches long. The strong musky odour from which it takes its vernacular name is perceptible in both sexes.

1874. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 73:

"The third and last subfamily (Hypsiprymnodontidae) of the Macropodidae is represented solely by the remarkable creature known, from its strong scent, as the Musk-kangaroo."

I

<hw>Ibis</hw>, n. There are twenty-four species of this bird distributed over all the warmer parts of the globe. Those present in Australasia are—

Glossy (Black, or Bay) Ibis—
Ibis falcinellus, Linn.

Straw-necked I.—
Geronticus spinnicollis, Jameson.

White I.—
Threskiornis strictipennis, Gould.

Of these the last two are confined to Australia, the first is cosmopolitan.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 155:

"All they had for supper and breakfast were a straw-coloured ibis, a duck and a crow."

Ibid. p. 300:

"Crows were feasting on the remains of a black Ibis."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi.:

"Geronticus spinicollis, straw-necked ibis (pl. 45). This beautiful ibis has never yet been discovered out of Australia, over the whole of which immense country it is probably distributed."

"Threskiornis strictipennis, white ibis" (pl. 46).

"Ibis falcinellus, Linn., glossy ibis" (pl. 47).

1892. `The Australasian,' April 9, p. 707, col. 4:

"When the hoarse-voiced jackass mocked us, and the white-winged
ibis flew
Past lagoons and through the rushes, far away into the blue."

<hw>Ice-Plant</hw>, n. Tasmanian name for Tetragonia implexicoma, Hook., N.O. Ficoideae, B. Fl. Various species of Tetragonia are cultivated as Spinach (q.v.).

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 63:

"Called `ice-plant' in Tasmania. Baron Mueller suggests that this plant be cultivated for spinach. [Found in] all the colonies except Queensland."

<hw>Identity, Old</hw>, n. phrase denoting a person well known in a place. a term invented in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1862, in a popular topical song, by Mr. R. Thatcher, an improvisator. In the song the "Old Identity," the former resident of Dunedin, was distinguished from the "New Iniquity," as the people were termed who came from Australia.

1879. W. J. Barry, `Up and Down,' p. 197:

"The old identities were beginning to be alive to the situation."

1894. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Oct.:

"It is permissible to wonder about the origin of the phrase `an old identity.' Surely no man, however old, can be an identity? An entity he is, or a nonentity; an individual, a centenarian, or an oldest inhabitant; but identity is a condition of sameness, of being identical with something. One can establish one's identity with that of some one who is being sought or sued, but once established it escapes us."

<hw>Inaka</hw>, n. a fish. See Inanga.

<hw>Inanga</hw> or <hw>Inaka</hw>, n. (the ng as in the word singer, not as in finger), a New Zealand fish, Galaxias attenuatus, or Retropinna richardsoni. It is often called the Whitebait and Minnow, and in Tasmania the larger variety is called Jolly-tail. The change from Inanga to Inaka is a dialectal Maori variation, answering exactly to the change from North Island Kainga to South Island Kaik (q.v.).

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 100:

"This fish is called hinanga [sic.], and resembles Blackwall white-bait in size and flavour. Its colour is a pinkish white, spotted with black."

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 3:

"About the same size as this fish [the cockabully] is the `inaka' much used for bait. Indeed, it is called the New Zealand whitebait. A friend from Victoria having used this bait, I asked him to spell the name of the fish, and he wanted to make it like the patriarch who `walked with God' —Enoch-a. The more correct shape of the Maori word is inanga; but in the South Island `k' often takes the place of that distinctive Maori letter `ng,' as `kainga' becomes kaik; ngaio, kaio."

<hw>Inchman</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for the Bull-dog Ant (q.v.), from its length, which is sometimes nearly an inch.

<hw>Indians</hw>, pl. n. early and now obsolete name for the Aboriginals in Australia and even for the Maoris.

1769. J. Banks, `Journal,' Oct. 21 (Sir J. D. Hooker edition), p. 191:

"We applied to our friends the Indians for a passage in one of their canoes."

[These were Maoris.]

1770. Ibid. April 28:

"During this time, a few of the Indians who had not followed the boat remained on the rock opposite the ship, threatening and menacing with their pikes and swords."

[These were Australian Aboriginals.]

1825. Barron Field, `Geographical Memoirs of New South Wales,' p. 437:

"Some of the Indians have also seriously applied to be allowed convict labourers, as the settlers are, although they have not patience to remain in the huts which our Government has built for them, till the maize and cabbage that have been planted to their hands are fit to gather."

1830. `The Friend of Australia,' p. 244:

"It is the observation of some writers, that the system pursued in Australia for educating the children of the Indians is not attended with success. The black children will never do any good there, until some other plan is commenced . . ."

<hw>Indigo, Native</hw>, n. all the species of Swainsonia, N.O. Leguminosae, are called "Native Indigos." See Indigo-plant. In Tasmania, the Native Indigo is Indigofera australis, Willd., N.O. Leguminosae. The plants are also called Indigo-plant and Darling-pea (q.v.). Swainsonia belongs to the same N.O. as Indigofera tinctoria, which furnishes the Indigo of commerce.

1826. J. Atkinson, `Agriculture and Grazing in New South Wales,' p. 24:

"Indigo brushes are not very common; the timber in these is generally white or blackbutted gum; the ground beneath is covered with the native indigo, a very beautiful plant, with a light purple flower."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 140:

"The `darling-pea' or `indigo-plant' is a dreaded plant from the great amount of loss it has inflicted on stockowners. Its effect on sheep is well known; they separate from the flock, wander about listlessly, and are known to the shepherds as ` pea-eaters,' or `indigo-eaters.' When once a sheep takes to eating this plant it seldom or never fattens, and may be said to be lost to its owner. The late Mr. Charles Thorn, of Queensland, placed a lamb which had become an `indigo-eater' in a small paddock, where it refused to eat grass. It, however, ate the indigo plant greedily, and followed Mr. Thorn all over the paddock for some indigo he held in his hand."

<hw>Indented Servants</hw>, n. same as Assigned (q.v.) Servants.

1810. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 352:

"Public Notice. Secretary's Office, Sydney, July 21, 1810. A ship being daily expected to arrive here from England with female convicts, whom it is His Excellency the Governor's intention to distribute among the settlers, as indented servants. . . ."

<hw>Ink-plant</hw>, n. another name for the "toot," a New Zealand shrub, Coriaria thymifolia, N.O. Coriarieae. Called Ink-plant on account of its juice, which soon turns to black. There is also an European Ink-plant, Coriaria myrtifolia, so that this is only a different species.

<hw>Ironbark</hw>, n. Early settlers gave this name to several large Eucalypts, from the hardness of their bark, especially to E. leucoxylon, F. v. M., and E. resinifera, Smith. In Queensland it is applied to E. siderophloia, Benth. See also Leguminous Ironbark, and Lemon-scented Ironbark.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. viii. p. 263:

"A species of gum-tree, the bark of which on the trunk is that of the ironbark of Port Jackson."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 183:

"It was made out of a piece of bark from a tree called ironbark (nearly as hard when dry as an English elm-board)."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 45:

"But this gradually changed to an ironbark (Eucalyptus resinifera) and cypress-pine forest."

187. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees', p. 199:

"The Ironbark-tree (Eucalyptus resinifera) is . . . widely spread over a large part of Australia. . . . A lofty forest tree of moderate circumference. . . . It is believed to have been named as above by some of the earliest Australian settlers on account of the extreme hardness of its bark; but it might with equal reason have been called ironwood. The wood is of a deep red colour, very hard, heavy, strong, extremely rigid, and rather difficult to work . . . used extensively in shipbuilding and engineering works in Australia; and in this country (England) it is employed in the mercantile navy for beams, keelsons, and . . . below the line of flotation."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 77:

"The ironbark (Eucalyptus sideroxylon) became from its durability a synonym for toughness."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xxvii. p. 248:

"The corrugated stems of the great ironbark trees stood black and columnar."

1893. `The Age,' May 11, p. 7, col. 3, (advt.):

"Monday, 15th May.—Supply in one or more contracts of not less than 20 beams of 400 ironbark or box beams for cattle pits, delivered at any station. Particulars at the office of the Engineer for Existing Lines."

With qualifications. Silver-leaved—

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 65:

"The silver-leaved ironbark (Eucalyptus pulverulentus) was here coming into blossom."

Narrow-leaved—

1847. Ibid. p. 154:

"The narrow-leaved ironbark [grew] on a lighter sandy soil."

<hw>Iron hand</hw>, a term of Victorian politics. It was a new
Standing Order introducing what has since been called the
Closure, and was first moved in the Victorian Legislative
Assembly on Jan. 27, 1876.

1876. `Victorian Hansard,' Jan. 20, vol. xxiii. p. 2002:

"They [the Government] have dealt with the Opposition with a velvet glove; but the iron hand is beneath, and they shall feel it."

1884. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. iii. p. 406:

"The cloture, or the `iron hand,' as McCulloch's resolution was called, was adopted in Victoria, for one session."

<hw>Ironheart</hw>, n. a New Zealand tree, Metrosideros tomentosa, N.O. Myrtaceae; native name, Pohutukawa.

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 311:

"It was the `downy ironheart'
That from the cliffs o'erhanging grew,
And o'er the alcove, every part,
Such beauteous leaves and blossoms threw."

"Note.—This most lovely tree is common about the northern coasts and cliffs of the North Island and the banks of Lake Tarawera."

<hw>Ironwood</hw>, n. The name is used of many hard-wooded trees in various parts of the world. The Australian varieties are—

Ironwood (Queensland)—
Acacia excelsa, Benth., N.O. Leguminosae;
Melaleuca genistifolia, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae.

Ironwood (North Queensland)—
Myrtus gonoclada, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae.

Ironwood (North New South Wales)—
Olea paniculata, R.Br., N.O. Jasmineae.

Ironwood (Tasmania)—
Notelaea ligustrina, Vent., N.O. Jasmineae.

Scrub Ironwood—
Myrtus hillii, Benth., N.O. Myrtaceae.

For Ironwood of New Zealand, see Puriri.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. xii. p. 479:

"A club of iron-wood, which the cannibals had left in the boat."

1823. W. B. Cramp, `Narrative of a Voyage to India,' p. 17:

". . . they have a short club made of iron wood, called a waday, and a scimeter made of the same wood."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 579:

"`Ironwood' and `Heartwood' of Tasmania; `Spurious Olive,' `White Plum' of Gippsland. An exceedingly hard, close-grained wood, used for mallets, sheaves of blocks, turnery, etc. The heartwood yields a very peculiar figure ; it is a very fair substitute for lignum-vitae."

<hw>Irriakura</hw>, n. an aboriginal name for the tubers of Cyperus rotundus, Linn., N.O. Cyperaceae, adopted by white men in Central Australia.

1896. E. C. Stirling, `Home Expedition in Central Australia,' Anthropology, p. 60:

"Cyperus rotundus. In almost every camp we saw large quantities of the tunicated tubes of this plant, which are generally called `Erriakura' or `Irriakura' by the Arunta natives. . . Even raw they are pleasant to the taste, having an agreeable nutty flavour, which is much improved by the slight roasting."

<hw>Ivory-wood</hw>, n. an Australian timber, Siphonodon australe, Benth., N.O. Celastrinae.

<hw>Ivy</hw>, n. a child's name for the ivy-leaf geraniums, especially the double pink-flowered one called Madame Kruse. In Australia the warm climate makes these all evergreens, and they are trained over fences and walls, sometimes to the height of twenty or thirty feet, supplanting the English ivy in this use, and covered with masses of flowers.

<hw>Ivy, Native</hw>, an Australian plant, Muehlenbeckia adpressa, Meissn., N.O. Polygonaceae; called also Macquarie Harbour Vine, or Grape. The name is widely applied also to the acclimatised Cape Ivy, or German Ivy (Senecio scandens).

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 46:

"`Native Ivy,' Macquarie Harbour Vine or Grape of Tasmania. The currant-like fruits are sub-acid, and were, and perhaps still are, used for tarts, puddings, and preserves; the leaves taste like sorrel."

<hw>Ivy, Wild</hw>, n. an Australian creeper, Platylobium triangulare, R. Br., N.O. Leguminosae.

<hw>Ivy-tree</hw>, n. New Zealand tree, genus Panax, N.O. Araliacae; Maori name, Horoeka. It is also called Lancewood (q.v.).

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New' Zealand,' p. 127:

"Horoeka, ivy-tree. an ornamental, slender, and sparingly-branched tree. Wood close-grained and tough."

J

<hw>Jabiru</hw>, n. The word comes from Brazil, and was first given there to the large stork Mycteria (Xenorhynchus) Americana. The Australian species is M. australis, Lath. It has the back and neck dark grey, changing on the neck to scarlet. There is a black-necked stork in Australia (Xenorhynchus asiaticus), which is also called the Jabiru.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 194:

"We saw a Tabiroo [sic] (Mycteria)."

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 195:

"In October, 1858, I succeeded in purchasing a fine living specimen of the New Holland Jabiru, or Gigantic Crane of the colonists (Mycteria Australis)"

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 323:

"The splendid Australian jabiru (Mycteria Australis), and I had the good fortune to shoot on the wing a specimen of this beautiful variety of the stork family."

<hw>Jacana</hw>, n. a Brazilian word for a bird of the genus Parra (q.v.). The Australian species is the Comb-crested Jacana, Parra gallinacea, Temm. It is also called the Lotus-bird (q.v.).

<hw>Jack in a Box</hw>, i.q. Hair-trigger (q.v.).

1854. `The Home Companion,' p. 554:

"When previously mentioning the elegant Stylidium graminifolium (grass-leaved Jack-in-a-box), which may be easily known by its numerous grassy-like radical leaves, and pretty pink flowers, on a long naked stem, we omitted to mention a peculiarity in it, which is said to afford much amusement to the aborigines, who are, generally speaking, fond of, and have a name for, many of the plants common in their own territories. The stigma lies at the apex of a long column, surrounded and concealed by the anthers. This column is exceedingly irritable, and hangs down on one side of the flower, until it is touched, when it suddenly springs up and shifts to the opposite side of the blossom or calyx."

1859. D. Bunce, `Australasiatic Reminiscences,' p. 26:

"Stylidium (native Jack in a box). This genus is remarkable for the singular elasticity of the column stylis, which support the anthers, and which being irritable, will spring up if pricked with a pin, or other little substance, below the joint, before the pollen, a small powder, is shed, throwing itself suddenly over, like a reflex arm, to the opposite side of the flower. Hence the colonial designation of Jack in a box."

<hw>Jack the Painter</hw>, n. very strong bush-tea, so called from the mark it leaves round the drinker's mouth.

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 163:

"Another notorious ration tea of the bush is called Jack the Painter—a very green tea indeed, its viridity evidently produced by a discreet use of the copper drying-pans in its manufacture."

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 418:

"The billy wins, and `Jack the Painter' tea
Steams on the hob, from aught like fragrance free."

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 113

"Special huts had to be provided for them [the sundowners], where they enjoyed eleemosynary rations of mutton, damper, and `Jack the Painter.'"

<hw>Jackaroo</hw>, n. a name for a Colonial Experience (q.v.), a young man fresh from England, learning squatting; called in New Zealand a Cadet (q.v.). Compare the American "tenderfoot." A verse definition runs:

"To do all sorts and kinds of jobs,
Help all the men Jacks, Bills or Bobs,
As well as he is able.
To be neither boss, overseer, nor man,
But a little of all as well as he can,
And eat at the master's table."

The word is generally supposed to be a corruption (in imitation of the word Kangaroo) of the words "Johnny Raw." Mr. Meston, in the `Sydney Bulletin,' April 18, 1896, says it comes from the old Brisbane blacks, who called the pied crow shrike (Strepera graculina) "tchaceroo," a gabbling and garrulous bird. They called the German missionaries of 1838 "jackeroo," a gabbler, because they were always talking. Afterwards they applied it to all white men.

1880. W. Senior, `Travel and Trout,' p. 19:

"Jackaroos—the name given to young gentlemen newly arrived from home to gather colonial experiences."

1881. A. C. Grant `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 53:

"The young jackaroo woke early next morning."

[Footnote]: "The name by which young men who go to the Australian colonies to pick up colonial experience are designated."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 85:

"Of course before starting on their own account to work a station they go into the bush to gain colonial experience, during which process they are known in the colony as `jackaroos.'"

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydneyside Saxon,' p. 74:

"We went most of the way by rail and coach, and then a jackaroo met us with a fine pair of horses in a waggonette. I expected to see a first cousin to a kangaroo, when the coachdriver told us, instead of a young gentleman learning squatting."

1894. `Sydney Morning Herald' (date lost):

"`Jack-a-roo' is of the same class of slang; but the unlucky fellow—often gentle and soft-handed—who does the oddwork of a sheep or cattle station, if he finds time and heart for letters to any who love him, probably writes his rue with a difference."

<hw>Jackaroo</hw>, v. to lead the life of a Jackaroo.

1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 152:

"I've seen such a lot of those new chums, one way and another.
They knock down all their money at the first go-off, and then
there's nothing for them to do but to go and jackaroo up in
Queensland."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. xix. p. 239:

"A year or two more Jackerooing would only mean the consumption of so many more figs of negro-head, in my case."

<hw>Jackass-fish</hw>, n. another Sydney name for the Morwong (q.v.).

<hw>Jackass, Laughing</hw>, n. (1) The popular name of an Australian bird, Dacelo gigas, Bodd, the Great Brown Kingfisher of Australia; see Dacelo. To an Australian who has heard the ludicrous note of the bird and seen its comical, half-stupid appearance, the origin of the name seems obvious. It utters a prolonged rollicking laugh, often preceded by an introductory stave resembling the opening passage of a donkey's bray.

But the name has been erroneously derived from the French jacasse, as to which Littre gives "terme populaire. Femme, fille qui parle beaucoup." He adds, that the word jacasse appears to come from jacquot, a name popularly given to parrots and magpies, our "Poll." The verb jacasser means to chatter, said of a magpie. The quotation from Collins (1798) seems to dispose of this suggested French origin, by proving the early use of the name Laughing Jackass. As a matter of fact, the French name had already in 1776 been assigned to the bird, viz. Grand Martin-pecheur de la Nouvelle Guinee. [See Pierre Sonnerat, `Voyage a la Nouvelle Guinee' (Paris, 1776), p. 171.] The only possibility of French origin would be from the sailors of La Perouse. But La Perouse arrived in Botany Bay on January 26, 1788, and found Captain Phillip's ships leaving for Sydney Cove. The intercourse between them was very slight. The French formed a most unfavourable idea of the country, and sailed away on March 10. If from their short intercourse, the English had accepted the word Jackass, would not mention of the fact have been made by Governor Phillip, or Surgeon White, who mention the bird but by a different name (see quotations 1789, 1790), or by Captain Watkin Tench, or Judge Advocate Collins, who both mention the incident of the French ships?

The epithet "laughing" is now often omitted; the bird is generally called only a Jackass, and this is becoming contracted into the simple abbreviation of Jack. A common popular name for it is the Settlers'-Clock. (See quotations—1827, Cunningham; 1846, Haydon; and 1847, Leichhardt.) The aboriginal name of the bird is Kookaburra (q.v.), and by this name it is generally called in Sydney; another spelling is Gogobera.

There is another bird called a Laughing Jackass in New Zealand which is not a Kingfisher, but an Owl, Sceloglaux albifacies, Kaup. (Maori name, Whekau). The New Zealand bird is rare, the Australian bird very common. The so-called Derwent Jackass of Tasmania is a Shrike (Cracticus cinereus, Gould), and is more properly called the Grey Butcher-bird. See Butcher-bird.

1789. Governor Phillip, `Voyage,' p. 287:

Description given with picture, but under name "Great Brown
Kingsfisher" [sic].

Ibid. p. 156:

Similar bird, with description and picture, under name "Sacred
King's Fisher."

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 137:

"We not long after discovered the Great Brown King's Fisher, of which a plate is annexed. This bird has been described by Mr. Latham in his `General Synopsis of Birds,' vol. ii. p. 603.

Ibid. p. 193:

"We this day shot the Sacred King's-Fisher (see plate annexed)."

1798. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' p. 615, (Vocabulary):

"Gi-gan-ne-gine. Bird named by us the Laughing Jackass.
Go-con-de—inland name for it."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 232:

"The loud and discordant noise of the laughing jackass (or settler's-clock, as he is called), as he takes up his roost on the withered bough of one of our tallest trees, acquaints us that the sun has just dipped behind the hills."

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 204:

"The settlers call this bird the Laughing Jackass. I have also heard it called the Hawkesbury-Clock (clocks being at the period of my residence scarce articles in the colony, there not being one perhaps in the whole Hawkesbury settlement), for it is among the first of the feathered tribes which announce the approach of day."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 71:

"The laughing jackass, or settler's-clock is an uncouth looking creature of an ashen brown colour . . . This bird is the first to indicate by its note the approach of day, and thus it has received its other name, the settler's clock."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 234:

"I usually rise when I hear the merry laugh of the laughing- jackass (Dacelo gigantea), which, from its regularity, has not been unaptly named the settlers'-clock."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 18:

"Dacelo Gigantea, Leach, Great Brown King Fisher; Laughing Jackass of the Colonists."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 58:

"You are startled by a loud, sudden cackling, like flocks of geese, followed by an obstreperous hoo! hoo! ha! ha! of the laughing jackass (Dacelo gigantea) a species of jay."

[Howitt's comparison with the jay is evidently due to the azure iridescent markings on the upper part of the wings, in colour like the blue feathers on the jay.]

1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. vi. p. 145:

"The odd medley of cackling, bray, and chuckle notes from the `Laughing Jackass.'"

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 18:

"At daylight came a hideous chorus of fiendish laughter, as if the infernal regions had been broken loose—this was the song of another feathered innocent, the laughing jackass—not half a bad sort of fellow when you come to know him, for he kills snakes, and is an infallible sign of the vicinity of fresh-water."

1880. T. W. Nutt, `Palace of Industry,' p. 15:

"Where clock-bird laughed and sweet wildflowers throve."

[Footnote] "The familiar laughing jackass."

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 13:

"Dense forests, where the prolonged cacchinations of that cynic of the woods, as A. P. Martin calls the laughing jackass, seemed to mock us for our pains."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 37:

"The harsh-voiced, big-headed, laughing jackass."

1881. D. Blair, `Cyclopaedia of Australasia,' p. 202:

"The name it vulgarly bears is a corruption of the French word
Jacasser, `to chatter,' and the correct form is the `Laughing
Jacasse.'"

[No. See above.]

1885. `Australasian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 76:

"Magpies chatter, and the jackass
Laughs Good-morrow like a Bacchus."

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' [telling an old story] p. 155:

"The Archbishop inquired the name of a curious bird which had attracted his attention. `Your grace, we call that the laughing jackass in this country, but I don't know the botanical [sic] name of the bird."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals, p. 27:

"Few of the birds of Australia have pleased me as much as this curious laughing jackass, though it is both clumsy and unattractive in colour. Far from deserving its name jackass, it is on the contrary very wise and also very courageous. It boldly attacks venomous snakes and large lizards, and is consequently the friend of the colonist."

1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 265:

"`There's a jackass—a real laughing jackass on that dead branch. They have such a queer note; like this,, you know—' and upon her companion's startled ears there rang forth, all of a sudden, the most curious, inimitable, guttural, diabolical tremolo it had ever befallen them to hear."

1890. `Victorian Statutes-Game Act, Third Schedule':

"[Close season.] Great Kingfisher or Laughing Jackass.
The whole year. all Kingfishers other than the Laughing Jackass.
From the 1st day of August to the 20th day of December next
following in each year."

(2) The next quotations refer to the New Zealand bird.

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 122:

"Athene Albifacies, wekau of the Maoris, is known by some up-country settlers as the big owl or laughing jackass."

"The cry of the laughing jackass . . . Why it should share with one of our petrels and the great Dacelo of Australia the trivial name of laughing jackass, we know not; if its cry resembles laughter at all, it is the uncontrollable outburst, the convulsive shout of insanity; we have never been able to trace the faintest approach to mirthful sound in the unearthly yells of this once mysterious night-bird."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 198:

"Sceloglaux albifacies, Kaup., Laughing Owl; Laughing Jackass of the Colonists."

[The following quotation refers to the Derwent Jackass.]

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 110:

"You have heard of . . . the laughing jackass. We, too, have a `jackass,' a smaller bird, and not in any way remarkable, except for its merry gabbling sort of song, which when several pipe up together, always gives one the idea of a party of very talkative people all chattering against time, and all at once."

<hw>Jack-bird</hw>, n. a bird of the South Island of New Zealand, Creadion cinereus, Buller. See also Saddle-back and Creadion.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 23:

"It has become the habit to speak of this bird as the Brown Saddle-back; but this is a misnomer, inasmuch as the absence of the `saddle' is its distinguishing feature. I have accordingly adopted the name of Jack-bird, by which it is known among the settlers in the South Island. Why it should be so called I cannot say, unless this is an adaptation of the native name Tieke, the same word being the equivalent, in the Maori vernacular, of our Jack."

<hw>Jack Shay</hw>, or Jackshea, n. a tin quart-pot.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 209:

"Hobbles and Jack Shays hang from the saddle dees."

[Footnote]: "A tin quart-pot, used for boiling water for tea, and contrived so as to hold within it a tin pint-pot."

1890. `The Argus,' June14, p. 4, col. 1:

"Some of his clothes, with his saddle, serve for a pillow; his ration bags are beside his head, and his jackshea (quart-pot) stands by the fire."

<hw>Jacky Winter</hw>, n. the vernacular name in New South Wales of the Brown Flycatcher, Microeca fascinans, a common little bird about Sydney. The name has been ascribed to the fact that it is a resident species, very common, and that it sings all through the winter, when nearly every other species is silent. See Flycatcher.

<hw>Jade</hw>, n. See Greenstone.

<hw>Jarrah</hw>, n. anglicised form of Jerryhl, the native name of a certain species of Eucalyptus, which grows in the south of Western Australia, east and south-east of Perth. In Sir George Grey's Glossary (1840), Djar-rail; Mr. G. F. Moore's (1884), Djarryl. (Eucalyptus marginata, Donn.) The name Bastard-Jarrah is given to E. botryoides, Smith, which bears many other names. It is the Blue-Gum of New South Wales coast-districts, the Bastard-Mahogany of Gippsland and New South Wales, and also Swamp Mahogany in Victoria and New South Wales, and occasionally Woolly-Butt.

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 102:

"It may be that after all the hopes of the West-Australian
Micawbers will be realised in jarrah-wood."

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 189:

"The Jarrah or Mahogany-tree is also found in Western Australia. The wood is red in colour, hard, heavy, close in texture, slightly wavy in the grain, and with occasionally enough figure to give it value for ornamental purposes; it works up quite smoothly and takes a good polish."

188. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia, vol. i. p. 77:

"The jarrah of Western Australia (Eucalyptus marginata) has a peculiar reputation for its power to defy decay when submerged and exposed to the attacks of the dreaded teredo, and has been largely exported to India."

1888. R. Kipling, `Plain Tales from the Hills,' p. 163

". . . the awful butchery . . . of the Maribyrnong Plate. The walls were colonial ramparts—logs of jarrah spiked into masonry—with wings as strong as Church buttresses."

[Jarrah is not a Victorian, but a West-Australian timber, and
imported logs are not used by the V.R.C., but white or red gum.
For making "jumps," no logs are "spiked into masonry," and the
Maribyrnong Plate is not a "jump-race."]

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 415:

"Mr. W. H. Knight, twenty years ago, gave evidence as to the value of the jarrah. . . . It is found that piles driven down in the Swan River were, after being exposed to the action of wind, water, and weather for forty years, as sound and firm as when put into the water. . . . It completely resists the attacks of the white ants, where stringy-bark, blue-gum, white-gum, and black-wood are eaten through, or rendered useless, in from six to twelve years."

1896. `The Times' (weekly edition), Dec. 4, p. 822, col. 1:

"The jarrah, Eucalyptus marginata, stands pre-eminent as the leading timber tree of the Western Australian forests. For constructive work necessitating contact with soil and water jarrahwood has no native equal. A jarrah forest is dull, sombre, and uninteresting to the eye. In first-class forests the trees attain a height of from 90 ft. to 120 ft., with good stems 3 ft. to 5 ft. in diameter. The tree is practically confined to the south-western division of the colony, where the heaviest rains of the season fall. As a rule, jarrah is found either intermixed with the karri tree or in close proximity to it."

<hw>Jasmine, Native</hw>, n. an Australian plant, Ricinocarpus pinifolius, Desf., N.O. Euphorbiaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 286:

"Native Jasmine. This plant yields abundance of seeds, like small castor oil seeds. They yield an oil."

<hw>Jelly-leaf</hw>, n. i.q. Queensland Hemp (q.v.).

<hw>Jelly-plant</hw>, a sea-weed, Eucheuma speciosum, J. Agardh, N.O. Algae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 28:

"Jelly-plant of Western Australia. This is a remarkable sea-weed of a very gelatinous character [used by] the people of Western Australia for making jelly, blanc-mange, etc. Size and cement can also be made from it. It is cast ashore from deep water."

<hw>Jemmy Donnelly</hw>, n. a ridiculous name given to three trees, Euroschinus falcatus, Hook, N.O. Anacardiaceae; Myrsine variabilis, R. Br., N.O. Myrsinaceae; and Eucalyptus resinifera, Sm., N.O. Myrtaceae. They are large timber trees, highly valued in Queensland.

<hw>Jerrawicke</hw>, n. obsolete name for Colonial beer.

1857. J. Askew, `A Voyage to Australia and New Zealand,' p. 272:

"There were always a number of natives roaming about. There might be about 150 in all, of the Newcastle tribe. They were more wretched and filthy, and if possible, uglier than those of Adelaide. . . . All the earnings of the tribe were spent in tobacco and jerrawicke (colonist-made ale)."

1857. Ibid. p. 273:

"A more hideous looking spectacle can hardly be imagined than that presented by these savages around the blazing fire, carousing among jerrawicke and the offal of slaughtered animals.'"

<hw>Jew-fish</hw>, n. a name applied in New South Wales to two or more different species, Sciaena antarctica, Castln., and Glaucosoma hebraicum, Richards. Sciaena antarctica, Castln., is the King-fish of the Melbourne market. Sciaena is called Dew-fish in Brisbane. It belongs to the family Sciaenidae. The Australian species is distinct from S. aquila, the European "Maigre" or "Meagre," but closely resembles it. Glaucosoma belongs to the Percidae. The Silver Jew-fish of New South Wales is thought to be the same as the Teraglin (q.v.), Otolithus atelodus, Guenth., also of the family Sciaeidae. Tenison Woods (in `Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales,' 1882, p. 34) says the Jew-fish of New South Wales is sometimes Glaucosoma scapulare, Ramsay; and Glaucosoma hebraicum, Richards., is the Jew-fish of Western Australia (a marine fish). Fishes on the American coasts, different from these, are there called Jew-fishes.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 40:

"The water-holes abounded with jew-fish and eels."

<hw>Jew-Lizard</hw>, n. a large Australian lizard, Amiphibolurus barbatus, Cuv.; called also Bearded Lizard.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 89:

"A small Chlamydophorus (Jew-lizard of the Hunter) was also seen." [The Hunter is a river of New South Wales.]

1890. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Natural History of Victoria,' Decade xiii. pl. 121:

"This is commonly called the Jew Lizard by colonists, and is easily distinguished by the beard-like growth of long slender spires round the throat . . . when irritated, it inflates the body to a considerably increased size, and hisses like a snake exciting alarm; but rarely biting."

1893. `The Argus,' July 22, p. 4, col. 5:

"The great Jew-lizards that lay and laughed horribly to themselves in the pungent dust on the untrodden floors."

<hw>Jil-crow-a-berry</hw>, n. the Anglicised pronunciation and spelling of the aboriginal name for the indigenous Rat-tail Grass, Sporobolus indicus, R. Br.

<hw>Jimmy</hw>, n. obsolete name for an immigrant, a word which was jocularly changed into Jimmy Grant. The word `immigrant' is as familiar in Australia as `emigrant' in England.

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 211:

"`What are these men that we are going to see?' `Why one,' said Lee, is a young Jimmy—I beg your pardon, sir, an emigrant, the other two are old prisoners.'"

1867. `Cassell's Magazine,' p. 440:

"`I never wanted to leave England,' I have heard an old
Vandemonian observe boastfully. `I wasn't like one of these
`Jemmy Grants' (cant term for `emigrants'); I could always earn
a good living; it was the Government as took and sent me out."

[The writers probably used the word immigrant, which, not being familiar to the English compositor, was misprinted emigrant. The "old Vandemonian" must certainly have said immigrant.]

<hw>Jimmy Low</hw>, n. one of the many names of a Timber-tree, Eucalyptus resinifera, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 208:

"The `Red,' or `Forest Mahogany,' of the neighbourhood of Sydney. These are bad names, as the wood bears no real resemblance to the true mahogany. Because the product of this tree first brought Australian kino into medical notice, it is often in old books called `Botany Bay Gum-tree.' Other names for it are Red gum, Grey gum, Hickory, and it perpetuates the memory of an individual by being called `Jimmy Low.'"

<hw>Jingle</hw>, n. a two-wheeled vehicle, like an Irish car, once common in Melbourne, still used in Brisbane and some other towns: so called from the rattle made by it when in motion. The word is not Australian, as is generally supposed; the `Century' gives "a covered two-wheeled car used in the south of Ireland."

1862. Clara Aspinall, `Three Years in Melbourne,' p. 122:

"An omnibus may be chartered at much less cost (gentlemen who have lived in India will persist in calling this vehicle a jingle, which perhaps sounds better); it is a kind of dos-a-dos conveyance, holding three in front and three behind: it has a waterproof top to it supported by four iron rods, and oilskin curtains to draw all round as a protection from the rain and dust."

1863. B. A. Heywood, `Vacation Tour at the Antipodes,' p. 44:

"During my stay in Melbourne I took a jingle, or car, and drove to St. Kilda."

1865. Lady Barker, writing from Melbourne, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 12:

"A vehicle which was quite new to me—a sort of light car with a canopy and curtains, holding four, two on each seat, dos-a-dos, and called a jingle—of American parentage, I fancy. One drive in this carriage was quite enough, however."

1869. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic Philosopher,' p. 14:

"Some folks prefer to travel
Over stones and rocks and gravel;
And smile at dust and jolting fit to dislocate each bone.
To see 'em driving in a jingle,
It would make your senses tingle,
For you couldn't put a sixpence 'twixt the wheel and the
kerb-stone."

1887. Cassell's 'Picturesque Australasia,' vol. i. p. 64:

"In former days the Melbourne cab was a kind of Irish car, popularly known as a jingle. . . . The jingle has been ousted by the one-horse waggonette."

1887. R. M. Praed, `Longleat of Kooralbyn,' c. iv. p. 30:

"The Premier hailed a passing jingle."

[This was in Brisbane.]

<hw>Jinkers</hw>, n. a contrivance much used in the bush for moving heavy logs and trunks of trees. It consists of two pairs of wheels, with their axle-trees joined by a long beam, under which the trunks are suspended by chains. Its structure is varied in town for moving wooden houses. Called in England a "whim."

1894. `The Argus,' July 7, p. 8, col. 4:

"A rather novel spectacle was to be seen to-day on the Ballan road in the shape of a five-roomed cottage on jinkers. . . . Mr. Scottney, carrier of Fitzroy, on whose jinkers the removal is being made . . ."

Jirrand, adj. an aboriginal word in the dialect of Botany Bay, signifying "afraid." Ridley, in his vocabulary, spells it jerron, and there are other spellings.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 59:

"The native word jirrand (afraid) has become in some measure an adopted child, and may probably puzzle our future Johnsons with its unde derivatur."

1889. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 316:

"When I saw the mob there was I didn't see so much to be jerran about, as it was fifty to one in favour of any one that was wanted."

<hw>Jo-Jo</hw>, n. name used by Melbourne larrikins for a man with a good deal of hair on his face. So called from a hairy-faced Russian "dog man" exhibited in Melbourne about 1880, who was advertised by that name.

<hw>Job's</hw> Tears. The seeds of Coix lachryma, which are used for necklace-making by the native tribes on the Cape York peninsula, are there called Job's tears.

<hw>Joe, Joe-Joe, Joey</hw>, interjection, then a verb, now obsolete. Explained in quotations.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 400:

"The well-known cry of `Joe! Joe!'—a cry which means one of the myrmidons of Charley Joe, as they familiarly style Mr. [Charles Joseph] La Trobe,—a cry which on all the diggings resounds on all sides on the appearance of any of the hated officials."

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 135:

"The cry of `Joey' would rise everywhere against them."

[Footnote]: "To `Joey' or `Joe' a person on the diggings, or anywhere else in Australia, is to grossly insult and ridicule him."

1863. B. A. Heywood, `Vacation Tour at the Antipodes,' p. 165:

"In the early days of the Australian diggings `Joe' was the warning word shouted out when the police or gold commissioners were seen approaching, but is now the chaff for new chums."

1865. F. H. Nixon, `Peter Perfume,' p. 58:

"And Joe joed them out, Tom toed them out."

1891. `The Argus,' Dec. 5, p. 13, col. 4:

"`The diggers,' he says, `were up in arms against the Government officials, and whenever a policeman or any other Government servant was seen they raised the cry of "Joe-Joe."' The term was familiar to every man in the fifties. In the earliest days of the diggings proclamations were issued on diverse subjects, but mostly in the direction of curtailing the privileges of the miners. These were signed, `C. Joseph La Trobe,' and became known by the irreverent—not to say flippant —description of `Joes.' By an easy transition, the corruption of the second name of the Governor was applied to his officers, between whom and the spirited diggers no love was lost, and accordingly the appearance of a policeman on a lead was signalled to every tent and hole by the cry of `Joe-Joe.'"

<hw>Joey</hw>, n. (1) A young kangaroo.

1839. W. H. Leigh, `Reconnoitring Voyages in South Australia' pp. 93-4:

"Here [in Kangaroo Island] is also the wallaba . . . The young of the animal is called by the islanders a joe."

1861. T. McCombie, I`Australian Sketches,' p. 172:

"The young kangaroos are termed joeys. The female carries the latter in her pouch, but when hard pressed by dogs, and likely to be sacrificed, she throws them down, which usually distracts the attention of the pack and affords the mother sufficient time to escape."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 10:

"Sometimes when the flying doe throws her `joey' from her pouch the dogs turn upon the little one."

1896. F. G. Aflalo, `Natural History of Australia,' p. 29:

"At length the actual fact of the Kangaroo's birth, which is much as that of other mammals, was carefully observed at the London Zoo, and the budding fiction joined the myths that were. It was there proved that the little `joey' is brought into the world in the usual way, and forthwith conveyed to the comfortable receptacle and affixed to the teat by the dam, which held the lifeless-looking little thing tenderly in her cloven lips."

(2) Also slang used for a baby or little child, or even a young animal, such as a little guinea-pig. Compare "kid."

(3) A hewer of wood and drawer of water.

1845. J. A. Moore, `Tasmanian Rhymings,' p. 15:

"He was a `joey,' which, in truth,
Means nothing more than that youth
Who claims a kangaroo descent
Is by that nomenclature meant."

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 198:

"I'm not going to be wood-and-water Joey, I can tell ye."

<hw>John Dory</hw>, or <hw>Dorey</hw>, n. a fish. This name is applied in New South Wales and Tasmania to Cyttus (Zeus) australis, Richards., family Cyttidae, which is nearly the same as Zeus faber, the "John Dory" of Europe. Others call C. australis the Bastard Dorey (q.v.), and it is also called the Boar-fish (q.v.) and Dollar-fish (q.v.).

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 451:

"`John Dorys' are found in the Mediterranean, on the eastern temperate shores of the Atlantic, on the coasts of Japan and Australia. Six species are known, all of which are highly esteemed for the table. The English name given to one of the European species (Zeus Faber) seems to be partly a corruption of the Gascon `Jau,' which signifies cock, `Dory' being derived from the French Doree, so that the entire name means Gilt-cock. Indeed, in some other localities of southern Europe it bears the name of Gallo. The same species occurs also on the coasts of South Australia and New Zealand."

<hw>Johnny</hw>-cake. n. The name is of American origin, originally given by the negroes to a cake made of Indian corn (maize). In Australia it is a cake baked on the ashes or cooked in a frying-pan. (See quotations.) The name is used in the United States for a slightly different cake, viz. made with Indian meal and toasted before a fire.

1861. Mrs. Meredith, `Over the Straits,' p. 154:

"The dough-cakes fried in fat, called `Johnny-cakes.'"

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 20:

"Johnny-cakes, though they are smaller and very thin, and made in a similar way [sc. to dampers: see Damper]; when eaten hot they are excellent, but if allowed to get cold they become leathery."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance of Australia,' p. 3:

"Johnny-cakes are made with nothing but flour, but there is a great art in mixing them. If it is done properly they are about the lightest and nicest sort of bread that can be made; but the efforts of an amateur generally result in a wet heavy pulp that sticks round one's teeth like bird-lime."

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 13, col. 1:

"Here I, a new chum, could, with flour and water and a pinch of baking-powder, make a sweet and wholesome johnny cake."

1892. Mrs. Russell, `Too Easily Jealous,' p. 273 :

"Bread was not, and existed only in the shape of johnny-cakes —flat scones of flour and water, baked in the hot ashes."

1894. `The Argus,' March 10, p. 4, col. 6:

"It is also useful to make your damper or `Johnny-cake,' which serves you in place of yeast bread. A Johnny-cake is made thus:—Put a couple of handfuls of flour into your dish, with a good pinch of salt and baking soda. Add water till it works to a stiff paste. Divide it into three parts and flatten out into cakes about half an inch thick. Dust a little flour into your frying-pan and put the cake in. Cook it slowly over the fire, taking care it does not burn, and tossing it over again and again. When nearly done stand it against a stick in front of the fire, and let it finish baking while you cook the other two. These, with a piece of wallaby and a billy of tea, are a sweet meal enough after a hard day's work."

<hw>Jolly-tail</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for the larger variety of the fish Galaxias attenuatus, Jenyns, and other species of Galaxias called Inanga (q.v.) in New Zealand. Galaxias weedoni is called the Mersey Jolly-tail, and Galaxias atkinsoni, the Pieman Jolly-tail. Pieman and Mersey are two Tasmanian rivers. See Mountain-Trout.

<hw>July</hw>, n. a winter month in Australia. See Christmas.

1888. Mrs. M'Cann, `Poetical Works,' p. 235:

"Scarce has July with frigid visage flown."

<hw>Jumbuck</hw>, n. aboriginal pigeon-English for sheep. Often used in the bush. The origin of this word was long unknown. It is thus explained by Mr. Meston, in the `Sydney Bulletin,' April 18, 1896: "The word `jumbuck' for sheep appears originally as jimba, jombock, dombock, and dumbog. In each case it meant the white mist preceding a shower, to which a flock of sheep bore a strong resemblance. It seemed the only thing the aboriginal mind could compare it to."

1845. C. Griffith, `Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales,' p. 162:

"The following is a specimen of such eloquence: `You pilmillally jumbuck plenty sulky me, plenty boom, borack gammon,' which being interpreted means, `If you shoot my sheep I shall be very angry, and will shoot you and no mistake.'"

1855. W. Ridley, `Transactions of Philological Society,' p. 77:

"When they adopt English words ending in mutes, the blacks drop the mute or add a vowel: thus, jimbugg, a slang name for sheep, they sound jimbu." [It was not English slang but an aboriginal word.]

1893. `The Argus,' April 8, p. 4, col. 1:

"Mister Charlie, jumbuck go along of grass, blood all there, big dog catch him there, big jumbuck, m'me word, neck torn."

1896. `The Australasian,' June 6, p. 1085, col. 1:

"Jumbuck (a sheep) has been in use from the earliest days, but its origin is not known."

<hw>Jump</hw>, to, v. to take possession of a claim (mining) on land, on the ground that a former possessor has abandoned it, or has not fulfilled the conditions of the grant. The word is also used in the United States, but it is very common in Australia. Instead of "you have taken my seat," you have jumped it. So even with a pew. a man in England, to whom was said, "you have jumped my pew," would look astonished, as did that other who was informed, "Excuse me, sir, but you are occupewing my py."

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 31:

". . . on condition that he occupies it within twenty-four hours: should this rule not be observed, the right of the original holder is lost, and it may be occupied (or `jumped' as it is termed) by any other person as a deserted claim."

1861. `Victorian Hansard,' vol. vii. p. 942 (May 21):

"Mr. Wood: Some of the evils spoken of seemed indeed only to exist in the imagination of the hon. and learned gentleman, as, for instance, that of `jumping,' for which a remedy was already given by the 77th section of the present Act.

"Mr. Ireland: Yes; after the claim is `jumped.'"

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Miner's Right,' p. 37:

"If such work were not commenced within three days, any other miners might summarily take possession of or jump the claim."

ibid. p. 52:

"Let us have the melancholy satisfaction of seeing Gus's pegs, and noting whether they are all en regle. If not, we'll `jump' him."

Ibid. p. 76:

"In default of such advertisement, for the general benefit, they were liable, according to custom and practice, to have their claim `jumped,' or taken forcible possession of by any party of miners who could prove that they were concealing the golden reality."

1875. `Melbourne Spectator,' August 21, p. 189, col. 3:

"Jumping selections . . . is said to be very common now in the Winmera district."

<hw>Jumpable</hw>, adj. open to another to take. See Jump.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, Melbourne Memories,' c. xvi. p. 114:

"The heifer station was what would be called in mining parlance `an abandoned claim' and possibly `jumpable.'"

Jumper, n. one who jumps a claim. See Jump.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xii. p. 127:

"Come along, my noble jumper, you've served your injunction."

<hw>Jumping-mouse</hw>, n. See Hapalote.

<hw>June</hw>, n. a winter month in Australia. See Christmas.

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 132:

"Twenty white-haired Junes have left us
Grey with frost and bleak with gale."

<hw>Jungle-hen</hw>, n. name given to a mound-building bird, Megapodius tumulus, Gould. See also Megapode. The Indian Jungle-fowl is a different bird.

1890. Carl Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 97:

"But what especially gives life and character to these woods are the jungle-hens (mound-builders) . . . The bird is of a brownish hue, with yellow legs and immensely large feet; hence its name Megapodius."

<hw>Juniper, Native</hw>, n. i.q. Native Currant (q.v.).

K

<hw>Kahawai</hw>, n. Maori name for the fish Arripis salar, Richards.; called in Australia and New Zealand Salmon (q.v.).

<hw>Kahikatea</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Podocarpus dacrydioides, A. Rich., N.O. Coniferae. Also called White-Pine. See Pine. The settlers' pronunciation is often Kackatea. There is a Maori word Kahika, meaning ancient.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor. `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 439:

"White-pine, Podocarpus dacrydioides—Kahikatea, kahika, korol. This tree is generally called the white-pine, from the colour of its wood. The kahikatea may be considered as nearly the loftiest tree in the New Zealand forest; it often attains a height of little less than two hundred feet, and in that respect rivals the noble kauri, but the general appearance is not very pleasing."

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Trees,' p. 304:

"The kahikatea or kakaterra-tree (Dacrydium excelsum or taxifolium). This majestic and noble-looking tree belongs to the natural order of Taxaceae, more commonly known by the name of Joint Firs. Height 150 to 180 feet, rising sixty feet and upward without a branch."

1876: W. Blair, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. ix. art. 10, p. 160:

"This timber is known in all the provinces, except Otago, by the native name of `kahikatea'. I think we should adopt it also, not only on account of being more euphonious, but for the reason that so many timbers in other parts of the world are called white-pine."

1873. `Appendix to Journal of House of Representatives,' vol. iii. G. 7, p. 11:

"On the purchased land stands, or lately stood, a small kahikatea bush. . . . The wood appears to have been of no great money value, but the natives living in Tareha's pa depended upon it for their supply of fire-wood."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 124:

[It is Sir James Hector who assigns the tree to Coniferae, not Taxaceae.]

1888. Cassell's' Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 210:

"The White Pine or kahikatea is a very beautiful tree, and droops its dark feathery foliage in a way which recalls the graceful branches of the English elm-tree."

<hw>Kahikatoa</hw>, n. Maori name for /a/ New Zealand shrub, but no longer used by the settlers.

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 126:

"Kahikatoa, tea-tree of Cook. Leptospermum scoparium, Forst., N.O. Myrtaceae."

<hw>Kahikomako</hw>, n. Maori name [shortened into kaikomako] for a New Zealand timber, Pennantia corymbosa, N.O. Olacineae; called also Ribbonwood (q.v.).

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 130:

"Kahikomako, a small, very graceful tree, with white sweet-smelling flowers; height twenty to thirty feet. Wood used by the Maoris for kindling fires by friction."

<hw>Kai</hw>, n. Maori word for food; used also in the South Sea islands. Kai-kai is an English adaptation for feasting.

1807. J. Savage, `Some Account of New Zealand,' Vocab. p. 75:

"Kiki . . . food." [The i has the English not the
Italian sound.]

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 157:

"Kai, s. victuals, support, etc.; a. eatable."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 29:

"He explained to us that every one would cry very much, and then there would be very much kai-kai or feasting."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 95:

"Kai, the general word for food, is not used at Rotorua, because it was the name of a great chief, and the word tami has been substituted for it."

1895. Louis Becke and J. D. Fitzgerald, `The Maori in Politics,' `Review of Reviews,' June 20, p. 621:

"We saw some thirty men and women coming towards us, singing in chorus and keeping step to the music. In their hands they carried small baskets woven of raupo reeds, containing kai, or food. This was the `kai' dance."

<hw>Kainga</hw>, and <hw>Kaika</hw>, n. now generally kaik, and pronounced kike, a Maori settlement, village. Kainga is used in the North, and is the original form; Kaika is the South Island use. It is the village for dwelling; the pa is for fighting in.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 157:

"Kainga. A place of residence, a home," etc.

1873. Lt.-Colonel St. John, `Pakeha Rambles through Maori Lands,' p. 164 [Heading of Chapter x.]:

"How we live in our kainga."

1896. `Otago Witness,' Jan. 23, p. 50, col. 5:

"A cosy-looking kainga located on the bank of a picturesque bend of the river."

Ibid. p. 52, col. 1:

"We steamed on slowly towards Tawhitinui, a small kainga or kaik, as it is called in the South island."

1884. `Maoriland,' p. 84:

"The drive may be continued from Portobello to the Maori kaik."

<hw>Kaio</hw>, n. popular corruption in the South Island of New Zealand of Ngaio (q.v.).

<hw>Kaitaka</hw>, n. Maori word for the best kind of native mat.

1835. W. Yate, `Account of New Zealand,' p. 157:

"Requiring from three to four months' close sitting to complete one of their kaitakas—the finest sort of mat which they make. This garment has a very silky appearance."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 244:

"Pukaro ended by flinging over my shoulders a very handsome kaitaka mat, which he had been wearing while he spoke."

1881. J. L. Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 205:

"Highly prized and beautiful kaitaka mats."

<hw>Kaiwhiria</hw>, n. Maori name for New Zealand tree, Hedycarya dentata, Forst., N.O. Monimiaceae. Porokaiwhiri is the fuller name of the tree.

1883. /J/ Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 129

"Kaiwhiria, a small evergreen tree, twenty to thirty feet high; the wood is finely marked and suitable for veneering."

<hw>Kaka</hw>, n. the Maori name for a parrot. The word is imitative of a parrot's cry. It is now always used to denote the Brown Parrot of New Zealand, Nestor meridionalis, Gmel.

1835. W. Yate, `Account of New Zealand,' p. 54:

"Kaka—a bird of the parrot kind; much larger than any other
New Zealand parrot."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 259:

"The kaka, a large russet parrot, of excellent flavour, and very abundant in many places."

1851. Mrs. Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 40:

"The bright red feathers from under the wing of the kaka or large parrot."

1854. W. Golder, `Pigeons' Parliament,' [Notes] p. 79:

"The kaka is a kind of parrot of a reddish grey colour, and is easily tamed when taken young."

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 93:

"The hoarse croak of the ka-ka, as it alighted almost at our feet, and prepared, quite careless of our vicinity, to tear up the loose soil at the root of a tall tree, in search of grubs."

1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' (Supplement):

"Nestor hypopolius, ka-ka parrot."

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 38:

"I heard mocking kakas wail and cry above thy corse."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 150:

"Nestor meridionalis, kaka parrot."

Ibid. p. 158:

"Sprightly in its actions, eminently social, and more noisy than any other inhabitant of the woods, the kaka holds a prominent place among our native birds."

<hw> Kaka-bill</hw>, n. a New Zealand plant, the Clianthus (q.v.), so called from the supposed resemblance of the flower to the bill of the Kaka (q.v.). Called also Parrot-bill, Glory-Pea, and Kowhai (q.v.).

1842. W. R. Wade, `Journey in New Zealand,' [Hobart Town]. p. 196:

"Kowai ngutukaka [parrot-bill kowai]; the most elegant flowering shrub of the country."

1892. `Otago Witness,' Nov. 24, `Native Trees':

"A plantation of a shrub which is in great demand in England and on the Continent, and is greatly neglected here—the Clianthus puniceus, or scarlet glory pea of New Zealand, locally known as kaka beak."

<hw>Kakapo</hw>, n. Maori name for the Night-parrot, Stringops habroptilus, Gray. Called also Owl-parrot. See Kaka. The syllable po is Maori for night. Compare Katipo (q.v.).

1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia' (Supplement):

"Strigops habroptilus, G. R. Gray, Kakapo, native name."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 149:

"Stringops, owl-parrot—ground-parrot of the colonists."

1889. Prof. Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 117:

"Although possessing large wings, it is flightless, its breast-muscles being so small as to be practically useless. Its habits are nocturnal, and it has a ring of feathers arranged round the eye, giving it a curious resemblance to an owl, whence the name owl-parrot is often applied to it."

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 445:

"Another remarkable bird is the owl parrot (Stringops habroptilus) of a greenish colour, and with a circle of feathers round the eye as in the owl. It is nocturnal in its habits, lives in holes in the ground under tree-roots or rocks."

1896. `Otago Witness,' June 11, p. 53:

"The Kakapo is one of our most unique birds."

<hw>Kakariki</hw>, n. Maori name for a green Parrakeet. There are two species, Platycercus novae zelandiae, Sparrm., and P. auriceps, Kuhl. See Parrakeet. The word kakariki means literally little parrot, kaka (q.v.) and iki (little), the r is intrusive. It is applied also to a green lizard. In Maori it becomes later an adjective, meaning `green.'

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 404:

"The Kakariki . . . (platycercus novae zeal.) is a pretty light green parrot with a band of red or yellow over the upper beak and under the throat. This elegant little bird is about the size of a small thrush."

1894. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxvii. p. 95 [Note]:

"The name Kakarika (indicative of colour) is applied alike to the green lizard and to the green Parrakeet of our woods."

<hw>Kamin</hw>, n. aboriginal word, explained in quotation. It is probably local.

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 89:

"If he [the Australian black] has to climb a high tree, he first goes into the scrub to fetch a piece of the Australian calamus (Calamus australis), which he partly bites, partly breaks off; he first bites on one side and breaks it down, then on the other side and breaks it upwards—one, two, three, and this tough whip is severed. At one end of it he makes a knot, the other he leaves it as it is. This implement, which is usually from sixteen to eighteen feet long, is called a kamin."

<hw>Kanae</hw>, n. (trisyll.) Maori name for a fish of New Zealand, the Silver-Mullet, Mugil perusii or argenteus.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (C.M.S.), p. 158:

"Kanae, s. The mullet fish."

1888. Order in Council, New Zealand, Jan. 10, `Regulations under the Fisheries Conservation Act':

"The months of December, January, and February in each year are here prescribed a close season for the fish of the species of the mugil known as mullet or kanae."

<hw>Kanaka</hw>, n. and adj. a labourer from the South Sea Islands, working in Queensland sugar-plantations. The word is Hawaiian (Sandwich Islands). The kindred words are given in the following extract from

Fornander's Polynesian Race' (1885), vol. iii. p. 154:

"Kanaka, s. Hawaiian, man, human, mankind, a common man in distinction from chiefs. Samoan, New Zealand [sc. Maori], Tongan, tangata, man. Tahitian, taata, man."

In the original word the accent is on the first syllable, which accent Mr. Rudyard Kipling preserves (see quotation, 1893), though he has changed the word in his reprint of the poem in `The Seven Seas'; but the usual pronunciation in Australia is to accent the second syllable.

1794. J. J. Jarves, `History of Hawaiian Islands,' printed at Honolulu (1872), p. 82:

"[On 21st Feb. 1794.] A salute was then fired, and the natives shouted, `Kanaka no Beritane'—we are men of Britain."

1852. A. Miller, `Narrative of United States Exploring Expedition,' c. ii. p. 142:

"On Monday (Nov. 16, 1840) our gentlemen formed themselves into two parties, and started on horseback for their journey. One party consisted of Messrs. Reade, Rich, and Wall, with eight kanakas and two guides."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. viii. p. 133:

"Queensland at present is supplying itself with labour from the South Sea Islands, and the men employed are called Polynesians, or canakers, or islanders."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia, p. 162:

"The word `kanaka' is really a Maori word, signifying a man, but in Australia it has come to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Head Station,' p. 9:

"The kanaka reverences women and adores children. He is loyal in heart, affectionate of disposition, and domestic in his habits."

1888. H. S. Cooper, `The Islands of the Pacific,' p. 5:

"The kanakas, who at present populate Hawaii, are, as a rule, well made and intelligent. That there is a cross of the Malay and Indian blood in them few can doubt."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 64:

"Natives of the South Sea Islands, who in Australia are called kanakas—a capable and intelligent race, especially to this kind of work [on plantations], for they are strong, and endure the tropical heat far better than the whites."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 298:

"Thus, it is maintained by the planters, the kanaka, necessary as he is to the conditions of North Queensland, opens up avenues of skilled labour for the European, and makes population and commerce possible where otherwise there would be complete stagnation."

2892. `The Times,' Dec. 28:

"The principal open-air labour of the sugar plantations is furnished by kanakas, who are the native inhabitants of certain groups of South Sea Islands not at present under the protection of any European flag."

1893. R. L. Stevenson, `Island Night's Entertainments,' p. 41:

"What we want is a man-of-war—a German, if we could—they know how to manage kanakas."

1893. Rudyard Kipling, `Banjo Song':

"We've shouted on seven-ounce nuggets,
We've starved on a kanaka's pay."

1893. C. H. Pearson, `National Life and Character,' p.32:

"In Australasia . . . the Maori, the Kanaka, and the Papuan are dying out. We cannot close our eyes to the fact that certain weak races—even when, like the kanaka, they possess some very high qualities—seem to wither away at mere contact with the European. . . . The kanakas (among whom we may include the Maories)."

<hw>Kangaroo</hw>, n. (1) an aboriginal word. See Marsupial.

(a) The Origin of the Name. The name was first obtained in 1770, while H.M.S. Endeavour lay beached at the Endeavour River, where Cooktown, Queensland, now is. The name first appears in print in 1773, in the book brought out by the relatives of Mr. Parkinson, who was draughtsman to Banks the naturalist, and who had died on the voyage. The object of this book was to anticipate the official account of Cook's Voyage by Hawkesworth, which appeared later in the same year. It is now known that Hawkesworth's book was like a rope twisted of four strands, viz. Cook's journal, the diaries of the two naturalists, Banks and Solander, and quartum quid, the Johnsonian pomposity of Dr. Hawkesworth. Cook's journal was published in 1893, edited by Captain Wharton, hydrographer to the Admiralty; Banks's journal, in 1896, edited by Sir J. D. Hooker. Solander's journal has never been printed.

When Englishmen next came to Australia in 1788, it was found that the word Kangaroo was not known to the natives round Port Jackson, distant 1500 miles to the South of Cooktown. In fact, it was thought by them to be an English word. (See quotation, Tench, 1789.) It is a question whether the word has belonged to any aboriginal vocabulary since. "Capt. Philip P. King, the explorer, who visited that locality [sc. Endeavour River] forty-nine years after Cook, relates in his `Narrative of the Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia,' that he found the word kangaroo unknown to the tribe he met there, though in other particulars the vocabulary he compiled agrees very well with Captain Cook's." (Curr's `Australian Race,' vol. i. p. 27.) In the fourth volume of Curr's book a conspectus is given of the words used in different parts of Australia for various objects. In the list of names for this animal there are a few that are not far from Kangaroo, but some inquirers suspect the accuracy of the list, or fancy that the natives obtained the words sounding like Kangaroo from English. It may be assumed that the word is not now in use as an aboriginal word. Has it, then, disappeared? or was it an original mistake on the part of Banks or Cook ?

The theory of a mistake has obtained widely. It has figured in print, and finds a place in at least one dictionary. Several correspondents have written that the word Kangaroo meant "I don't understand," and that Banks mistook this for a name. This is quite possible, but at least some proof is needed, as for instance the actual words in the aboriginal language that could be twisted into this meaning. To find these words, and to hear their true sound, would test how near the explanation hits the mark. Banks was a very careful observer, and he specially notes the precautions he took to avoid any mistake in accepting native words. Moreover, according to Surgeon Anderson, the aborigines of Van Diemen's Land described the animal by the name of Kangaroo. (See quotation, 1787.)

On the other hand, it must be remembered that it is an ascertained fact that the aborigines taboo a word on the death of any one bearing that word as a proper name. (See quotation under Nobbler, 1880.) If, therefore, after Cook's visit, some man called Kangaroo died, the whole tribe would expunge Kangaroo from its vocabulary. There is, however, some evidence that the word was much later in use in Western Australia. (See quotation, 1835.)

It is now asserted that the word is in use again at the very part of Queensland where the Endeavour was beached. Lumholtz, in his `Amongst Cannibals' (p. 311), gives it in his aboriginal vocabulary. Mr. De Vis, of the Brisbane Museum, in his paper before the Geographical Society at Brisbane (1894), says that "in point of fact the word `kangaroo' is the normal equivalent for kangaroo at the Endeavour River; and not only so, it is almost the type-form of a group of variations in use over a large part of Australia." It is curiously hard to procure satisfactory evidence as to the fact. Mr. De Vis says that his first statement was "made on the authority of a private correspondent; "but another correspondent writes from Cooktown, that the blacks there have taken Kangaroo from English. Inquiries inserted in each of the Cooktown newspapers have produced no result. Mr. De Vis' second argument as to the type-form seems much stronger. A spoken language, unwritten, unprinted, must inevitably change, and change rapidly. A word current in 1770 would change rather than disappear, and the root consonants would remain. The letters ng together, followed by r, occur in the proportion of one in thirteen, of the names for the animal tabulated by Curr.

It is a difficult matter on which to speak decidedly, but probably no great mistake was made, and the word received was a genuine name of the animal.

See further the quotations, 1896.

(b) The Plural of the Word.

There seems to be considerable doubt as to the plural of the word, whether it should take s like most English words, or remain unchanged like sheep, deer. In two consecutive pages of one book the two plurals are used. The general use is the plural in s. See 1793 Hunter, 1845 Balfour, and 1880 Senior; sportsmen frequently use the form Kangaroo.

[Since 1888 a kangaroo has been the design on the one-shilling postage stamp of New South Wales.]

1815. `History of New South Wales,' (1818) PP. 460-461:

"Throughout the general course of the journey, kangaroos, emus, ducks, etc. were seen in numbers." "Mr. Evans saw the kangaroo in immense flocks."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 49:

"The kangaroos are too subtle and shy for us to get near."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 125:

"In the afternoon we saw some kangaroos and wallaby, but did not succeed in killing any."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. iii. p. 23:

"Though kangaroo were plentiful, they were not overwhelming to number."

1777. Buffon, `Supplement a l'Histoire Naturelle,' tom. iv. `Table des Matieres':

"Kanguros, espece de grosse Gerboise qui se trouve dans les terres australes de la Nouvelle Hollande."

1800. J. J. Labillardiere, `Voyage a la recherche de La Perouse,' tom. i. p. 134: [Under date April 24, 1792.]

"Un de nos chasseurs trouva un jeune kangourou sur les bords de la mer."

1880. H. de Charency, `Recherches sur les Dialectes Tasmaniens,' p. 21:

"Kangourou. Ce mot semble d'origine non Australienne, comme on l'a soutenu, mais bien Tasmanienne."

1882. Littre, `Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise' (s.v.):

"Kanguroo ou kangarou. On ecrit aussi kangarou et kangourou."

1882. A. Daudet, `Jack,' p. 131:

Il regardait les kangaroos dresses sur leurs pattes, si longues qu'elles ont l'agilite et l'elan d'une paire d'ailes."

1890. Oscar Comettant [Title]:

"Au Pays des Kangourous."

(d) Kangaroo in German—Kaenguruh:

1892. R. V. Lendenfeld, `Australische Reise,' p. 46:

"Die Kaenguruh hoben in dem Augenblick, als sie das Geheul hoerten, die Koepfe hoch and witterten, blickten and loosten in alle Richtungen."

Notice that both in French and German the u sound of the middle syllable is preserved and not changed as in English to a.

(e) The species.

The name Kangaroo is applied to the following larger species of the genus Macropus, the remaining species being called Wallabies—

Antilopine Kangaroo—
Macropus antilopinus, Gould.

Great Grey K., or Forester—
M. giganteus, Zimm.

Great Red K.—
M. rufus, Desm.

Isabelline K.—
M. isabellinus, Gould.

Owen's K.—
M. magnus, Owen.

Wallaroo, or Euro—
M. robustus, Gould.

The name Kangaroo is also applied to certain other species of Marsupials belonging to the genus Macropus, but with a qualifying adjective, such as Dorca-, Tree-, Rat-, Musk-, etc.; and it is applied to species of the genera Dorcopsis, Dendrolagus, Bettongia, and Hypsiprymnodon. The Brush-Kangaroo (q.v.) is another name for the Wallaby (q.v.), and the Rat-Kangaroo is the stricter scientific appellation of Kangaroo-Rat (q.v.). The Banded-Kangaroo is a Banded-Wallaby (see Lagostrophus). See also Dorca-Kangaroo, Tree-Kangaroo, Musk-Kangaroo, Dorcopsis, Dendrolagus, Bettongia, Hypsiprymnodon, Rock-Wallaby, Paddy-melon, Forester, Old Man,, Joey, and Boomah.

(f) The Use of the Word.

1770. `Capt. Cook's Journal' (edition Wharton, 1893), p. 244:

May 1st. An animal which must feed upon grass, and which, we judge, could not be less than a deer."

[p. 280]: "June 23rd. One of the men saw an animal something less than a greyhound; it was of a mouse colour, very slender made, and swift of foot."

[p. 294]: August 4th. "The animals which I have before mentioned, called by the Natives Kangooroo or Kanguru." [At Endeavour River, Queensland.]

1770. Joseph Banks, `Journal' (edition Hooker, 1896), p. 287:

"July 14.—Our second Lieutenant had the good fortune to kill the animal that had so long been the subject of our speculations. To compare it to any European animal would be impossible, as it has not the least resemblance to any one that I have seen. Its forelegs are extremely short, and of no use to 1t in walking; its hind again as disproportionally long; with these it hops seven or eight feet at a time, in the same manner as the jerboa, to which animal indeed it bears much resemblance, except in size, this being in weight 38 lbs., and the jerboa no larger than a common rat."

Ibid. p. 301:

"August 26.—Quadrupeds we saw but few, and were able to catch but few of those we did see. The largest was called by the natives kangooroo; it is different from any European, and, indeed, any animal I have heard or read of, except the jerboa of Egypt, which is not larger than a rat, while this is as large as a middling lamb. The largest we shot weighed 84 lbs. It may, however, be easily known from all other animals by the singular property of running, or rather hopping, upon only its hinder legs, carrying its fore-feet close to its breast. In this manner it hops so fast that in the rocky bad ground where it is commonly found, it easily beat my greyhound, who though he was fairly started at several, killed only one, and that quite a young one."

1773. Sydney Parkinson, `Journal of a Voyage,' p. 149:

"Kangooroo, the leaping quadruped."
[A description given at p. 145.]

1773. J. Hawkesworth, `Voyages,' vol. iii. p. 577:

"July 14, 1770. Mr. Gore, who went out this day with his gun, had the good fortune to kill one of the animals which had been so much the subject of our speculation. An idea of it will best be conceived by the cut, plate xx., without which the most accurate verbal description would answer very little purpose, as it has not similitude enough to any animal already known to admit of illustration by reference. In form it is most like the gerbua, which it also resembles in its motion, as has been observed already, for it greatly differs in size, the gerbua not being larger than a common rat, and this animal, when full grown, being as big as a sheep: this individual was a young one, much under its full growth, weighing only thirty-eight pounds. The head, neck, and shoulders are very small in proportion to the other parts of the body; the tail is nearly as long as the body, thick near the rump, and tapering towards the end: the fore-legs of this individual were only eight inches long, and the hind-legs two-and-twenty: its progress is by successive leaps or hops, of a great length, in an erect posture; the fore-legs are kept bent close to the breast, and seemed to be of use only for digging: the skin is covered with a short fur, of a dark mouse or grey colour, excepting the head and ears, which bear a slight resemblance to those of a hare. In form it is most like the gerbua. This animal is called by the natives `kangaroo.'" [This account, it will be seen, is based on the notes of Banks.]

1774. Oliver Goldsmith, `Animated Nature,' Book VII. c. xvi., The Gerbua,' [in four-vol. ed., vol. iii. p. 30]:

"But of all animals of this kind, that which was first discovered and described by Mr. Banks is the most extraordinary. He calls it the kanguroo; and though from its general outline and the most striking peculiarities of its figure it greatly resembles the gerbua, yet it entirely differs, if we consider its size, or those minute distinctions which direct the makers of systems in assorting the general ranks of nature. The largest of the gerbua kind which are to be found in the ancient continent do not exceed the size of a rabbit. The kanguroo of New Holland, where it is only to be found, is often known to weigh above sixty pounds, and must consequently be as large as a sheep. Although the skin of that which was stuffed and brought home by Mr. Banks was not much above the size of a hare, yet it was greatly superior to any of the gerbua kind that have been hitherto known, and very different in many particulars. The snout of the gerbua, as has been said, is short and round, that of the discovered animal long and slender; the teeth also entirely differ, for as the gerbua has but two cutting teeth in each jaw, making four in all, this animal, besides its cutting teeth, has four canial teeth also; but what makes a more striking peculiarity, is the formation of its lower jaw, which, as the ingenious discoverer supposes, is divided into two parts which open and shut like a pair of scissors, and cut grass, probably this animal's principal food. The head, neck, and shoulders are very small in proportion to the other parts of the body; the tail is nearly as long as the body; thick near the rump and tapering towards the head and ears, which bear a slight resemblance to those of the hare. We are not told, however, from the formation of its stomach to what class of quadrupeds it belongs: from its eating grass, which it has been seen to do, one would be apt to rank it among the ruminating animals; but from the canial teeth which it is found to have, we may on the other hand suppose it to bear some relation to the carnivorous. Upon the whole, however, it can be classed with none more properly than with the animals of the gerbua kind, as its hind-legs are so much longer than the fore; it moves also precisely in the same manner, taking great bounds of ten or twelve feet at a time, and thus sometimes escaping the fleetest greyhound, with which Mr. Banks pursued it. One of them that was killed proved to be good food; but a second, which weighed eighty-four pounds, and was not yet come to its full growth, was found to be much inferior."

1787, Surgeon Anderson, quoted by W. Eden, in `History of New Holland' (second edition), p. 71:

"However, we must have a far more intimate acquaintance with the languages spoken here [Van Diemen's Land] and in the more northern parts of New Holland, before we can pronounce that they are totally different; nay, we have good grounds for the opposite opinion; for we found that the animal called kangaroo at Endeavour River was known under the same name here."

1781. T. Pennant, `History of Quadrupeds,' vol. i. p. 306:

No. 184. [A Scientific Description of the Kangaroo.]

1789. Governor Phillip, `Voyage':

[p. 106]: "The kangaroo."

[p. 168]: "Skeleton of the head of the kangaroo."

[At each of these places there is a description and a picture. Under each picture the name is spelt "Kangooroo." At p. 289 there is a further note on the kanguroo. In the text at p. 149 the spelling " Kangooroo " is adopted.]

Ibid. p. 104:

"The kanguroo, though it resembles the jerboa in the peculiarity of using only the hinder legs in progression, does not belong to that genus."

Ibid, p. 168:

"Since stating the dimensions of the kanguroo, in page 106, Lord Sydney has received from Governor Phillip a male of a much larger size. . . . Lieutenant Shortland describes them as feeding in herds of about thirty or forty, and assures us that one is always observed to be apparently upon the watch at a distance from the rest."

1789. Watkin Tench, `Account of the Settlement of Port Jackson,' p. 171:

"Kangaroo was a name unknown to them [the aborigines of Port
Jackson] for any animal, until we introduced it. When I showed
Colbee [an aboriginal] the cows brought out in the Gorgon he
asked me if they were kangaroos."

1793. Governor Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 66:

"The animal described in the voyage of the Endeavour, called the kangaroo (but by the natives patagorang), we found in great numbers."

Ibid. p. 568:

"I had a kanguroo on board, which I had directions to carry to
Lord Grenville, as a present for his Majesty.—Nov. 26, 1791."
[There is no statement whether the animal reached England.]

Ibid. p. 402:

"In rowing up this branch, we saw a flock of about thirty kangaroos or paderong, but they were only visible during their leaps, as the very long grass hid them from our view."

1809. G. Shaw, `Zoological Lectures,' vol. i. p. 94:

"The genus Macropus or kangaroo . . . one of the most elegant as well as curious animals discovered in modern times." [Under the picture and in list of contents: Kanguroo.]

1814. M. Flinders, `Voyage to Terra Australis,' Introd. p. lxiii:

"An animal found upon one of the islands is described [by Dampier, `Voyage to New Holland,' vol. iii. p. 123] as `a sort of raccoon, different from that of the West Indies, chiefly as to the legs; for these have very short fore legs; but go jumping upon them' [not upon the short fore, but the long hind legs, it is to be presumed] `as the others do; and like them are very good meat.' This appears to have been the small kangaroo, since found upon the islands which form the road; and if so, this description is probably the first ever made of that singular animal" [though without the name].

1820. W. C. Wentworth, `Description of New South Wales,' p. 57:

"Coursing the kangaroo and emu forms the principal amusement of the sporting part of the colonists.

(p. 68): The colonists generally pursue this animal [kangaroo] at full speed on horseback, and frequently manage, notwithstanding its extraordinary swiftness, to be up at the death."

1833. Charles Lamb, `Essays of Elia' [edition 1895], p. 151, `Distant Correspondents':

"The kangaroos—your Aborigines—do they keep their primitive simplicity un-Europe-tainted, with those little short fore puds, looking like a lesson framed by nature to the pick-pocket! Marry, for diving into fobs they are rather lamely provided a priori; but if the hue and cry were once up, they would show as fair a pair of hind-shifters as the expertest loco motor in the colony."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. I. c. iii. p. 106:

"Those that were noticed were made of the red kangaroo-skin."

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar of the Language spoken by the Aborigines, at Hunter's River,' p. 87:

"Kong-go-rong, The Emu, from the noise it makes, and likely the origin of the barbarism, kangaroo, used by the English, as the name of an animal, called Mo-a-ne."

1835. T. B. Wilson, `Narrative of a Voyage round the World, etc.' p. 212:

"They [natives of the Darling Range, W.A.] distinctly pronounced `kangaroo' without having heard any of us utter that sound: they also called it waroo, but whether they distinguished `kangaroo' (so called by us, and also by them) from the smaller kind, named `wallabi,' and by them `waroo,' we could not form any just conclusion."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 23:

"Kangaroos are of six different species, viz. the forester, the flyer, the wallaby, the wallaroo, the kangaroo-rat, and the kangaroo-mouse." [This is of course merely a popular classification.]

1845. J. A. Moore, `Tasmanian Rhymings,' p. 15:

"A kangaroo, like all his race,
Of agile form and placid face."

1861. W. M. Thackeray, `Roundabout Papers', p.83:

"The fox has brought his brush, and the cock has brought his comb, and the elephant has brought his trunk and the kangaroo has brought his bag, and the condor his old white wig and black satin hood."

1880. W. Senior, `Travel and Trout,' p. 8:

"To return to the marsupials. I have been assured that the kangaroos come first and eat off the grass; that the wallabies, following, grub up the roots."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 114:

"Sometimes a kangaroo would come down with measured thud, thud, and drink, and then return without noticing the human beings."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 118:

"According to the traditions of the bush—not always reliable—the name of kangaroo was given under a misconception. An aborigine being asked by one of the early discoverers the name of the animal, replied, `Kangaroo' (`I don't know'), and in this confession of ignorance or misapprehension the name originated. It seems absurd to suppose that any black hunter was really ignorant of the name of an animal which once represented the national wealth of Australians as the merino does to-day."

[The tradition is not quite so ridiculous, if the answer meant—"I don't know what you mean,—I don't understand you." See above.]

1891. `Guide Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"In this enclosure is a wooden model of a kangaroo of ancient times. This is copied from a restoration by Professor McCoy, who was enabled to represent it from fossil remains which have been unearthed at various places in Australia."

1896. E. Meston, `Sydney Bulletin,' April 18:

"The origin of the word `kangaroo' was published by me six years ago. Captain Cook got it from the Endeavor River blacks, who pronounce it to-day exactly as it is spelled in the great navigator's journal, but they use it now only for the big toe. Either the blacks in Cook's time called the kangaroo `big toe' for a nick-name, as the American Indians speak of the `big horn,' or the man who asked the name of the animal was holding it by the hind foot, and got the name of the long toe, the black believing that was the part to which the question referred."

1896. Rev. J. Mathew, Private Letter, Aug. 31:

"Most names of animals in the Australian dialects refer to their appearance, and the usual synthesis is noun + adjective; the word may be worn down at either end, and the meaning lost to the native mind.

"A number of the distinct names for kangaroo show a relation to words meaning respectively nose, leg, big, long, either with noun and adjective to combination or one or other omitted.

"The word kangaroo is probably analysable into ka or kang, nose (or head), and goora, long, both words or local equivalents being widely current."

(2) Wild young cattle (a special use)—

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 290:

"A stockyard under six feet high will be leaped by some of these kangaroos (as we term them) with the most perfect ease, and it requires to be as stout as it is high to resist their rushes against it."

(3) Used playfully, and as a nickname for persons and things Australian. An Australian boy at an English school is frequently called "Kangaroo." It is a Stock Exchange nickname for shares in Western Australian gold-mining companies.

1896. `Nineteenth Century' (Nov.), p. 711:

"To the 80,000,000 Westralian mining shares now in existence the Stock Exchange has long since conceded a special `market'; and it has even conferred upon these stocks a nickname—the surest indication of importance and popularity. And that `Kangaroos,' as they were fondly called, could boast of importance and popularity nobody would dare to gainsay."

(4) A kind of chair, apparently from the shape.

1834. Miss Edgeworth, `Helen,' c. xvi. (`Century'):

"It was neither a lounger nor a dormeuse, nor a Cooper, nor a Nelson, nor a Kangaroo: a chair without a name would never do; in all things fashionable a name is more than half. Such a happy name as Kangaroo Lady Cecilia despaired of finding."

<hw>Kangarooade</hw>, n. a Kangaroo hunt; nonce word. See quotation.

1863. M. K. Beveridge, `Gatherings among the Gum Trees,' p. 86:

"The Kangarooade—in three Spirts."
[Title of a poem.]

<hw>Kangaroo-Apple</hw>, n. an Australian and Tasmanian fruit, Solanum aviculare, Forst., N.O. Solanaceae. The name is also applied to S. vescum, called the Gunyang (q.v.). In New Zealand, the fruit is called Poroporo (q.v.).

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual, p. 133:

`Solanum laciniatum, the kangaroo-apple, resembling the apple of a potato; when so ripe as to split, it has a mealy sub-acid taste."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 85:

"The kangaroo-apple (Solanum laciniatum) is a fine shrub found in many parts of the country, bearing a pretty blue flower and a fruit rather unpleasant to the taste, although frequently eaten by the natives, and also by Europeans."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 132:

"The kangaroo-apple comes from a bush or small tree bearing blue blossoms, which are succeeded by apples like those of the potato. They have a sweetish flavour, and when ripe may be boiled and eaten, but are not greatly prized."

1857. F. R. Nixon (Bishop), `Cruise of Beacon,' p. 28:

"Of berries and fruits of which they partook, the principal were those of Solanum laciniatum, or kangaroo-apple, when dead ripe."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 105:

"Solanum aviculare, on which our colonists have very inappropriately bestowed the name Kangaroo-apple, while in literal scientific translation it ought to be called Bird's Nightshade, because Captain Cook's companions observed in New Zealand that birds were feeding on the berries of this bush."

<hw>Kangaroo-Dog</hw>, n. a large dog, lurcher, deerhound, or greyhound, used for hunting the Kangaroo.

1806. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 265:

"Shortly before the Estramina left the River Derwent, two men unfortunately perished by a whale-boat upsetting, in which they were transporting four valuable kangaroo-dogs to the opposite side, none of which ever reached the shore."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 141:

"The kind of dog used for coursing the kangaroo is generally a cross between the greyhound and the mastiff or sheep-dog; but in a climate like New South Wales they have, to use the common phrase, too much lumber about them. The true bred greyhound is the most useful dog: he has more wind; he ascends the hills with more ease; and will run double the number of courses in a day. He has more bottom in running, and if he has less ferocity when he comes up with an `old man,' so much the better, as he exposes himself the less, and lives to afford sport another day."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. ii. p. 31:

"They . . . are sometimes caught by the kangaroo-dogs."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 126:

"A fine kangaroo-dog was pointed out to us, so fond of kangarooing that it goes out alone, kills the game, and then fetches its master to the dead animals."

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 422:

"With the gun over his shoulder, and the kangaroo-dog in a leash by his side."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' c. iii. p. 35:

"On every station, also, a large kind of greyhound, a cross of the Scotch greyhound and English bulldog, called the kangaroo-dog, which runs by sight, is kept for the purpose of their destruction."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 91:

"Kangaroo-dogs are a special breed, a kind of strong greyhound."

1893. `The Argus,' April 8, p. 4, col. 1:

"That big, powerful, black kangaroo-dog Marmarah was well worth looking at, with his broad, deep chest, intelligent, determined eyes, sinews of a gymnast, and ribs like Damascus steel. On his black skin he bore marks of many honourable fights; the near side showed a long, whitish line where the big emu he had run down, tackled single-handed, and finally killed, had laid him open. His chest and legs showed numerous grey scars, each with a history of its own of which he might well be proud."

<hw>Kangaroo-Fly</hw>, n. a small Australian fly, Cabarus. See quotations.

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. I. c. ii. p. 71:

"Our camp was infested by the kangaroo-fly, which settled upon us in thousands."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 313 [Note]:

"Rather smaller than the house-fly, it acts with such celerity that it has no sooner settled on the face or hands than it inflicts instantaneously a painful wound, which often bleeds subsequently. It is called by the colonists the kangaroo-fly; and though not very common, the author can testify that it is one of the most annoying pests of Australia."

<hw>Kangaroo-Grass</hw>, n. a name given to several species of grasses of the genera Anthistiria and Andropogon, chiefly from their height, but also because, when they are young and green in spring, the Kangaroo feeds on them. Andropogon is more like a rush or sedge, and is sometimes so high as to completely conceal horses. See Grass.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 209:

"Of native grasses we possess the oat-grass, rye-grass, fiorin, kangaroo-grass, and timothy,—blady grass growing in wet, flooded, alluvial spots, and wire-grass upon cold, wet, washed clays."

1838. `Report of Van Diemen's Land Company,' in J. Bischoff's `Van Diemen's Land' (1832), c. v. p. 119:

"The grasses were principally timothy, foxtail, and single kangaroo."

1845. T. L. Mitchell, `Tropical Australia, p. 88:

"A new species of Anthistiria occurred here, perfectly distinct from the kangaroo grass of the colony."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 131:

"The most conspicuous of the native Gramineae that so widely cover the surface of Australia Felix."

1862. G. T. Lloyd, `Thirty-three Years in Tasmania and Victoria,' p. 36:

"Where are the genial morning dews of former days that used to glisten upon and bespangle the vernal-leaved kangaroo grass?"

1862. G. T. Lloyd, `Thirty-three Years in Tasmania,' p. 393:

"Between the Lake River and Launceston . . . I was most agreeably surprised in beholding the novel sight of a spacious enclosure of waving kangaroo grass, high and thick-standing as a good crop of oats, and evidently preserved for seed."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 8:

"Not even a withered wisp of kangaroo-grass."

(p. 193):

"The long brown kangaroo-grass."

1891. `The Argus,' Dec. 19, p. 4, col. 2:

"Had they but pulled a tuft of the kangaroo-grass beneath their feet, they would have found gold at its roots."

<hw>Kangaroo-hop</hw>, n. a peculiar affected gait. See quotation.

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 22, p. 27, col. 2:

"The young lady that affects waterfalls, the Grecian-bend, or the kangaroo hop."

<hw>Kangaroo-Hound</hw>, n. i.q. Kangaroo-Dog (q.v.).

1865. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 28:

"A large dog, a kangaroo-hound (not unlike a lurcher in appearance)."

<hw>Kangarooing</hw>, vb. n. hunting the kangaroo.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' p. 257:

"In chasing kangaroos, or, as it is technically termed, `kangarooing,' large powerful dogs are used . . ."

1870. E. B. Kennedy, `Four Years in Queensland,' p. 194:

"You may be out Kangarooing; the dogs take after one [a kangaroo], and it promises to be a good course."

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 15:

"We were sick of kangarooing, like the dogs themselves, that as they grew old would run a little way and then pull up if a mob came jump, jump, past them."

<hw>Kangaroo-Mouse</hw>, n. more strictly called the Pouched-Mouse (q.v.).

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 256:

"It is a long chain from the big forester, down through the different varieties of wallaby to the kangaroo-rat, and finally, to the tiny interesting little creature known on the plains as the `kangaroo-mouse'; but all have the same characteristics."

<hw>Kangaroo-net</hw>, n. net made by the natives to catch the kangaroo.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 45:

"I found . . . four fine kangaroo-nets, made of the bark of sterculia."

<hw>Kangaroo-Rat</hw>, or <hw>Rat-Kangaroo</hw>, n. the name applied to species of Marsupials belonging to the following genera, viz.—

(1) Potorous, (2) Caloprymnus, (3) Bettongia, (4) AEpyprymnus.

(1) The first genus (Potorous, q.v.) includes animals about the size of a large rat; according to Gould, although they stand much on their hind-legs they run in a totally different way to the kangaroo, using fore and hind-legs in a kind of gallop and never attempting to kick with the hind-feet. The aboriginal name was Potoroo. The species are three—the Broad-faced Kangaroo-Rat, Potorous platyops, Gould; Gilbert's, P. gilberti, Gould; Common, P. tridactylus, Kerr. They are confined to Australia and Tasmania, and one Tasmanian variety of the last species is bigger than the mainland form. There is also a dwarf Tasmanian variety of the same species.

(2) A second genus (Caloprymnus, q.v.) includes the Plain Kangaroo-Rat; it has only one species, C. campestris, Gould, confined to South Australia. The epithet plain refers to its inhabiting plains.

(3) A third genus (Bettongia, q.v.) includes the Prehensile-tailed Rat-Kangaroos and has four species, distributed in Australia and Tasmania—

Brush-tailed Kangaroo-Rat—
Bettongia penicillata, Gray.

Gaimard's K.-R.—
B. gaimardi, Desm.

Lesueur's K.-R.—
B. lesueuri, Quoy and Gaim.

Tasmanian K.-R.—
B. cuniculus, Ogilby.

(4) A fourth genus (AEpyprymnus, q.v.) includes the Rufous Kangaroo-Rat. It has one species, AE. rufescens, Grey. It is the largest of the Kangaroo-Rats and is distinguished by its ruddy colour, black-backed ears, and hairy nose.

[Mr. Lydekker proposes to call the animal the Rat- Kangaroo (see quotation, 1894), but the name Kangaroo- Rat is now so well-established that it does not seem possible to supersede it by the, perhaps, more correct name of Rat-Kangaroo. The introduction of the word Kangaroo prevents any possibility of confusion between this animal and the true rodent, and it would seem to be a matter of indifference as to which word precedes or follows the other.]

1788. Governor Phillip (Despatch, May 15), in `Historical Records of New South Wales,' vol. I. pt. ii. p. 135:

"Many trees were seen with holes that had been enlarged by the natives to get at the animal, either the squirrel, kangaroo rat, or opossum, for the going in of which perhaps they wait under their temporary huts, and as the enlarging these holes could only be done with the shell they used to separate the oysters from the rocks, must require great patience."

1793 Governor Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 61:

"As most of the large trees are hollow by being rotten in the heart, the opossum, kangaroo-rat, squirrel, and various other animals which inhabit the woods, when they are pursued, commonly run into the hollow of a tree."

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. xi. p. 430:

"The poto roo, or kangaroo-rat. . . . This curious animal which is indeed a miniature of the Kangaroo."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. ii. p. 28:

"The kangaroo-rat is a small inoffensive animal and perfectly distinct from the ordinary species of rat."

1836. C. Darwin, `Naturalist's Voyage,' c. xix. p. 321:

"The greyhounds pursued a kangaroo-rat into a hollow tree, out of which we dragged it; it is an animal as large as a rabbit, but with the figure of a kangaroo."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 37:

"The kangaroo-rat is twice the size of a large English water-rat, and of the same colour, measuring nearly two feet in length."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1853), p. 157:

"Two or three of the smallest kind, called the kangaroo-rat— about the size of a hare, and affording pretty good coursing."

1860. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 195:

"One of the skin aprons . . . made from the skin of a kangaroo-rat."

1879. C. W. Schurmann, `Native Tribes of Australia—Port Lincoln Tribe,' p. 214:

"The natives use this weapon [the Waddy] principally for throwing at kangaroo-rats or other small animals."

1890. A. H. S. Lucas, `Handbook of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,' Melbourne, p. 63:

"The Victorian Kangaroo rat is Bettongia cuniculus."

1894. R.Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 63:

"The rat-kangaroos, often incorrectly spoken of as kangaroo-rats."

<hw>Kangaroo-skin</hw>, n. either the leather for the tanned hide, or the complete fur for rugs and wraps.

1806. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 258:

"The fitness of the kangaroo-skin for upper leathers will no doubt obtain preference over most of the imported leather, as it is in general lighter and equally durable."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 106:

"I used always to strip and preserve the pelt, for it makes good and pretty door-mats, and is most useful for pouches, leggings, light-whips, or any purpose where you require something strong and yet neater than green hide. I have seen saddles covered with it, and kangaroo-skin boots are very lasting and good."

<hw>Kangaroo-tail Soup</hw>, n. soup made from the kangaroo-tail.

1820. W. C. Wentworth, `Description of New South Wales,' p. 58:

"The tail of the forest kangaroo in particular makes a soup which, both in richness and flavour, is far superior to any ox-tail soup ever tasted."

1865. Lady Barker, writing from Melbourne, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 14:

"The soups comprised kangaroo-tail—a clear soup not unlike ox-tail, but with a flavour of game."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xxxv. p. 312:

"Kangaroo-tail and ox-tail soup disputed pre-eminence."

<hw>Kangaroo-Thorn</hw>, n. an indigenous hedge-plant, Acacia armata, R. Br., N.O. Leguminosae; called also Kangaroo Acacia.

<hw>Kapai</hw>, adj. Maori word for good, used by the English in the North Island of New Zealand; e.g. "That is a kapai pipe." "I have a kapai gun."

1896. `New Zealand Herald,' Feb. 14 (Leading Article):

"The Maori word which passed most familiarly into the speech of Europeans was `kapai,' `this is good.'"

<hw>Kapu</hw>, n. Maori word for a stone adze. The Maori word means the hollow of the hand. The adze is so called from its curved shape. (Williams, `Maori Dict.')

1889. `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 140:

"Kapu,, or adze."

<hw>Karaka</hw>, n. Maori name for a tree, Corynocarpus laevigata, Forst. N.O. anacardiaceae; also called Cow-tree (q.v.), forty feet high, with orange- coloured berries, two to three inches long.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 226:

"Two or three canoes were hauled up under some karaka trees, which formed a pleasant grove in a sort of recess from the beach."

Ibid. vol. i. p. 233:

"The karaka-tree much resembles the laurel in its growth and foliage. It bears bright orange-coloured berries about the size and shape of damsons, growing in bunches. The fruit is sickly and dry; but the kernel forms an important article of native food."

1859. A. S. Thomson, `Story of New Zealand,' p. 157:

"The karaka fruit is about the size of an acorn. The pulp is eaten raw; the kernel is cooked in the oven for ten days, and then steeped for several weeks in a running stream before it is fit for use. Karaka berries for winter use are dried in the sun. The kernel is poisonous uncooked."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 108:

"The thick karakas' varnished green."

1881. J. L. Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 102:

"The karaka with its brilliantly polished green leaves and golden yellow fruit."

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 35:

"Bring the heavy karaka leaf,
Gather flowers of richest hue."

1892. `Otago Witness,' Nov. 10. (Native Trees):

"Corynocarpus laevigata (generally known by the name of karaka). The fruit is poisonous, and many deaths of children occur through eating it. Mr. Anderson, a surgeon who accompanied Captain Cook, mentions this tree and its fruit, and says the sailors ate it, but does not say anything about it being poisonous. The poison is in the hard inner part, and it may be that they only ate the outer pulp."

<hw>Karamu</hw>, n. Maori name for several species of the New Zealand trees of the genus Coprosma, N.O. Rubiaceae. Some of the species are called Tree-karamu, and others Bush-karamu; to the latter (C. lucida, Kirk) the name Coffee-plant, or Coffee-bush, is also applied.

1874. J. White, `Te Rou, or the Maori at Home,' p. 221:

"Then they tied a few Karamu branches in front of them and went towards the settlement."

1876. J. C. Crawford, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. IX. art. lxxx. p. 545:

"I have seen it stated that coffee of fine flavour has been produced from the karamu, coprosma lucida."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 132:

"Karamu. an ornamental shrub-tree; wood close-grained and yellow; might be used for turnery."

1887. T. F. Cheeseman, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. XX. art. xxii. p. 143:

"The first plant of interest noted was a new species of coprosma, with the habit of the common karamu."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 275:

"`Karamu' is applied by the Maoris to several species of Coprosma, amongst which, I believe, this [C. arborea] is included, but it is commonly termed `tree-karamu' by bushmen and settlers in the North."

1891. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' `New Zealand Country Journal,' vol. xv. p. 105:

"Of these fruits that of the karamu, (Coprosma lucida),
seemed to be amongst the first to be selected."

<hw>Kareau</hw> or <hw>Kareao</hw>, n. Maori name for Supplejack (q.v.).

<hw>Karmai</hw>, n. used by settlers in South Island of New Zealand for Towhai (q.v.), a New Zealand tree, Weinmannia racemosa, Forst. N.O. Saxifrageae. Kamahi is the Maori, and Karmai, or Kamai, the corruption.

1876. W. N. Blair, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. ix. p. 148:

"As will be seen by the tables of names, kamai is called black birch in the Catlin River District and Southland, which name is given on account of a supposed resemblance to the `birches,' or more correctly `beeches,' a number of which occur in that locality. I cannot understand how such an idea could have originated, for except in the case of the bark of one there is not the slightest resemblance between the birches and kamai. Whatever be the reason, the misapplication of names is complete, for the birches are still commonly called kamai in Southland."

<hw>Karoro</hw>, n. Maori name for a Black-backed Gull, Larus dominicanus.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 47: [Description.]

<hw>Karri</hw> or <hw>Kari</hw>, n. aboriginal name (Western Australia) for Eucalyptus diversicolor. F. v. M.

1870. W. H. Knight, `Western Australia: Its History, Progress, Condition, etc.,' p. 38:

"The Karri (eucalyptus colossea) is another wood very similar in many respects to the tuart, and grows to an enormous size."

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 196:

"The kari-tree is found in Western Australia, and is said to be very abundant . . . of straight growth and can be obtained of extraordinary size and length. . . . The wood is red in colour, hard, heavy, strong, tough, and slightly wavy or curled in the grain."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 444:

"Commonly known as `karri,' but in its native habitat as blue-gum. . . . The durability of this timber for lengthened periods under ground yet remains to be proved."

1896. `The Inquirer and Commercial News,' [Perth] July 3, p. 4, col. 5:

"Mr. J. Ednie Brown, conservator of forests . . . expresses astonishment at the vastness of the karri forests there. They will be in a position to export one thousand loads of karri timber for street-blocking purposes every week."

1896. `The Times' (Weekly Edition), Dec. 4, p. 822, col. 1:

"Karri, Eucalyptus diversicolor, is the giant tree of Western Australia. an average tree has a height of about 200ft., and a diameter of 4 ft. at 3 ft. or 4 ft. above the ground. The tree is a rapid grower, and becomes marketable in 30 or 40 years, against 50 years for jarrah. Karri timber is being largely exported for London street-paving, as its surface is not easily rendered slippery."

<hw>Katipo</hw>, n. a small venomous spider of New Zealand and Australia. The name is Maori. The scientific name is Latrodectus scelio, Thorel.In New Zealand, it is generally found on the beach under old driftwood; but in Australia it is found widely scattered over the Continent, and always frequents dark sheltered spots. The derivation may be from Kakati, verb, to sting, and po, night. Compare Kakapo. It is a dark-coloured spider, with a bright red or yellowish stripe.

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 440:

"A small black spider with a red stripe on its back, which they [the natives of New Zealand] call katipo or katepo."

1870. Sir W. Buller, before Wellington Philosophical Society, quoted in `The Katipo,' Jan. 1, 1892, p. 2:

"I have satisfied myself that in common with many other venomous creatures it (the katipo) only asserts its dreaded power as a means of defence, or when greatly irritated, for I have observed that on being touched with the finger it instantly folds its legs, rolls over on its back, and simulates death, remaining perfectly motionless till further molested, when it attempts to escape, only using its fangs as the dernier ressort."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals, p. 39:

"Another spider (Lathrodectus scelio), which is very common here and everywhere in Queensland, is very dangerous even to men. It is a small black animal, of the size of our house-spider, with a brilliant scarlet mark on its back."

1891. C. Frost, `Victorian Naturalist,' p. 140:

"I also determined, should opportunity occur, to make some further experiments with the black and red spider Latrodectus scelio . . . I found suspended in the web of one of this species a small lizard . . . which doubtless had been killed by its bite."

1892. Jan. 1, `The Katipo,' a Journal of Events in connection with the New Zealand Post Office and Telegraph Services. On p. 2 of the first number the Editor says:

"If hard words could break bones, the present lot of the proprietors of `The Katipo' would be a sorry one. From certain quarters invectives of the most virulent type have been hurled upon them in connection with the title now bestowed upon the publication—the main objections expressed cover contentions that the journal's prototype is a `repulsive,' `vindictive,' and `death-dealing reptile,' `inimical to man,' etc. ; and so on, ad infinitum."

[The pictorial heading of each number is a katipo's web, suggestive of the reticulation of telegraph wires, concerning which page 3 of the first number says: "The Katipo spider and web extends its threads as a groundwork for unity of the services."]

1895. H. R. Hogq, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia, Zoology, p. 322:

"This spider, popularly known as the red streaked spider, is found all over Victoria and New South Wales, and is recorded from Rockhampton and Bowen on the Queensland Coast, and from the North Island of New Zealand, where it is known by the Maoris as the Katipo."

<hw>Kauri</hw>, or <hw>Cowry</hw>, or <hw>Kauri-Pine</hw>, n. Maori name for the tree Agathis australis, Sal. (formerly Dammara A.), N.O. Coniferae. Variously spelt, and earlier often called Cowdie. In `Lee's New Zealand Vocabulary,' 1820, the spelling Kaudi appears. Although this tree is usually called by the generic name of Dammara (see quotation, 1832), it is properly referred to the genus Agathis, an earlier name already given to it by Salisbury. There is a Queensland Kauri (Dammara robusta, F. v. M.). See Pine.

1823. R. A. Cruise, `Ten Months in New Zealand,' p. 145:

"The banks of the river were found to abound with cowry; and . . . the carpenter was of opinion that there could be no great difficulty in loading the ship. The timber purveyor of the Coromandel having given cowry a decided preference to kaikaterre, . . . it was determined to abandon all further operations."

1835. W. Yate, `True Account of New Zealand,' p. 37:

"As a shrub, and during its youthful days, the kauri is not very graceful . . . but when it comes to years of maturity, it stands unrivalled for majesty and beauty."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 285:

"The kauri (Dammera [sic] Australis) is coniferous, resinous, and has an elongated box-like leaf."

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 349:

"When Captain Cook visited New Zealand (nearly a century after the discovery of the Dammara of Amboyna), he saw, upon the east coast of the Northern Island, a tree, called by the natives Kowrie; it was found to be a second species of Dammara, and was named D. australis."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 140:

"The Kauri-pine is justly styled the Queen of the New Zealand forest . . . the celebrated and beautiful Kauri."

1874. W. M. B., `Narrative of Edward Crewe,' p. 169:

"The kauri is the only cone-bearing pine in New Zealand. The wood is of a yellow colour, wonderfully free from knots, and harder than the red-pine of the Baltic. Beautifully mottled logs are sometimes met with, and are frequently made up into furniture."

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 295:

"The Kaurie or Cowdie-Pine (Dammara Australis) is a native of and is found only in New Zealand. . . . A tall and very handsome tree with a slightly tapering stem. . . . For masts, yards, etc., is unrivalled in excellence, as it not only possesses the requisite dimensions, lightness, elasticity, and strength, but is much more durable than any other Pine." [The whole of chap. 37 is devoted to this tree.]

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 47:

"As some tall kauri soars in lonely pride,
So proudly Hira stood."

1886. J. A. Froude, `Oceans,' p. 318:

"Only the majestic Kauri tolerated no approaches to his dignity. Under his branches all was bare and brown."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 143:

"The Native name `Kauri' is the only common name in general use. When the timber was first introduced into Britain it was termed `cowrie' or `kowdie-pine'; but the name speedily fell into disuse, although it still appears as the common name in some horticultural works."

1890. Brett, `Early History of New Zealand,' p. 115:

"`The Hunter' and `Fancy' loaded spars for Bengal at the Thames in 1798." . . . "These two Indian vessels in the Thames were probably the earliest European ships that loaded with New Zealand Timber, and probably mark the commencement of the export Kauri trade."

<hw>Kauri-gum</hw>, n. the resin which exudes from the Kauri (q.v.), used in making varnish.

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 140:

"In the year 1859 the amount of timber exportation from the
Province of Auckland was L 34,376; that of kauri-gum exported
L 20,776."

1874. G. Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 15:

"He paid his passage with kauri-gum."

1893. `Murray's Handbook to New Zealand,' p. 62:

"The industry which will most interest the tourist is the Kauri-gum. . . . The resin or gum which they [the Kauri-trees] contained fell into the ground as the trees died, and (not being soluble in water) has remained there ever since. Men go about with spears which they drive into the ground, and if they find small pieces of gum sticking to the end of the spear, they commence digging, and are often rewarded by coming on large lumps of gum."

<hw>Kava</hw>, n. The word is Tongan for—

(1) An ornamental shrub, Piper methysticum, Miq.; also Macropiper latifolium, Miq. See Kawa-kawa.

(2) A narcotic and stimulant beverage, prepared from the root of this plant, which used to be chewed by the natives of Fiji, who ejected the saliva into a Kava bowl, added water and awaited fermentation. The final stage of the manufacture was accompanied by a religious ceremonial of chanting. The manufacture is now conducted in a cleaner way. Kava produces an intoxication, specially affecting the legs.

1858. Rev. T. Williams, `Fiji and the Fijians,' vol. i. p. 141:

"Like the inhabitants of the groups eastward, the Fijians drink an infusion of the Piper methysticum, generally called Ava or Kava—its name in the Tongan and other languages. Some old men assert that the true Fijian mode of preparing the root is by grating, as is still the practice in two or three places; but in this degenerate age the Tongan custom of chewing is almost universal, the operation nearly always being performed by young men. More form attends the use of this narcotic on Somosomo than elsewhere. Early in the morning the king's herald stands in front of the royal abode, and shouts at the top of his voice, `Yagona!' Hereupon all within hearing respond in a sort of scream, `Mama!'—`Chew it!' At this signal the chiefs, priests, and leading men gather round the well-known bowl, and talk over public affairs, or state the work assigned for the day, while their favourite draught is being prepared. When the young men have finished the chewing, each deposits his portion in the form of a round dry ball in the bowl, the inside of which thus becomes studded over with a large number of these separate little masses. The man who has to make the grog takes the bowl by the edge and tilts it towards the king, or, in his absence, to the chief appointed to preside. A herald calls the king's attention to the slanting bowl, saying, `Sir, with respects, the yagona is collected.' If the king thinks it enough, he replies, in a low tone, `Loba'—`Wring it—an order which the herald communicates to the man at the bowl in a louder voice. The water is then called for and gradually poured in, a little at first, and then more, until the bowl is full or the master of the ceremonies says, `Stop!' the operator in the meantime gathering up and compressing the chewed root."

1888. H. S. Cooper, `The Islands of the Pacific,' p. 102:

"Kava is the name given to a liquor produced by chewing the root of a shrub called angona, and the ceremonious part of the preparation consists in chewing the root."

<hw>Kawa-kawa</hw>, n. Maori name for an ornamental shrub of New Zealand, Macropiper excelsum. In Maori, Kawa = "unpleasant to the taste, bitter, sour." (Williams.) The missionaries used to make small beer out of the Kawa-kawa.

1850. Major Greenwood, `Journey from Taupo to Auckland,' p. 30:

"The good missionary . . . thrust upon us . . . some bottles of a most refreshing light beverage made from the leaves of the kawa-kawa tree, which in taste much resembled ginger-beer."

1877. Anon., `Colonial Experiences, or Incidents of Thirty-four Years in New Zealand,' p. 104:

"Our tea was made from the dried leaves of a native shrub, of a very spicy flavour, and known as the kawakawa, too pungent if used fresh and green."

1896. `Otago Witness,' June 4, p. 49:

"The tints of kawa, of birch and broadleaf, of rimu and matai are blended together into one dark indivisible green."

<hw>Kawau</hw>, n. Maori name for a Shag, Phalacrocorax novae-hollandiae, Steph.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 145:

[Description given.]

<hw>Kea</hw>, n. a parrot of New Zealand, Nester notabilis, Gould. For its habits see quotations.

1862. J. Von Haast, `Exploration of Head Waters of Waitaki, 1862,'-in `Geology of Westland' (published 1879), p. 36:

"What gave still greater interest to the spot was the presence of a number of large green alpine parrots (Nestor notabilis), the kea of the natives, which visited continually the small grove of beech-trees near our camp."

1880. `Zoologist' for February, p. 57:

"On the 4th of November last the distinguished surgeon, Mr. John Wood, F.R.S., exhibited before the Pathological Society of London the colon of a sheep, in which the operation known as Colotomy had been performed by a Parrot . . . the species known as the `Kea' by the Maoris, the `Mountain Parrot' of the colonists, Nestor notabilis of Gould. Only five species . . . are known, one of which (Nestor productus) has lately become extinct; they only occur in New Zealand and Norfolk Island. They were formerly classed among the Trichoglossinae or brush-tongued parrots . . . more nearly allied to true Psittaci . . . Its ordinary food consists of berries and insects; but since its Alpine haunts have been reached by the tide of civilization, it has acquired a taste for raw flesh, to obtain which it even attacks living animals."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 176:

"We have the hoary-headed nestors, amongst which are found the noisy honey-loving kaka, the hardy kea, that famous sheep- killer and flesh-eater, the dread of many an Alpine sheep farmer."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 166:

"Nestor notabilis, Gould, Kea-parrot, Mountain-parrot of the Colonists."

1888. `Antipodean Notes,' p. 74:

"The Kea picks the fat which surrounds the kidneys. . . .
Various theories have been started to explain how this parrot
has become carnivorous."
[Two pages are devoted to the question.]

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 19:

"The kea-parrot. . . . The kea is pretty to look at, having rich red and green plumage, but it is a cruel bird. It is said that it will fasten on the back of a living sheep and peck its way down to the kidney-fat, for which this parrot has a special fancy. No tourist need feel compunction about shooting a kea."

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 445:

"Another very interesting group of birds are the large dull colonial parrots of the genus Nestor, called kea or kaka by the natives from their peculiar cries. Their natural food is berries . . . but of late years the kea (Nestor notabilis), a mountain species found only in the South Island, has developed a curious liking for meat, and now attacks living sheep, settling on their backs and tearing away the skin and flesh to get at the kidney fat."

1895. `Otago Witness,' Dec. 26, p. 3, col. 1:

"There is in the Alpine regions of the South Island a plant popularly called the `vegetable sheep,' botanically named Raoulia. From the distance of even a few yards it looks like a sheep. It grows in great masses, and consists of a woolly vegetation. A large specimen of this singular plant was exhibited in the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. It is said that the kea was in the habit of tearing it up to get at the grubs which harbour within the mass, and that mistaking dead sheep for vegetable sheep it learned the taste of mutton. A more enterprising generation preferred its mutton rather fresher."

<hw>Kelp-fish</hw>, n. In New Zealand, also called Butter-fish (q.v.), Coridodax pullus, Forst. In Tasmania, Odax baleatus, Cuv. and Val.; called also Ground Mullet by the fishermen. In Victoria, Chironemus marmoratus, Gunth. Coridodax and Odax belong to the family Labridae or Wrasses, which comprises the Rock-Whitings; Chironemus to the family Cirrhitidae. The name is also given in New Zealand to another fish, the Spotty (q.v.). These fishes are all different from the Californian food- fishes of the same name.

1841. J. Richardson, `Description of Australian Fishes,' p. 148:

"This fish is known at Port Arthur by the appellation of `Kelp-fish,' I suppose from its frequenting the thickets of the larger fuci."

<hw>Kennedya</hw>, n. the scientific name of a genus of perennial leguminous herbs of the bean family-named, in 1804, after Mr. Kennedy, a gardener at Hammersmith, near London. There are seventeen species, all natives of Australia and Tasmania, many of them cultivated for the sake of their showy flowers and berries. Others lie near the ground like a vetch; K. prostrata is called the Coral Pea (q.v.), or Bleeding Heart, or Native Scarlet Runner, or Running Postman. Another species is called Australian Sarsaparilla. See Sarsaparilla.

1885. R. M. Praed, `The Head Station,' p. 294:

"Taking off his felt hat, he twisted round it a withe of crimson Kennedia, then put it on again."

<hw>Kestrel</hw>, n. the common English name for a falcon. According to Gould the Australian species is identical with Cerchneis tinnunculus, a European species, but Vigors and Horsfield differentiate it as Tinnunculus cenchroides.

1893. `The Argus,' March 25, p. 4, col. 5:

"The kestrel's nest we always found in the fluted gums that overhung the creek, the red eggs resting on the red mould of the decaying trunk being almost invisible."

Kia ora, interj. Maori phrase used by English in the North Island of New Zealand, and meaning "Health to you!" A private letter (1896) says—"You will hear any day at a Melbourne bar the first man say Keora ta-u, while the other says Keora tatu, so replacing "Here's to you!" These expressions are corruptions of the Maori, Kia ora taua, "Health to us too!" and Kia ora tatou, "Health to all of us!"

<hw>Kie-kie</hw>, n. Maori name for a climbing plant, Freycinetia banksii, N.O. Pandanaceae; frequently pronounced ghi-ghi in the North Island of New Zealand, and gay-gie in the South Island.

1854. W. Golder, `Pigeons' Parliament,' p. 77:

"The trees were . . . covered with a kind of parasite plant, called a keekee, having a thick cabbage-like stock."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf' (Notes), p. 505:

"Kie-kie (parasite). . . . A lofty climber; the bracts and young spikes make a very sweet preserve."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 20:

"The unused food . . . of our little camp, together with the empty kie-kie baskets."

[sc. baskets made of kie-kie leaves.]

<hw>Kiley</hw>, n. aboriginal word in Western Australia for a flat weapon, curved for throwing, made plane on one side and slightly convex on the other. A kind of boomerang.

1839. Nathaniel Ogle, `The Colony of Western Australia,' p. 57:

"In every part of this great continent they have the koilee, or boomerang . . ."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. 1. c. iv. p. 72:

"One of them had a kiley or bomerang."

1872. Mrs. E. Millett, `An Australian Parsonage; or, The Settler and the Savage in Western Australia,' p. 222:

"The flat curved wooden weapon, called a kylie, which the natives have invented for the purpose of killing several birds out of a flock at one throw, looks not unlike a bird itself as it whizzes (or walks as natives say) through the air in its circular and ascending flight. . ."

1885 Lady Barker, `Letters to Guy,' p. 177:

"More wonderful and interesting, however, is it to see them throw the kylie (what is called the boomerang in other parts of Australia), a curiously curved and flat stick, about a foot long and two or three inches wide. . . . There are heavier `ground kylies,' which skim along the ground, describing marvellous turns and twists, and they would certainly break the leg of any bird or beast they hit; but their gyrations are nothing compared to those of a good air-kylie in skilful hands."

<hw>Kinaki</hw>, n. a Maori word for food eaten with another kind to give it a relish. Compare Grk. 'opson.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 164:

"Kinaki. Victuals, added for variety's sake."

1873. `Appendix to Journal of House of Representatives,' vol. iii. G. 1, p. 5:

"If it be a Maori who is taken by me, he will also be made into a kinaki for my cabbage."

1878. R. C. Barstow, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. XI. art. iv. p. 71:

"Fifty years ago it would have been a poor hapu that could not afford a slave or two as a kinaki, or relish, on such an occasion."

<hw>King-fish</hw>, n. In New Zealand a sea-fish, Seriola lalandii (Maori, Haku), sometimes called the Yellow-tail; in Victoria, Sciaena antarctica, Castln. Called Jew-fish (q.v.) in New South Wales. Tenison Woods says the King-fish of Port Jackson must not be confounded with the King-fish of Victoria or the King-fish of Tasmania (Thyrsites micropus, McCoy). The Port Jackson King-fish belongs to a genus called "Yellow-tails" in Europe. This is Seriola lalandii, Cuv. and Val. Seriola belongs to the family Carangidae, or Horse- Mackerels. Thyrsites belongs to the family Trichiuridae. The "Barracouta" of Australasia is another species of Thyrsites, and the "Frost-fish" belongs to the same family. The Kingfish of America is a different fish; the name is also applied to other fishes in Europe.

1876. P. Thomson, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. XI. art. lii. p. 381:

"The king-fish, Seriola Lalandii, put in no appearance this year."

1883. `Royal Commission on Fisheries of Tasmania,' p. 11:

"Thyrsites Lalandii, the king-fish of Tasmania: migratory. Appear in immense numbers at certain seasons (December to June) in pursuit of the horse-mackerel. Caught with a swivelled barbless hook at night. Voracious in the extreme—individuals frequently attacking each other, and also the allied species, the barracouta."

<hw>Kingfisher</hw>, n. common English bird-name. Gould mentions thirteen species in Australia. The Australian species are—

Blue Kingfisher—
Halcyon azurea, Lath.

Fawn-breasted K.—
Dacelo cervina, Gould.

Forest K.—
Halcyon macleayi, Jard. and Selb.

Laughing jackass (q.v.)—
Dacelo gigas, Bodd.

Leach's K.—
D. leachii, Vig. and Hors.

Little K.—
Halcyon pusilla, Temm.

Mangrove K.—
H. sordidus, Gould.

Purple K.—
H. pulchra, Gould.

Red-backed K.—
H. pyrropygius, Gould.

Sacred K.—
H. sanctus, Vig. and Hors.

White-tailed K.—
Tanysiptera sylvia, Gould.

Yellow-billed K.—
Syma flavirostris, Gould.

There is a Kingfisher in New Zealand (Halcyon vagans, Less.) considered identical by many with H. sanctus of Australia, but concluded by Butler to be a distinct species.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 121:

[A full description.]

<hw>King of the Herrings</hw>, n. another name for the Elephant-fish (q.v.).

1890. A. H. S. Lucas, `Handbook of the Australasian Association' (Melbourne), p. 72:

"The King of the Herrings, Callorhynchus antarcticus, is fairly common with us."

<hw>King-Parrot</hw>. See Parrot.

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 317:

This creek [King Parrot Creek] was named after a beautiful parrot which was then seen for the first time. It is a bird of magnificent plumage, with crimson feathers on the body, and blue wings, both of gorgeous hue, and no other colour except a little black. The name, King Parrot, is variously applied to several birds in different arts of Australia; the one described is common."

<hw>King William Pine</hw>, n. a Tasmanian tree. See Cedar.

<hw>Kino</hw>, n. a drug; the dried juice, of astringent character, obtained from incisions in the bark of various trees. In Australia it is got from certain Eucalypts, e.g. E. resinifera, Smith, and E. corymbosa, Smith. "It is used in England under the name of Red-gum in astringent lozenges for sore throat." (`Century.') See Red Gum. The drug is Australian, but the word, according to Littre, is "Mot des Indes orientales."

<hw>Kipper</hw>, n. a youth who has been initiated, i.e. been through the Bora (q.v.). It is a Queensland word. In Kabi, Queensland, the form is kivar: on the Brisbane River, it is kippa, whereas in the Kamilaroi of New South Wales the word is kubura.

1853. H. Berkeley Jones, `Adventures in Australia in 1852 and 1853,' p. 126:

"Around us sat `Kippers,' i.e. `hobbledehoy blacks.'"

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 24:

"The young men receive the rank of warriors, and are henceforth called kippers."

Kit, n. a flexible Maori basket; not the English kit used by soldiers, but the Maori word kete, a basket.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 199:

"Kete (Maori), pa-kete (Anglo-Maori), basket, kit (Eng.)."

1856. E. B. Fitton, `New Zealand,' p. 68:

"The natives generally bring their produce to market in neatly made baskets, plaited from flax and known by the name of `Maori kits.'"

1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand, the Britain of the South,' vol. i. p. 180:

"The kit is a large plaited green-flax basket."

1877. An Old Colonist, `Colonial Experiences,' p. 31:

"Potatoes were procurable from the Maoris in flax kits, at from one to five shillings the kit."

1884. Lady Martin, `Our Maoris,' p. 44:

"They might have said, as an old Maori woman long afterwards said to me, `Mother, my heart is like an old kete (i.e. a coarsely-woven basket). The words go in, but they fall through.'"

<hw>Kite</hw>, n. common English bird-name. The species in Australia are—

Allied Kite—
Milvus affanis, Gould.

Black-shouldered K.—
Elanus axillaris, Lath.

Letter-winged K.—
E. scriptus, Gould.

Square-tailed K.—
Lophoictinia isura, Gould.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 321:

"We had to guard it by turns, whip in hand, from a host of square-tailed kites (Milvus isiurus)."

1895. G. A. Keartland, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Zoology, p. 55:

"At any stockyard or station passed Kites were seen . . . at Henbury one female bird was bold enough to come right into camp and pick up the flesh thrown to it from birds I was skinning."

<hw>Kiwi</hw>, n. Maori name for a wingless struthious bird of New Zealand, the Apteryx (q.v.), so called from the note of the bird. The species are—

Large Grey Kiwi (Roa roa, generally shortened to Roa, q.v.)— Apteryx haastii, Potts.

Little Grey K.—
A. oweni, Gould.

North Island K.—
A. bulleri, Sharpe.

South Island K. (Tokoeka)—
A. australis, Shaw and Nodder.

See Buller, `Birds of New Zealand' (1888), vol. ii. p. 308.

1835. W. Yate, `Account of New Zealand,' p. 58:

"Kiwi—the most remarkable and curious bird in New Zealand."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi. pl. 2:

"Apteryx Australis, Shaw, Kiwi kiwi."

[Australis here equals Southern, not Australian.]

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 181:

"The Kiwi, however, is only the last and rather insignificant representative of the family of wingless birds that inhabited New Zealand in bygone ages."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 232:

"'Twas nothing but that wing-less, tail-less bird,
The kiwi."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 35:

"The fact that one collector alone had killed and disposed of above 2000 specimens of the harmless kiwi."

1889. Professor Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 116:

"The Kiwi, although flightless, has a small but well-formed wing, provided with wing quills."

<hw>Knockabout</hw>, adj. a species of labourer employed on a station; applied to a man of all work on a station. Like Rouseabout (q.v.).

1876. W. Harcus, `Southern Australia,' p. 275:

"Knockabout hands, 17s. to 20S. per week."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 80:

"They were composed chiefly of what is called in the bush `knockabout men'—that is, men who are willing to undertake any work, sometimes shepherding, sometimes making yards or driving."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' xvi. p. 118:

"I watched his development through various stages of colonial experience—into dairyman, knockabout man, bullock-driver, and finally stock-rider."

<hw>Knock-down</hw>, v. generally of a cheque. To spend riotously, usually in drink.

1869. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic Philosopher' (reprint), p. 80:

"Last night! went knocking round with Swizzleford and
Rattlebrain. C'sino, and V'ri'tes. Such a lark! Stole two
Red Boots and a Brass Hat. Knocked down thirteen notes, and
went to bed as tight as a fly!"

1871. J. J. Simpson, `Recitations,' p. 9:

"Hundreds of diggers daily then were walking Melbourne town,
With their pockets fill'd with gold, which they very soon
knock'd down."

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 6:

"Cashed by the nearest publican, who of course never handed over a cent. A man was compelled to stay there and knock his cheque down `like a man'"

1885. H. Finch-Hatton,' Advance Australia,' p. 222:

"A system known as `knocking down one's cheque' prevails all over the unsettled parts of Australia. That is to say, a man with a cheque, or a sum of money in his possession, hands it over to the publican, and calls for drinks for himself and his friends, until the publican tells him he has drunk out his cheque."

1887. R. M. Praed, `Longleat of Kooralbyn,' c. xviii. p. 182:

"The illiterate shearer who knocks down his cheque in a spree."

<hw>Koala</hw>, <hw>Coola</hw>, or <hw>Kool-la</hw>, n. aboriginal name for Native Bear (q.v.); genus, Phascolarctus (q.v.). A variant of an aboriginal word meaning a big animal. In parts of South Australia koola means a kangaroo.

1813. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 432:

"The koolah or sloth is likewise an animal of the opossum species, with a false belly. This creature is from a foot and a half to two feet in length, and takes refuge in a tree, where he discovers his haunt by devouring all the leaves before he quits it."

1849. J. Gould, `Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,' November:

"The light-coloured mark on the rump, somewhat resembling that on the same part of the Koala . . . the fur is remarkable for its extreme density and for its resemblance to that of the Koala."

<hw>Kohekohe</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, sometimes called Cedar, Dysoxylum spectabile, Hook (N.O. Meliaceae).

1883. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 127:

"Kohekohe. A large forest tree, forty to fifty feet high. Its leaves are bitter, and used to make a stomachic infusion: wood tough, but splits freely."

<hw>Kohua</hw>, n. Maori word, for (1) a Maori oven; (2) a boiler. There is a Maori verb Kohu, to cook or steam in a native oven (from a noun Kohu, steam, mist), and an adj. Kohu, concave. The word is used by the English in New Zealand, and is said to be the origin of Goashore (q.v.).

<hw>Kokako</hw>, n. Maori name for the Blue-wattled Crow. See under Crow and Wattle-bird.

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 194:

"The Orange-wattled Crow, or wattled bird, kokako of the Maoris, Glaucopis cinerea, Gml., still seems to be an almost unknown bird as to its nesting habits. . . . The kokako loving a moist temperature will probably soon forsake its ancient places of resort."

<hw>Kokopu</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand fish; any species of Galaxias, especially G. fasciatus; corrupted into Cock-a-bully (q.v.). See Mountain Trout.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 106:

"Kokopu. Name of a certain fish."

1886. R. A. Sherrin, `Fishes of New Zealand,' p. 138:

"`Kokopu,' Dr.Hector says, `is the general Maori name for several very common fishes in the New Zealand streams and lakes, belonging to the family of Galaxidae.'"

<hw>Kokowai</hw>, n. Maori name for Red Ochre, an oxide of iron deposited in certain rivers, used by the Maoris for painting. It was usually mixed with shark oil, but for very fine work with oil from the berries of the titoki (q.v.).

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 124:

"His head, with the hair neatly arranged and copiously ornamented with feathers, reclined against a carved post, which was painted with kokowai, or red ochre."

1878. R. C. Barstow, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. XI. art. iv. p. 75:

"Kokowai is a kind of pigment, burnt, dried, and mixed with shark-liver oil."

<hw>Konini</hw>, n. Maori name for (1) the fruit of the New Zealand fuchsia, Fuchsia excorticata, Linn.

(2) A settlers' name for the tree itself. See Kotukutuku.

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 114:

"The berries of the konini . . . ripening early furnish some part of its (bell-bird's) food supply."

(p. 146): "Rather late in August, when the brown-skinned konini begins to deck its bare sprays with pendulous flowers."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 53:

"Mr. Colenso informs me that it [Fuchsia excorticata] is the Kohutuhutu and the Kotukutuku of the Maoris, the fruit being known as Konini, especially in the South Island and the southern part of the North Island. The settlers sometimes term it Kotukutuku or Konini, but more generally fuchsia."

<hw>Kooberry</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the Bidyan Ruffe (q.v.).

<hw>Kookaburra</hw>, n. (also <hw>Gogobera</hw> and <hw>Goburra</hw>), the aboriginal name for the bird called the Laughing Jackass (q.v.). The first spelling is that under which the aboriginal name now survives in English, and is the name by which the bird is generally called in Sydney.

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 123:

"And wild goburras laughed aloud
Their merry morning songs."

1870. F. S. Wilson, `Australian Songs,' p. 167:

"The rude rough rhymes of the wild goburra's song."

1886. E. M. Curr, `Australian Race,' p. 29:

"The notes of this bird are chiefly composed of the sounds ka and koo, and from them it takes its name in most of the languages . . . It is noticeable in some localities that burra is the common equivalent of people or tribe, and that the Pegulloburra . . . the Owanburra, and many other tribes, called the laughing- jackass—kakooburra, kakaburra, kakoburra, and so on; literally the Kakoo people." [Mr. Curr's etymology is not generally accepted.]

1890. `The Argus,' Oct. 25, p. 4, col 5:

"You might hear the last hoot of the kookaburra then."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 26, p. 5, col. 4:

"But what board will intervene to protect the disappearing marsupials, and native flora, the lyre-bird, the kookaburra, and other types which are rapidly disappearing despite the laws which have been framed in some instances for their protection?"

1894. E. P. Ramsay, `Catalogue of Australian Birds in the Australian Museum at Sydney,' p. 2, s.v. Dacelo:

"Gogobera, aborigines of New South Wales."

<hw>Koradji</hw>, or <hw>Coradgee</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a wise man, sorcerer, or doctor. In the south-east of New South Wales, it means one of the tribal wizards, usually called "blackfellow- doctors."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 14:

"The coradgees, who are their wise men, have, they suppose, the power of healing and foretelling. Each tribe possesses one of these learned pundits, and if their wisdom were in proportion to their age, they would indeed be Solons."

1865. S. Bennett, `Australian Discovery,' p. 250:

"Kiradjee, a doctor; Grk. cheirourgos. Persian, khoajih. English, surgeon. Old English (obsolete), chirurgeon."

[Curious and impossible etymology.]

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia, vol. i. p. 287:

"One who seemed a coradge, or priest, went through a strange ceremony of singing, and touching his eyebrows, nose, and breast, crossing himself, and pointing to the sky like an old Druid."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 23:

"The korradgees, or medicine men, are the chief repositories (of the secrets of their religion)."

1892. J. Fraser, `Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 63:

"For some diseases, the kar'aji, or native doctor when he is called in, makes passes with his hand over the sick man, much in the same way as a mesmerist will do . . . Our Australian karaji is highly esteemed, but not paid."

<hw>Korari</hw>, n. often pronounced Koladdy and Koladdy, and spelt variously; the Maori word for the flowering stem of Phormium tenax, J. and G. Forst. (q.v.), generally used for making a mokihi (q.v.). There is a Maori noun, kora, a small fragment; and a verb korari, to pluck a twig, or tear it off.

1879. `Old Identity' [Title]:

"The Old Identities of the Province of Otago."

[p. 53]: "A kolladie (the flower stalk of the flax, about seven feet long) carried by each, as a balancing pole or staff."

1893. Daniel Frobisher, `Sketches of Gossipton,' p. 75:

"But now the faithful brute is gone;
Through bush and fern and flax koladdy,
Where oft he bunny pounced upon,
No more will follow me, poor Paddy."

<hw>Korero</hw>, n. Maori for a conference, a conversation. The verb means "to tell, to say, to address, to speak, to talk." (`Williams' Maori Dictionary,' 4th. ed.)

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 168:

"Korero, s. a speaking; v. n. speaking."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' c. i. p. 78:

"There were about sixty men assembled, and they proceeded to hold a `korero,' or talk on the all-important subject."

Ibid. p. 81:

"With the exception of an occasional exclamation of `korero, korero,' `speak, speak,' which was used like our `hear, hear,' in either an encouraging or an ironical sense, or an earnest but low expression of approval or dissent, no interruption of the orators ever took place."

1863. T. Moser, `Mahoe Leaves,' p. 30:

"As he had to pass several pahs on the road, at all of which there would be `koreros.'"

(p. 31): "Had been joined by a score or more of their acquaintances, and what between `koreros' and `ko-mitis,' had not made any further progress on their journey."

1896. `Otago Witness,' Jan. 23, p. 42, col. 3:

"All this after a very excited `korero' on the empty dray, with the surging and exciting crowd around."

<hw>Korimako</hw>, n. Maori name for the Bell-Bird (q.v.).

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 402:

"The korimako, or kokorimako (Anthornis melanura). This bird is the sweetest songster of New Zealand, but is not distinguished by its plumage, which is a yellowish olive with a dark bluish shade on each side of the head."

Ibid. p. 75:

"In the first oven [at the Maori child's naming feast] a korimako was cooked; this is the sweetest singing bird of New Zealand; it was eaten that the child might have a sweet voice and be an admired orator."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 202:

"The korimako, sweetest bird
Of all that are in forest heard."

1888. W. W. Smith, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. XXI. art. xxi. p. 213:

"Anthornis melanura, korimako or bell-bird. In fine weather the bush along the south shores of Lake Brunner re-echoes with the rich notes of the tui and korimako, although both species have disappeared from former haunts east of the Alps."

<hw>Koromiko</hw>, n. a white flowering arborescent Veronica of New Zealand, Veronica salicifolia, Forst., N.O. Scrophularineae.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' P. 454:

"Koromiko, a very ornamental plant, but disappearing before the horse. It bears a tapering-shaped flower of a purplish white."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 2:

"Just a ditch,
With flowering koromiko rich."

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 21:

"The early breeze
That played among the koromiko's leaves."

1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby,' p. 16:

"Fostered by the cool waters of a mountain rivulet, the koromiko grows by the side of the poisonous tutu bushes."

Korora, n. Maori name for a Blue Penguin, Spheniscus minor, Gmel. See Penguin.

<hw>Korrumburra</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the common blow-fly, which in Australia is a yellow-bottle, not a blue-bottle.

1896. `The Melburnian,' Aug. 28, p. 54:

"Odd `Korrumburras' dodge quickly about with cheerful hum. Where they go, these busy buzzy flies, when the cold calls them away for their winter vac. is a mystery. Can they hibernate? for they show themselves again at the first glint of the spring sun."

<hw>Kotuku</hw>, n. Maori name for the White Crane of the Colonists, which is really a White Heron (Ardea egretta). See Crane.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 124:

[A full description.]

<hw>Kotukutuku</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand tree, Fuchsia excorticata, Linn., N.O. Onagrariea; written also Kohutuhutu. This name is not much used, but is corrupted into Tookytook (q.v.). See Konini and Fuchsia.

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 127:

"Kotukutuku. The fruit is called konini. A small and ornamental tree, ten to thirty feet high . . . a durable timber. . . . The wood might be used as dye-stuff . . . Its fruit is pleasant and forms principal food of the wood-pigeon."

<hw>Kowhai</hw>, n. Maori name given to—

(1) Locust-tree, Yellow Kowhai (Sophora tetraptera, Aiton, N.O. Leguminosae).

(2) Parrot-bill, Scarlet Kowhai (Clianthus puniceus, N.O. Leguminosae), or Kaka-bill (q.v.).

Variously spelt Kowai and Kohai, and corrupted into Goai (q.v.) by the settlers.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 58:

"The kohai too, a species of mimosa covered with bright yellow blossoms, abounds in such situations where the stunted growth is an almost unvarying sign of constant inundation."

[Mr. Wakefield was mistaken. The Kohai is not a mimosa.]

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 261:

"`Tis the Kowhai, that spendthrift so golden
But its kinsman to Nature beholden,
For raiment its beauty to fold in,
Deep-dyed as of trogon or lory,
How with parrot-bill fringes 'tis burning,
One blood-red mound of glory!"

1873. `New Zealand Parliamentary Debates,' No. 16, p. 863:

"Kowai timber, thoroughly seasoned, used for fencing posts, would stand for twelve or fourteen years; while posts cut out of the same bush and used green would not last half the time."

1882. T. H. Potts, 'Out in the Open,' p. 146:

"The head of the straight-stemmed kowhai is already crowned with racemes of golden blossoms."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 131:

"Kowhai—a small or middling-sized tree. . . . Wood red, valuable for fencing, being highly durable . . . used for piles in bridges, wharves, etc."

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 21:

"The dazzling points of morning's lances
Waked the red kowhai's drops from sleep."

<hw>Kuku</hw>, or <hw>Kukupa</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand Fruit-pigeon (q.v.), Carpophaga novae-zelandiae, Gmel. Called also Kereru. The name is the bird's note.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 170:

"Kuku, s. the cry of a pigeon."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 406:

"Family Columbidae—kereru, kukupa (kuku, Carpophaga Novae Zealandiae), the wood-pigeon. This is a very fine large bird, the size of a duck; the upper part of the breast green and gold, the lower a pure white, legs and bill red. It is a heavy flying bird, and very stupid, which makes it an easy prey to its enemies. The natives preserve large quantities in calabashes, taking out the bones; these are called kuku."

Ibid. p. 183:

"The pigeon bears two names—the kuku and kukupa, which are common to the isles."

1881. J. L. Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 115:

"The kukupa . . . was just the bird created expressly for the true cockney sportsman—the one after his heart . . . for if not brought down by the first shot, why he only shakes his feathers and calmly waits to be shot at again!"

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 45:

"The kuku, plaintive, wakes to mourn her mate."

<hw>Kumara</hw>, or <hw>Kumera</hw>, n. (pronounced Koomera), a Maori word for an edible root, the yam or sweet potato, Ipomaea batatas, N.O. Convolvulaceae. There are numerous varieties. It should be added that it is doubtful whether it grows wild in New Zealand.

1773. Sydney Parkinson, `Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas' (see extract in `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' `Manibus Parkinsonibus Sacrum,' W. Colenso, vol. x. art. ix. p. 124):

"Several canoes came alongside of the ship, of whom we got some fish, kumeras or sweet potatoes, and several other things."

1828. `Henry William Diarys' (in Life by Carleton), p. 69:

"Kumara had been planted over the whole plain."

1830. Ibid. p. 79:

"We passed over the hill, and found the assailants feasting on the kumara, or sweet potato, which they just pulled up from the garden at which they had landed."

1851. Mrs. Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 49:

"He saw some fine peaches and kumaras or sweet potatoes."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' c. xi. p. 273 (3rd edition, 1855)

"The kumara or sweet potato is a most useful root."

1863. F. E. Maning (Pakeha Maori), `Old New Zealand,' p. 51:

"Behind the pigs was placed by the active exertion of two or three hundred people, a heap of potatoes and kumera, in quantity about ten tons, so there was no lack of the raw material for a feast."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 430:

"Now the autumn's fruits
Karaka,—taro,—kumera,—berries, roots
Had all been harvested with merry lays
And rites of solemn gladness."

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 18:

"Some more dainty toothsome dish
Than the kumera and fish."

<hw>Kumquat, Native</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Atalantia glauca, Hook., N.O. Rutaceae, i.q. Desert Lemon (q.v.).

<hw>Kurdaitcha</hw>, <hw>Coordaitcha</hw>, or <hw>Goditcha</hw>, n. a native term applied by white men to a particular kind of shoe worn by the aborigines of certain parts of Central Australia, and made of emu feathers matted together. The two ends are of the same shape, so that the direction in which the wearer has travelled cannot be detected. The wearer is supposed to be intent upon murder, and the blacks really apply the name to the wearer himself. The name seems to have been transferred by white men to the shoes, the native name for which is interlin~a, or urtathurta.

1886. E. M. Curr, `Australian Race,' vol. i. p. 148:

"It was discovered in 1882 . . . that the Blacks . . . wear a sort of shoe when they attack their enemies by stealth at night. Some of the tribes call these shoes Kooditcha, their name for an invisible spirit. I have seen a pair of them. The soles were made of the feathers of the emu, stuck together with a little human blood, which the maker is said to take from his arm. They were about an inch and a half thick, soft, and of even breadth. The uppers were nets made of human hair. The object of these shoes is to prevent those who wear them from being tracked and pursued after a night attack."

1896. P. M. Byrne, `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria,' p. 66:

"The wearing of the Urtathurta and going Kurdaitcha luma appears to have been the medium for a form of vendetta."

<hw>Kurrajong</hw>, n. or <hw>Currajong</hw> (spelt variously), the aboriginal name for various Australian and Tasmanian fibrous plants; see quotations, 1825 and 1884. They are the—

Black Kurrajong— Sterculia diversifolia, G. Don., and Sterculia quadrifida, R. Br., N.O. Sterculiaceae.

Brown K.— Commersonia echinata, R. and G. Forst.; also, Brachychiton gregorii; both belonging to N.O. Sterculiaceae.

Green K.—
Hibiscus heterophyllus, Vent., N.O. Malvaceae.

Tasmanian K.—
Plagianthus sidoides, Hook., N.O. Malvaceae.

Others are Trema aspera, Blume, N.O. Urticeae; and Sterculia rupestris, Benth., N.O. Urticeae. Some of the varieties are also called Bottle-trees, and, in Tasmania, Cordage-trees (q.v.).

1823. `Uniacke's Narrative of Oxley's Expedition,' quoted by J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 408:

"The nets used for fishing [by the natives] are made by the men from the bark of the kurrajong (Hibiscus heterophyllus), a shrub which is very common to the swamps."

1825. Barron Field, Glossary, in `Geographical Memoirs of New South Wales,' p. 502:

"Currijong or Natives' cordage tree (Hibiscus heterophyllus)."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 25:

"The curragong is sometimes found; its inner bark may be manufactured into ropes."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 149:

"The currajong (Sterculia)is used for cordage, and makes strong, close, but not very durable ropes."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' vol. iii. p. 91:

"Dillis neatly worked of koorajong bark."

1849. J. P. Townsend, `Rambles in New South Wales,' p. 214:

"In such a valley in which stands a spreading corrijong (Sterculia diversifolia), which has a strong resemblance to the English oak, I constantly found a flock of sheep."

1862. W. Archer, `Products of Tasmania,' p. 41:

"Currajong (Plagianthus sidoides, Hook). The fibres of the bark are very strong. It is a large shrub, found chiefly on the southern side of the Island, in various and shady places, and grows rapidly."

1878. Rev. W. W. Spicer, `Handbook of the Plants of Tasmania,' p. 104:

"Plagianthus sidoides, Hooker. Currijong, N.O. Malvaceae. Peculiar to Tasmania."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 77:

"The currejong of the forest, and the casuarina which lines the rivers, stand with brighter green in cheering contrast to the dulness of surrounding leaves."

1881,. W. R. Guilfoyle, `Australian Botany' (second edition), p. 162:

"The aborigines apply the name Kurrajong, or Currijong, to some [Pimeleas]; but it would appear that this native name is indiscriminately given to any plant possessing a tough bark."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 138:

"Quaint currajongs . . . very like in form to the stiff wooden trees we have all played with in childish days."

L

<hw>Laburnum, Native</hw>, n. the Tasmanian Clover-tree, Goodenia lotifolia, Sal., N.O. Leguminosae.

<hw>Laburnum, Sea-coast</hw>, n. also called Golden Chain, Sophora tomentosa, Linn., N.O. Leguminosae; a tall, hoary shrub.

<hw>Lace-bark</hw>, <hw>Lacey-bark</hw>, or <hw>Lacewood</hw>, n. names for Ribbonwood (q.v.). The inner bark of the tree is like fine lace.

1876. W. N. Blair, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. IX. art. x. p. 175:

"Ribbonwood, Plagianthus betulinus, botanical name, Hooker; Whauwhi, Maori name, according to Hector; lace-bark tree, settlers' name, according to Buchanan."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open':

"The soft, bright-foliaged ribbonwood (lace-bark, Plagianthus) contrasts with the dusky hue of the dark-leaved fagus."

<hw>Lace-Lizard</hw>, n. Hydrosaurus (Varanus) varius. See Goanna.

1881. F. McCoy, `Prodomus of the Natural History of Victoria,' Dec. 4:

"Although the present Lace Lizard is generally arboreal, climbing the forest trees with ease, and running well on the ground, it can swim nearly as well as a Crocodile."

<hw>Lagorchestes</hw>, n. the scientific name for a genus of Australian marsupial mammals, called the Hare- Wallabies or Hare-Kangaroos (q.v.). (Grk. lagows, a hare, and 'orchestaes, a dancer.) They live on plains, and make a "form" in the herbage like the hare, which they resemble.

<hw>Lagostrophus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus containing the animal called the Banded-Wallaby. (Grk. lagows, a hare, and strophos, a band or zone.) Its colour is a greyish-brown, with black and white bands, its distinguishing characteristic. It is sometimes called the Banded-Kangaroo, and is found at Dirk Hartog's Island, and on one or two islands in Shark's Bay, and in West Australia. For its interesting habits see R. Lyddeker's `Marsupialia.'

<hw>Lake-Trout</hw>, n. a Tasmanian fish, Galaxias auratus, family Galaxidae. See Mountain- Trout.

<hw>Lamb down</hw>, v. tr.

(1) To knock down a cheque or a sum of money in a spree. There is an old English verb, of Scandinavian origin, and properly spelt lamm, which means to thrash, beat.

1873. J. B. Stephens, `Black Gin,' p. 51:

"It is the Bushman come to town—
Come to spend his cheque in town,
Come to do his lambing down."

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 4, col. 2:

"The lambing down of cheques."

1890. Ibid. Aug. 9, p. 4, col. 5:

"The old woman thought that we were on gold, and would lamb down at the finish in her shanty."

(2) To make a man get rid of his money to you; to clean him out."

1873. Marcus Clarke, `Holiday Peak, etc.,' p. 21:

"The result was always the same—a shilling a nobbler. True, that Trowbridge's did not `lamb down' so well as the Three Posts, but then the Three Posts put fig tobacco in its brandy casks, and Trowbridge's did not do that."

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p.30:

"The operation—combining equal parts of hocussing, overcharging, and direct robbery—and facetiously christened by bush landlords `lambing down.'"

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 4, col. 7:

"One used to serve drinks in the bar, the other kept the billiard-table. Between them they lambed down more shearers and drovers than all the rest on the river."

<hw>Lamprey</hw>, n. The Australian Lampreys are species of the genera Mordacia and Geotria, of the same family as the "Lampreys" of the Northern Hemisphere.

<hw>Lancelet</hw>, n. The fishes of this name present in Australasia are—

In Queensland, Epigonichthys cultellus, Peters, family Amplingae; in Victoria and New South Wales, species of Heteropleuron.

<hw>Lancewood</hw>, n. There are many lancewoods in various parts of the world. The name, in Australia, is given to Backhousia myrtifolia, Hook. and Harv., N.O. Myrtaceae; and in New Zealand, to Panax crassifolium, Dec. and Plan., N.O. Araliaceae, known as Ivy- tree, and by the Maori name of Horoeka (q.v.).

<hw>Landsborough Grass</hw>, n. a valuable Queensland fodder grass of a reddish colour, Anthistiria membranacea, Lindl., N.O. Gramineae. See Grass.

<hw>Lantern, Ballarat</hw>, n. a local term. See quotation.

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 21:

"I may explain that a `Ballarat Lantern' is formed by knocking off the bottom of a bottle, and putting a candle in the neck."

<hw>Lark</hw>, n. common English bird name. The Australian species are—

Brown Song Lark—
Cincloramphus cruralis, Vig. and Hors.

Bush L.—
Mirafra horsfieldii, Gould.

Field L.—
Calamanthus campestris, Gould.

Ground L.—
Anthus australis, Vig. and Hors. (Australian Pipit),
A. novae-zelandae, Gray (New Zealand Pipit).

Lesser Bush L.—
Mirafra secunda, Sharpe.

Little Field L.—
Cathonicola sagittata, Lath.

Magpie L.—
Grallina picata, Lath.; see Magpie-Lark.

Rufous Song L.—
Cincloramphus rufescens, Vig. and Hors.

Striated Field L.—
Calamanthus fuliginosus, Vig. and Hors.

See Ground-Lark, Sand-Lark, Pipit, and Magpie-Lark.

<hw>Larrikin</hw>, n. The word has various shades of meaning between a playful youngster and a blackguardly rough. Little streetboys are often in a kindly way called little larrikins. (See quotations, 1870 and 1885.) Archibald Forbes described the larrikin as "a cross between the Street Arab and the Hoodlum, with a dash of the Rough thrown in to improve the mixture." (`Century.) The most exalted position yet reached in literature by this word is in Sir Richard Burton's `Translation of the Arabian Nights' (1886-7), vol. i. p. 4, Story of the Larrikin and the Cook; vol. iv. p. 281, Tale of First Larrikin. The previous translator, Jonathan Scott, had rendered the Arabic word, Sharper.

There are three views as to the origin of the word, viz.—

(1) That it is a phonetic spelling of the broad Irish pronunciation, with a trilled r of the word larking. The story goes that a certain Sergeant Dalton, about the year 1869, charged a youthful prisoner at the Melbourne Police Court with being "a-larrr-akin' about the streets." The Police Magistrate, Mr. Sturt, did not quite catch the word—"A what, Sergeant?"—"A larrikin', your Worchup." The police court reporter used the word the next day in the paper, and it stuck. (See quotation, `Argus,' 1896.)

This story is believed by 99 persons out of 100; unfortunately it lacks confirmation; for the record of the incident cannot be discovered, after long search in files by many people. Mr. Skeat's warning must be remembered—"As a rule, derivations which require a story to be told turn out to be false."

(2) That the word is thieves' English, promoted like swag, plant, lift, etc., into ordinary Australian English. Warders testify that for a number of years before the word appeared in print, it was used among criminals in gaol as two separate words, viz.—leary ('cute, fly, knowing), and kinchen (youngster),—`leary kinchen ,'—shortened commonly into `leary kin' and `leary kid.' Australian warders and constables are Irish, almost to a man. Their pronunciation of `leary kin' would be very nearly `lairy kin,' which becomes the single word larrikin. (See quotation, 1871.) It is possible that Sergeant Dalton used this expression and was misunderstood by the reporter.

(3) The word has been derived from the French larron (a thief), which is from the Latin latronem (a robber). This became in English larry, to which the English diminutive, kin, was added; although this etymology is always derided in Melbourne.

1870. `The Daily Telegraph' (Melbourne), Feb. 7, p. 2, col. 3:

"We shall perhaps begin to think of it in earnest, when we have insisted upon having wholesome and properly baked bread, or a better supply of fish, and when we have put down the `roughs' and `larrikins.'"

1870. `The Age,' Feb. 8, p. 3, col. 1:

"In sentencing a gang of `larrikins' who had been the terror of Little Bourke-street and its neighbourhood for several hours on Saturday night, Mr. Call remarked. . ."

1870. `The Herald,' April 4, p.3, col. 2:

". . . three larikins who had behaved in a very disorderly manner in Little Latrobe-street, having broken the door of a house and threatened to knock out the eye of one of the inmates."

1870. Marcus Clarke, `Goody Two Shoes,' p. 26:

"He's a lively little larrikin lad, and his name is
Little Boy Blue."

1871. `The Argus,' Sept. 19, p.5, col. 4:

"In San Francisco, the vagabond juveniles who steal, smash windows, and make themselves generally obnoxious to the respectable inhabitants, instead of being termed `larrikins,' as in Victoria, are denominated `hoodleums.' The name is more musical than the one in vogue here, and probably equally as descriptive, as its origin appears to be just as obscure as that of the word `larrikin.' This word, before it got into print, was confined to the Irish policemen, who generally pronounced it `lerrikan,' and it has been suggested that the term is of Hibernian origin, and should be spelt lerrichaun.'"

1871. Sir George Stephen, Q.C., `Larrikinism,' a Lecture reported in `Prahran Telegraph,' Sept. 23, p. 3, col. 1:

What is Larrikinism? It is a modern word of which I can only guess the derivation, . . . nor can I find any among the erudite professors of slang who adorn our modern literature who can assist me. Some give our police the credit of coining it from the `larking' of our school boys, but I am inclined to think that the word is of Greek origin—Laros, a cormorant—though immediately derived from the French `larron' which signifies a thief or rogue. If I am right, then larrikin is the natural diminutive form in English phraseology for a small or juvenile thief. . . . This however is, I must acknowledge, too severe a construction of the term, even if the derivation is correct; for I was myself, I frankly confess it, an unquestionable larrikin between 60 and 70 years ago. . . . Larrikinism is not thieving, though a road that often leads to it. . . . Is it a love of mischief for mischief's sake? This is the theory of the papers, and is certainly a nearer approach to the true solution."

1871. `Figaro,' in `Prahran Telegraph,' Sept. 30, p. 7, col. 3:

"A local contemporary has . . . done his `level best' to help me out of my `difficulty' with respect to the word Larrikin. He suggests that lerrichan should read leprichaun , a mischievous sprite, according to Irish tradition. . . . We think we may with more safety and less difficulty trace the word to the stereotype [sic] reply of the police to the magisterial question—`What was he doing when you apprehended him?' `Oh! larriking (larking) about, yer Wurtchip.'"

1872. J. S. Elkington, `Tenth Report of Education, Victoria,' dated Feb. 14:

"My inquiries into the origin and habits of that troublesome parasite the larrikin (if I may adopt Constable Dalton's term) do not make me sanguine that compulsory primary instruction can do much for him, unless indirectly."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 15, p. 21, col. 3:

"On Sunday night an unfortunate Chinaman was so severely injured by the Richmond larrikins that his life was endangered."

1875. David Blair, in `Notes and Queries,' July 24, p. 66:

"Bedouins, Street Arabs, Juvenile Roughs in London; Gamins in Paris; Bowery Boys in New York; Hoodlums to San Francisco; Larrikins in Melbourne. This last phrase is an Irish constable's broad pronunciation of `larking' applied to the nightly street performances of these young scamps, here as elsewhere, a real social pestilence."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 338:

"There is not a spare piece of ground fit for a pitch anywhere round Melbourne that is not covered with `larrikins' from six years old upwards."

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' p. 159:

"It has become the name for that class of roving vicious young men who prowl about public-houses and make night hideous in some of the low parts of our cities. There is now the bush `larrikin' as well as the town `larrikin,' and it would be difficult sometimes to say which is the worse. Bush `larrikins' have gone on to be bushrangers."

1890. `The Argus,' May 26, p. 6, col. 7:

"He was set upon by a gang of larrikins, who tried to rescue the prisoner."

1891. `Harper s Magazine,' July, p. 215, col. 2:

"The Melbourne `larrikin' has differentiated himself from the London `rough,' and in due season a term had to be developed to denote the differentiation."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 12, p. 13, col. 2:

"Robert Louis Stevenson, in a recent novel, `The Wrecker,' makes the unaccountable mistake of confounding the unemployed Domain loafer with the larrikin. This only shows that Mr. Stevenson during his brief visits to Sydney acquired but a superficial knowledge of the underlying currents of our social life."

1896. J. St. V. Welch, in `Australasian Insurance and Banking Record,' May 19, p. 376:

"Whence comes the larrikin? that pest of these so-called over-educated colonies; the young loafer of from sixteen to eight-and-twenty. Who does not know him, with his weedy, contracted figure; his dissipated pimply face; his greasy forelock brushed flat and low over his forehead; his too small jacket; his tight-cut trousers; his high-heeled boots; his arms—with out-turned elbows—swinging across his stomach as he hurries along to join his `push,' as he calls the pack in which he hunts the solitary citizen—-a pack more to be dreaded on a dark night than any pack of wolves—and his name in Sydney is legion, and in many cases he is a full-fledged voter."

1896. W. H. Whelan, in `The Argus,' Jan. 7, p. 6, col. 3:

"Being clerk of the City Court, I know that the word originated in the very Irish and amusing way in which the then well-known Sergeant Dalton pronounced the word larking in respect to the conduct of `Tommy the Nut,' a rowdy of the period, and others of both sexes in Stephen (now Exhibition) street.

"Your representative at the Court, the witty and clever `Billy' O'Hea, who, alas! died too early, took advantage of the appropriate sound of the word to apply it to rowdyism in general, and, next time Dalton repeated the phrase, changed the word from verb to noun, where it still remains, anything to the contrary notwithstanding. I speak of what I do know, for O'Hea drew my attention to the matter at the time, and, if I mistake not, a reference to your files would show that it was first in the `Argus' the word appeared in print."

("We can fully confirm Mr. Whelan's account of the origin of the word `larrikin.'"—Ed. `Argus.')

[But see quotation from `Argus,' 1871.]

<hw>Larrikin</hw>, adj.

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 522:

"Marks the young criminals as heroes in the eyes not only of the ostensible larrikin element . . ."

<hw>Larrikinalian</hw>, adj. (Not common.)

1893. `Evening Standard,' July 5, p. 4, col. 4 (Leading Article):

"In the larrikinalian din which prevailed from start to finish . . ."

<hw>Larrikiness</hw>, n. a female larrikin.

1871. `Collingwood Advertiser and Observer,' June 22, p. 3, col. 5:

"Evidence was tendered as to the manner of life led by these larikinesses . . . The juvenile larrikin element being strongly represented in court, all the boys were ordered out."

1871. Sir George Stephen, Q.C., `Larrikinism,' a Lecture reported in `Prahran Telegraph,' Sept. 23, p. 3, col. 1:

"I know many a larrikiness to whose voice I could listen by the hour with all my heart, without the least fear of her stealing it, even if it were worth the trouble."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 224:

"I have not found the larrikin [in Brisbane]. . . . The slouch-hat, the rakish jib, the drawn features are not to be seen; nor does the young larrikiness—that hideous outgrowth of Sydney and Melbourne civilization—exist as a class."

<hw>Larrikinism</hw>, n. the conduct of larrikins (q.v.).

1870. `The Australian' (Richmond, Victoria), Sept. 10, p. 3, col. 3:

"A slight attempt at `larrikinism' was manifested. . . . "

1871. J. J. Simpson, `Recitations and Rhymes,' p. 17:

"Melbourne larrikinism is still very bad,
By the papers each day we are told."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, p. 80, col. 2:

"He took as his theme the `Dialect of Victoria,' which was coarse and vulgar to a degree. `Larrikinism' was used as a synonym for `blackguardism.'"

1876. A. P. Martin, `Sweet Girl-Graduate,' p. 20:

"There is no doubt that its rising generation afforded material for letters in the newspapers, under the headings `Larrikinism,' or, `What shall we do with our boys?'"

1893. `The Argus,' Feb. 23:

"Outbreaks of larrikinism are not always harmless ebullitions of animal spirits. Sometimes they have very serious results."

<hw>Laughing Jackass</hw>, n. See Jackass.

<hw>Launce</hw>, n. The Australian species of this fish is Congrogradus subducens, Richards., found in North- West Australia. The Launces or Sand-eels of the Northern Hemisphere belong to a different group.

<hw>Laurel</hw>, n. The English tree name is applied in Australia to various trees, viz.—

Alexandrian Laurel— Calophyllum inophyllum, Linn:, N.O. Guttiferae; not endemic in Australia.

Diamond-leaf L.— Pittosporum rhombifolium, A. Cunn., N.O. Pittosporeae.

Dodder L.— Cassytha filiformis, Linn., N.O. Lauraceae; called also Devil's Guts, not endemic in Australia.

Hedge L. (q.v.)— Pittosporum eugenioides, Cunn.

Moreton Bay L.— Cryptocarya australis, Benth., N.O. Lauraceae; called also Grey Sassafras.

Native L.— Pittosporum undulatum, Andr., N.O. Pittosporeae; called also Mock Orange (q.v.). Panax elegans, C. Moore and F. v. M., N.O. Araliaceae; which is also called Light or White Sycamore.

White L.— Cryptocarya glaucescens, R. Br., N.O. Lauraceae; for other names see Beech.

In Tasmania, the name Native Laurel is applied to Anopterus glandulosus, Lab., N.O. Saxifrageae. Peculiar to Tasmania.

The New Zealand Laurel is Laurelia novae-zelandiae; called also Sassafras.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 292:

"Native Laurel, [also called] `Mock Orange.' This tree is well worth cultivating on a commercial scale for the sake of the sweet perfume of its flowers."

<hw>Lavender, Native</hw>, n. a Tasmanian tree, Styphelia australis, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae.

<hw>Lawyer</hw>, n. One of the English provincial uses of this word is for a thorny stem of a briar or bramble. In New Zealand, the name is used in this sense for the Rubus australis, N.O. Rosaceae, or Wild Raspberry-Vine (Maori, Tataramoa). The words Bush-Lawyer, Lawyer-Vine, and Lawyer-Palm, are used with the same signification, and are also applied in some colonies to the Calamus australis, Mart. (called also Lawyer- Cane), and to Flagellaria indua, Linn,, similar trailing plants.

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 157:

"Calamus Australis, a plant which Kennedy now saw for the first time. . . It is a strong climbing palm. From the roots as many as ninety shoots will spring, and they lengthen out as they climb for hundreds of feet, never thicker than a man's finger. The long leaves are covered with sharp spines; but what makes the plant the terror of the explorers, is the tendrils, which grow out alternately with the leaves. Many of these are twenty feet long, and they are covered with strong spines, curved slightly downwards."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 135:

"Rubus Australis, the thorny strings of which scratch the hands and face, and which the colonists, therefore, very wittily call the `bush-lawyer.'"

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 71:

"Torn by the recurved prickles of the bush-lawyer."

1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby,' p. 16:

"Trailing `bush-lawyers,' intermingled with coarse bracken, cling lovingly to the rude stones."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 103:

"In the mountain scrubs there grows a very luxuriant kind of palm (Calamus Australis), whose stem of a finger's thickness, like the East Indian Rotang-palm, creeps through the woods for hundreds of feet, twining round trees in its path, and at times forming so dense a wattle that it is impossible to get through it. The stem and leaves are studded with the sharpest thorns, which continually cling to you and draw blood, hence its not very polite name of lawyer-palm."

1891. A. J. North, `Records of Australian Museum,' vol. i. p. 118:

"Who, in the brushes of the Tweed River, found a nest placed on a mass of `lawyer-vines' (Calamus Australis)."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 256:

"`Look out,' said my companion, `don't touch that lawyer-vine; it will tear you properly, and then not let you go.' Too late; my fingers touched it, and the vine had the best of it. The thorns upon the vine are like barbed spears, and they would, in the language of the Yankee, tear the hide off a crocodile."

1892. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 7:

"But no obstacle is worse for the clearer to encounter than the lawyer-vines where they are not burnt off. These are a form of palm which grows in feathery tufts along a pliant stalk, and fastens itself as a creeper upon other trees. From beneath its tufts of leaves it throws down trailing suckers of the thickness of stout cord, armed with sets of sharp red barbs. These suckers sometimes throw themselves from tree to tree across a road which has not been lately used, and render it as impassable to horses as so many strains of barbed wire. When they merely escape from the undergrowth of wild ginger and tree-fern and stinging-bush, which fringes the scrub, and coil themselves in loose loops upon the ground, they are dangerous enough as traps for either man or horse. In the jungle, where they weave themselves in and out of the upright growths, they form a web which at times defies every engine of destruction but fire."

<hw>Lawyer-Cane</hw>, <hw>Lawyer-Palm</hw>, and <hw>Lawyer-Vine</hw>. See Lawyer.

<hw>Lead</hw>, n. (pronounced leed), a mining term. In the Western United States and elsewhere, the term lead in mining is used as equivalent for lode. In Australia, the word lead is only used in reference to alluvial mining, and signifies the old river-bed in which gold is found.

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, p. 75, col. 2:

"There was every facility for abstracting the gold in the rich lead of a neighbour."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 272 [Note]:

"The expression `deep lead' refers to those ancient river-courses which are now only disclosed by deep-mining operations."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. v. p. 55:

"Taking the general matter of `leads' or dead rivers, it chiefly obtained that if gold were found on one portion of them, it extended to all the claims within a considerable distance."

<hw>Lead, to strike the</hw>. See above. Used figuratively for to succeed.

1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 74:

"We could shy up our caps for a feller,
As soon as he struck the lead."

<hw>Leadbeater</hw>, n. applied to a Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri, Vig., called Leadbeaters Cockatoo by Major Mitchell (q.v.).

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. xiv. p. 127:

"The birds are very beautiful—the Blue Mountain and Lowrie parrots . . . leadbeater, and snow-white cockatoos."

<hw>Leaf-insect</hw>, n. See Phasmid.

<hw>Lease</hw>, n. a piece of land leased for mining purposes. In England, the word is used for the document or legal right concerning the land. In Australia, it is used for the land itself. Compare Right-of-way.

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 15:

"A nice block of stone was crushed from Johnson's lease."

<hw>Lease in perpetuity</hw>, a statutory expression in the most recent land legislation of New Zealand, indicating a specific mode of alienating Crown lands,. It is a lease for 999 years at a permanent rental equal to 4% on the capital value, which is not subject to revision.

<hw>Leather-head</hw>, n. another name for the Friar-bird (q.v.), Philemon corniculatus, Lath. See Tropidorhynchus.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 461:

"The Leatherhead with its constantly changing call and whistling."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 58:

"The leather-heads utter their settled phrase `Off we go! off we go!' in the woods, or they come to suck honey from the Melianthus major, which stands up like a huge artichoke plant, tipped with dark red plumes of flowers."

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 233:

"Among the Honey-suckers is that singular-looking bird, the Leatherhead, or Bald-headed Friar (Tropidorhynchus corniculatus); it is commonly seen upon the topmost branches of lofty trees, calling `Poor Soldier,' `Pimlico,' `Four o'clock,' and uttering screaming sounds. It feeds upon insects, wild fruits, and any sweets it can procure from the flowers of the Banksia and Gum-trees."

<hw>Leather-Jacket</hw>, n.

(1) A name applied popularly and somewhat confusedly to various trees, on account of the toughness of their bark— (a) Eucalyptus punctata, De C., Hickory Eucalypt (q.v.); (b) Alphitonia excelsa, Reiss., or Cooperswood; (c) Ceratopetalum, or Coachwood; (d) Cryptocarya meissnerii, F. v. M.; (e) Weinmannia benthami, F. v. M.

(2) A fish of the family Sclerodermi, Monacanthus ayraudi, Quoy. and Gaim., and numerous other species of Monocanthus. Leather-Jackets are wide-spread in Australian seas. The name is given elsewhere to other fishes. See File-fish and Pig-fish.

1770. `Capt. Cook's Journal,' edition Wharton, 1893, p. 246:

"They had caught a great number of small fish, which the sailors call leather jackets, on account of their having a very thick skin; they are known in the West Indies."

1773. `Hawkesworth's Voyages,' vol. iii. p. 503—'Cook's First Voyage,' May 4, 1770 (at Botany Bay):

"Small fish, which are well known in the West Indies, and which our sailors call Leather jackets, because their skin is remarkably thick."

1789. W. Tench, `Expedition to Botany Bay, p. 129:

"To this may be added bass, mullets, skaits, soles, leather-jackets, and many other species."

(3) A kind of pancake.

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 151:

"A plentiful supply of `leatherjackets' (dough fried in a pan)."

1853. Mossman and Banister, `Australia Visited and Revisited,' p. 126:

"Our party, upon this occasion, indulged themselves, in addition to the usual bush fare, with what are called `Leather jackets,' an Australian bush term for a thin cake made of dough, and put into a pan to bake with some fat. . . The Americans indulge in this kind of bread, giving them the name of `Puff ballooners,' the only difference being that they place the cake upon the bare coals . . ."

1855. R. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 117:

"The leather-jacket is a cake of mere flour and water, raised with tartaric acid and carbonate of soda instead of yeast, and baked in the frying-pan; and is equal to any muffin you can buy in the London shops."

<hw>Leather-wood</hw>, n. i.q. Pinkwood (q.v.).

<hw>Leawill</hw>, or <hw>Leeangle</hw> (with other spellings), n. aboriginal names for a native weapon, a wooden club bent at the striking end. The name is Victorian, especially of the West; probably derived from lea or leang, or leanyook, a tooth. The aboriginal forms are langeel, or leanguel, and lea-wil, or le-ow-el. The curve evidently helped the English termination, angle.

1845. Charles Griffith, `Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales,' p. 155:

"The liangle is, I think, described by Sir Thomas Mitchell.
It is of the shape of a pickaxe, with only one pick. Its name
is derived from another native word, leang, signifying a tooth.
It is a very formidable weapon, and used only in war."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. II. c. xiii. p. 479:

"A weapon used by the natives called a Liangle, resembling a miner's pick."

1863. M. K. Beveridge,' Gatherings among the Gum-trees,' p. 56:

"Let us hand to hand attack him
With our Leeawells of Buloite."

Ibid. (In Glossary) p. 83:

"Leeawell, a kind of war club."

1867. G. Gordon McCrae, `Mimba,' p. 9:

"The long liangle's nascent form
Fore-spoke the distant battle-storm."

1886. R. Henty, `Australiana,' p. 21:

"His war-club or leeangle."

1889. P. Beveridge, `Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina, p. 67:

"Of those [waddies] possessing—we might almost say—-a national character, the shapes of which seem to have come down generation after generation, from the remotest period, the Leawill is the most deadly-looking weapon. It is usually three feet long, and two and a half inches thick, having a pointed head, very similar both in shape and size to a miner's driving pick; in most cases the oak (Casuarina) is used in the manufacture of this weapon; it is used in close quarters only, and is a most deadly instrument in the hands of a ruthless foe, or in a general melee such as a midnight onslaught."

<hw>Leeangle</hw>, n. i.q. Leawill (q.v.).

<hw>Leek</hw>, n. a small parrot. See Greenleek.

<hw>Leek, Native</hw>, n. a poisonous Australian plant, Bulbine bulbosa, Haw., N.O. Liliaceae. Called also Native Onion. Its racemes of bright yellow flowers make the paddocks gay in spring.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 121:

"`Native Onion,' `Native Leek.' Mr. W. n. Hutchinson, Sheep Inspector, Warrego, Queensland, reports of this plant: `Its effects on cattle are . . . continually lying down, rolling, terribly scoured, mucous discharge from the nose.'"

<hw>Leg</hw>, n. mining term. a peculiar form of quartz-reef, forming a nearly vertical prolongation of the saddle.

1890. `The Argus,' June x6th, p. 6, col. 1:

"It may also be observed that in payable saddle formations a slide intersects the reef above the saddle coming from the west, and turning east with a wall of the east leg, where the leg of reef is observed to go down deeper, and to carry a greater amount of gold than in ordinary cases."

<hw>Legitimacy</hw>, n. See quotation. [Old and now unused slang.]

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 16:

"Legitimacy—a colonial term for designating the cause of the emigration of a certain portion of our population; i.e. having legal reasons for making the voyage."

[So also at p. 116, "Legitimates"]

<hw>Leguminous Ironbark</hw>, n. a name given by Leichhardt to the Queensland tree Erythrophaeum laboucherii, F. v. M., N.O. Leguminosae. See Ironbark.

<hw>Leichhardt</hw>, or <hw>Leichhardt-Tree</hw>, n. an Australian timber-tree, Morinda citrifolia, Linn., N.O. Rubiaceae; called also Canary-wood and Indian Mulberry. In Queensland, the name is applied to Sarcocephalus cordatus, Miq., N.O. Rubiaceae, a large timber-tree of North Queensland, much used in building.

1874. M. K. Beveridge, `Lost Life,' p. 40:

"Groaning beneath the friendly shade
That by a Leichhardt-tree was made."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia, p. 258:

"The Leichhardt is a very symmetrical tree, that grows to a height of about sixty feet, and has leaves rather like a big laurel."

<hw>Leichhardt-Bean</hw>, n. See Bean.

<hw>Leichhardt's Clustered-Fig</hw>, n. i.q. Clustered Fig. See Fig.

<hw>Lemon, Desert</hw>, n. See Desert Lemon.

<hw>Lemon-scented Gum</hw>, n. See Gum.

<hw>Lemon-scented Ironbark</hw>, n. a name given to the Queensland tree Eucalyptus staigeriana, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae. See Ironbark. The foliage of this tree yields a large quantity of oil, equal in fragrance to that of lemons.

<hw>Lemon-Sole</hw>, n. In England, the name is applied to an inferior species of Sole. In New South Wales, it is given to Plagusia unicolor, Mad., of the family Pleuronectidae or Flat-fishes. In New Zealand, it is another name for the New Zealand Turbot (q.v.).

<hw>Lemon, Wild</hw>, n. a timber tree, Canthium latifolium, F. v. M., N.O. Rubiaceae; called also Wild Orange.

<hw>Lemon-Wood</hw>, n. one of the names given by settlers to the New Zealand tree called by Maoris Tarata (q.v.), or Mapau (q.v.). It is Pittosporum eugenoides, A. Cunn., N.O. Pittosporeae.

<hw>Leopard-Tree</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Flindersia maculosa (or Strezleckiana), F. v. M., N.O. Meliaceae; called also Spotted-Tree (q.v.), and sometimes, in Queensland, Prickly Pine.

<hw>Lerp</hw>, n. an aboriginal word belonging to the Mallee District of Victoria (see Mallee). Sometimes spelt leurp, or laap. The aboriginal word means `sweet.' It is a kind of manna secreted by an insect, Psylla eucalypti, and found on the leaves of the Mallee, Eucalyptus dumosa. Attention was first drawn to it by Mr. Thomas Dobson (see quotations). A chemical substance called Lerpamyllum is derived from it; see Watts' `Dictionary of Chemistry,' Second Supplement, 1875, s.v.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 73:

"The natives of the Wimmera prepare a luscious drink from the laap, a sweet exudation from the leaf of the mallee (Eucalyptus dumosa)."

1850. T. Dobson, `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 235:

"The white saccharine substance called `lerp,' by the Aborigines in the north-western parts of Australia Felix, and which has attracted the attention of chemists, under the impression that it is a new species of manna, originates with an insect of the tribe of Psyllidae, and order Hemiptera."

1850. Ibid. p. 292::

"Insects which, in the larva state, have the faculty of elaborating from the juices of the gum-leaves on which they live a glutinous and saccharine fluid, whereof they construct for themselves little conical domiciles."

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `The Aborigines of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 211:

"Another variety of manna is the secretion of the pupa of an insect of the Psylla family and obtains the name of lerp among the aborigines. At certain seasons of the year it is very abundant on the leaves of E. dumosa, or mallee scrub . . ."

<hw>Lift</hw>, v. tr. to drive to market from the run.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. iv. p. 45:

"I haven't lifted a finer mob this season."

1890. `The Argus,' June 14, p. 4, col. 2:

"We lifted 7000 sheep."

<hw>Light-horseman</hw>, n. obsolete name for a fish; probably the fish now called a Sweep (q.v.).

1789. W. Tench, `Expedition to Botany Bay,' p. 129:

"The French once caught [in Botany Bay] near two thousand fish in one day, of a species of grouper, to which, from the form of a bone in the head resembling a helmet, we have given the name of light horseman."

1793. J. Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 410 [Aboriginal Vocabulary]:

"Woolamie, a fish called a light-horseman."
[But see Wollomai.]

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. iv. p. 78:

"A boat belonging to the Sirius caught near fifty large fish, which were called light-horsemen from a bone that grew out of the head like a helmet."

<hw>Lightwood</hw>, n. a name given to various trees. See Blackwood. It is chiefly applied to Acacia melanoxylon, R. Br., N.O. Leguminosae. See quotations, 1843 and 1889.

1843. I. Backhouse. `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies,' p. 48:

"Lightwood—Acacia Melanoxylon . . . It derives its name from swimming in water, while the other woods of V. D. Land, except the pines, generally sink. In some parts of the Colony it is called Blackwood, on account of its dark colour."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 515:

"Some immense logs of `light wood,' a non lucendo, darker than mahogany."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 17:

"Arms so brown and bare, to look at them
Recalls to mind the lightwood's rugged stem."

1866. H. Simcox, `Rustic Rambles,' p. 54:

"The numerous lightwood trees with sombre shade
Tend to enhance the richness of the glade."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xv. p. 111:

"The ex-owner of Lyne wished himself back among the old lightwood trees."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 359:

"Called `Blackwood' on account of the very dark colour of the mature wood. It is sometimes called `Lightwood' (chiefly in South Tasmania, while the other name is given in North Tasmania and other places), but this is an inappropriate name. It is in allusion to its weight as compared with Eucalyptus timbers. It is the `Black Sally' of Western New South Wales, the `Hickory' of the southern portion of that colony, and is sometimes called `Silver Wattle.' This is considered by some people to be the most valuable of all Australian timbers.

It is hard and close-grained; much valued for furniture, picture-frames, cabinet-work, fencing, bridges, etc., railway, and other carriages, boat-building, for tool-handles, gun-stocks, naves of wheels, crutches, parts of organs, pianofortes (sound-boards and actions), etc."

<hw>Light Yellow-wood</hw>, i.q. Long-Jack (q.v.).

<hw>Lignum</hw> (1), or <hw>Lignum-Vitae</hw>, n. The name is applied to several trees, as Myrtus acmenioides, F. v. M., called also White Myrtle; Acacia falcata, Willd., N.O. Leguminosae, called also Hickory and Sally; but chiefly to Eucalyptus polyanthema, Schau., N.O. Myrtaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 505:

"[E. polyanthema.] The `Red Box' of South-eastern Australia. Called also `Brown Box,' `Grey Box,' and `Bastard Box.' `Poplar-leaved Gum' is another name, but it is most commonly known as `Lignum Vitae' because of its tough and hard wood. Great durability is attributed to this wood, though the stems often become hollow in age, and thus timber of large dimensions is not readily afforded. It is much sought after for cogs, naves and felloes; it is also much in demand for slabs in mines, while for fuel it is unsurpassed. (Mueller.) Its great hardness is against its general use."

(2) A bushman's contraction for any species of the wiry plants called polygonum.

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' [writing of the Lachlan district, New South Wales] p. 180:

"The poor emus had got down into the creek amongst the lignum bushes for a little shade . . . I do not know what a botanist would call them; they are something like cane, but with large leaves, which all animals are fond of, and they grow about eight feet high in the creeks and gullies."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 135:

"By mulga scrub and lignum plain."

<hw>Lilac</hw>, n. name given in Australia to the tree Melia composita, Willd., N.O. Meliaceae, called Cape Lilac. It is not endemic in Australia, and is called "Persian Lilac "in India. In Tasmania the name of Native Lilac is given to Prostanthera rotundifolia, R. Br., N.O. Labiatae, and by Mrs. Meredith to Tetratheca juncea, Smith, of the Linnean Order, Octandria.

1793. J. E. Smith, `Specimen of Botany of New Holland,' p. 5:

"Tetratheca juncea, Rushy Tetratheca [with plate]."

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 69:

"A little purple flower, which is equally common, so vividly recalls to my mind, both by its scent and colour, an Old-World favorite, that I always know it as the native Lilac (Tetratheca juncea)."

<hw>Lily, Darling</hw>, n. a bulbous plant, Crinum flaccidum, Herb., N.O. Amaryllideae; called also the Murray Lily. (See Lily, Murray.)

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 20:

"The `Darling Lily.' This exceedingly handsome white-flowered plant, which grows back from the Darling, has bulbs which yield a fair arrowroot. On one occasion, near the town of Wilcannia, a man earned a handsome sum by making this substance when flour was all but unattainable."

<hw>Lily, Flax</hw>, n. See Flax-Lily, and Flax, New Zealand.

<hw>Lily, Giant</hw>-, or <hw>Spear</hw>-, n. a fibre plant, Doryanthes excelsa, Corr., N.O. Amaryllideae.

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 339:

"The Doryanthes excelsa, a gigantic Lily of Australia, is a magnificent plant, with a lofty flowering spike. The bunches or clusters of crimson flowers are situated in the summit of the flowering spike . . . The diameter of a cluster of blossoms is about 14 inches . . . The flower-buds are of a brilliant crimson, and the anthers of the stamens are, in the recently expanded flower, of a dark-green colour."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 621:

"`Spear Lily.' `Giant Lily.' The leaves are a mass of fibre, of great strength, which admits of preparation either by boiling or maceration, no perceptible difference as to quality or colour being apparent after heckling. Suitable for brush making, matting, etc."

<hw>Lily, Gordon</hw>, n. a Tasmanian plant and its flower, Blandfordia marginata, Herb., N.O. Liliaceae, and other species of Blandfordia (q.v.).

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 72:

"Blandfordia nobilis. This splendid plant is common on the west coast and on the shores of the Mersey. It bears a head of pendulous scarlet blossoms tipped with yellow, one inch long, rising out of a stalk of from 1 1/2 to 3 feet long, from between two opposite series of strapshaped leaves. It is named after George [Gordon] Marquis of Blandford, son of the second Duke of Marlborough."

<hw>Lily, Murray</hw>, n. i.q. Darling Lily. See above.

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 119:

"This showy genus Crinum furnishes also Victoria with a beautiful species, the Murray Lily (Crinum flaccidum), not however to be found away from the Murray-River southward."

<hw>Lilly-Pilly</hw>, n. name given to a large timber tree, Eugenia smithii, Poir., N.O. Myrtaceae. The bark is rich in tanning. Sometimes called Native Banana.

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 327:

"The Lillypilly-trees, as they are named by the colonists, consist of several species of Acmena, and are all of elegant growth and dense and handsome foliage."

1879. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales,' p. 134:

"Eugenia Smithii, or Lilli pilli, and Melodorum Leichhardtii are also fair eating. The latter goes by the name of the native banana though it is very different from a banana, and in reality allied to the custard apple."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 29:

"`Lilly Pilly.' The fruits are eaten by aboriginals, small boys, and birds. They are formed in profusion, are acidulous and wholesome. They are white with a purplish tint, and up to one inch in diameter."

<hw>Lily, Rock</hw>, n. an orchid, Dendrobium speciosum, Smith, N.O. Orchideae. although not a Lily, it is always so called, especially in Sydney, where it is common.

1879. H. n. Moseley, `Notes by Naturalist on Challenger,' p. 270:

"A luxuriant vegetation, with huge masses of Stagshorn Fern (Platycerium) and `rock-lilies' (orchids), and a variety of timbers, whilst there are Tree-ferns and small palms in the lateral shady gullies."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 22:

"`Rock Lily.' The large pseudobulbs have been eaten by the aboriginals; they contain little nutritive matter."

<hw>Lily, Water</hw>, n. There are several indigenous native varieties of the N.O. Nymphaeceae—Cabombia peltata, Pursh; Nymphaea gigantea, Hook. (Blue Water-lily).

<hw>Lily, Yellow</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for Bulbine bulbosa, Haw., N.O. Liliaceae. See Leek, Native.

<hw>Lime, Native</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Citrus australasica, F. v. M., N.O. Rutaceae; called also Finger Lime and Orange. But the appellation of Native Lime is more generally given to Citrus australis, Planch., N.O. Rutaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 16:

"`Native Lime. Orange.' The fruit, which is an inch and a half in diameter, and almost globular, yields an agreeable beverage from its acid juice."

<hw>Ling</hw>, n. a fish. The name is given in England to various fishes, from their length. In New Zealand and Tasmania, it is applied to Genypterus blacodes, Forst.; also called Cloudy Bay Cod. Lotella marginata, Macl., is called Ling, in New South Wales, and Beardie. Genypterus belongs to the Ophidiidae and Lotella to the next family, the Gadidae.

<hw>Lobster</hw>, n. The name is often carelessly used in Australia for the Crayfish (q.v.).

<hw>Lobster's</hw>-Claw, n. another name for Sturt's Desert Pea (q.v.).

<hw>Locust</hw>, n. name popularly but quite erroneously applied to insects belonging to two distinct orders.

(1) Insects belonging to the order Hemiptera. The great black Cicada, Cicada moerens, Germ., and the great green Cicada, Cyclochila australasiae, Donov.

(2) Insects belonging to the order Orthoptera, such as the great green gum-tree grasshopper, Locusta vigentissima, Serv., or the Australian yellow-winged locust, Oedipoda musica, Fab.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. I. c. ix. p. 285:

"The trees swarmed with large locusts (the Cicada), quite deafening us with their shrill buzzing noise."

1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. iv. p. 104:

"We heard everywhere on the gumtrees the cricket-like insects—usually called locusts by the colonists—hissing their reed-like monotonous noise."

1869. J. Townend, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 155:

"The perpetual song of unnumbered locusts."

1885. H. H. Hayter, `Carboona,' p. 5:

"The deaf'ning hum of the locusts."

1885. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Natural History of Victoria,' Dec. 5, pl. 50:

"Our Cicada moerens . . . produces an almost deafening sound from the numbers of the individuals in the hottest days and the loudness of their noise." "This species (Cyclochila Australasiae) is much less abundant than the C. moerens, and seems more confined to moist places, such as river banks and deep ravines and gullies."

1889. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Natural History of Victoria,' Dec. 11, pl. 110:

"The great size of the muscular thighs of the posterior pair of feet enables the Locusts to jump much higher, further, and more readily than Grasshoppers, giving an example of muscular power almost unparalleled in the animal kingdom."

1896. F. A. Skuse, `Records of Australian Museum,' vol. ii. No. 7, p. 107:

"What are commonly styled `locusts' in this country are really Cicadae, belonging to a totally distinct and widely separated order of insects. And moreover the same kind of Cicada is known by different names in different localities, such as `Miller,' `Mealyback,' etc. The true locusts belong to the grasshoppers, while the Homopterous Cicadidae have been known as Cicadas from times of remote antiquity."

<hw>Locust-tree</hw>, of New Zealand. See Kowhai.

<hw>Logan-Apple</hw>, n. a small Queensland tree, with an acid fruit, Acronychia acidia, F. v. M., N.O. Rutaceae.

<hw>Log-hut</hw>, n. Log-cabin is American. Log-hut is Australian.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 178:

"Not more than ten settlers had been able to erect dwellings better than log-huts." [This was in Sydney, 1796.]

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. I. c. ix. p. 287:

"Captain Fyans was living in a log-hut on the banks of the
Marabool river."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. vi. p. 61:

"Log-huts, with the walls built American fashion, of horizontal tree-trunks."

<hw>Log-Runner</hw>, n. an Australian bird, called also a Spinetail. The species are—

Black-headed—
Orthonyx spaldingi, Ramsay;

Spinetailed— O. spinicauda, Temm., called also Pheasant's Mother. See Orthonyx.

<hw>Logs</hw>, n. pl. the Lock-up. Originally, in the early days, a log-hut, and often keeping the name when it was made a more secure place. Sometimes, when there was no lock-up, the prisoners were chained to heavy logs of trees.

1802. G.Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 184:

"The governor resolved on building a large log prison both at Sydney and Paramatta, and `as the affair cried haste,' a quantity of logs were ordered to be sent in by the various settlers, officers and others."

[p. 196]: "The inhabitants of Sydney were assessed to supply thatch for the new gaol, and the building was enclosed with a strong high fence. It was 80 feet long, the sides and ends were of strong logs, a double row of which formed each partition. The prison was divided into 22 cells. The floor and the roof were logs, over which was a coat eight inches deep of clay."

1851. Letter from Mrs. Perry, given in Canon Goodman's `Church of Victoria during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 164:

"One [sentry] at the lock-up, a regular American log-hut." [sic. But in America it would have been called a log-cabin.]

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 193:

"Let's put him in the Logs . . . The lock-up, like most bush ones, was built of heavy logs, just roughly squared, with the ceiling the same sort."

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydneyside Saxon,' p. 111:

"`He'll land himself in the logs about that same calf racket if he doesn't lookout, some day.' `Logs!' I says. `There don't seem to be many about this part. The trees are all too small.'"

<hw>Log up</hw>, v. to make a log-support for the windlass.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. v. p. 54:

"We . . . had logged up and made a start with another shaft."

<hw>Lolly</hw>, n., pl. <hw>Lollies</hw>. The English word lollipop is always shortened in Australia, and is the common word to the exclusion of others, e.g. sweets. Manufacturers of sweetmeats are termed Lolly-makers.

1871. J. J. Simpson, `Recitations,' p. 24:

"Lollies that the children like."

1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 18:

"Common children fancy lollies,
Eat them 'gainst their parents' wills."

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 16:

"I thankfully expended the one in bile-producing cakes and lollies."

1893. `Evening Standard' (Melbourne), Oct. 18, p. 6, col. 2:

"Mr. Patterson (musing over last Saturday's experiences): You're going to raise the price of lollies. I'm a great buyer of them myself. (Laughter.) If you pay the full duty it will, doubtless, be patriotic for me to buy more when I go amongst the juveniles."

<hw>Long-fin</hw>, n. name given to the fish Caprodon schlegelii, Gunth., and in New South Wales to Anthias longimanus, Gunth.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 33:

"The long-fin, Anthias Iongimanus, Gunth., is a good fish that finds its way to the market occasionally . . . may be known by its uniform red colour, and the great length of the pectoral fins."

<hw>Long-Jack</hw>, name given to the tree Flindersia oxleyana, F. v. M., N.O. Meliaceae; called also Light Yellow-Wood.

<hw>Long-sleever</hw>, n. name for a big drink and also for the glass in which it is contained. Perhaps in allusion to its tall, tapering, long shape.

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 83:

"Their drivers had completed their regulation half-score of `long-sleevers' of `she-oak.'"

<hw>Long-Tom</hw>, n. name given in Sydney to Belone ferox, Gunth., a species of Garfish which has both jaws prolonged to form a slender beak. See Garfish.

<hw>Long-Yam</hw>. See Yam.

<hw>Look</hw>, v. tr. to examine.

1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. vi. p. 105:

"Plains are scoured and every piece of timber looked." [sc. looked-over.]

<hw>Lope</hw>, n. a slow and steady gallop. From Dutch verb loopen, to leap, to run. The word is American rather than Australian.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 35:

"Every body gallops here, or at least goes at a canter—which they call the Australian lope."

<hw>Loquat</hw>, a Chinese word meaning "Rush-orange," Photinia japonica. Being highly ornamental and bearing a pleasant stony juicy fruit of the colour and size of a small orange, it has been introduced into nearly all Australian gardens. The name Native Loquat has been given to an indigenous shrub, Rhodomyrtus macrocarpa, Benth., N.O. Myrtaceae.

<hw>Lorikeet</hw>, n. a bird-name, little Lory (q.v.). The species in Australia are—

Blue-bellied Lorikeet—
Trichoglossus novae-hollandiae, Gmel.

Blue-faced L.—
Cyclopsitta macleayana, Ramsay.

Little L.—
Trichoglossus pusillus, Shaw.

Musk L.—
T. concinnus, Shaw.

Purple-crowned L.—
T. porphyrocephalus, Dietr.

Red-collared L.—
T. rubritorqus, Vig. and Hors.

Red-faced L.—
Cyclopsitta coxenii, Gould.

Scaly-breasted L.—
Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus, Kuhl.

Swift L.—
Lathamus discolor, Shaw.

Varied L.—
Trichoglossus versicolor, Vig.

The following table gives Gould's classification in 1848:—

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v.

Plate

Lathamus discolor, Swift Lorikeet … … 47 Trichoglossus Novae-Hollandiae, Jard. and Selb., Swainson's L. … … … … … … 48 T. rubritorquis, Vig. and Horsf., Red-collared L. 49 T. chlorolepidotus, Scaly-breasted L. … 50 T. versicolor, Vig., Varied L. … … 51 T. concinnus, Musky L. … … … … 52 T. porphyrocephalus, Dict., Porphyry-crowned L. 53 T. pusillus, Little L. … … … … 54

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 13, col. 4:

"On the hill-sides the converse of the lorikeets as they drain the honeycups and swing and chatter in low undertones the whole day long."

<hw>Lory</hw>, n. a bird-name. The word is Malay. (See `Encyclopaedia Britannica,' vol. xv.) It is often spelt Lowrie in Australia. The species in Australia are—

Crimson-winged Lory—
Aprosmictus coccineopterus, Gould.

King L.—
A. scapulatus, Bechst.

Red-winged Lory—
A. erythropterus, Gmel.

1848. Gould's `Birds of Australia,' vol. v.:

"Aprosmictus scapulatus, king lory; erythropturus, red-winged lory."

<hw>Lotus-bird</hw>, n. Parra gallinacea, Temm.; called also the Jacana (q.v.), and the Parra (q.v.).

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 22:

"The most striking bird on the lagoon is doubtless the beautiful Parra gallinacea, which in Australia is called the lotus-bird. It sits on the leaves that float on the water, particularly those of the water-lily."

<hw>Lowan</hw>, n. aboriginal birdname for Leipoa ocellata, Gould. The name is used for the bird in Victoria and in the south-east district of South Australia. In the Mallee district, it is called Mallee-bird, Mallee fowl, Mallee-hen (q.v.); in South Australia, Native Pheasant (q.v.); and in various parts of Australia, the Scrub-Turkey. The county called Lowan, after the bird, is in the Mallee country in the west of Victoria. See Turkey.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 171:

"The Lowan (Mallee-hen, they're mostly called). The Lowan eggs—beautiful pink thin-shelled ones they are, first-rate to eat, and one of 'em a man's breakfast."

1890. A. H. S. Lucas, `Handbook of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,' Melbourne, p. 68:

"To the dry, arid Mallee Scrub of the Western District is a radical change of scene. There the so-called Mallee hen, or Native name, Lowan (Leipoa ocellata), loves to dwell."

1896. `The Argus,' Aug. 4, p. 5, col. 2:

"The postmaster at Nhill had drawn the attention of the Deputy Postmaster-General to the large number of letters which are received there addressed to `Lowan.' It should be understood that this is the name of a county containing several postal districts, and correspondents should be more specific in their addresses."

<hw>Lowrie</hw>, n. a bird-name. An Australian variant of Lory (q.v.).

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 40:

"A great many species of the parrot are found; and of these the King Parrot is the most beautiful, and that called the Lowrie is perhaps the most docile."

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' p. 127:

"The birds are very beautiful—the Blue Mountain and Lowrie parrots . . .'

<hw>Lubra</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a black woman. The name comes from Tasmania, appearing first in the form loubra, in a vocabulary given in the `Voyage de Decouvertes de l'Astrolabe' (Paris, 1834), vol. vii. p. 9, and was obtained from a Tasmanian woman, belonging to Port Dalrymple on the Tamar River. It is probably a compound of the Tasmanian words loa or lowa, a woman, and proi (with variants), big. In Victoria, the use of the word began at the Hopkins River and the vicinity, having been introduced by settlers from Tasmania, but it was generally adopted south of the Murray. North of the Murray the native women were called Gins (q.v.). Both words are now used indiscriminately.

1855. W. Blandowski, `Transactions of Philosophical Society of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 73 :

"The young man who wishes to marry has first to look out for a wife amongst the girls or leubras of some neighbouring tribe."

1864. H. Simcox, `Outward Bound," p. 87:

"Many lubras so black with their load on their back."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life," p. 23:

"Certain stout young gins or lubras, set apart for that purpose, were sacrificed."

1891. `The Argus,' Nov. 7, p. 13, col. 4:

"A few old lubras sufficiently dirty and unprepossessing."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 28:

"Naked, and not ashamed, the old men grey-bearded and eyes bright, watched the cooking of the fish, and the younger, with the lubras, did the honours of reception."

<hw>Lucerne, Native</hw>, or <hw>Paddy</hw>, n. i.q. Queensland Hemp. See Hemp.

1895. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 95:

"And now lies wandering fat and sleek,
On the Lucerne flats by the Homestead Creek."

<hw>Luderick</hw>, or <hw>Ludrick</hw>, n. an aboriginal Gippsland name for a local variety of the fish Girella simplex, Richards., the Black-fish (q.v.).

<hw>Lugg</hw>, n. a fish not identified.

"Lug, a kind of fish." (`Walker,' 1827)

1802. Flemming, `Journal of the Exploration of C. Grimes' (at Port Phillip), ed. by J. J. Shillinglaw, Melbourne, 1897, p. 27:

"Many swans, ducks and luggs."

<hw>Lyonsia</hw>, n. a Tasmanian plant. See Devil's guts.

<hw>Lyre-bird</hw>, n. an Australian bird, originally called the Bird of Paradise of New South Wales; then called a Native Pheasant, or Mountain Pheasant, and still generally called a Pheasant by the Gippsland bushmen. The name Lyre-bird apparently began between 1828 and 1834. It is not used by Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales' (1828), vol. i. p. 303. See Menura. The species are—

The Lyre-bird—
Menura superba, Davies.

Albert L.-b.—
M. alberti, Gould.

Victoria L.-b.—
M. victoriae, Gould.

Since 1888 the Lyre-bird has been the design on the eight-penny postage-stamp of New South Wales.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 435:

"The Bird of Paradise of New South Wales [with picture]. This elegant bird, which by some is called the Bird of Paradise, and by others the Maenura Superba, has a straight bill, with the nostrils in the centre of the beak."

1802. D. Collins, `History of English Colony of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 335:

"Menura superba." [But not the name lyre-bird].

1834. Geo. Bennett, `Wanderings in New South Wales, etc.,' /vol/ i. p. 277:

"The `Native or Wood-pheasant,' or `Lyre bird' of the colonists, the `Menura superba' of naturalists, and the `Beleck, beleck,' and `Balaugara' of the aboriginal tribes, is abundant about the mountain ranges, in all parts of the colony."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 132:

"Numerous pheasants (Menura superba). These birds are the mocking-birds of Australia, imitating all the sounds that are heard in the bush in great perfection. They are about the size of a barn-door fowl, and are not remarkable for any beauty either in the shape or colour, being of a dirty brown, approaching to black in some parts; their greatest attraction consists in the graceful tail of the cock bird, which assumes something the appearance of a lyre, for which reason some naturalists have called them lyre-birds."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 14:

"Menura superba, Davies, Lyre-bird; Pheasant of the Colonists. Were I requested to suggest an emblem for Australia amongst its birds, I should without the slightest hesitation select the Menura as the most appropriate, being strictly peculiar to Australia."

1864. J. S. Moore, `Spring-Life Lyrics;' p. 92:

"Shy as the lyre-bird, hidden away,
A glittering waif in the wild."

1867. G. G. McCrae, `Balladeadro,' p. 30:

"There the proud lyre-bird spreads his tail,
And mocks the notes of hill and dale
Whether the wild dog's plaintive howl
Or cry of piping water-fowl."

1872. A. McFarland, `Illawarra Manaro,' p. 54:

"The Lyre-bird may yet be seen—more frequently heard—amongst the gullies and ravines. It has the power of imitating every other bird, and nearly every sound it hears in the bush-even that of a cross-cut saw."

1886. J. A. Fronde, `Oceana,' p. 146:

"Here, too, for the first time, we saw a lyre-bird, which some one had just shot, the body being like a coot's, and about the same size, the tail long as the tail of a bird of paradise, beautifully marked in bright brown, with the two chief feathers curved into the shape of a Greek lyre, from which it takes its name."

1890. `Victorian Statutes'—Game Act, Third Schedule:

[Close Season.] "Lyre Birds. The whole year."

1893. `The Age,' Aug. 7, p. vi, col. 9:

"There are more reasons than one why the lyre-bird should be preserved. From a purely utilitarian point of view it is of value, for it is insectivorous and preys upon insects which are apt to prefer orchard fruit to their natural bush food. But the bird has as well a national and sentimental value. Next to the emu it is the most typical Australian bird. It is peculiar to Australia, for in no other country is it to be seen. Comparatively speaking it is a rara avis even in Australia itself, for it is only to be found in the most secluded parts of two colonies—Victoria and New South Wales. It is the native pheasant. The aborigines call it `Beleck-Beleck,' and whites call it the `lyre-bird' from the shape of its tail; the ornithologists have named it Menura. There are three species—the Victoriae of this colony, and the Alberta and superba of New South Wales. The general plumage is glossy brown, shaded with black and silver grey, and the ornate tail of the male bird is brown with black bars. They live in the densest recesses of the fern gullies of the Dividing Range with the yellow-breasted robin, the satin-bird, and the bell-bird as their neighbours. They are the most shy of birds, and are oftener heard than seen. Their notes, too, are heard more frequently than they are recognized, for they are consummate mimics and ventriloquists. They imitate to perfection the notes of all other birds, the united voicing of a flock of paraquetts [sic], the barking of dogs, the sawing of timber, and the clink of the woodman's axe. Thus it is that the menura has earned for itself the title of the Australian mocking-bird. Parrots and magpies are taught to speak; as a mimic the lyre-bird requires no teacher."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 9. p. 9, col. 1:

"If the creature was lovely its beauty was marketable and fatal—and the lyre-bird was pursued to its last retreats and inveigled to death, so that its feathers might be peddled in our streets."

M

<hw>Mackerel</hw>, n. In Australia, Scomber antarcticus, Castln., said to be identical with Scomber pneumatophorus, De la Roche, the European mackerel; but rare. In New Zealand, Scomber australasicus, Cuv. and Val.

<hw>Macquarie Harbour Grape</hw>, or <hw>Macquarie Harbour Vine</hw>, n. the Tasmanian name for Muhlenbeckia adpressa, Meissn. N.O. Polygonaceae; called Native Ivy in Australia. See Ivy and Grape.

1831. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 265:

"That valuable plant called the Macquarie harbour grape. It was so named by Mr. Lempriere, late of the Commissariat at that station, who first brought it into notice as a desirable acquisition in our gardens."

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 133:

"Polygonum adpressum. The Macquarie harbour vine, either as an insignificant trailing plant, or as a magnificent climber, according to the soil and situation, is found on the coast of various parts of Van Diemen's Land, and also as far inland as within about four miles of New Norfolk. This plant has a small but sweet fruit, formed of the thickened divisions of the calyx of the flower, inclosing a triangular seed of unpleasant flavour."

<hw>Macquarie Pine</hw>, n. See Pine.

<hw>Macropus</hw>, n. the scientific name for the typical genus of Macropodidae, established by Shaw in 1800. From the Greek makropous, long-footed. It includes the Kangaroo (q.v.) and Wallaby (q.v.). M. giganteus, Zimm., is the Giant Kangaroo, or Forester (q.v.).

<hw>Mado</hw>, n. a Sydney fish, Therapon cuvieri, Bleek; called also Trumpeter-Perch. Atypus strigatus, Gunth., is also called Mado by the Sydney fishermen, who confound it with the first species. The name is probably aboriginal.

<hw>Magpie</hw>, n. a black-and-white Crow-Shrike, present all over Australia. He resembles the English Magpie in general appearance, but has not the long tail of that bird, though he shares with him his kleptomania. He is often called the Bush-magpie (q.v.) by townsfolk, to distinguish him from the tamed specimens kept in many gardens, or in cages, which are easily taught to talk. The species are—

Black-backed Magpie— Gymnorhina tibicen, Lath.; called also Flute-Bird (q.v.).

Long-billed M.— G. dorsalis, Campbell.

White, or Organ M.— G. organicum, Gould; called also Organ-bird (q.v.).

White-backed M.— G. leuconota, Gould.

In Tasmania, the name is also applied to the—

Black Magpie—
Strepera fuliginosa, Gould; and
S. arguta, Gould.

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffr/e/y Hamlyn,' vol. ii. p. 314 [Footnote]:

"Magpie, a large, pied crow.Of all the birds I have ever seen, the cleverest, the most grotesque, and the most musical. The splendid melody of his morning and evening song is as unequalled as it is indescribable."

1869. B. Hoare, `Figures of Fancy,' p. 97:

"Gay magpies chant the livelong day."

1886. T. Heney, `Fortunate Days,' p. 47:

"The magpie swells from knoll or silent brake
His loud sweet tune."

1887. `Melbourne Punch,' March 31:

"The magpie maketh mute
His mellow fluent flute,
Nor chaunteth now his leuconotic hymn."

<hw>Magpie-Goose</hw>, n. a common name for the Australian Goose, Anseranus melanoleuca, Lath.; called also Swan-goose, and Pied goose. See Goose.

<hw>Magpie-Lark</hw>, n. an Australian black-and-white bird (Grallina picata, Lath.), resembling the Magpie in appearance, but smaller; called also Pee-wee, and Mudlark, from its building its nest of mud.

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 235:

"The little magpie-lark. . . . His more elegant and graceful figure remains in modest silence by the hedgerow in the outskirts."

<hw>Magpie-Perch</hw>, n. a West Australian, Victorian, and Tasmanian fish, Chilodactylus gibbosus, Richards.; not a true Perch, but of family Cirrhitidae.

<hw>Magra</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the sling or pouch in which the gins carry their children on their backs.

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 185:

"Other lesser brats were in magras, gipsy-like, at their mothers' backs."

On p. 191, Mr. Howitt uses the form "mogra."

<hw>Mahoe</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand Whitewood-tree, Melicytus ramiflorus, Forst., N.O. Violarieae.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 447:

"Mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus) grows to the height of about fifty feet, and has a fine thin spiral leaf."

1863. Thomas Moser, `Mahoe Leaves':

[Title of a volume of articles about the Maoris.]

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 130:

"Mahoe, hinahina. A small tree twenty to thirty feet high; trunk often angular and seven feet in girth. The word is soft and not in use. . . . Leaves greedily eaten by cattle."

<hw>Mahogany</hw>, n. The name, with varying epithets, is applied to several Australian trees, chiefly Eucalypts, on account of the redness or hardness of their timber, and its applicability to purposes similar to that of the true Mahogany. The following enumeration is compiled from Maiden's `Useful Native Plants'

Mahogany, Tristania conferta, R. Br., N.O.
Myrtaceae; called also White Box, Red Box, Brush
Box, Bastard Box, Brisbane Box. This bark is occasionally used
for tanning.

Bastard Mahogany, or Gippsland Mahogany, or Swamp Mahogany, Eucalyptus botryoides, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae. The Blue Gum of New South Wales coast districts. Bastard Mahogany of Gippsland and New South Wales; called also Swamp Mahogany in Victoria and New South Wales. It also bears the names of Bastard Jarrah, and occasionally Woolly Butt. Sydney workmen often give it the name Bangalay, by which it was formerly known by the aboriginals of Port Jackson. It is one of four colonial timbers recommended by the Victorian Carriage Timber Board for use in the construction of railway carriages. Specimens from Gippsland (Gippsland Mahogany) are spoken of as "a timber of good colour, as strong as Blue Gum."

Mahogany, or Bastard Mahogany, Eucalyptus marginata, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae. Universally known as Jarrah. In Western Australia it also bears the name of Mahogany, or Bastard Mahogany.

Forest or Red Mahogany, Eucalyptus resinifera, Smith,
N.O. Myrtaceae; called also Jimmy Low (q.v.).

Forest Mahogany, Eucalyptus microcorys, F. v. M.,
N.O. Myrtaceae. In Queensland it is known as
Peppermint, the foliage being remarkably rich in volatile oil.
But its almost universal name is Tallow Wood (q.v.).
North of Port Jackson it bears the name of Turpentine
Tree (q.v.), and Forest Mahogany.

Tom Russell's Mahogany, Lysicarpus ternifolius,
F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae.

Swamp Mahogany, or White Mahogany, Eucalyptus robusta, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae, B. Fl. This tree is known as White, or Swamp Mahogany, from the fact that it generally grows in swampy ground. It is also called Brown Gum. This timber is much valued for shingles, wheelwrights'work, ship-building, and building purposes generally. As a timber for fuel, and where no great strength is required, it is excellent, especially when we consider its adaptability to stagnant, swampy, or marshy places.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. ii. c. iv. p. 132:

"Mahogany, Jarrail, Eucalyptus, grows on white sandy land."

Ibid. vol. ii. c. iv. p. 231:

"Part of our road lay through a thick mahogany scrub."

<hw>Mai</hw>, or <hw>Matai</hw>, n. a New Zealand tree, now called Podocarpus spicata.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 440:

"Matai, mai (Dacrydium mai), a tree with a fine thick top, and leaf much resembling that of the yew. The wood is of a slightly reddish colour, close-grained, but brittle, and peculiarly fragrant when burnt. . . . Highly prized for fuel, and also much used for furniture, as it works up easily and comes next to the totara for durability."

1876. W. n. Blair, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. ix. art. x. p. 157:

"I have in this paper adhered to the popular name of black-pine for this timber, but the native name matai is always used in the north."

<hw>Maiden's</hw> Blush, n. name given to the Australian tree Echinocarpus australis, Benth., N.O. Tiliaceae; and sometimes applied to Euroschinus falcatus, Hook., N.O. Anacardiaceae. The timber is of a delicate rosy colour when cut. The fruit is called Hedgehog-fruit (q.v.). In Tasmania, the name is applied to Convolvulus erubescens, Sims., order Convolvulaceae.

<hw>Maire</hw>, n. a Maori name applied to three kinds of trees; viz.—

(1) Santalum cunninghamii, Hook., a sandal-wood;

2) Olea of various species (formerly Fusanus);

(3) Eugenia maire, A. Cunn., native box-wood, but now usually confined to N.O. Santalaceae.

1835. W. Yate, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 41:

"Mairi—a tree of the Podocarpus species."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, pp. 132-33:

"Maire—a small tree ten to fifteen feet high, six to eight inches in diameter; wood hard, close-grained, heavy, used by Maoris in the manufacture of war implements. Has been used as a substitute for box by wood-engravers. Black maire, N.O. Jasmineae;also Maire-rau-nui, Olea Cunninghamii. Hook., fil., Black M., forty to fifty feet high, three to four feet in diameter, timber close-grained, heavy, and very durable."

<hw>Major Buller</hw>, n. name given to one of the fruits of the Geebong tribe. See Geebong.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 82:

"The Sergeant Baker in all probability got its local appellation to the early history of the colony (New South Wales), as it was called after a sergeant of that name in one of the first detachments of a regiment; so were also two fruits of the Geebong tribe (Persoonia); one was called Major Buller, and the other Major Groce, and this latter again further corrupted into Major Grocer."

<hw>Major Groce</hw>, or <hw>Major Grocer</hw>, name given to one of the fruits of the Geebung tribe. See Geebung, /or Geebong/ and quotation under Major Buller.

<hw>Major Mitchell</hw>, n. vernacular name of a species of Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri, Vig. It was called after the explorer, Major (afterwards Sir Thomas) Mitchell, who was Surveyor- General of New South Wales. The cry of the bird was fancifully supposed to resemble his name. See Leadbeater.

<hw>Make a light</hw>, expressive pigeon-English. An aboriginal's phrase for to look for, to find. "You been make a light yarraman this morning?" i.e. Have you found or seen the horses this morning?

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' vol. ii. p. 185 [Footnote]:

"`Make a light,' in blackfellow's gibberish, means simply
`See.'"

<hw>Mako</hw>, n. originally Makomako. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Aristotelia racemosa, Hook., N.O. Tiliaceae, often but incorrectly called Mokomoko.

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 130:

"Mako, a small handsome tree, six to twenty feet high, quick-growing, with large racemes of reddish nodding flowers. Wood very light and white in colour."

<hw>Mako/2/</hw>, n. Maori name for the Tiger- Shark. See Shark. The teeth of the Mako are used for ornaments by the Maoris.

<hw>Mallee</hw>, n. and adj. an aboriginal word. Any one of several scrubby species of Eucalyptus in the desert parts of South Australia and Victoria, especially Eucalyptus dumosa, Cunn., and E. oleosa, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae. They are also called Mallee Gums. Accent on the first syllable. The word is much used as an adjective to denote the district in which the shrub grows, the "Mallee District," and this in late times is generally shortened into The Mallee. Compare "The Lakes" for the Lake-district of Cumberland. It then becomes used as an epithet of Railways, Boards, Farmers, or any matters connected with that district.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 73:

"The natives of the Wimmera prepare a luscious drink from the laap, a sweet exudation from the leaf of the mallee (Eucalyptus dumosa"

1854. E. Stone Parker, `Aborigines of Australia,' p. 25:

"The immense thickets of Eucalyptus dumosa, commonly designated the `Malle' scrub."

1857. W. Howitt,' Tallangetta,' vol. ii. p. 2:

"This mallee scrub, as it is called, consists of a dense wood of a dwarf species of gum-tree, Eucalyptus dumosa. This tree, not more than a dozen feet in height, stretches its horizontal and rigid branches around it so as to form with its congeners a close, compact mass."

186. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia, vol. i. p. 214 (Oxley's Expedition in 1817):

"The country, in dead flats, was overspread with what is now called mallee scrub, that is, the dwarf spreading eucalyptus, to which Mr. Cunningham gave the specific name of dumosa, a most pestilent scrub to travel through, the openings betwixt the trees being equally infested with the detestable malle-grass."

1883. `The Mallee Pastoral Leases Act, 1883,' 47 Vict. No. 766, p. 3:

"The lands not alienated from the Crown and situated in the North-Western district of Victoria within the boundaries set forth in the First Schedule hereto, comprising in all some ten millions of acres wholly or partially covered with the mallee plant, and known as the Mallee Country, shall be divided into blocks as hereinafter provided."

1890. `The Argus,' June 13, p. 6, col. 2:

"Mallee Selections at Horsham. A special Mallee Board, consisting of Mr. Hayes, head of the Mallee branch of the Lands Department, and Mr. Porter."

1893. `The Argus,' April 24, p. 7, col. 5:

"In the Mallee country there is abundance of work, cutting down mallee, picking up dead wood, rabbit destruction, etc.

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 46:

"One of the most common terms used by explorers is `Mallee' scrub, so called from its being composed of dwarf species of Eucalyptus, called `Mallee' by the natives. The species that forms the `mallee' scrub of South Australia is the Eucalyptus dumosa, and it is probable that allied species receive the same name in other parts of the country."

1897. `The Argus,' March 2, p. 7, col. 1:

"The late Baron von Mueller was firmly convinced that it would pay well in this colony, and especially in the mallee, to manufacture potash."

<hw>Mallee-bird</hw>, n. an Australian bird, Leipoa ocellata, Gould. Aboriginal name, the Lowan (q.v.); see Turkey.

<hw>Mallee-fowl</hw>, n. Same as Mallee-bird (q.v.).

<hw>Mallee-hen</hw>, n. Same as Mallee-bird (q.v.).

1890. `Victorian Statutes-Game Act, Third Schedule':

[Close Season.] "Mallee-hen, from 1st day of August to the 20th day of December next following in each year."

1895. `The Australasian,' Oct.5, p. 652, col. 1:

". . . the economy of the lowan or mallee-hen. . . . It does not incubate its eggs after the manner of other birds, but deposits them in a large mound of sand . . . Shy and timid. Inhabits dry and scrubs. In shape and size resembles a greyish mottled domestic turkey, but is smaller, more compact and stouter in the legs."

<hw>Mallee-scrub</hw>, n. the "scrub," or thicket, formed by the Mallee (q.v.).

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 22:

"The flat and, rarely, hilly plains . . . are covered chiefly with thickets and `scrub' of social plants, generally with hard and prickly leaves. This `scrub,' which is quite a feature of the Australian interior, is chiefly formed of a bushy Eucalyptus, which grows somewhat like our osiers to a height of 8 or 10 feet, and often so densely covers the ground as to be quite impenetrable. This is the `Mallee scrub' of the explorers; while the still more dreaded `Mulga scrub' consists of species of prickly acacia, which tear the clothes and wound the flesh of the traveller."

<hw>Malurus</hw>, n. the scientific name for a genus of Australian warblers. Name reduced from Malacurus, from the Grk. malakos, soft, and 'oura, a tail. The type-species is Malurus cyaneus of Australia, the Superb Warbler or Blue-Wren. See Superb Warbler, Wren, and Emu-Wren. All the Maluri, of which there are fifteen or sixteen species, are popularly known as Superb Warblers, but are more correctly called Wrens.

1896. F. G. Aflalo, `Natural History of Australia,' p. 136:

"The Wrens and Warblers—chiefly Maluri, with the allied Amytis and Stipiturus—are purely Australian. They are feeble on the wing but swift of foot."

<hw>Mana</hw>, n. a Maori word for power, influence, right, authority, prestige. See chapter on Mana, in `Old New Zealand' (1863), by Judge Maning.

1843. E. Dieffenbach, `Travels in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 371:

"Mana—command, authority, power."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 279:

"The natives feel that with the land their `mana,' or power, has gone likewise; few therefore can now be induced to part with land."

1863. F. E. Maning (Pakeha Maori), `Old New Zealand,' Intro. p. iii:

"The Maoris of my tribe used to come and ask me which had the greatest `mana' (i.e. fortune, prestige, power, strength), the Protestant God or the Romanist one."

1873. `Appendix to Journal of House of Representatives,' G. i, B. p. 8:

"The Government should be asked to recognize his mana over that territory."

1881. J. L.Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 166:

"We should be glad to shelter ourselves under the mana— the protection—of good old Kanini."

1892. `Otago Witness,' Dec 22, p. 7, col. 1:

"A man of great lineage whose personal mana was undisputed."

1896. `New Zealand Herald,' Feb. 14 [Leading Article]:

"The word `mana,' power, or influence, may be said to be classical, as there were learned discussions about its precise meaning in the early dispatches and State papers. It may be said that misunderstanding about what mana meant caused the war at Taranaki."

<hw>Mangaroo</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a small flying phalanger with exquisitely fine fur.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 217:

"Descending from the branches of an ironbark tree beside him, a beautiful little mangaroo floated downwards on out-stretched wings to the foot of a sapling at a little distance away, and nimbly ascending it was followed by his mate."

<hw>Mangi</hw>, or <hw>Mangeao</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Litsea calicaris, Benth. and Hook. f.

1873. `Catalogue of Vienna Exhibition':

"Mangi—remarkably tough and compact, used for ship-blocks and similar purposes."

<hw>Mango</hw>, n. Maori name for the Dog-fish (q.v.), a species of shark.

<hw>Mangrove</hw>, n. The name is applied to trees belonging to different natural orders, common in all tropical regions and chiefly littoral. Species of these, Rhizophorea mucronata, Lamb, and Avicennia officinalis, Linn., are common in Australia; the latter is also found in New Zealand.

Bruguiera rheedii, of the N.O. Rhizophoreae, is called in Australia Red Mangrove, and the same vernacular name is applied to Heritiera littoralis, Dryand., N.O. Sterculiaceae, the Sundri of India and the Looking-glass Tree of English gardeners.

The name Milky Mangrove is given, in Australia, to Excaecaria agallocha, Linn., N.O. Euphorbiaceae, which further goes by the names of River Poisonous Tree and Blind-your-Eyes—names alluding to the poisonous juice of the stem.

The name River Mangrove is applied to AEgiceras majus, Gaertn., N.O. Myrsineae, which is not endemic in Australia.

In Tasmania, Native Mangrove is another name for the Boobialla (q.v.)

<hw>Mangrove-Myrtle</hw>, n. name applied by Leichhardt to the Indian tree Barringtonia acutangula, Gaertn. (Stravadium rubrum De C.), N.O. Myrtaceae.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 289:

"As its foliage and the manner of the growth resemble the mangrove, we called it the mangrove-myrtle."

<hw>Manna</hw>, n. the dried juice, of sweet taste, obtained from incisions in the bark of various trees. The Australian manna is obtained from certain Eucalypts, especially E. viminalis, Labill. It differs chemically from the better known product of the Manna-Ash (Fraxinus ornus). See Lerp.

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 99:

"Several of the species yield an exudation in the spring and summer months, which coagulates and drops from the leaves to the ground in small irregular shaped snow white particles, often as large as an almond [?]. They are sweet and very pleasant to the taste, and are greedily devoured by the birds, ants, and other animals, and used to be carefully picked up and eaten by the aborigines. This is a sort of Manna."

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `The Aborigines of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 211:

"Two varieties of a substance called manna are among the natural products . . . one kind . . . being secreted by the leaves and slender twigs of the E. viminalis from punctures or injuries done to these parts of the tree. . . . It consists principally of a kind of grape sugar and about 5 %. of the substance called mannite. Another variety of manna is the secretion of the pupa of an insect of the Psylla family and obtains the name of lerp among the aborigines. At certain seasons of the year it is very abundant on the leaves of E. dumosa, or mallee scrub . . ."

1878. W. W. Spicer, `Handbook of Plants of Tasmania, p. viii:

"The Hemipters, of which the aphids, or plant-lice, are a familiar example, are furnished with stiff beaks, with which they pierce the bark and leaves of various plants for the purpose of extracting the juices. It is to the punctures of this and some other insects of the same Order, that the sweet white manna is due, which occurs in large quantities during the summer months on many of the gum-trees."

<hw>Manna-Grass</hw>. See Grass.

<hw>Manna-Gum</hw>. See Manna and Gum.

<hw>Manoao</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Yellow-pine, Dacrydium colensoi, Hook., N.O. Coniferae.

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 192:

"The wood of the manoao is of a light-brown colour."

<hw>Manucode</hw>, n. The word is in English use for the bird-of- paradise. It is Malay (manuk-dewata = bird of the gods). The species in Australia is Manucodia gouldii, Grey. See also Rifle-bird.

<hw>Manuka</hw>, n. the Maori name for Tea-tree (q.v.). Properly, the accent is on the first syllable with broad a. Vulgarly, the accent is placed on the second syllable. There are two species in New Zealand, white and red; the first, a low bush called Scrub-Manuka, L. scoparium, R. and G. Forst., the Tea-tree used by Captain Cook's sailors; the second, a tree Leptospermum ericoides, A. Richard.

1840. J. S. Polack, `Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders,' p. 258:

"This wood, called by the southern tribes manuka, is remarkably hard and durable, and throughout the country is an especial favourite with the natives, who make their spears, paddles, fishing rods, etc., of this useful timber."

1842. W. R. Wade, `Journey in Northern Island of New Zealand,' p. 75:

"The Manuka, or, as it is called in the northern part of the island, Kahikatoa (leptospermum scoparium), is a mysterious plant, known in Van Diemen's Land as the tea tree."

1843. E. Dieffenbach, `Travels in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 28:

"The manuka supplies the place of the tea-shrub."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 270:

"[The house] was protected from the weather by a wooden railing filled in with branches of the manuka. This is a shrub very abundant in some parts. The plant resembles the teaplant in leaves and flower, and is often used green by the whalers and traders for the same purpose."

1851. Mrs.Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 46:

"It is generally made of manuka a very hard, dark, close-grained and heavy wood."

1867. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 121:

"The manuka, a sort of scrub, has a pretty blossom like a diminutive Michaelmas daisy, white petals and a brown centre, with a very aromatic odour; and this little flower is succeeded by a berry with the same strong smell and taste of spice. The shepherds sometimes make an infusion of these when they are very hard up for tea; but it must be like drinking a decoction of cloves."

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking about in New Zealand,' p. 70:

"Chiefly covered with fern and tea-tree (manuka) scrub."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 149:

"Then to a copse of manuka retreat,
Where they could safely, secretly commune."

[Domett has the following note—"`A large shrub or small tree; leaves used as tea in Tasmania and Australia, where the plant is equally abundant' (Hooker). In the poem it is called indiscriminately manuka, broom, broom-like myrtle, or leptosperm. The settlers often call it `tea-broom.'"]

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 23:

"A tremendous fire of broadleaf and manuka roared in the chimney."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 123:

"Manuka is a shrub which is rampant throughout New Zealand.
If it were less common it would be thought more beautiful.
In summer it is covered with white blossom: and there are
few more charming sights than a plain of flourishing manuka."

<hw>Maomao</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand sea-fish, Ditrema violacea.

1886. R. A. Sherrin, `Fishes of New Zealand,' p. 67:

"The delicious little maomao may be caught at the Riverina
Rocks in immense quantities."

<hw>Maori</hw>, n. (pronounced so as to rhyme with Dowry). (1) The name used to designate themselves by the Polynesian race occupying New Zealand when it was discovered by the white man, and which still survives. They are not aboriginal as is commonly supposed, but migrated into New Zealand about 500 years ago from Hawaii, the tradition still surviving of the two great canoes (Arawa and Tainui) in which the pioneers arrived. They are commonly spoken of as the Natives of New Zealand.

(2) The language of the Maori race.

(3) adj. applied to anything pertaining to the Maoris or their language. See Pakeha.

There is a discussion on the word in the `Journal of Polynesian Society,' vol. i. no. 3, vol. ii. no. 1, and vol. iii. no. i. Bishop Williams (4th ed.) says that the word means, "of the normal or usual kind." The Pakehas were not men to whom the natives were accustomed. So Maori was used as opposed to the Europeans, the white-skins. Kuri Maori was a name used for a dog after the arrival of other quadrupeds called also kuri. Wai maori was freshwater, ordinary as opposed to sea-water. Another explanation is that the word meant "indigenous," and that there are kindred words with that meaning in other Polynesian languages. First, "indigenous," or "of the native race," and then with a secondary meaning, "ours." (See Tregear's Maori Comparative Dictionary,' s.v.)

The form of the plural varies. The form Maoris is considered the more correct, but the form Maories is frequently used by good writers.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 194:

"The Maori language is essentially a poor one, and possesses in particular but few words which express abstract ideas."

1859. A. S. Thomson, `Story of New Zealand,' vol. i. c. iii. p. 51:

"No light is thrown on the origin of the New Zealanders from the name Maori which they call themselves. This word, rendered by linguists `native,' is used in contradistinction to pakeha, or stranger."

1864. Crosbie Ward, `Canterbury Rhymes,' `The Runaways' (2nd edition), p. 79:

"One morn they fought, the fight was hot,
Although the day was show'ry;
And many a gallant soldier then
Was bid Memento Maori."

1891. Jessie Mackay, `The Sitter on the Rail, and other Poems,' p. 61:

"Like the night, the fated Maori
Fights the coming day;
Fights and falls as doth the kauri
Hewn by axe away."

(4) Name given in New South Wales to the fish, Cosis lineolatus, one of the Labridae, or Wrasses.

<hw>Maori-Cabbage</hw>, n. the wild cabbage of New Zealand, Brassica spp., N.O. Cruciferae, said to be descended from the cabbages planted by Captain Cook.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 206.:

"Every recollection of Cook is interesting. . . . But the chief record of his having been on the island is the cabbage and turnip which he sowed in various places: these have spread and become quite naturalized, growing everywhere in the greatest abundance, and affording an inexhaustible supply of excellent vegetables."

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,' p. 131:

"The only plant good to eat is Maori cabbage, and that is swede turnip gone wild, from seed left by Captain Cook."

1880. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xiii. art. i. p. 31 [`On the Vegetable Food of the Ancient New Zealanders']:

"The leaves of several smaller plants were also used as vegetables; but the use of these in modern times, or during the last forty or fifty years, was commonly superseded by that of the extremely useful and favourite plant—the Maori cabbage, Brassica oleracea, introduced by Cook (nani of the Maoris at the north, and rearea at the south), of which they carefully sowed the seeds."

<hw>Maori-chief</hw>, n. name given to a New Zealand Flathead-fish, Notothenia maoriensis, or coriiceps. The name arises from marks on the fish like tattooing. It is a very dark, almost black fish.

1877. P. Thomson, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. x. art. xliv. p. 330:

"Some odd fishes now and then turn up in the market, such as the Maori-chief, cat-fish, etc."

1878. Ibid. vol. xi. art. lii. p. 381:

"That very dark-skinned fish, the Maori-chief, Notothenia Maoriensis of Dr. Haast, is not uncommon, but is rarely seen more than one at a time."

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 5:

"Resemblances are strange things. At first it would seem improbable that a fish could be like a man, but in Dunedin a fish was shown to me called Maori Chief, and with the exercise of a little imagination it was not difficult to perceive the likeness. Nay, some years ago, at a fishmonger's in Melbourne, a fish used to be labelled with the name of a prominent Victorian politician now no more. There is reason, however, to believe that art was called in to complete the likeness."

<hw>Maori-head</hw>, n. a swamp tussock, so called from a fancied resemblance to the head of a Maori. (Compare Black-boy.) It is not a grass, but a sedge (carex).

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 169:

"A boggy creek that oozed sluggishly through rich black soil, amongst tall raupo, maori-heads, and huge flax-bushes."

1892. W. McHutcheson, `Camp Life in Fiordland,' p. 34:

"Amid the ooze and slime rose a rank growth of `Maori heads.'"

<hw>Maori-hen</hw>, n. Same as Weka (q.v.).

<hw>Maoriland</hw>, n. a modern name for New Zealand. It is hardly earlier than 1884. If the word, or anything like it, such as Maoria, was used earlier, it meant "the Maori parts of New Zealand." It is now used for the whole.

1873. J. H. St. John [Title]:

"Pakeha Rambles through Maori Lands."

1874. J. C. Johnstone [Title]:

"Maoria: a sketch of the Manners and Customs of the
Aboriginal Inhabitants of New Zealand."

1884. Kerry Nicholls [Title]:

"The King Country, or Explorations in New Zealand.
A Narrative of 600 Miles of Travel through Maoriland."

1884. [Title]:

"Maoriland: an Illustrated Handbook to New Zealand."

1886. Annie R. Butler [Title]

"Glimpses of Maori Land."

1890. T. Bracken [Title]:

"Musings in Maori Land."

1896. `The Argus,' July 22, p. 4, col. 8:

"Always something new from Maoriland! Our New Zealand friends are kindly obliging us with vivid illustrations of how far demagogues in office will actually go."

<hw>Maorilander</hw>, n. modern name for a white man born in New Zealand.

1896. `Melbourne Punch,' April 9, p. 233, col. 2:

"Norman is a pushing young Maorilander who apparently has the
Britisher by the right ear."

<hw>Maori, White</hw>, New Zealand miners' name for a stone. See quotation.

1883. `A Citizen,' `Illustrated Guide to Dunedin,' p. 169:

"Tungstate of lime occurs plentifully in the Wakatipu district, where from its weight and colour it is called White Maori by the miners."

<hw>Mapau</hw>, n. a Maori name for several New Zealand trees; called also Mapou, and frequently corrupted by settlers into Maple, by the law of Hobson-Jobson. The name is applied to the following—

The Mapau— Myrsine urvillei, De C., N.O. Myrsineae; sometimes called Red Mapau.

Black M.— Pittosporum tenuifolium, Banks and Sol., N.O. Pittosporeae; Maori name, Tawhiri.

White M.— Carpodetus serratus, Forst., N.O. Saxifrageae; Pittosporum eugenoides, A. Cunn.; Maori name, Tarata (q.v.); called also the Hedge-laurel (q.v.), Lemon-wood, and New Zealand Oak. See Oak.

The first of these trees (Myrsine urvillei) is, according to Colenso, the only tree to which the Maoris themselves give the name Mapau. The others are only so called by the settlers.

1868. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. i., `Essay on Botany of Otago,' p. 37:

"White Mapau, or Piripiri-whata (Carpodetus serratus), an ornamental shrub-tree, with mottled-green leaves, and large cymose panicles of white flowers. . . . Red Mapau (Myrsine Urvillei), a small tree common at Dunedin. Wood dark red, very astringent, used as fence stuff."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 132:

"Tawiri, white-mapou, white-birch (of Auckland). A small tree, ten to thirty feet high; trunk unusually slender; branches spreading in a fan-shaped manner, which makes it of very ornamental appearance; flower white, profusely produced. The wood is soft and tough."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 75:

"By the settlers it is frequently called `black mapou' on account of the colour of the bark. . . . With still less excuse it is sometimes called `black maple,' an obvious corruption of the preceding."

<hw>Maple</hw>, n. In New Zealand, a common settlers' corruption for any tree called Mapau (q.v.); in Australia, applied to Villaresia moorei, F. v. M., N.O. Olacineae, called also the Scrub Silky Oak. See Oak.

<hw>Maray</hw>, n. New South Wales name for the fish Clupea sagax, Jenyns, family Clupeidae or Herrings, almost identical with the English pilchard. The word Maray is thought to be an aboriginal name. Bloaters are made of this fish at Picton in New Zealand, according to the Report of the Royal Commission on Fisheries of New South Wales, 1880. But Agonostoma forsteri, a Sea-Mullet, is also when dried called the Picton Herring (q.v). See Herring and Aua.

<hw>Marble-fish</hw>, n. name given to the Tupong (q.v.) in Geelong.

<hw>Marble-wood</hw>, n. name applied to a whitish-coloured mottled timber, Olea paniculata, R. Br., N.O. Jasmineae; called also Native Olive and Ironwood.

<hw>Mark, a good</hw>, Australian slang.

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 233:

"I wondered often what was the meaning of this, amongst many other peculiar colonial phrases, `Is the man a good mark?' I heard it casually from the lips of apparently respectable settlers, as they rode on the highway, `Such and such a one is a good mark,"—simply a person who pays his men their wages, without delays or drawbacks; a man to whom you may sell anything safely; for there are in the colony people who are regularly summoned before the magistrates by every servant they employ for wages. They seem to like to do everything publicly, legally, and so become notoriously not `good marks.'"

[So also "bad mark," in the opposite sense.]

<hw>Mariner</hw>, n. name given in Tasmania to a marine univalve mollusc, either Elenchus badius, or E. bellulus, Wood.

The Mariner is called by the Tasmanian Fishery Commissioners the "Pearly Necklace Shell"; when deprived of its epidermis by acid or other means, it has a blue or green pearly lustre.

The shells are made into necklaces, of which the aboriginal name is given as Merrina, and the name of the shell is a corruption of this word, by the law of Hobson-Jobson. Compare Warrener.

1878. `Catalogue of the Objects of Ethnotypical Art in the National Gallery' (Melbourne), p. 52:

"Necklace, consisting of 565 shells (Elenchus Bellulus) strung on thin, well-made twine. The native name of a cluster of these shells was, according to one writer, Merrina."

<hw>Marsh</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for a meadow. See quotation.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 163:

"Perhaps my use of the common colonial term `marsh' may be misunderstood at home, as I remember that I myself associated it at first with the idea of a swamp; but a `marsh' here is what would in England be called a meadow, with this difference, that in our marshes, until partially drained, a growth of tea-trees (Leptospermum) and rushes in some measure encumbers them; but, after a short time, these die off, and are trampled down, and a thick sward of verdant grass covers the whole extent: such is our `marsh.'"

<hw>Marsupial</hw>, adj. See the Noun.

<hw>Marsupial</hw>, n. an animal in which the female has an abdominal pouch in which the young, born in a very immature state, are carried. (Lat. Marsupium = a pouch.) At the present day Marsupials are only found in America and the Australian region, the greater number being confined to the latter. See quotation 1894, Lydekker.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 129:

"The marsupial type exhibits the economy of nature under novel and very interesting arrangements. . . . Australia is the great head-quarters of the marsupial tribe."

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 5:

"I believe it was Charles Lamb who said, the peculiarity of the small fore-feet of the Kangaroo seemed to be for picking pockets; but he forgot to mention the singularity characterizing the animal kingdom of Australia, that they have pockets to be picked, being mostly marsupial. We have often amused ourselves by throwing sugar or bread into the pouch of the Kangaroo, and seen with what delight the animal has picked its own pocket, and devoured the contents, searching its bag, like a Highlander his sporran, for more."

[See Kangaroo, quotation 1833.]

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 106:

"An Act known as the Marsupial Act was accordingly passed to encourage their destruction, a reward of so much a scalp being offered by the Government. . . . Some of the squatters have gone to a vast expense in fencing-in their runs with marsupial fencing, but it never pays."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 29:

"One of the sheep-owners told me that in the course of eighteen months he had killed 64,000 of these animals (marsupials), especially wallabies (Macropus dorsalis) and kangaroo- rats (Lagorchestes conspicillatus), and also many thousands of the larger kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 5, p. 9, col. 1:

"In South Australia the Legislature has had to appoint a close season for kangaroos, else would extinction of the larger marsupials be at hand. We should have been forced to such action also, if the American market for kangaroo-hides had continued as brisk as formerly."

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 1:

"The great island-continent of Australia, together with the South-eastern Austro-Malayan islands, is especially characterized by being the home of the great majority of that group of lowly mammals commonly designated marsupials, or pouched-mammals. Indeed, with the exception of the still more remarkable monotremes [q.v.], or egg-laying mammals, nearly the whole of the mammalian fauna of Australia consists of these marsupials, the only other indigenous mammals being certain rodents and bats, together with the native dog, or dingo, which may or may not have been introduced by man."

1896. F. G. Aflalo, `Natural History of Australia,' p. 30:

"The presence of a predominating marsupial order in Australia has, besides practically establishing the long isolation of that continent from the rest of the globe, also given rise to a number of ingenious theories professing to account for its survival to this last stronghold."

<hw>Marsupial Mole</hw>, n. the only species of the genus Notoryctes (q.v.), N. typhlops [from the Greek notos, `south' (literally `south wind'), and rhunchos, a `snout']; first described by Dr. Stirling of Adelaide (in the `Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,' 1891, p. 154). Aboriginal name, Urquamata. It burrows with such extraordinary rapidity in the desert-sands of Central Australia, to which it is confined, that, according to Mr. Lydekker, it may be said to swim in the sand as a porpoise does in the water.

<hw>Marsupial Wolf</hw>, n. See Thylacine and Tasmanian Tiger.

<hw>Martin, <i</hw>>n. a bird common in England. The species in Australia are—

Tree,
Petrochelidon nigricans, Vieill.;

Fairy, Lagenoplastes ariel, Gould; called also Bottle-Swallow (q.v.).

1896. F. G. Aflalo, `Natural History of Australia,' p. 128:

". . . the elegant little Fairy Martins (Lagenoplastes ariel), which construct a remarkable mud nest in shape not unlike a retort."

<hw>Mary</hw>, n. used in Queensland of the aborigines, as equivalent to girl or woman. "A black Mary." Compare "Benjamin," used for husband.

<hw>Matagory</hw>, n. a prickly shrub of New Zealand, Discaria toumatou, Raoul.; also called Wild Irishman (q.v.). The Maori name is Tumatahuru, of which Matagory, with various spellings, is a corruption, much used by rabbiters and swagmen. The termination gory evidently arises by the law of Hobson-Jobson from the fact that the spikes draw blood.

1859. J. T. Thomson, in `Otago Gazette,' Sept. 22, p. 264:

"Much over-run with the scrub called `tomata-guru.'"

Alex. Garvie, ibid. p. 280:

"Much of it is encumbered with matakura scrub."

1892. W. McHutcheson, `Camp Life in Fiordland,' p. 8:

"Trudging moodily along in Indian file through the matagouri scrub and tussock."

1896. `Otago Witness,' 7th May, p. 48:

"The tea generally tastes of birch or Matagouri."

<hw>Matai</hw>, often abridged to Mai, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Podocarpus spicata, R. Br., N.O. Coniferae. Black-pine of Otago.

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 124:

"Mr. Buchanan has described a log of matai that he found had been exposed for at least 200 years in a dense damp bush in North-East Valley, Dunedin, as proved by its being enfolded by the roots of three large trees of Griselinia littoralis."

<hw>Match-box Bean</hw>, n. another name for the ripe hard seed of the Queensland Bean, Entada scandens, Benth., N.O. Leguminosae. A tall climbing plant. The seeds are used for match-boxes. See under Bean.

<hw>Matipo</hw>, n. another Maori name for the New Zealand trees called Mapau (q.v.).

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand' (ed. 1886), p. 94:

"The varieties of matapo, a beautiful shrub, each leaf a study, with its delicate tracery of black veins on a yellow-green ground."

1879. J. B. Armstrong, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxi. art. xlix. p. 329:

"The tipau, or matipo (pittosporum tenuifolium), makes the best ornamental hedge I know of."

1879. `Tourist,' `New Zealand Country Journal,' vol. iii. p. 93:

"An undergrowth of beautiful shrubs, conspicuous amongst these were the Pittosporum or Matipo, which are, however, local in their distribution, unlike the veronicas, which abound everywhere."

<hw>Meadow Rice-grass</hw>, n. See Grass.

<hw>Mealy-back</hw>, n. a local name for the Locust (q.v.).

<hw>Medicine-tree</hw>, i.q. Horse-radish Tree (q.v.).

<hw>Megapode</hw>, n. scientific name for a genus of Australian birds with large feet—the Mound-birds (q.v.). From Greek megas, large, and pous, podos, a foot. They are also called Scrub fowls.

<hw>Melitose</hw>, n. the name given by Berthelot to the sugar obtained from the manna of Eucalyptus mannifera. Chemically identical with the raffinose extracted from molasses and the gossypose extracted from cotton-seeds.

1894. `The Australasian,' April 28, p. 732, col. 1:

[Statement as to origin of melitose by the Baron von Mueller.] "Sir Frederick M'Coy has traced the production of mellitose also to a smaller cicade."

<hw>Melon</hw>, n. Besides its botanical use, the word is applied in Australia to a small kangaroo, the Paddy-melon (q.v.).

<hw>Melon-hole</hw>, n. a kind of honey-combing of the surface in the interior plains, dangerous to horsemen, ascribed to the work of the Paddy-melon. See preceding word, and compare the English Rabbit-hole. The name is often given to any similar series of holes, such as are sometimes produced by the growing of certain plants.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 9:

"The soil of the Bricklow scrub is a stiff clay, washed out by the rains into shallow holes, well known by the squatters under the name of melon-holes."

Ibid. p: 77:

"A stiff, wiry, leafless, polyganaceous plant grows in the shallow depressions of the surface of the ground, which are significantly termed by the squatters `Melon-holes,' and abound in the open Box-tree flats."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' p. 220:

"The plain is full of deep melon-holes, and the ground is rotten and undermined with rats."

<hw>Menindie Clover</hw>, n. See Clover.

<hw>Menura</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus of the Lyre-bird (q.v.), so called from the crescent-shaped form of the spots on the tail; the tail itself is shaped like a lyre. (Grk. maen, moon, crescent, and 'oura, tail.) The name was given by General Davies in 1800.

1800. T. Davies, `Description of Menura superba,' in `Transactions of the Linnaean Society' (1802), vol. vi. p. 208:

"The general colour of the under sides of these two [tail] feathers is of a pearly hue, elegantly marked on the inner web with bright rufous-coloured crescent-shaped spots, which, from the extraordinary construction of the parts, appear wonderfully transparent."

<hw>Mere</hw>, or <hw>Meri</hw>, n. (pronounced merry), a Maori war-club; a casse-te^te, or a war-axe, from a foot to eighteen inches in length, and made of any suitable hard material—stone, hard wood, whalebone. To many people out of New Zealand the word is only known as the name of a little trinket of greenstone (q.v.) made in imitation of the New Zealand weapon in miniature, mounted in gold or silver, and used as a brooch, locket, ear-ring, or other article of jewelry.

1830. J. D. Lang, `Poems' (edition 1873), p. 116:

"Beneath his shaggy flaxen mat
The dreadful marree hangs concealed."

1851. Mrs. Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 48:

"The old man has broken my head with his meri."

1859. A. S. Thomson, `Story of New Zealand,' p. 140:

"Of these the greenstone meri was the most esteemed. It weighs six pounds, is thirteen inches long, and in shape resembles a soda-water bottle flattened. In its handle is a hole for a loop of flax, which is twisted round the wrist. Meris are carried occasionally in the girdle, like Malay knives. In conflicts the left hand grasped the enemy's hair, and one blow from the meri on the head produced death."

188]. J. Bonwick, `Romance of Wool Trade,' p. 229:

"A land of musket and meri-armed warriors, unprovided with a meat supply, even of kangaroo."

1889. Jessie Mackay, `The Spirit of the Rangatira,' p. 16:

"He brandished his greenstone mere high,
And shouted a Maori battle-cry."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. iii. p. 33:

"`No, no, my peg; I thrust it in with this meri,' yells Maori Jack, brandishing his war-club."

<hw>Merinoes, Pure</hw>, n. a term often used, especially in New South Wales, for the `very first families,' as the pure merino is the most valuable sheep.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 116:

"Next we have the legitimates . . . such as have legal reasons for visiting this colony; and the illegitimates, or such as are free from that stigma. The pure merinos are a variety of the latter species, who pride themselves on being of the purest blood in the colony."

<hw>Mersey Jolly-tail</hw>, n. See Jolly-tail.

<hw>Message-stick</hw>, n. The aboriginals sometimes carve little blocks of wood with various marks to convey messages. These are called by the whites, message-sticks.

<hw>Messmate</hw>, n. name given to one of the Gum-trees, Eucalyptus amygdalina, Labill., and often to other species of Eucalypts, especially E. obliqua, L'Herit. For origin of this curious name, see quotation, 1889.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 429:

"It is also known by the name of `Messmate,' because it is allied to, or associated with, Stringy-bark. This is probably the tallest tree on the globe, individuals having been measured up to 400 ft., 410 ft., and in one case 420 ft., with the length of the stem up to the first branch 295 ft. The height of a tree at Mt. Baw Baw (Victoria) is quoted at 471 ft."

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 13, col1. 4:

"Away to the north-east a wooded range of mountains rolls along the skyline, ragged rents showing here and there where the dead messmates and white gums rise like gaunt skeletons from the dusky brown-green mass into which distance tones the bracken and the underwood."

<hw>Mia-mia</hw>, n. an aboriginal hut. The word is aboriginal, and has been spelt variously. Mia-mia is the most approved spelling, mi-mi the most approved pronunciation. See Humpy.

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 103:

"There she stood in a perfect state of nudity, a little way from the road, by her miam, smiling, or rather grimacing."

1852. Letter from Mrs. Perry, given in Canon Goodman's Church in Victoria during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 167:

"We came upon the largest (deserted) native encampment we had ever seen. One of the mia-mias (you know what that is by this time—the a is not sounded) was as large as an ordinary sized circular summer-house, and actually had rude seats all round, which is quite unusual. It had no roof, they never have, being mere break-weathers, not so high as a man's shoulder."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 366:

"They constructed a mimi, or bower of boughs on the other, leaving portholes amongst the boughs towards the road."

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. vii. p. 96:

"Their thoughts wandered to their hunting-grounds and mia-mias on the Murray."

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 15:

[Notice varied spelling in the same author.] "Many of the diggers resided under branches of trees made into small `miams' or `wigwams.'"

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking About in New Zealand,' p. 42:

"The next day I began building a little `mi-mi,' to serve as a resting-place for the night in going back at any time for supplies."

1883. E. M. Curr, `Recollections of Squatting in Victoria' (1841-1851), p. 148:

"Of the mia-mias, some were standing; others had, wholly or in part, been thrown down by their late occupants."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 32:

"A few branches thrown up against the prevailing wind, in rude imitation of the native mia-mia."

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' p. 111:

"[The blacks] would compel [the missionaries] to carry their burdens while travelling, or build their mia-mias when halting to camp for the night; in fact, all sorts of menial offices had to be discharged by the missionaries for these noble black men while away on the wilds!"

[Footnote]: "Small huts, made of bark and leafy boughs, built so as to protect them against the side from which the wind blew."

<hw>Micky</hw>, n. young wild bull. "Said to have originated in Gippsland, Victoria. Probably from the association of bulls with Mickeys, or Irishmen." (Barere and Leland.)

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xviii. p. 217:

"The wary and still more dangerously sudden `Micky,' a two-year-old bull."

<hw>Micky/2/</hw>, n. In New Zealand, a corruption of Mingi (q.v.).

<hw>Midwinter</hw>, n. The seasons being reversed in Australia, Christmas occurs in the middle of summer. The English word Midsummer has thus dropped out of use, and "Christmas," or Christmas-time, is its Australian substitute, whilst Midwinter is the word used to denote the Australian winter-time of late June and early July. See Christmas.

<hw>Mignonette, Native</hw>, n. a Tasmanian flower, Stackhousia linariaefolia, Cunn., N.O. Stackhouseae.

<hw>Mihanere</hw>, n. a convert to Christianity; a Maori variant of the English word Missionary.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii. pp. 11, 12:

"The mihanere natives, as a body, were distinctly inferior in point of moral character to the natives, who remained with their ancient customs unchanged. . . . A very common answer from a converted native, accused of theft, was, `How can that be? I am a mihanere.' . . . They were all mihanere, or converts."

<hw>Milk-bush</hw>, n. a tall Queensland shrub, Wrightia saligna, F. v. M., N.O. Apocyneae; it is said to be most valuable as a fodder-bush.

<hw>Milk-fish</hw>, n. The name, in Australia, is given to a marine animal belonging to the class Holothurioidea. The Holothurians are called Sea-cucumbers, or Sea-slugs. The Trepang, or be^che-de-mer, eaten by the Chinese, belongs to them. Called also Tit-fish (q.v.).

1880. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales,' vol. v. pt. ii. p. 128:

"Another species [of Trepang] is the `milk fish' or `cotton fish,' so called from its power of emitting a white viscid fluid from its skin, which clings to an object like shreds of cotton."

<hw>Milk-plant</hw>, n. i.q. Caustic Creeper (q.v.).

<hw>Milk-tree</hw>, n. a New Zealand tree, Epicarpurus microphyllus, Raoul.

1873. `Catalogue of Vienna Exhibition':

"Milk-tree . . . a tall slender tree exuding a milky sap: wood white and very brittle."

<hw>Milk-wood</hw>, n. a Northern Territory name for Melaleuca leucadendron, Linn.; called also Paperbark-tree (q.v.).

<hw>Miller</hw>, n. a local name for the Cicada. See Locust (quotation, 1896).

<hw>Millet</hw>, n. The name is given to several Australian grasses. The Koda Millet of India, Paspalum scrobiculatum, Linn., is called in Australia Ditch Millet; Seaside Millet is the name given to Paspalum distichum, Linn., both of the N.O. Gramineae. But the principal species is called Australian Millet, Native Millet, and Umbrella Grass; it is Panicum decompositum, R. Br., N.O. Gramineae; it is not endemic in Australia.

1896. `The Australasian,' March 14, p. 488, col. 5:

"One of the very best of the grasses found in the hot regions of Central Australia is the Australian millet, Panicum decompositum. It is extremely hardy and stands the hot dry summers of the north very well; it is nutritious, and cattle and sheep are fond of it. It seeds freely, was used by the aborigines for making a sort of cake, and was the only grain stored by them. This grass thrives in poor soil, and starts into rapid growth with the first autumn rains."

<hw>Mimosa</hw>, n. a scientific name applied to upwards of two hundred trees of various genera in the Old World. The genus Mimosa, under which the Australian trees called Wattles were originally classed, formerly included the Acacias. These now constitute a separate genus. Acacia is the scientific name for the Wattle; though even now an old colonist will call the Wattles "Mimosa."

1793. J. E. Smith, `Specimen of Botany of New Holland,' p. 52:

"This shrub is now not uncommon in our greenhouses, having been raised in plenty from seeds brought from Port Jackson. It generally bears its fragrant flowers late in the autumn, and might then at first sight be sooner taken for a Myrtus than a Mimosa."

1802. Jas. Flemming, `Journal of Explorations of Charles Grimes,' in `Historical Records of Port Phillip' (ed. 1879, J. J. Shillinglaw), p. 25:

"Timber; gum, Banksia, oak, and mimosa of sorts, but not large except the gum."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 202:

"Gum-arabic, which exudes from the mimosa shrubs."

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 18, p. 4, col. 2:

"`Cashmere' shawls do not grow on the mimosa trees."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 38:

"The mimosa is a very graceful tree; the foliage is of a light green colour. . . . The yellow flowers with which the mimosa is decked throw out a perfume sweeter than the laburnum; and the gum . . . is said not to be dissimilar to gum-arabic."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 175:

"But, Yarra, thou art lovelier now,
With clouds of bloom on every bough;
A gladsome sight it is to see,
In blossom thy mimosa tree.
Like golden-moonlight doth it seem,
The moonlight of a heavenly dream;
A sunset lustre, chaste and cold,
A pearly splendour blent with gold."

"To the River Yarra."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 255:

"The other exports of Australia Felix consist chiefly of tallow, cured beef and mutton, wheat, mimosa-bark, and gumwood."

1849. J. P. Townsend, `Rambles in New South Wales,' p. 34:

"The mimosa—although it sadly chokes the country—when in flower, fills the air with fragrance. Its bark is much used for tanning purposes; and the gum that exudes from the stem is of some value as an export, and is used by the blacks as food."

1870. F. S. Wilson, `Australian Songs,' p. 29:

"I have sat, and watched the landscape, latticed by the golden
curls,
Showering, like mimosa-blooms, in scented streams about my
breast."

<hw>Minah</hw>, n. (also <hw>Myna</hw>, <hw>Mina</hw>, and <hw>Minah-bird</hw>, and the characteristic Australian change of <hw>Miner</hw>). From Hindustani maina, a starling. The word is originally applied in India to various birds of the Starling kind, especially to Graculus religiosa, a talking starling or grackle. One of these Indian grackles, Acridotheres tristis, was acclimatised in Melbourne, and is now common to the house-tops of most Australian towns. He is not Australian, but is the bird generally referred to as the Minah, or Minah- bird. There are Minahs native to Australia, of which the species are—

Bell-Mina—
Manorhina melanophrys, Lath.

Bush-M.—
Myzantha garrula, Lath.

Dusky-M.—
M. obscura, Gould.

Yellow-M.—
M. lutea, Gould.

Yellow-throated M.—
M. flavigula, Gould.

1803. Lord Valentia, `Voyages,' vol. i. p. 227 [Stanford]:

"During the whole of our stay two minahs were talking most incessantly."

1813. J. Forbes, `Oriental Memoirs,' vol. i. p. 47 [Yule]:

"The mynah is a very entertaining bird, hopping about the house, and articulating several words in the manner of the starling."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 40:

"While at other times, like the miners (genus, Myzantha), it soars from tree to tree with the most graceful and easy movement."

Ibid. vol. iv. pl. 76:

"Myzantha garrula, Vig. and Horsf, Garrulous Honey-eater; miner, Colonists of Van Diemen's Land, M. flavigula, Gould, Yellow-Throated miner."

1861. Mrs. Meredith, `Over the Straits,' vol. i. p. 33:

"His common name . . . is said to be given from his resemblance to some Indian bird called mina or miner."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 72:

"The Indian minah is as much at home, and almost as presumptuous, as the sparrow."

(p. 146): "Yellow-legged minahs, tamest of all Australian birds."

1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 265:

"The plaintive chirp of the mina."

<hw>Miner's</hw> Right, n. the licence to dig for gold. See quotation.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Miner's Right,' p. 1:

"A miner's right, a wonderful document, printed and written on parchment, precisely as follows."

[A reduced facsimile is given.]

Ibid. p. 106:

"You produce your Miner's Right . . . The important piece of parchment, about the size of a bank-cheque, was handed to the Court."

<hw>Mingi</hw>, n. originally mingi mingi, Maori name for a New Zealand shrub or small tree, Cyathodes acerosa, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae. In south New Zealand it is often called Micky.

<hw>Minnow</hw>, n. name sometimes given to a very small fish of New Zealand, Galaxias attenuatus, Jenyns, family Galaxidae; called also Whitebait (q.v.). The Maori name is Inanga (q.v.).

<hw>Mint, Australian</hw> or <hw>Native</hw>, n. a plant, Mentha australis, R. Br., N.O. Labiatea. This herb was largely used by the early colonists of South Australia for tea. Many of the plants of the genus Mentha in Australia yield oil of good flavour, among them the common Pennyroyal.

<hw>Mint-tree</hw>, n. In Australia, the tree is Prostanthera lasiantha, Labill., N.O. Labiateae.

<hw>Mirnyong</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a shell-mound, generally supposed to be Victorian, but, by some, Tasmanian.

1888. R. M. Johnston, `Geology of Tasmania,' p. 337:

"With the exception of their rude inconspicuous flints, and the accumulated remains of their feasts in the `mirnyongs,' or native shell-mounds, along our coasts, which only have significance to the careful observer, we have no other visible evidence of their former existence."

1893. R. Etheridge, jun., `Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,' p. 21 [Title of Paper]:

"The Mirrn-yong heaps at the North-West bank of the River
Murray."

<hw>Miro</hw>, n. (1) Maori name for a Robin (q.v.), and adopted as the scientific name of a genus of New Zealand Robins. The word is shortened form of Miro-miro.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 403:

"Miro-miro (Miro albifrons). A little black-and-white bird with a large head; it is very tame, and has a short melancholy song. The miro toi-toi (muscicapa toi-toi) is a bird not larger than the tom-tit. Its plumage is black and white, having a white breast and some of the near feathers of each wing tinged with white."

1879. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xii. art. vii. p. 119:

"Proverb 28: Ma to kanohi miro-miro, [signifying] `To be found by the sharp-eyed little bird.' Lit. `For the miro-miro's eye.' Used as a stimulus to a person searching for anything lost. The miro-miro is the little petroica toi-toi, which runs up and down trees peering for minute insects in the bark."

1882. W. L. Buller, `Manual of the Birds of New Zealand,' p. 23:

"The Petroeca Iongipes is confined to the North Island, where it is very common in all the wooded parts of the country; but it is represented in the South Island by a closely allied and equally common species, the miro albifrons."

(2) Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Podocarpus ferruginea, Don., N.O. Coniferae; the Black-pine of Otago.

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 308:

"The miro-tree (Podocarpus ferruginea) is found in slightly elevated situations in many of the forests in New Zealand. Height about sixty feet. The wood varies from light to dark-brown in colour, is close in grain, moderately hard and heavy, planes up well, and takes a good polish."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 163:

"The Miro is a valuable tree, common in all parts of the colony. . . . It is usually distinguished by its ordinary native name."

<hw>Mistletoe</hw>, n. The name is given to various species of trees of several genera—

(1) In Australia, generally, to various species of Loranthus, N.O. Loranthaceae. There are a great number, they are very common on the Eucalypts, and they have the same viscous qualities as the European Mistletoes.

(2) In Western Australia, to Nuytsia floribunda, R. Br., N.O. Loranthaceae, a terrestrial species attaining the dimensions of a tree—the Flame-tree (q.v.) of Western Australia—and also curiously called there a Cabbage- tree.

(3) In Tasmania, to Cassytha pubescens, R. Br., N.O. Lauraceae.

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings, p. 43:

"The English mistletoe is the well-known Viscum album, whereas all the Victorian kinds belong to the genus Loranthus, of which the Mediterranean L. Europaeus is the prototype. The generic name arose in allusion to the strap-like narrowness of the petals."

[Greek lowron, from Lat. lorum, a thong, and 'anthos, a flower.]

<hw>Mitchell-Grass</hw>, n. an Australian grass, Astrebla elymoides, A. triticoides, F. v. M., N.O. Gramineae. Two other species of Astrebla are also called "Mitchell-grasses." See Grass.

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 660:

"Used for food by the natives. The most valuable fodder-grass of the colony. True Mitchell-grass."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 78:

"Mitchell-grass. The flowering spikes resemble ears of wheat.
. . . It is by no means plentiful."

<hw>Moa</hw>, n. The word is Maori, and is used by that race as the name of the gigantic struthious bird of New Zealand, scientifically called Dinornis (q.v.). It has passed into popular Australasian and English use for all species of that bird. A full history of the discovery of the Moa, of its nature and habits, and of the progress of the classification of the species by Professor Owen, from the sole evidence of the fossil remains of its bones, is given in the Introduction to W. L. Buller's `Birds of New Zealand,' Vol. i. (pp. xviii-xxxv).

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of New Zealand Language' (Church Missionary Society), p. 181:

"Moe [sic], a bird so called."

1839. `Proceedings of Zoological Society,' Nov. 12:

[Description by Owen of Dinornis without the name of Moa. It contained the words—

"So far as my skill in interpreting an osseous fragment may be credited, I am willing to risk the reputation for it, on the statement that there has existed, if there does not now exist, in New Zealand a Struthious bird, nearly, if not quite equal in size to the Ostrich."]

1844. Ibid. vol. iii. pt. iii. p. 237:

[Description of Dinornis by Owen, in which he names the Moa, and quotes letter from Rev. W. (afterwards Bishop) Williams, dated Feb. 28, 1842, "to which they gave the name of Moa."]

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 137:

"The new genus Dinornis, which includes also the celebrated moa, or gigantic bird of New Zealand, and bears some resemblance to the present Apteryx, or wingless bird of that country . . . The New Zealanders assert that this extraordinary bird was in existence in the days of their ancestors, and was finally destroyed by their grandfathers."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand' (English translation), p. 214:

"First among them were the gigantic wingless Moas, Dinornis and Palapteryx, which seem to have been exterminated already about the middle of the seventeenth century."

[Query, eighteenth century?]

1867. Ibid. p. 181:

"By the term `Moa' the natives signify a family of birds, that we know merely from bones and skeletons, a family of real giant-birds compared with the little Apterygides."

[Footnote]: "Moa or Toa, throughout Polynesia, is the word applied to domestic fowls, originating perhaps from the Malay word mua, a kind of peasants [sic]. The Maoris have no special term for the domestic fowl."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' Introduction, p. lvi. [Footnote]:

"I have remarked the following similarity between the names employed in the Fijian and Maori languages for the same or corresponding birds: Toa (any fowl-like kind of bird) = Moa (Dinornis)."

<hw>Mob</hw>, n. a large number, the Australian noun of multitude, and not implying anything low or noisy. It was not used very early, as the first few of the following quotations show.

1811. G. Paterson, `History of New South Wales,' p. 530:

"Besides herds of kangaroos, four large wolves were seen at Western Port."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia':

[p. 110]: "Herds of kangaroos."

[p. 139]: "An immense herd of kangaroos."

[p. 196]: "Flocks of kangaroos of every size."

1835. T. B. Wilson, `Voyage round the World,' p. 243:

"We started several flocks of kangaroos."

1836. Dec. 26, Letter in `Three Years' Practical Experience of a Settler in New South Wales,' p.44:

"A man buying a flock of sheep, or a herd of cattle . . . While I watched the mop I had collected." [This, thus spelt, seems the earliest instance.]

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 6:

"Droves of kangaroos."

Of Men—

[But with the Australian and not the ordinary English signification.]

1874. W. M. B., `Narrative of Edward Crewe,' p. 223:

"A contractor in a large way having a mob of men in his employ."

1890. `The Argus,' Aug.16, p.13, Col. 2:

"It doesn't seem possible to get a mob of steady men for work of that sort now."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. ix. p. 69:

"He, tho' living fifty miles away, was one of the `Dunmore mob,' and aided generally in the symposia which were there enjoyed."

Of Blackfellows—

1822. J. West, `History of Tasmania' (1852), vol. ii. p. 12:

"The settlers of 1822 remember a number of natives, who roamed about the district, and were known as the `tame mob'; they were absconders from different tribes."

1830. Newspaper (Tasmanian), March, (cited J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 42):

"A mob of natives appeared at Captain Smith's hut, at his run."

1835. H. Melville, `History of Van Diemen's Land,' p. 75:

"A mob of some score or so of natives, men, women, and children, had been discovered by their fires."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia', p. 107:

"A whole crowd of men on horseback get together, with a mob of blacks to assist them."

1892. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 134:

"At the side of the crowd was a small mob of blacks with their dogs, spears, possum rugs, and all complete."

Of Cattle—

1860. R. Donaldson, `Bush Lays,' p. 14:

"Now to the stockyard crowds the mob;
'Twill soon be milking time."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 70:

"A number of cattle collected together is colonially termed a mob."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 105:

"A mixed mob of cattle—cows, steers, and heifers— had to be collected."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 120:

"`Mobs' or small sub-divisions of the main herd."

Of Sheep—

1860. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 169:

"It was more horrible to see the drowning, or just drowned, huddled-up `mob' (as sheep en masse are technically called) which had made the dusky patch we noticed from the hill."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 22, p. 34, col. 2:

"A mob of sheep has been sold at Belfast at 1s. 10d. per head."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 83

"The army of sheep—about thirty thousand in fifteen flocks— at length reached the valley before dark, and the overseer, pointing to a flock of two thousand, more or less, said, `There's your mob.'"

Of Horses—

1865. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 27:

"All the animals to make friends with, mobs of horses to look at."

1879. W. J. Barry, `Up and Down,' p. 197:

"I purchased a mob of horses for the Dunstan market."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 111:

"The stockman came suddenly on a mob of nearly thirty horses, feeding up a pleasant valley."

Of Kangaroos—

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 59:

"The `old men' are always the largest and strongest in the flock, or in colonial language `mob.'"

1864. `Once a Week,' Dec. 31, p. 45, `The Bulla Bulla Bunyip':

"About a mile outside the town a four-rail fence skirted the rough track we followed. It enclosed a lucerne paddock. Over the grey rails, as we approached, came bounding a mob of kangaroos, headed by a gigantic perfectly white `old man,' which glimmered ghostly in the moonlight."

Of Ducks—

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia, p. 99:

"They [the ducks] all came in twos and threes, and small mobs."

Of Clothes—

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 22, p. 2, col. 6:

"They buttoned up in front; the only suit to the mob which did so."

Of Books—

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 72:

"If it was in your mob of books, give this copy to somebody that would appreciate it."

More generally—

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 20:

"A number of cattle together is here usually termed a `mob,' and truly their riotous and unruly demeanour renders the designation far from inapt; but I was very much amused at first, to hear people gravely talking of `a mob of sheep,' or `a mob of lambs,' and it was some time ere I became accustomed to the novel use of the word. Now, the common announcements that `the cuckoo hen has brought out a rare mob of chickens,' or that `there's a great mob of quail in the big paddock,' are to me fraught with no alarming anticipations."

1853. H. Berkeley Jones, `Adventures in Australia,' p. 114:

"`There will be a great mob of things going down to-day,' said one to another, which meant that there would be a heavy cargo in number; we must remember that the Australians have a patois of their own."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xiii. p. 135:

"What a mob of houses, people, cabs, teams, men, women and children!"

<hw>Mocking-bird</hw>, n. The name is given in Australia to the Lyre-bird (q.v.), and in New Zealand to the Tui (q.v.).

<hw>Mock-Olive</hw>, n. a tree. Called also Axe-breaker (q.v.).

<hw>Mock-Orange</hw>, n. an Australian tree, i.q. Native Laurel. See Laurel.

<hw>Mogo</hw>, n. the stone hatchet of the aborigines of New South Wales.

1838. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. i. p. 204:

"I heard from the summit the mogo of a native at work on some tree close by."

1868. W. Carleton, `Australian Nights,' p. 20:

"One mute memorial by his bier,
His mogo, boomerang, and spear."

<hw>Moguey</hw>, n. English corruption of Mokihi (q.v.).

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking About in New Zealand,' p. 52:

"Moguey, a Maori name for a raupo or flax-stick raft."

<hw>Moki</hw>, n. the Maori name for the Bastard Trumpeter (q.v.) of New Zealand, Latris ciliaris, Forst., family Cirrhitidae.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 182:

"Moki, s. A fish so called."

<hw>Mokihi</hw>, or <hw>Moki</hw>, n. Maori name for a raft; sometimes anglicised as Moguey.

1840. J. S. Polack, `Manners and Customs of New Zealanders,' vol. ii. p. 226:

"In the absence of canoes, a quantity of dried bulrushes are fastened together, on which the native is enabled to cross a stream by sitting astride and paddling with his hands; these humble conveyances are called moki, and resemble those made use of by the Egyptians in crossing among the islands of the Nile. They are extremely buoyant, and resist saturation for a longer period."

1858. `Appendix to Journal of House of Representatives,' c. iii. p. 18:

"We crossed the river on mokis. By means of large mokis, carrying upwards of a ton. . . . Moki navigation."

1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby,' p. 82:

"For the benefit of the unlearned in such matters, let me here explain that a `Mokihi' is constructed of Koradies, Anglice, the flowering stalks of the flax,—three faggots of which lashed firmly in a point at the small ends, and expanded by a piece of wood at the stern, constitute the sides and bottom of the frail craft, which, propelled by a paddle, furnishes sufficient means of transport for a single individual."

<hw>Moko</hw>, n. the system of tattooing practised by the Maoris. See Tattoo. It is not a fact—as popularly supposed—that the "moko" was distinctive in different families; serving, as is sometimes said, the purpose of a coat-of-arms. The "moko" was in fact all made on the same pattern—that of all Maori carvings. Some were more elaborate than others. The sole difference was that some were in outline only, some were half filled in, and others were finished in elaborate detail.

1769. J. Banks, `Journal,' Nov. 22 (Sir J. D. Hooker's edition, 1896), p. 203:

"They had a much larger quantity of amoca [sic] or black stains upon their bodies and faces. They had almost universally a broad spiral on each buttock, and many had their thighs almost entirely black, small lines only being left untouched, so that they looked like striped breeches. In this particular, I mean the use of amoca, almost every tribe seems to have a different custom."

1896. `The Times' (Weekly Edition), July 17, p. 498 col. 3:

"In this handsome volume, `Moko or Maori Tattooing,' Major-General Robley treats of an interesting subject with a touch of the horrible about it which, to some readers, will make the book almost fascinating. Nowhere was the system of puncturing the flesh into patterns and devices carried out in such perfection or to such an extent as in New Zealand. Both men and women were operated upon among the Maoris."

<hw>Moko-moko</hw>, n. (1) Maori name for the Bell-bird (q.v.), Anthornis melanura, Sparrm.

1888. A. W. Bathgate, `Sladen's Australian Ballads,' p. 22:

[Title]: "To the Moko-moko, or Bell-bird."

[Footnote]: "Now rapidly dying out of our land," sc. New
Zealand.

(2) Maori name for the lizard, Lygosoma ornatum, Gray, or Lygosoma moko, Durn. and Bib.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 182:

"Moko-moko, a small lizard."

<hw>Mole, Marsupial</hw>. See Marsupial Mole.

<hw>Moloch</hw>, n. an Australian lizard, Moloch horridus, Gray; called also Mountain Devil (q.v.). There is no other species in the genus, and the adjective (Lat. horridus, bristling) seems to have suggested the noun, the name probably recalling Milton's line (`Paradise Lost,' i. 392)

"First Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood."

Moloch was the national god of the Ammonites (1 Kings xi. 7), and was the personification of fire as a destructive element.

1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Narrative, p. 41:

"Numerous lizards such as the strange Moloch horridus, the bright yellow, orange, red and black of which render it in life very different in appearance from the bleached specimens of museum cases."

<hw>Mongan</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the animal named in the quotation.

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 173:

"Jimmy, however, had, to my great delight, found mongan (Pseudochirus herbertensis), a new and very pretty mammal, whose habitat is exclusively the highest tops of the scrubs in the Coast Mountains."

<hw>Monk</hw>, n. another name for the Friar Bird (q.v.).

<hw>Monkey-Bear</hw>, or <hw>Monkey</hw>, n. i.q. Native Bear. See Bear.

1853. C. St. Julian and E. K. Silvester, `The Productions, Industry, and Resources of New South Wales,' p. 30:

"The Kola, so called by the aborigines, but more commonly known among the settlers as the native bear or monkey, is found in brush and forest lands . . ."

1891. Mrs. Cross (Ada Cambridge), `The Three Miss Kings,' p. 9:

"A little monkey-bear came cautiously down from the only gum-tree that grew on the premises, grunting and whimpering."

<hw>Monkey-shaft</hw>, n. "A shaft rising from a lower to a higher level (as a rule perpendicularly), and differing from a blind-shaft only in that the latter is sunk from a higher to a lower level." (Brough Smyth's `Glossary.')

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 69:

"They began to think they might be already too deep for it, and a small `monkey'-shaft was therefore driven upwards from the end of the tunnel."

<hw>Monkeys</hw>, n. bush slang for sheep.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 88:

"No one felt better pleased than he did to see the last lot of `monkeys,' as the shearers usually denominated sheep, leave the head-station."

<hw>Monotreme</hw>, n. the scientific name of an order of Australian mammals (Monotremata). "The Monotremes derive their name from the circumstance that there is, as in birds and reptiles, but a single aperture at the hinder extremity of the body from which are discharged the whole of the waste-products, together with the reproductive elements; the oviducts opening separately into the end of this passage, which is termed the cloaca. [Grk. monos, sole, and traema, a passage or hole.] Reproduction is effected by means of eggs, which are laid and hatched by the female parent; after [being hatched] the young are nourished by milk secreted by special glands situated within a temporary pouch, into which the head of the young animal is inserted and retained. . . . It was not until 1884 that it was conclusively proved that the Monotremes did actually lay eggs similar in structure to those of birds and reptiles." (R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia and Monotremata,' 1894, p. 227.)

The Monotremes are strictly confined to Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea. They are the Platypus (q.v.), and the Echidna (q.v.), or Ant-eating Porcupine.

<hw>Mooley-Apple</hw>, n. i.q. Emu-Apple (q.v.)

<hw>Moor-hen</hw>, n. common English bird-name (Gallinula). The Australian species are—

the Black, Gallinula tenebrosa, Gould; Rufous-tailed, G. ruficrissa, Gould.

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 169:

"The Rail-like bird, the Black-tailed Tribonyx, or Moor-Hen of the colonists, which, when strutting along the bank of a river, has a grotesque appearance, with the tail quite erect like that of a domestic fowl, and rarely resorts to flight." [The Tribonyx is called Native Hen, not Moorhen.]

<hw>Moon</hw>, v. tr. a process in opossum-shooting, explained in quotations.

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 182:

"`Mooning' opossums is a speciality with country boys. The juvenile hunter utilises the moon as a cavalry patrol would his field-glass for every suspected point."

1890. E. Davenport Cleland, `The White Kangaroo,' p. 66:

"They had to go through the process known as `mooning.' Walking backwards from the tree, each one tried to get the various limbs and branches between him and the moon, and then follow them out to the uttermost bunch of leaves where the 'possum might be feeding."

<hw>Mopoke</hw>, n. aboriginal name for an Australian bird, from its note "Mopoke." There is emphasis on the first syllable, but much more on the second. Settlers very early attempted to give an English shape and sense to this name. The attempt took two forms, "More pork," and "Mopehawk"; both forms are more than fifty years old. The r sound, however, is not present in the note of the bird, although the form More-pork is perhaps even more popular than the true form Mopoke. The form Mope-hawk seems to have been adopted through dislike of the perhaps coarser idea attaching to "pork." The quaint spelling Mawpawk seems to have been adopted for a similar reason.

The bird is heard far more often than seen, hence confusion has arisen as to what is the bird that utters the note. The earlier view was that the bird was Podargus cuvieri, Vig. and Hors., which still popularly retains the name; whereas it is really the owl, Ninox boobook, that calls "morepork" or "mopoke" so loudly at night. Curiously, Gould, having already assigned the name Morepork to Podargus, in describing the Owlet Night-jar varies the spelling and writes, "little Mawepawk, Colonists of Van Diemen's Land." The New Zealand Morepork is assuredly an owl. The Podargus has received the name of Frogmouth and the Mopoke has sometimes been called a Cuckoo (q.v.). See also Boobook, Frogsmouth.

The earliest ascertained use of the word is—

1827. Hellyer (in 1832), `Bischoff, Van Diemen's Land,' p. 177:

"One of the men shot a `more pork.'"

The Bird's note—

1868. Carleton, `Australian Nights,' p. 19:

"The Austral cuckoo spoke
His melancholy note—`Mo-poke.'"

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs and Wattle Bloom,' p. 236:

"Many a still night in the bush I have listened to the weird metallic call of this strange bird, the mopoke of the natives, without hearing it give expression to the pork-shop sentiments."

Podargus—

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 4:

"Podargus Cuvieri, Vig. and Horsf, More-pork of the Colonists."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 33:

"We are lulled to sleep by the melancholy, sleep-inspiring, and not disagreeable voices of the night bird Podargus— `More-pork! more-pork!'"

1890. `Victorian Statutes-Game Act, Third Schedule.':

"Podargus or Mopoke. [Close Season.] The whole year."

Vague name of Cuckoo—

1854. G. H. Haydon, `The Australian Emigrant,' p. 110:

"The note of the More-pork, not unlike that of a cuckoo with a cold."

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 98:

"The distant monotone of the more-pork—the nocturnal cuckoo of the Australian wilds."

Incorrect—

1858. W. H. Hall, `Practical Experiences at the Diggings in Victoria,' p. 22:

"The low, melancholy, but pleasing cry of the Mope-hawk."

1877. William Sharp, `Earth's Voices':

"On yonder gum a mopoke's throat
Out-gurgles laughter grim,
And far within the fern-tree scrub
A lyre-bird sings his hymn."

[This is confusion worse confounded. It would seem as if the poet confused the Laughing Jackass with the Mopoke, q.v.]

1878. Mrs. H. Jones, `Long Years in Australia,' p. 145:

"How the mope-hawk is screeching."

Owl—

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 71:

"A bird of the owl species, called by the colonists morepork, and by the natives whuck-whuck, derives both its names from the peculiarity of its note. At some distance it reminds one of the song of the cuckoo; when nearer it sounds hoarse and discordant."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 1:

"AEgotheles Novae-Hollandiae, Vig. and Horsf, Owlet Nightjar; Little Mawepawk, Colonists of Van Diemen's Land."

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 253:

"The Mawpawk, More Pork, or Mope Hawk, is common in most parts of the colony, and utters its peculiar two-syllable cry at night very constantly. Its habits are those of the owl, and its rather hawkish appearance partakes also of the peculiarities of the goat-sucker tribe. . . . The sound does not really resemble the words `more pork,' any more than `cuckoo,' and it is more like the `tu-whoo' of the owl than either."

1859. D. Bunce, `Australasiatic Reminiscences,' p. 14:

"Just as our sportsman, fresh from the legal precincts of Gray's Inn Square, was taking a probably deadly aim, the solitary and melancholy note of `More-pork! more-pork!' from the Cyclopean, or Australian owl, interfered most opportunely in warding off the shot."

1864. `Once a Week,' Dec. 31, p. 45. `The Bulla Bulla Bunyip':

"The locusts were silent, but now and then might be heard the greedy cry of the `morepork,' chasing the huge night-moths through the dim dewy air."

1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 274:

"Owls are also numerous, the Mopoke's note being a familiar sound in the midnight darkness of the forest."

By transference to a man.—

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 233:

"`A more-pork kind of a fellow' is a man of cut-and-dry phrases, a person remarkable for nothing new in common conversation. This by some is thought very expressive, the more-pork being a kind of Australian owl, notorious for its wearying nightly iteration, `More pork, more pork'"

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xiii. p. 125:

"What a regular more-pork I was to be sure to go and run my neck agin' a roping-pole."

<hw>Morepork</hw>, n. (1) The Australian bird, or birds, described under Mopoke (q.v.).

(2) The New Zealand Owl, formerly Athene novae-zelandiae, Gray; now Spiloglaux novae-zelandiae, Kaup.

1849. W. T. Power, `Sketches in New Zealand,' p. 74:

"This bird gave rise to a rather amusing incident in the Hutt Valley during the time of the fighting. . . . A strong piquet was turned out regularly about an hour before daybreak. On one occasion the men had been standing silently under arms for some time, and shivering in the cold morning air, when they were startled by a solemn request for `more pork.' The officer in command of the piquet, who had only very recently arrived in the country, ordered no talking in the ranks, which was immediately replied to by another demand, distinctly enunciated, for `more pork.' So malaprop a remark produced a titter along the ranks, which roused the irate officer to the necessity of having his commands obeyed, and he accordingly threatened to put the next person under arrest who dared make any allusion to the unclean beast. As if in defiance of the threat, and in contempt of the constituted authorities, `more pork' was distinctly demanded in two places at once, and was succeeded by an irresistible giggle from one end of the line to the other. There was no putting up with such a breach of discipline as this, and the officer, in a fury of indignation, went along the line in search of the mutinous offender, when suddenly a small chorus of `more pork' was heard on all sides, and it was explained who the real culprits were."

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 100:

"The last cry of a very pretty little owl, called from its distinctly uttered words the `more-pork.'"

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 84:

"Sleeping alone where the more-pork's call
At night is heard."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 192:

"Spiloglaux Novae-Zelandiae, Kaup., More-pork of the colonists. Every New Zealand colonist is familiar with this little owl, under the name of `morepork.'"

<hw>Moreton-Bay</hw>, n. the name formerly given to the district of New South Wales which is now the colony of Queensland. The Brisbane river (on which is situated Brisbane, the capital of Queensland) enters it. See below.

<hw>Moreton-Bay Ash</hw>, n. See Ash.

<hw>Moreton-Bay Chestnut</hw>, n. See Bean-tree.

<hw>Moreton-Bay Fig</hw>, n. See Fig.

<hw>Moreton-Bay Laurel</hw>, n. See Laurel.

<hw>Moreton-Bay Pine</hw>, n. See Pine.

<hw>Moriori</hw>, n. a people akin to, but not identical with, the Maoris. They occupied the Chatham Islands, and were conquered in 1832 by the Maoris. In 1873, M. Quatrefages published a monograph, `Moriori et Maori.'

<hw>Morwong</hw>, n. the New South Wales name for the fish Chilodactylus macropterus, Richards.; also called the Carp (q.v.) and Jackass-fish, and in New Zealand by the Maori name of Tarakihi. The Melbourne fishermen, according to Count Castelnau, call this fish the Bastard Trumpeter (q.v.), but this name is also applied to Latris forsteri, Castln. See also Trumpeter and Paper-fish. The Red Morwong is Chilodactylus fuscus, Castln., also called Carp (q.v.). The Banded Morwong is Chilodactylus vittatus, Garrett.

<hw>Moses, Prickly</hw>, n. a bushman's name for Mimosa (q.v.).

1887. `The Australian,' April:

"I cannot recommend . . . [for fishing rods] . . . that awful thing which our philosopher called `prickly moses.'"

<hw>Moulmein Cedar</hw>, n. See Cedar.

<hw>Mound-bird</hw>, n. the jungle-hen of Australia. The birds scratch up heaps of soil and vegetable matter, in which they bury their eggs and leave them to be hatched by the heat of decomposition. Scientifically called Megapodes (q.v.).

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 76:

"Next to these, as a special Australian type. . . . come the bush-turkeys or mound-makers . . . all these birds have the curious reptilian character of never sitting on their eggs, which they bury under mounds of earth or decaying vegetable matter, allowing them to be hatched by the heat of the sun, or that produced by fermentation."

<hw>Mountain</hw>- (as epithet):

Mountain-Apple-tree— Angophora lanceolata, Cav., N.O. Myrtaceae.

M.-Ash— A name applied to various Eucalypts, and to the tree Alphitonia excelsa, Reiss.

M.-Beech— The tree Lomatia longifolia, R. Br., N.0. Proteaceae.

M.-Bloodwood—
The tree Eucalyptus eximia, Schau.

M.-Cypress-pine— The tree Frenela parlatori, F. v. M., N.0. Coniferae.

M.-Ebony—
See Ebony.

M.-Gentian— The name is applied to the Tasmanian species, Gentiana saxosa, Forst., N.O. Gentianeae.

M.-Gums—
See Gum.

M.- Oak—
See Oak.

M.-Parrot—
Another name for the Kea (q.v.).

M.-Rocket— The name is applied to the Tasmanian species Bellendena montana, R. Br., N.O. Proteaceae.

M.-Tea-tree—
See Tea-tree.

<hw>Mountain-Devil</hw>, n. name given to the strange-looking Australian lizard, Moloch horridus, Gray. See Moloch. Also called Spiny Lizard.

1853. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 515 [November 9]:

"A spirit preparation of the Spiny Lizard (Moloch horridus) of Western Australia."

<hw>Mountain Thrush</hw>, n. an Australian thrush, Oreocincla lunulata, Gould. See Thrush.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 7:

"Oreocincla lunulatus, Mountain Thrush, Colonists of Van Diemen's Land. In all localities suitable to its habits and mode of life, this species is tolerably abundant, both in Van Diemen's Land and in New South Wales; it has also been observed in South Australia, where however it is rare."

<hw>Mountain-Trout</hw>, n. species of Galaxias, small cylindrical fishes inhabiting the colder rivers of Australasia, Southern Chili, Magellan Straits, and the Falkland Islands. On account of the distribution of these fish and of other forms of animals, it has been suggested that in a remote geological period the area of land above the level of the sea in the antarctic regions must have been sufficiently extended to admit of some kind of continuity across the whole width of the Pacific between the southern extremities of South America and Australia.

<hw>Mud-fat</hw>, adj. fat as mud, very fat.

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 142:

"There's half this fine body of veal, mud-fat and tender as a chicken, worth a shilling a pound there."

<hw>Mud-fish</hw>, n. a fish of Westland, New Zealand, Neochanna apoda, Gunth. Guenther says Neochanna is a "degraded form of Galaxias [see Mountain-Trout], from which it differs by the absence of ventral fins. This fish has hitherto been found only in burrows, which it excavates 1n clay or consolidated mud, at a distance from water."

<hw>Mud-lark</hw>, n. another name for the Magpie-lark, Grallina picata (q.v.).

<hw>Mulberry-bird</hw>, n. name given to the Australian bird Sphecotheres maxillaris, Lath.; called also Fig-bird (q.v.).

1891. A. J. North, `Records of the Australian Museum,' vol. i. no. 6, p. 113:

"Southern Sphecotheres. Mr. Grime informs me it is fairly common on the Tweed River, where it is locally known as the `Mulberry-bird,' from the decided preference it evinces for that species of fruit amongst many others attacked by this bird."

Mulberry, Native, n. name given to three Australian trees, viz.—

Hedycarya cunninghami, Tull., N.O. Monimiaceae. Called also Smooth Holly.

Piturus propinquus, Wedd., N.O. Urticeae. Called also Queensland Grasscloth Plant.

Litsaea ferruginea, Mart., N.O. Laurineae. Called also Pigeonberry-tree.

The common English garden fruit-tree is also acclimatised, and
the Victorian Silk Culture Association, assisted by the
Government, are planting many thousands of the White
Mulberry for silk culture.

<hw>Mulga</hw>, n. an aboriginal word. (1) Name given to various species of Acacia, but especially A. aneura, F. v. M., N.0. Leguminosae. See also Red Mulga.

1864. J. McDouall Stuart, `Explorations in Australia,' p. 154:

"We arrived at the foot nearly naked, and got into open sandy rises and valleys, with mulga and plenty of grass, amongst which there is some spinifex growing."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 126, Note:

"Mulga is an Acacia. It grows in thick bushes, with thin twigs and small leaves. Probably it is the most extensively distributed tree in all Australia. It extends right across the continent."

1888. Baron F. von Mueller, `Select Extra-tropical Plants' [7th ed.], p. 1:

"Acacia aneura, F. v. M. Arid desert interior of extra-tropic Australia. A tree never more than 25 feet high. The principal `Mulga' tree. . . . Cattle and sheep browse on the twigs of this and some allied species, even in the presence of plentiful grass, and are much sustained by such acacias in seasons of protracted drought."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 43:

"Not a drop of rain! And for many and many a day the jackaroo will still chop down the limbs of the mulga-tree, that of its tonic leaves the sheep may eat and live."

1894. `The Argus,' Sept. 1, p. 4, col. 2:

"The dull green of the mulga-scrub at their base."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 85:

"Flax and tussock and fern,
Gum and mulga and sand,
Reef and palm—but my fancies turn
Ever away from land."

(2) A weapon, made of mulgawood.

(a) A shield.

1878. `Catalogue of Ethnotypical Art in the National Gallery' (Melbourne), p. 19:

"Mulga. Victoria. Thirty-six inches in length. This specimen is 37 inches in length and 5 inches in breadth at the broadest part. The form of a section through the middle is nearly triangular. The aperture for the hand (cut in the solid wood) is less than 4 inches in length. Ornamentation :Herring-bone, the incised lines being filled in with white clay. Some figures of an irregular form are probably the distinguishing marks of the owner's tribe. This shield was obtained from Larne-Gherin in the Western District."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 349:

"Mulga is the name of a long narrow shield of wood, made by the aboriginals out of acacia-wood."

(b) In one place Sir Thomas Mitchell speaks of it as a club.

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. ii. p. 267:

"The malga [sic] . . . with which these natives were provided, somewhat resembled a pick-axe with one half broken off."

<hw>Mulga-Apple</hw>, n. a gall formed on the Mulga-tree, Acacia aneura, F. v. M. (q.v.). See also Apple.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 3:

"In Western New South Wales two kinds of galls are found on these trees. One kind is very astringent, and not used; but the other is less abundant, larger, succulent and edible. These latter galls are called `mulga-apples,' and are said to be very welcome to the thirsty traveller."

1889. E. Giles, `Australia Twice Traversed,' p. 71:

"The mulga bears a small woody fruit called the mulga apple.
It somewhat resembles the taste of apples and is sweet."

<hw>Mulga-down</hw>, n. hills covered with Mulga.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 201:

"Fascinating territories of limitless mulga-downs."

<hw>Mulga-grass</hw>, n. an Australian grass, Danthonia penicillata, F. v. M.; also Neurachne mitchelliana, Nees. See also Grass.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 82:

"Mulga Grass. . . . Peculiar to the back country. It derives its vernacular name from being only found where the mulga-tree (Acacia aneura and other species) grows; it is a very nutritious and much esteemed grass."

<hw>Mulga-scrub</hw>, n. thickets of Mulga-trees.

1864. J. McDouall Stuart, `Explorations in Australia,' p. 190:

"For the first three miles our course was through a very thick mulga scrub, with plenty of grass, and occasionally a little spinifex."

1875. John Forrest, `Explorations in Australia,' p. 220:

"Travelled till after dark through and over spinifex plains, wooded with acacia and mulga scrub, and camped without water and only a little scrub for the horses, having travelled nearly forty miles."

1876. W. Harcus, `South Australia,' p. 127:

"The road for the next thirty miles, to Charlotte Waters Telegraph Station, is characterized by mulga-scrub, open plains, sand-hills, and stony rises poorly grassed."

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 47:

"Still more dreaded by the explorer is the `Mulga' scrub, consisting chiefly of dwarf acacias. These grow in spreading irregular bushes armed with strong spines, and where matted with other shrubs form a mass of vegetation through which it is impossible to penetrate."

<hw>Mulga-studded</hw>, adj. with Mulga growing here and there.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 201:

"The frown on the face of the mulga-studded lowlands deepened."

<hw>Mullet</hw>, n. Various species of this fish are present in Australasia, all belonging to the family Mugilidae, or Grey-Mullets. They are the—

Flat-tail Mullet—
Mugil peronii, Cuv. and Val.

Hard-gut M.—
M. dobula, Gunth.

Sand-M., or Talleygalanu— Myxus elongatus, Gunth. (called also Poddy in Victoria).

Sea-M.— M. grandis, Castln.

In New Zealand, the Mullet is Mugil perusii, called the Silver-Mullet (Maori name, Kanae); and the Sea-Mullet, Agonostoma forsteri (Maori name, Aua, q.v.); abundant also in Tasmanian estuaries.

The Sand-Mullet in Tasmania is Mugil cephalotus,
Cuv. and Val. See also Red-Mullet.

1890. `Victorian Statutes—Fisheries Act, Second Schedule':

[Close Season.] "Sand-mullet or poddies."

<hw>Mullock</hw>, n. In English, the word is obsolete; it was used by Chaucer in the sense of refuse, dirt. In Australia, it is confined to" `rubbish, dirt, stuff taken out of a mine—the refuse after the vein-stuff is taken away' (Brough Smyth's `Glossary')."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 26:

"A man each windlass-handle working slow,
Raises the mullock from his mate below."

1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels, p. 77:

"But still we worked on—same old tune
For nothin' but mullock come up."

<hw>Mullock over</hw>, v. Shearing slang. See quotation.

1893. `The Age,' Sept. 23, p. 14, col. 4:

"I affirm as a practical shearer, that no man could shear 321 sheep in eight hours, although I will admit he might do what we shearers call `mullock over' that number; and what is more, no manager or overseer who knows his work would allow a shearer to do that number of sheep or lambs in one day."

<hw>Munyeru</hw>, n. name given to the small black seeds of Claytonia balonnensis, F. v. M., N.O. Portulaceae, which are ground up and mixed with water so as to form a paste. It forms a staple article of diet amongst the Arunta and other tribes of Central Australia.

1896. E. C. Stirling, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Anthropology, p. 56:

"In these districts `Munyeru' takes the place of the spore cases of `Nardoo' (Marsilea quadrifolia), which is so much used in the Barcoo and other districts to the south and east, these being treated in a similar way."

<hw>Murray-Carp</hw>, n. See Carp.

<hw>Murray-Cod</hw>, n. an important fresh-water food-fish, Oligorus macquariensis, Cuv. and Val., called Kookoobal by the aborigines of the Murrumbidgee, and Pundy by those of the Lower Murray. A closely allied species is called the Murray-Perch. Has been known to reach a weight of 120 lbs.

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' vol. i. p. 95:

"We soon found that this river contained . . . the fish we first found in the Peel, commonly called by the colonists `the cod,' although most erroneously, since it has nothing whatever to do with malacopterygious fishes."

1880. Guenther, `Introduction to Study of Fishes,' p. 392 (`O.E.D.'):

"The first (Oligorus macquariensis) is called by the colonists `Murray-cod,' being plentiful in the Murray River and other rivers of South Australia. It attains to a length of more than 3 feet and to a weight of nearly 100 lbs."

<hw>Murray-Lily</hw>, n. See Lily.

<hw>Murray-Perch</hw>, n. a freshwater fish, Oligorus mitchelli, Castln., closely allied to Oligorus macquariensis, the Murray-Cod, belonging to the family Percidae.

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 124:

"Our noble old 1400-mile river, the Murray, well christened the Nile of Australia, . . . produces `snags,' and that finny monster, the Murray cod, together with his less bulky, equally flavourless congener, the Murray perch."

<hw>Murr-nong</hw>, n. a plant. The name used by the natives in Southern Australia for Microseris forsteri, Hook., N.O. Compositae.

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `Aborigines of Victoria,' p. 209:

"Murr-nong, or `Mirr-n'yong', a kind of yam (Microseris Forsteri) was usually very plentiful, and easily found in the spring and early summer, and was dug out of the earth by the women and children."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 45:

"Murr-nong, or `Mirr n'yong' of the aboriginals of New South Wales and Victoria. The tubers were largely used as food by the aboriginals. They are sweet and milky, and in flavour resemble the cocoa-nut."

<hw>Murrumbidgee Pine</hw>, n. See Pine.

<hw>Mushroom</hw>, n. The common English mushroom, Agaricus campestris, Linn., N.O. Fungi, abounds in Australia, and there are many other indigenous edible species.

<hw>Musk-Duck</hw>, n. the Australian bird, Biziura lobata, Shaw. See Duck.

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 30:

"The ungainly musk-duck paddles clumsily away from the passing steamer, but hardly out of gunshot, for he seems to know that his fishy flesh is not esteemed by man."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 159:

"That's a musk duck: the plumage is very sombre and loose looking—not so thick as most other ducks; the tail, too, is singular, little more than a small fan of short quills. The head of the male has a kind of black leathery excrescence under the bill that gives it an odd expression, and the whole bird has a strange odour of musk, rendering it quite uneatable."

<hw>Musk-Kangaroo</hw>, n. See Hypsiprymnodon and Kangaroo.

<hw>Musk-Parrakeet</hw>, n. an Australian parrakeet. See Parrakeet.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pl. 5:

"Trichoglossus Concinnus, Vig. and Horsf. (Australis, Wagl.), Musky-Parrakeet; Musk-Parrakeet, Colonists of New South Wales, from the peculiar odour of the bird."

<hw>Musk-tree</hw>, n. The name is applied to Marlea vitiense, Benth., N.O. Cornaceae, with edible nuts, which is not endemic in Australia, and to two native trees of the N.O. Compositae—Aster argophyllus, Labill., called also Musk-wood, from the scent of the timber; and Aster viscosus, Labill., called also the Dwarf Musk-tree.

1848. Letter by Mrs. Perry, given in Canon Goodman's `Church in Victoria during the Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 71:

"Also there is some pretty underwood, a good deal of the musk-tree—which is very different from our musk-plant, growing quite into a shrub and having a leaf like the laurel in shape."

1888. Mrs. M'Cann, `Poetical Works,' p. 143:

"The musk-tree scents the evening air
Far down the leafy vale."

<hw>Musk-wood</hw>, n. See Musk-tree.

<hw>Mussel</hw>, n. Some Australasian species of this mollusc are— Mytilus latus, Lamark., Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand; M. tasmanicus, Tenison Woods, Tasmania; M. rostratus, Dunker, Tasmania and Victoria; M. hirsutus, Lamark., Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, New Zealand; M. crassus, Tenison-Woods, Tasmania.

Fresh-water Mussels belong to the genus Unio.

<hw>Mutton-bird</hw>, n. The word is ordinarily applied to the Antarctic Petrel, AEstrelata lessoni. In Australasia it is applied to the Puffin or Short-tailed Petrel, Puffinus brevicaudus, Brandt. The collection of the eggs of this Petrel, the preparation of oil from it, the salting of its flesh for food, form the principal means of subsistence of the inhabitants, half-caste and other, of the islands in Bass Straits.

1839. W. Mann, `Six Years' Residence in the Australian Provinces,' p. 51:

"They are commonly called mutton birds, from their flavour and fatness; they are migratory,and arrive in Bass's Straits about the commencement of spring, in such numbers that they darken the air."

1843. J. Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies' (1832), p. 73:

"Mutton birds were in such vast flocks, that, at a distance, they seemed as thick as bees when swarming."

Ibid. p. 91:

"The Mutton-birds, or Sooty Petrels, are about the size of the Wood Pigeon of England; they are of a dark colour, and are called `Yola' by the natives."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. i. p. 264:

"The principal occupation of these people during this month of the year is taking the Sooty Petrel, called by the Colonists the Mutton Bird, from a fancied resemblance to the taste of that meat."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 47:

"The mutton-bird, or sooty petrel . . . is about the size of the wood-pigeon of England, and is of a dark colour. These birds are migratory, and are to be seen ranging over the surface of the great southern ocean far from land . . . Many millions of these birds are destroyed annually for the sake of their feathers and the oil of the young, which they are made to disgorge by pressing the craws."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 382:

"The titi, or mutton-bird, is a seabird which goes inland at night just as the light wanes. The natives light a bright fire, behind which they sit, each armed with a long stick. The titis, attracted by the light, fly by in great numbers, and are knocked down as quickly as possible; thus in one night several hundreds are often killed, which they preserve in their own fat for future use."

1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand the Britain of the South,' vol. i. p. 121:

"The young titi (mutton-bird), a species of puffin, is caught by the natives in great quantities, potted in its own fat, and sent as a sort of `pa^te de foie gras' to inland friends."

1863. B. A. Heywood, `Vacation Tour at the Antipodes,' p. 232:

"The natives in the South [of Stewart's Island] trade largely with their brethren in the North, in supplies of the mutton- bird, which they boil down, and pack in its own fat in the large air-bags of sea-weed."

1879. H. n. Moselep `Notes by Naturalist on Challenger, p. 207:

"Besides the prion, there is the `mutton-bird' of the whalers (AEstrelata lessoni), a large Procellanid, as big as a pigeon, white and brown and grey in colour."

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 49:

"The crest of the Cape [Wollomai] is a favourite haunt of those elegant but prosaically-named sea-fowl, the `mutton-birds.'. . One of the sports of the neighbourhood is `mutton-birding.'

1888. A. Reischek, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxi. art. xlix. p. 378:

"Passing through Foveaux Strait, clothed with romantic little islands, we disturbed numerous flocks of mutton-birds (Puffinus tristis), which were playing, feeding, or sleeping on the water."

1891. `The Australasian,' Nov. 14, p. 963, col. 1 (`A Lady in the Kermadecs'):

"The mutton-birds and burrowers come to the island in millions in the breeding season, and the nesting-place of the burrowers is very like a rabbit-warren; while the mutton-bird is content with a few twigs to do duty for a nest."

1891. Rev. J. Stack, `Report of Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,' vol. iii. p. 379:

"Wild pigeons, koko, tui, wekas, and mutton-birds were cooked and preserved in their own fat."

<hw>Mutton-bird Tree</hw>, n. a tree, Senecio rotundifolius, Hook.: so called because the mutton-birds, especially in Foveaux Straits, New Zealand, are fond of sitting under it.

<hw>Mutton-fish</hw>, n. a marine univalve mollusc, Haliotis naevosa, Martyn: so called from its flavour when cooked. The empty earshell of Haliotis, especially in New Zealand, Haliotis iris, Martyn, is known as Venus' Ear; Maori name, Paua (q.v.). A species of the same genus is known and eaten at the Cape and in the Channel Islands. (French name Ormer, sc. Oreille de mer.)

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales,' p. 92:

"Then mutton fish were speared. This is the ear-shell fish (Haliotis naevosa), which was eagerly bought by the Chinese merchants. Only the large muscular sucking disc on foot is used. Before being packed it is boiled and dried. About 9d. per lb. was given."

Myall, n. and adj. aboriginal word with two different meanings; whether there is any connection between them is uncertain.

(1) n. An acacia tree, Acacia pendula, A. Cunn., and its timber. Various species have special epithets: Bastard, Dalby, True, Weeping, etc.

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 38:

"The myall-tree (Acacia pendula) is the most picturesque tree of New South Wales. The leaves have the appearance of being frosted, and the branches droop like the weeping willow. . . . Its perfume is as delightful, and nearly as strong, as sandal-wood."

(p. 10): "They poison the fish by means of a sheet of bark stripped from the Myall-tree (Acacia pendula)."

1846. T. L. Mitchell, Report quoted by J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 495:

"The myall-tree and salt-bush, Acacia pendula and salsolae [sic], so essential to a good run, are also there."

1864. J. S. Moore, `Spring Life Lyrics,' p. 170:

"The guerdon's won! What may it be?
A grave beneath a myall-tree."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 193 [Note]:

"This acacia, which has much the habit of the weeping willow, is found very extensively on the wet, alluvial flats of the west rivers. It sometimes forms scrubs and thickets, which give a characteristic appearance to the interior of this part of Australia, so that, once seen, it can never be again mistaken for scenery of any other country in the world. The myall scrubs are nearly all of Acacia pendula."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 280:

"The myall-wood weapons made at Liverpool Plains were exchanged with the coast natives for others."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 46:

"Lignum-vitae and bastard-myall bushes were very common."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 115:

"Weeping or true Myall. . . . Stock are very fond of the leaves of this tree [Acacia pendula], especially in seasons of drought, and for this reason, and because they eat down the seedlings, it has almost become exterminated in parts of the colonies."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' p. 27:

"A strip of the swaying, streaming myall, of a colour more resembling blue than black."

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 4, col. 2:

"The soft and silvery grace of the myalls."

1890. E. D. Cleland, `The White Kangaroo,' p. 50:

"Miall, a wood having a scent similar to raspberry jam, and very hard and well-grained."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 130:

"Stock-whips with myall handles (the native wood that smells like violets)."

(2) adj. and n. wild, wild natives, used especially in Queensland. The explanation given by Lumholtz (1890) is not generally accepted. The word mail, or myall, is the aboriginal term for "men," on the Bogan, Dumaresque, and Macintyre Rivers in New South Wales. It is the local equivalent of the more common form murrai.

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 41:

"On my arrival I learnt from the natives that one party was still at work a considerable distance up the country, at the source of one of the rivers, called by the natives `Myall,' meaning, in their language, Stranger, or a place which they seldom or never frequent."

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. i. p. 192:

"This tribe gloried in the name of `Myall,' which the natives nearer to the colony apply in terror and abhorrence to the `wild blackfellows,' to whom they usually attribute the most savage propensities."

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' Aug. i, p. 4, col. 4:

"Even the wildest of the Myall black fellows—as cannibals usually are—learned to appreciate him."

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 447:

"Words quite as unintelligible to the natives as the corresponding words in the vernacular language of the white men would have been, were learned by the natives, and are now commonly used by them in conversing with Europeans, as English words. Thus corrobbory, the Sydney word for a general assembly of natives, is now commonly used in that sense at Moreton Bay; but the original word there is yanerwille. Cabon, great; narang little; boodgeree, good; myall, wild native, etc. etc., are all words of this description, supposed by the natives to be English words, and by the Europeans to be aboriginal words of the language of that district."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 171:

"A more intimate acquaintance with the ways and customs of the whites had produced a certain amount of contempt for them among the myalls."

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 209:

"I had many conversations with native police officers on the subject of the amelioration of the wild myalls."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 150:

"Suddenly he became aware that half-a-dozen of these `myalls,' as they are called, were creeping towards him through the long grass. Armed with spears and boomerangs . . ."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 76:

"These so-called civilized blacks look upon their savage brethren with more or less contempt, and call them myall."

[Footnote]: "A tree (Acacia pendula) which grows extensively in the less civilized districts is called by the Europeans myall. This word was soon applied by the whites as a term for the wild blacks who frequented these large remote myall woods. Strange to say, the blacks soon adopted this term themselves, and used it as an epithet of abuse, and hence it soon came to mean a person of no culture."

1893. M. Gaunt, `English Illustrated,' March, p. 367:

"He himself had no faith in the myall blacks; they were treacherous, they were cruel."

(3) By transference, wild cattle.

1893. `The Argus,' April 29, p. 4, col. 4, `Getting in the Scrubbers':

"To secure these myalls we took down sixty or seventy head of quiet cows, as dead homers as carrier pigeons, some of them milking cows, with their calves penned up in the stockyard."

<hw>Myrmecobius</hw>, n. scientific name of the Australian genus with only one species, called the Banded Ant-eater (q.v.). (Grk. murmaex, an ant, and bios life.)

<hw>Myrtle</hw>, n. The true Myrtle, Myrtus communis, is a native of Asia, but has long been naturalised in Europe, especially on the shores of the Mediterranean. The name is applied to many genera of the family, N.O. Myrtaceae, and has been transferred to many other trees not related to that order. In Australia the name, with various epithets, is applied to the following trees—

Backhousia citriodora, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae, called the Scrub Myrtle and Native Myrtle.

Backhousia myrtifolia, Hook. and Herv., N.O. Myrtaceae, called Scrub Myrtle, or Native Myrtle, or Grey Myrtle, and also Lancewood.

Diospyrus pentamera, F. v. M., N.O. Ebenaceae, the Black Myrtle and Grey Plum of Northern New South Wales.

Eugenia myrtifolia, Sims, N.O. Myrtaceae, known as Native Myrtle, Red Myrtle and Brush Cherry.

Eugenia ventenatii, Benth., N.O. Myrtaceae, the Drooping Myrtle or Large-leaved Water-gum.

Melaleuca decussata, R. Br., N.O. Myrtaceae.

Melaleuca genistifolia, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae, which is called Ridge Myrtle, and in Queensland Ironwood.

Myoporum serratum, R. Br., N.O. Myoporineae, which is called Native Myrtle; and also called Blue-berry Tree, Native Currant, Native Juniper, Cockatoo-Bush, and by the aborigines Palberry.

Myrtus acmenioides, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae, which is the White Myrtle of the Richmond and Clarence Rivers (New South Wales), and is also called Lignum-vitae.

Rhodamnia argentea, Benth., N.O. Myrtaceae, called White Myrtle, the Muggle-muggle of the aboriginals of Northern New South Wales.

Syncarpia leptopetala, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae, which is called Myrtle and also Brush-Turpentine.

Tristania neriifolia, R. Br., N.O. Myrtaceae, called Water Myrtle, and also Water Gum.

Trochocarpa laurina, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae, called Brush-Myrtle, Beech and Brush Cherry.

In Tasmania, all the Beeches are called Myrtles, and there are extensive forests of the Beech Fagus cunninghamii, Hook., which is invariably called "Myrtle" by the colonists of Tasmania.

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 206:

Table of Tasmanian Woods.

Hgt. Dia. Where found. Use. ft. in.

Scented Myrtle 15 6 Low, marshy Seldom used

Red " 40 12 Swampy As pine

White " 20 9 Low, marshy House-carpentry

Yellow " 20 9 " " do.

Brown " 20 30 " " do. and joiners' planes

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