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

Edward Ellis Morris

Title: A Dictionary of Austral English

Author: Edward Morris

Language: English

Produced by Geoffrey Cowling

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

by Edward E. Morris M.A., Oxon.

Professor of English, French and German Languages and
Literatures in the University of Melbourne.

1898

INTRODUCTION

I. ORIGIN OF THE WORK
First undertaken to help O.E.D.
The Standard Dictionary

II. TITLE AND SCOPE OF THE BOOK
Not a Slang Dictionary

III. SOURCES OF NEW WORDS:—
      1. Altered English
      2. Words quite new to the language:—
         (a) Aboriginal Australian
         (b) Maori

IV. THE LAW OF HOBSON-JOBSON
Is Austral English a corruption?

V. CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS

VI. QUOTATIONS. THEIR PURPOSE

VII. BOOKS USED AS AUTHORITIES

VIII.SCIENTIFIC WORDS

IX. ASSISTANCE RECEIVED

X. ABBREVIATIONS:— 1. Of Scientific Names 2. General

I. ORIGIN OF THE WORK.

About a generation ago Mr. Matthew Arnold twitted our nation with the fact that "the journeyman work of literature" was much better done in France—the books of reference, the biographical dictionaries, and the translations from the classics. He did not especially mention dictionaries of the language, because he was speaking in praise of academies, and, as far as France is concerned, the great achievement in that line is Littre and not the Academy's Dictionary. But the reproach has now been rolled away—nous avons change tout cela—and in every branch to which Arnold alluded our journeyman work is quite equal to anything in France.

It is generally allowed that a vast improvement has taken place in translations, whether prose or verse. From quarter to quarter the Dictionary of National Biography continues its stately progress. But the noblest monument of English scholarship is The New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, founded mainly on the materials collected by the Philological Society, edited by Dr. James Murray, and published at the cost of the University of Oxford. The name New will, however, be unsuitable long before the Dictionary is out of date. Its right name is the Oxford English Dictionary (`O.E.D.'). That great dictionary is built up out of quotations specially gathered for it from English books of all kinds and all periods; and Dr. Murray several years ago invited assistance from this end of the world for words and uses of words peculiar to Australasia, or to parts of it. In answer to his call I began to collect; but instances of words must be noted as one comes across them, and of course they do not occur in alphabetical order. The work took time, and when my parcel of quotations had grown into a considerable heap, it occurred to me that the collection, if a little further trouble were expended upon it, might first enjoy an independent existence. Various friends kindly contributed more quotations: and this Book is the result.

In January 1892, having the honour to be President of the
Section of "Literature and the Fine Arts" at the Hobart Meeting
of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,
I alluded to Dr. Murray's request:

A body like this Section, composed of men from different parts of scattered colonies, might render valuable help in organising the work of collecting authorities for our various peculiar words and usages. Twenty or thirty men and women, each undertaking to read certain books with the new dictionary in mind, and to note in a prescribed fashion what is peculiar, could accomplish all that is needed. Something has been done in Melbourne, but the Colonies have different words and uses of words, and this work is of a kind which might well extend beyond the bounds of a single city. At first it may seem as if our words were few, as if in the hundred years of Australian life few special usages have arisen; but a man with a philological turn of mind, who notes what he hears, will soon find the list grow. Some philologers speak, not perhaps very satisfactorily, of being "at the fountains of language": we can all of us testify to the birth of some words within our own memory, but the origin of these, if not noted, will in time be lost. There are many other words which the strictest cannot condemn as slang, though even slang, being the speech of the people, is not undeserving of some scientific study; words, for instance, which have come into the language from the Aborigines, and names of animals, shrubs, and flowers. It might even be possible, with sufficient co-operation, to produce an Australian dictionary on the same lines as the New English Dictionary by way of supplement to it. Organisation might make the labour light, whilst for many it would from its very nature prove a pleasant task.

These suggestions were not carried out. Individuals sent quotations to Oxford, but no organisation was established to make the collection systematic or complete, and at the next meeting of the Association the Section had ceased to exist, or at least had doffed its literary character.

At a somewhat later date, Messrs. Funk and Wagnall of New York invited me to join an "Advisory Committee on disputed spelling and pronunciation." That firm was then preparing its Standard Dictionary, and one part of the scheme was to obtain opinions as to usage from various parts of the English-speaking world, especially from those whose function it is to teach the English Language. Subsequently, at my own suggestion, the firm appointed me to take charge of the Australian terms in their Dictionary, and I forwarded a certain number of words and phrases in use in Australia. But the accident of the letter A, for Australian, coming early in the alphabet gives my name a higher place than it deserves on the published list of those co-operating in the production of this Standard Dictionary; for with my present knowledge I see that my contribution was lamentably incomplete. Moreover, I joined the Editorial Corps too late to be of real use. Only the final proofs were sent to me, and although my corrections were reported to New York without delay, they arrived too late for any alterations to be effected before the sheets went to press. This took the heart out of my work for that Dictionary. For its modernness, for many of its lexicographical features, and for its splendid illustrations, I entertain a cordial admiration for the book, and I greatly regret the unworthiness of my share in it. It is quite evident that others had contributed Australasian words, and I must confess I hardly like to be held responsible for some of their statements. For instance—

"Aabec. An Australian medicinal bark said to promote perspiration."

I have never heard of it, and my ignorance is shared by the greatest Australian botanist, the Baron von Mueller.

"Beauregarde. The Zebra grass-parrakeet of Australia. From F. beau, regarde. See BEAU n. and REGARD."

As a matter of fact, the name is altered out of recognition, but really comes from the aboriginal budgery, good, and gar, parrot.

"Imou-pine. A large New Zealand tree. . . . called red pine by the colonists and rimu by the natives."

I can find no trace of the spelling "Imou." In a circular to New Zealand newspapers I asked whether it was a known variant. The New Zealand Herald made answer—"He may be sure that the good American dictionary has made a misprint. It was scarcely worth the Professor's while to take notice of mere examples of pakeha ignorance of Maori."

"Swagman. [Slang, Austral.] 1. A dealer in cheap trinkets, etc. 2. A swagger."

In twenty-two years of residence in Australia, I have never heard the former sense.

"Taihoa. [Anglo-Tasmanian.] No hurry; wait."

The word is Maori, and Maori is the language of New Zealand, not of Tasmania.

These examples, I know, are not fair specimens of the accuracy of the Standard Dictionary, but they serve as indications of the necessity for a special book on Australasian English.

II. TITLE AND SCOPE OF THE BOOK.

In the present day, when words are more and more abbreviated, a "short title" may be counted necessary to the welfare of a book. For this reason "Austral English" has been selected. In its right place in the dictionary the word Austral will be found with illustrations to show that its primary meaning, "southern," is being more and more limited, so that the word may now be used as equivalent to Australasian.

"Austral" or "Australasian English" means all the new words and the new uses of old words that have been added to the English language by reason of the fact that those who speak English have taken up their abode in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Hasty inference might lead to the remark that such addition is only slang, but the remark is far from being accurate; probably not one-tenth of the new vocabulary could fairly be so classified. A great deal of slang is used in Australasia, but very much less is generated here than is usually believed. In 1895 a literary policeman in Melbourne brought out a small Australian Slang Dictionary. In spite of the name, however, the compiler confesses that "very few of the terms it contains have been invented by Australians." My estimate is that not one word in fifty in his little book has an Australian origin, or even a specially Australian use.

The phrase "Australasian English" includes something much wider than slang. Those who, speaking the tongue of Shakspeare, of Milton, and of Dr. Johnson, came to various parts of Australasia, found a Flora and a Fauna waiting to be named in English. New birds, beasts and fishes, new trees, bushes and flowers, had to receive names for general use. It is probably not too much to say that there never was an instance in history when so many new names were needed, and that there never will be such an occasion again, for never did settlers come, nor can they ever again come, upon Flora and Fauna so completely different from anything seen by them before. When the offshoots of our race first began to settle in America, they found much that was new, but they were still in the same North Temperate zone. Though there is now a considerable divergence between the American and the English vocabulary, especially in technical terms, it is not largely due to great differences in natural history. An oak in America is still a Quercus, not as in Australia a Casuarina. But with the whole tropical region intervening it was to be expected that in the South Temperate Zone many things would be different, and such expectation was amply fulfilled. In early descriptions of Australia it is a sort of commonplace to dwell on this complete variety, to harp on the trees that shed bark not leaves, and the cherries with the stones outside. Since the days when "Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field" never were so many new names called for. Unfortunately, names were not given by the best educated in the community, but often by those least qualified to invent satisfactory names: not by a linguist, a botanist, an ornithologist, an ichthyologist, but by the ordinary settler. Even in countries of old civilisation names are frequently conferred or new words invented, at times with good and at times with unsatisfactory results, by the average man, whom it is the modern fashion to call "the man in the street." Much of Australasian nomenclature is due to "the man in the bush" —more precise address not recorded. Givers of new names may be benefactors to their language or violators of its purity and simplicity, but in either case they are nearly always, like the burial-place of Moses, unknown.

III. SOURCES OF NEW WORDS.

Of Australasian additions to the English language there are two main sources, which correspond to the twofold division of them into new words and new uses of old words.

1. Altered English.

The commoner origin of Australasian English words is the turning and twisting of an already existing English name. The settler saw a fruit somewhat like a cherry. Though he knew well that it was not a cherry, he christened it the "native cherry." It may here be remarked that the prefix native is not a satisfactory distinguishing adjective. Native bear, native cherry, may teach the young Australian that the bear and the cherry so named are not as the bear of the Arctic Regions or the cherry of Europe. But in the British Museum the label does not help much. The settler heard a bird laugh in what he thought an extremely ridiculous manner, its opening notes suggesting a donkey's bray—he called it the "laughing jackass." His descendants have dropped the adjective, and it has come to pass that the word "jackass" denotes to an Australian something quite different from its meaning to other speakers of our English tongue. The settler must have had an imagination. Whip-bird, or Coach-whip, from the sound of the note, Lyre-bird from the appearance of the outspread tail, are admirable names.

Another class of name brought the Australian word nearer to its English use. "Robin" for instance is applied to birds of various species not known in Europe. Bird-names, fish-names, plant-names, are sometimes transferred to new species, sometimes to a new genus, sometimes to an entirely different Natural Order, bearing a resemblance to the original, either real or fancied, as for instance "Magpie." It is hardly necessary to dwell longer on this point, for almost every page of the Dictionary bears witness to it.

2. Words new to the Language.

(a) Aboriginal Australian.

Many of the new Australasian words are taken from the languages of the aborigines, often with considerable alteration due to misunderstanding. Such words are either Australian or Maori. Whilst in New Zealand careful attention has been paid by competent scholars to the musical Maori language, it can hardly be claimed that the Australian family of languages has ever been scientifically studied, though there is a heap of printed material—small grammars and lists of words—rudis indigestaque moles. There is no doubt that the vocabularies used in different parts of Australia and Tasmania varied greatly, and equally little doubt that the languages, in structure and perhaps originally in vocabulary, were more or less connected. About the year 1883, Professor Sayce, of Oxford, wrote a letter, which was published in The Argus, pointing out the obligation that lay upon the Australian colonies to make a scientific study of a vanishing speech. The duty would be stronger were it not for the distressing lack of pence that now is vexing public men. Probably a sum of L300 a year would suffice for an educated inquirer, but his full time for several years would be needed. Such an one should be trained at the University as a linguist and an observer, paying especial attention to logic and to Comparative Philology. Whilst the colonies neglect their opportunities, and Sibylla year by year withdraws her offer, perhaps "the inevitable German" will intervene, and in a well-arranged book bring order out of the chaos of vocabularies and small pamphlets on the subject, all that we have to trust to now.

The need of scientific accuracy is strong. For the purposes of this Dictionary I have been investigating the origin of words, more or less naturalised as English, that come from aboriginal Australian, in number between seventy and a hundred. I have received a great deal of kind assistance, many people taking much trouble to inform me. But there is a manifest lack of knowledge. Many supplied me with the meanings of the words as used in English, but though my appeal was scattered far and wide over Australia (chiefly through the kindness of the newspapers), few could really give the origin of the words. Two amongst the best informed went so far as to say that Australian words have no derivation. That doctrine is hard to accept. A word of three syllables does not spring complete from the brain of an aboriginal as Athene rose fully armed from the head of Zeus.

It is beyond all doubt that the vocabularies of the Aborigines differed widely in different parts. Frequently, the English have carried a word known in one district to a district where it was not known, the aboriginals regarding the word as pure English. In several books statements will be found that such and such a word is not Aboriginal, when it really has an aboriginal source but in a different part of the Continent. Mr. Threlkeld, in his Australian Grammar, which is especially concerned with the language of the Hunter River, gives a list of "barbarisms," words that he considers do not belong to the aboriginal tongue. He says with perfect truth-"Barbarisms have crept into use, introduced by sailors, stockmen, and others, in the use of which both blacks and whites labour under the mistaken idea, that each one is conversing in the other's language." And yet with him a "barbarism" has to be qualified as meaning "not belonging to the Hunter District." But Mr. Threlkeld is not the only writer who will not acknowledge as aboriginal sundry words with an undoubted Australian pedigree.

(b) Maori.

The Maori language, the Italian of the South, has received very different treatment from that meted out by fate and indifference to the aboriginal tongues of Australia. It has been studied by competent scholars, and its grammar has been comprehensively arranged and stated. A Maori Dictionary, compiled more than fifty years ago by a missionary, afterwards a bishop, has been issued in a fourth edition by his son, who is now a bishop. Yet, of Maori also, the same thing is said with respect to etymology. A Maori scholar told me that, when he began the study many years ago, he was warned by a very distinguished scholar not to seek for derivations, as the search was full of pitfalls. It was not maintained that words sprang up without an origin, but that the true origin of most of the words was now lost. In spite of this double warning, it may be maintained that some of the origins both of Maori and of Australian words have been found and are in this book recorded.

The pronunciation of Maori words differs so widely from that of Australian aboriginal names that it seems advisable to insert a note on the subject.

Australian aboriginal words have been written down on no system, and very much at hap-hazard. English people have attempted to express the native sounds phonetically according to English pronunciation. No definite rule has been observed, different persons giving totally different values to represent the consonant and vowel sounds. In a language with a spelling so unphonetic as the English, in which the vowels especially have such uncertain and variable values, the results of this want of system have necessarily been very unsatisfactory and often grotesque. Maori words, on the other hand, have been written down on a simple and consistent system, adopted by the missionaries for the purpose of the translation of the Bible. This system consists in giving the Italian sound to the vowels, every letter—vowel and consonant—having a fixed and invariable value. Maori words are often very melodious. In pronunciation the best rule is to pronounce each syllable with a nearly equal accent.

Care has been taken to remember that this is an Australasian English and not a Maori Dictionary; therefore to exclude words that have not passed into the speech of the settlers. But in New Zealand Maori is much more widely used in the matter of vocabulary than the speech of the aborigines is in Australia, or at any rate in the more settled parts of Australia; and the Maori is in a purer form. Though some words and names have been ridiculously corrupted, the language of those who dwell in the bush in New Zealand can hardly be called Pigeon English, and that is the right name for the "lingo" used in Queensland and Western Australia, which, only partly represented in this book, is indeed a falling away from the language of Bacon and Shakspeare.

IV. LAW OF HOBSON-JOBSON.

In many places in the Dictionary, I find I have used the expression "the law of Hobson-Jobson." The name is an adaptation from the expression used by Col. Yule and Mr. Burnell as a name for their interesting Dictionary of Anglo-Indian words. The law is well recognised, though it has lacked the name, such as I now venture to give it. When a word comes from a foreign language, those who use it, not understanding it properly, give a twist to the word or to some part of it from the hospitable desire to make the word at home in its new quarters, no regard, however, being paid to the sense. The most familiar instance in English is crayfish from the French ecrevisse, though it is well known that a crayfish is not a fish at all. Amongst the Mohammedans in India there is a festival at which the names of "Hassan" and "Hosein" are frequently called out by devotees. Tommy Atkins, to whom the names were naught, converted them into "Hobson, Jobson." That the practice of so altering words is not limited to the English is shown by two perhaps not very familiar instances in French, where "Aunt Sally" has become ane sale, "a dirty donkey," and "bowsprit" has become beau pre, though quite unconnected with "a beautiful meadow." The name "Pigeon English" is itself a good example. It has no connection with pigeon, the bird, but is an Oriental's attempt to pronounce the word "business." It hardly, however, seems necessary to alter the spelling to "pidjin."

It may be thought by some precisians that all Australasian English is a corruption of the language. So too is Anglo-Indian, and, pace Mr. Brander Matthews, there are such things as Americanisms, which were not part of the Elizabethan heritage, though it is perfectly true that many of the American phrases most railed at are pure old English, preserved in the States, though obsolete in Modern England; for the Americans, as Lowell says, "could not take with them any better language than that of Shakspeare." When we hear railing at slang phrases, at Americanisms, some of which are admirably expressive, at various flowers of colonial speech, and at words woven into the texture of our speech by those who live far away from London and from Oxford, and who on the outskirts of the British Empire are brought into contact with new natural objects that need new names, we may think for our comfort on the undoubted fact that the noble and dignified language of the poets, authors and preachers, grouped around Lewis XIV., sprang from debased Latin. For it was not the classical Latin that is the origin of French, but the language of the soldiers and the camp-followers who talked slang and picked words up from every quarter. English has certainly a richer vocabulary, a finer variety of words to express delicate distinctions of meaning, than any language that is or that ever was spoken: and this is because it has always been hospitable in the reception of new words. It is too late a day to close the doors against new words. This Austral English Dictionary merely catalogues and records those which at certain doors have already come in.

V. CLASSIFICATION OF THE WORDS.

The Dictionary thus includes the following classes of Words,
Phrases and Usages; viz.—

(1) Old English names of Natural Objects—Birds, Fishes, Animals, Trees, Plants, etc.—applied (in the first instance by the early settlers) either to new Australian species of such objects, or to new objects bearing a real or fancied resemblance to them—as Robin, Magpie, Herring, Cod, Cat, Bear, Oak, Beech, Pine, Cedar, Cherry, Spinach, Hops, Pea, Rose.

(2) English names of objects applied in Australia to others quite different-as Wattle, a hurdle, applied as the name of the tree Wattle, from whose twigs the hurdle was most readily made; Jackass, an animal, used as the name for the bird Jackass; Cockatoo, a birdname, applied to a small farmer.

(3) Aboriginal Australian and Maori words which have been incorporated unchanged in the language, and which still denote the original object—as Kangaroo, Wombat, Boomerang, Whare, Pa, Kauri.

(4) Aboriginal Australian and Maori words which have been similarly adopted, and which have also had their original meaning extended and applied to other things—as Bunyip, Corrobbery, Warrigal.

(5) Anglicised corruptions of such words—as Copper-Maori, Go-ashore, Cock-a-bully, Paddy-melon, Pudding-ball, Tooky-took.

(6) Fanciful, picturesque, or humorous names given to new Australasian Natural Objects—as Forty-spot, Lyre-bird, Parson-bird, and Coach-whip (birds); Wait-a-while (a tangled thicket); Thousand-jacket, Jimmy Low, Jimmy Donnelly, and Roger Gough (trees); Axe-breaker, Cheese-wood, and Raspberry Jam (timbers); Trumpeter, Schnapper and Sergeant Baker (fishes); Umbrella-grass and Spaniard (native plants), and so on.

(7) Words and phrases of quite new coinage, or arising from quite new objects or orders of things—as Larrikin, Swagman, Billy, Free-selector, Boundary-rider, Black-tracker, Back-blocks, Clear-skin, Dummyism, Bushed.

(8) Scientific names arising exclusively from Australasian necessities, chiefly to denote or describe new Natural Orders, Genera, or Species confined or chiefly appertaining to Australia—as Monotreme, Petrogale, Clianthus, Ephthianura, Dinornis, Eucalypt, Boronia, Ornithorhynchus, Banksia.

(9) Slang (of which the element is comparatively small)— as Deepsinker, Duck-shoving, Hoot, Slushy, Boss-cockie, On-the-Wallaby.

VI. QUOTATIONS.

With certain exceptions, this Dictionary is built up, as a Dictionary should be, on quotations, and these are very copious. It may even be thought that their number is too large. It is certainly larger, and in some places the quotations themselves are much longer, than could ever be expected in a general Dictionary of the English Language. This copiousness is, however, the advantage of a special Dictionary. The intention of the quotations is to furnish evidence that a word is used as an English word; and many times the quotation itself furnishes a satisfactory explanation of the meaning. I hope, however, I shall not be held responsible for all the statements in the quotations, even where attention is not drawn to their incorrectness. Sundry Australasian uses of words are given in other dictionaries, as, for instance, in the parts already issued of the Oxford English Dictionary and in The Century, but the space that can be allotted to them in such works is of necessity too small for full explanation. Efforts have been made to select such quotations as should in themselves be interesting, picturesque, and illustrative. In a few cases they may even be humorous.

Moreover, the endeavour has been constant to obtain quotations from all parts of the Australasian Colonies—from books that describe different parts of Australasia, and from newspapers published far and wide. I am conscious that in the latter division Melbourne papers predominate, but this has been due to the accident that living in Melbourne I see more of the Melbourne papers, whilst my friends have sent me more quotations from books and fewer from newspapers.

The quotations, however, are not all explanatory. Many times a quotation is given merely to mark the use of a word at a particular epoch. Quotations are all carefully dated and arranged in their historical order, and thus the exact chronological development of a word has been indicated. The practice of the `O.E.D.' has been followed in this respect and in the matter of quotations generally, though as a rule the titles of books quoted have been more fully expressed here than in that Dictionary. Early quotations have been sought with care, and a very respectable antiquity, about a century, has been thus found for some Australasian words. As far as possible, the spelling, the stops, the capitals, and the italics of the original have been preserved. The result is often a rich variety of spelling the same word in consecutive extracts.

The last decade has been a very active time in Australian science. A great deal of system has been brought into its study, and much rearrangement of classification has followed as the result. Both among birds and plants new species have been distinguished and named: and there has been not a little change in nomenclature. This Dictionary, it must be remembered, is chiefly concerned with vernacular names, but for proper identification, wherever possible, the scientific name is added. In some cases, where there has been a recent change in the latter, both the new and the older names are recorded.

VII. AUTHORITIES.

The less-known birds, fishes, plants, and trees are in many cases not illustrated by quotations, but have moved to their places in the Dictionary from lists of repute. Many books have been written on the Natural History of Australia and New Zealand, and these have been placed under contribution. Under the head of Botany no book has been of greater service than Maiden's Useful Native Plants. Unfortunately many scientific men scorn vernacular names, but Mr. Maiden has taken the utmost pains with them, and has thereby largely increased the utility of his volume. For Tasmania there is Mr. Spicer's Handbook of Tasmanian Plants; for New Zealand, Kirk's Forest Flora and Hooker's Botany.

For Australian animals Lydekker's Marsupials and Monotremes is excellent; especially his section on the Phalanger or Australian Opossum, an animal which has been curiously neglected by all Dictionaries of repute. On New Zealand mammals it is not necessary to quote any book; for when the English came, it is said, New Zealand contained no mammal larger than a rat. Captain Cook turned two pigs loose; but it is stated on authority, that these pigs left no descendants. One was ridden to death by Maori boys, and the other was killed for sacrilege: he rooted in a tapu burial-place. Nevertheless, the settlers still call any wild-pig, especially if lean and bony, a "Captain Cook."

For the scientific nomenclature of Australian Botany the Census of Australian Plants by the Baron von Mueller (1889) is indispensable. It has been strictly followed. For fishes reliance has been placed upon Tenison Woods' Fishes and Fisheries of New South Wales (1882), on W. Macleay's Descriptive Catalogue of Australian Fishes (Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales, vols. v. and vi.), and on Dr. Guenther's Study of Fishes. For the scientific nomenclature of Animal Life, the standard of reference has been the Tabular List of all the Australian Birds by E. P. Ramsay of the Australian Museum, Sydney (1888); Catalogue of Australian Mammals by J. O. Ogilby of the Australian Museum, Sydney (1892); Catalogue of Marsupials and Monotremes, British Museum (1888); Prodromus to the Natural History of Victoria by Sir F. McCoy. Constant reference has also been made to Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales, Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Societies of Victoria and Tasmania, and to the journal of the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria.

The birds both in Australia and New Zealand have been handsomely treated by the scientific illustrators. Gould's Birds of Australia and Buller's Birds of New Zealand are indeed monumental works. Neither Gould nor Sir Walter Buller scorns vernacular names. But since the days of the former the number of named species of Australian birds has largely increased, and in January 1895, at the Brisbane Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, a Committee was appointed to draw up a list of vernacular bird-names. By the kindness of a member of this Committee (Mr. A. J. Campbell of Melbourne) I was allowed the use of a list of such vernacular names drawn up by him and Col. Legge for submission to the Committee.

VIII. SCIENTIFIC WORDS.

The example of The Century has been followed in the inclusion of sundry scientific names, especially those of genera or Natural Orders of purely Australasian objects. Although it is quite true that these can hardly be described as Australasian English, it is believed that the course adopted will be for the general convenience of those who consult this Dictionary.

Some of these "Neo-Latin" and "Neo-Greek" words are extraordinary in themselves and obscure in their origin, though not through antiquity. In his Student's Pastime, at p. 293, Dr. Skeat says "Nowhere can more ignorant etymologies be found than in works on Botany and `scientific' subjects. Too often, all the science is reserved for the subject, so that there is none to spare for explaining the names."

A generous latitude has also been taken in including some words undoubtedly English, but not exclusively Australasian, such as Anabranch, and Antipodes, and some mining and other terms that are also used in the United States. Convenience of readers is the excuse. Anabranch is more frequently used of Australian rivers than of any others, but perhaps a little pride in tracking the origin of the word has had something to do with its inclusion. Some words have been inserted for purposes of explanation, e.g. Snook, in Australasia called Barracouta, which latter is itself an old name applied in Australasia to a different fish; and Cavally, which is needed to explain Trevally.

IX. ASSISTANCE RECEIVED.

There remains the pleasant duty of acknowledging help. Many persons have given me help, whose names can hardly be listed here. A friend, an acquaintance, or sometimes even a stranger, has often sent a single quotation of value, or an explanation of a single word. The Editors of many newspapers have helped not a little by the insertion of a letter or a circular. To all these helpers, and I reckon their number at nearly 200, I tender my hearty thanks.

Various officers of the Melbourne Public Library, and my friend Mr. Edward H. Bromby, the Librarian of this University, have rendered me much assistance. I have often been fortunate enough to obtain information from the greatest living authority on a particular subject: from the Baron von Mueller, from Sir Frederick M'Coy, or from Mr. A. W. Howitt. [Alas! since I penned this sentence, the kind and helpful Baron has been taken from us, and is no longer the greatest living authority on Australian Botany.] My friend and colleague, Professor Baldwin Spencer, a most earnest worker in the field of Australian science, gave many hours of valuable time to set these pages right in the details of scientific explanations. Mr. J. G. Luehmann of Melbourne has kindly answered various questions about Botany, and Mr. A. J. North, of Sydney, in regard to certain birds. Mr. T. S. Hall, of the Biological Department of this University, and Mr. J. J. Fletcher, of Sydney, the Secretary of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales, have rendered me much help. The Rev. John Mathew, of Coburg, near Melbourne, has thrown much light on aboriginal words. The Rev. E. H. Sugden, Master of Queen's College in this University, has furnished a large number of useful quotations. His name is similarly mentioned, honoris causa, in Dr. Murray's Preface to Part I. of the `O. E. D.' Mr. R. T. Elliott of Worcester College, Oxford, has given similar help. The Master himself,—the Master of all who engage in Dictionary work,—Dr. Murray, of Oxford, has kindly forwarded to me a few pithy and valuable comments on my proof-streets. He also made me a strong appeal never to pass on information from any source without acknowledgment. This, the only honest course, I have striven scrupulously to follow; but it is not always easy to trace the sources whence information has been derived.

When gaps in the sequence of quotations were especially apparent on the proofs, Mr. W. Ellis Bird, of Richmond, Victoria, found me many illustrative passages. For New Zealand words a goodly supply of quotations was contributed by Miss Mary Colborne-Veel of Christchurch, author of a volume of poetry called The Fairest of the Angels, by her sister, Miss Gertrude Colborne-Veel, and by Mr. W. H. S. Roberts of Oamaru, author of a little book called Southland in 1856. In the matter of explanation of the origin and meaning of New Zealand terms, Dr. Hocken of Dunedin, Mr. F. R. Chapman of the same city, and Mr. Edward Tregear of Wellington, author of the Maori Polynesian Dictionary, and Secretary of the Polynesian Society, have rendered valuable and material assistance. Dr. Holden of Bellerive, near Hobart, was perhaps my most valued correspondent. After I had failed in one or two quarters to enlist Tasmanian sympathy, he came to the rescue, and gave me much help on Tasmanian words, especially on the Flora and the birds; also on Queensland Flora and on the whole subject of Fishes. Dr. Holden also enlisted later the help of Mr. J. B. Walker, of Hobart, who contributed much to enrich my proofs. But the friend who has given me most help of all has been Mr. J. Lake of St. John's College, Cambridge. When the Dictionary was being prepared for press, he worked with me for some months, very loyally putting my materials into shape. Birds, Animals, and Botany he sub-edited for me, and much of the value of this part of the Book, which is almost an Encyclopaedia rather than a Dictionary, is due to his ready knowledge, his varied attainments, and his willingness to undertake research.

To all who have thus rendered me assistance I tender hearty thanks. It is not their fault if, as is sure to be the case, defects and mistakes are found in this Dictionarv. But should the Book be received with public favour, these shall be corrected in a later edition.

EDWARD E. MORRIS.

The University, Melbourne,
February 23, 1897

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS OF NAMES

Ait. . . . Aiton.
Andr. . . . Andrews.

B. and L. . Barere and L.
Bail. . . . Baillon.
Bechst. . . Bechstein.
Benth. . . Bentham.
Bl. . . . Bleeker.
Bodd. . . . Boddaert

Bp. )
) . Bonaparte.
Bonap. )

R. Br. . . Robert Brown
Brong. . . Brongniart.

Cab. . . . Cabanis.
Carr. . . . Carriere.
Castln. . . Castelnau.
Cav. . . . Cavanilles.
Corr. . . . Correa.

Cunn. )
) . A. Cunningham
A. Cunn. )

Cuv. . . . Cuvier.

De C. . . . De Candolle.
Dec. . . . Decaisne.
Desf. . . . Desfontaines.
Desm. . . . Desmarest.
Desv. . . . Desvaux.
De Tarrag. . De Tarragon
Diet. . . . Dietrich.
Donov. . . Donovan.
Drap. . . . Drapiez.
Dryand. . . Dryander.

Endl. . . . Endlicher.

Fab. . . . Fabricius.
Forsk. . . Forskael.
Forst. . . Forster.
F. v. M. . . Ferdinand von Mueller

G. Forst. . G. Forster.
Gaertn. . . Gaertner.
Gaim. . . . Gaimard.
Garn. . . . Garnot.
Gaud. . . Gaudichaud.
Geoff. . . Geoffroy.
Germ. . . Germar.
Gmel. . . Gmelin.
Guich. . . Guichenot.
Gunth. . . Guenther.

Harv. . . Harvey.
Hasselq. . . Hasselquin.
Haw. . . . Haworth.
Hens. . . Henslow.
Herb. . . Herbert.
Homb. . . Hombron.
Hook. . . J. Hooker.
Hook. f. . . Hooker fils.
Horsf. . . Horsfield.

Ill. . . . Illiger.

Jacq. . . . Jacquinot.
Jard. . . . Jardine.

L. and S. . Liddell and Scott.

Lab. )
) . Labillardiere.
Labill. )

Lacep. . . Lacepede.
Lath. . . . Latham.
Lehm. . . Lehmann.
Less. . . Lesson.
L'herit. . . L'Heritier.
Licht. . . Lichtenstein.
Lindl. . . Lindley.
Linn. . . . Linnaeus.

Macl. . . . Macleay.
McC. . . . McCoy.
Meissn. . . Meissner.
Menz. . . Menzies.
Milne-Ed. . Milne-Edwards.
Miq. . . . Miquel.

Parlat. . . Parlatore.
Pers. . . . Persoon.

Plan. )
) . Planchol.
Planch. )

Poir. . . Poiret.

Q. . . . Quoy.

Rafll. . . Raffles.
Rein. . . . Reinwardt.
Reiss. . . Reisseck.

Rich. )
) . Richardson.
Richards.)

Roxb. . . Roxburgh

Sal. . . . Salvadori.
Salisb. . . Salisbury.
Schau. . . Schauer.

Schl. )
) . Schlechten
Schlecht.)

Selb. . . . Selby.
Ser. . . . Seringe.
Serv. . . . Serville.
Sieb. . . . Sieber.
Sm. . . . Smith.
Sol. . . . Solander.
Sow. . . . Sowerby.
Sparrm. . . Sparrman.
Steph. . . Stephan.
Sundev. . . Sundevall.

Sw. )
) . Swainson.
Swains. )

Temm. . . Temminck.
Thunb. . . Thunberg.
Tul. . . . Tulasne.

V. and H. . Vigors and Horsfield.
Val. . . . Valenciennes.
Vent. . . . Ventenat.
Vieill. . . Vieillot.
Vig. . . . Vigors.

Wagl. . . . Wagler.
Water. . . Waterhouse.
Wedd. . . . Weddell.
Willd. . . Willdenow.

Zimm. . . . Zimmermann.

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS

q.v. quod vide, which see.

i.q. idem quod, the same as.

ibid. ibidem, in the same book.

i.e. id est, that is.

sc. scilicet, that is to say.

s.v. sub voce, under the word.

cf. confer, compare.

n. noun,

adj. adjective.

v. verb.

prep. preposition.

interj. interjection.

sic, "thus," draws attention to some peculiarity of diction or to what is believed to be a mistake.

N.O. Natural Order.

sp. a species,

spp. various species.

A square bracket [ ] shows an addition to a quotation by way of comment.

O.E.D. "Oxford English Dictionary," often formerly quoted
as "N.E.D." or "New English Dictionary."

AUSTRALASIAN DICTIONARY

A

<hw>Absentee</hw>, n. euphemistic term for a convict. The word has disappeared with the need for it.

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

"The ludicrous and affected philanthropy of the present Governor of the Colony, in advertising runaway convicts under the soft and gentle name of absentees, is really unaccountable, unless we suppose it possible that his Excellency as a native of Ireland, and as having a well-grounded Hibernian antipathy to his absentee countrymen, uses the term as one expressive both of the criminality of the absentee and of his own abhorrence of the crime."

<hw>Acacia</hw>, n. and adj. a genus of shrubs or trees, N.O. Leguminosae. The Australian species often form thickets or scrubs, and are much used for hedges. The species are very numerous, and are called provincially by various names, e.g. "Wattle," "Mulga," "Giddea," and "Sally," an Anglicized form of the aboriginal name Sallee (q.v.). The tree peculiar to Tasmania, Acacia riceana, Hensl., (i>N.O. Leguminosae, is there called the Drooping Acacia.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 202:

"We possess above a hundred and thirty species of the acacia."

1839. Dr. J. Shotsky, quoted in `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 5, p. 5, col. 2:

"Yet, Australian sky and nature awaits and merits real artists to portray it. Its gigantic gum and acacia trees, 40 ft. in girth, some of them covered with a most smooth bark, externally as white as chalk. .. ."

1844. L. Leichhardt, Letter in `Cooksland,' by J. D. Lang, p. 91:

"Rosewood Acacia, the wood of which has a very agreeable violet scent like the Myal Acacia (A. pendula) in Liverpool Plains."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 149:

"The Acacias are innumerable, all yielding a famous bark for tanning, and a clean and excellent gum."

1869. Mrs. Meredith, `A Tasmanian Memory,' p. 8:

"Acacias fringed with gold."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 24:

"The name Acacia, derived from the Greek, and indicative of a thorny plant, was already bestowed by the ancient naturalist and physician Dioscorides on a Gum-Arabic yielding North-African Acacia not dissimilar to some Australian species. This generic name is so familiarly known, that the appellation `Wattle' might well be dispensed with. Indeed the name Acacia is in full use in works on travels and in many popular writings for the numerous Australian species . . . Few of any genera of plants contain more species than Acacia, and in Australia it is the richest of all; about 300 species, as occurring in our continent, have been clearly defined."

<hw>Acrobates</hw>, n. the scientific name of the Australian genus of Pigmy Flying-Phalangers, or, as they are locally called, Opossum-Mice. See Opossum-Mouse, Flying-Mouse, Flying-Phalanger, and Phalanger. The genus was founded by Desmarest in 1817. (Grk. 'akrobataes, walking on tiptoe.)

<hw>AEpyprymnus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus of the Rufous Kangaroo-Rat. It is the tallest and largest of the Kangaroo-Rats (q.v.). (Grk. 'aipus, high, and prumnon, the hinder part.)

<hw>Ailuroedus</hw>, n. scientific name for the genus of Australian birds called Cat-birds (q.v.). From Grk. 'ailouros, a cat, and 'eidos, species.

<hw>Ake</hw>, n. originally Akeake, Maori name for either of two small trees, (1) Dodonaea viscosa, Linn., in New Zealand; (2) Olearia traversii, F. v. M., in the Chatham Islands. Ake is originally a Maori adv. meaning "onwards, in time." Archdeacon Williams, in his `Dictionary of New Zealand Language,' says Ake, Ake, Ake, means " for ever and ever." (Edition 182.)

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p.133:

"Akeake, paulo post futurum"

1835. W. Yale, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 47:

"Aki, called the Lignum vitae of New Zealand."

1851. Mrs. Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 43:

"The ake and towai . . . are almost equal, in point of colour, to rosewood."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook to New Zealand,' p. 131:

"Ake, a small tree, 6 to 12 feet high. Wood very hard, variegated, black and white; used for Maori clubs; abundant in dry woods and forests."

<hw>Alarm-bird</hw>, n. a bird-name no longer used in Australia. There is an African Alarm-bird.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi. pl. 9:

"Lobivanellus lobatus (Lath.), Wattled Pewit, Alarm Bird of the Colonists."

<hw>Alectryon</hw>, n. a New Zealand tree and flower, Alectryon excelsum, De C., Maori name Titoki (q.v.); called also the New Zealand Oak, from the resemblance of its leaves to those of an oak. Named by botanists from Grk. 'alektruown, a cock.

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' I. 7, p. 16:

"The early season could not yet
Have ripened the alectryon's beads of jet,
Each on its scarlet strawberry set."

<hw>Alexandra Palm</hw>, n. a Queensland tree, Ptychosperma alexandrae, F. v. M. A beautifully marked wood much used for making walking sticks. It grows 70 or 80 feet high.

<hw>Alluvial</hw>, n. the common term in Australia and New Zealand for gold-bearing alluvial soil. The word is also used adjectivally as in England.

1889. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 403:

"The whole of the alluvial will be taken up, and the Terrible
Hollow will re-echo with the sound of pick and shovel."

<hw>Ambrite</hw> (generally called ambrit), n. Mineral [from amber + ite, mineral formative, `O.E.D.'], a fossil resin found in masses amidst lignite coals in various parts of New Zealand. Some identify it with the resin of Dammara australis, generally called Kauri gum (q.v.).

1867. F. von Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 79:

"Although originating probably from a coniferous tree related to the Kauri pine, it nevertheless has been erroneously taken for Kauri gum."—[Footnote]: "It is sufficiently characterised to deserve a special name ; but it comes so near to real amber that it deserves the name of Ambrite."

[This is the earliest use of the word.]

<hw>Anabranch</hw>, n. a branch of a river which leaves it and enters it again. The word is not Australian, though it is generally so reckoned. It is not given in the `Century,' nor in the `Imperial,' nor in `Webster,' nor in the `Standard.' The `O.E.D.' treats Ana as an independent word, rightly explaining it as anastomosing, but its quotation from the `Athenaeum' (1871), on which it relies,is a misprint. For the origin and coinage of the word, see quotation 1834. See the aboriginal name Billabong.

1834. Col.Jackson, `Journal of Royal Geographical Society,' p. 79:

"Such branches of a river as after separation re-unite, I would term anastomosing-branches; or, if a word might be coined, ana-branches, and the islands they form, branch-islands. Thus, if we would say, `the river in this part of its course divides into several ana-branches,' we should immediately understand the subsequent re-union of the branches to the main trunk."

Col. Jackson was for a while Secretary and Editor of the Society's Journal. In Feb. 1847 he resigned that position, and in the journal of that year there is the following amusing ignorance of his proposed word—

1847. `Condensed Account of Sturt's Exploration in the Interior of Australia—Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,' p. 87:

"Captain Sturt proposed sending in advance to ascertain the state of the Ana branch of the Darling, discovered by Mr. Eyre on a recent expedition to the North."

No fewer than six times on two pages is the word anabranch printed as two separate words, and as if Ana were a proper name. In the Index volume it appears "Ana, a branch of the Darling."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 35:

"The river itself divided into anabranches which . . . made the whole valley a maze of channels."

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. i. p. 298:

"What the Major calls, after the learned nomenclature of Colonel Jackson, in the `Journal of the Geographical Society,' anabranches, but which the natives call billibongs, channels coming out of a stream and returning into it again."

1871. `The Athenaeum,' May 27, p. 660 (' O.E.D.'):

"The Loddon district is called the County of Gunbower, which means, it is said, an ana branch [sic]."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' p. 48:

"A plain bordering an ana-branch sufficient for water."

<hw>Anchorwing</hw>, n. a bird-name, Falco melanogenys, Gould. The Black-cheeked Falcon, so called because of the resemblance of the wings outspread in flight to the flukes of an anchor.

<hw>Anguillaria</hw>, n. one of the vernacular names used for the common Australian wild flower, Anguillaraa australis, R. Br., Wurmbsea dioica, F. v. M., N.O. Liliaceae. The name Anguillarea is from the administrator of the Botanic Gardens of Padua, three centuries ago. There are three Australian forms, distinguished by Robert Brown as species. The flower is very common in the meadows in early spring, and is therefore called the Native Snow Drop. In Tasmania it is called Nancy.

1835.Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' 67:

"Spotted Anguillaria. Nancy. The little lively white flower with blue spots in the centre, about 2 inches high, that everywhere enlivens our grassy hills in spring, resembling the Star of Bethlehem."

1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `Australian Botany,' p. 83:

"Native Snowdrop. Anguillaria Australis. The earliest of all our indigenous spring-flowering plants. . . . In early spring our fields are white with the flowers of this pretty little bulbous-rooted plant."

<hw>Ant-eater</hw>, n. (1) i.q. Ant-eating-Porcupine. See Echidna. (2) The Banded Ant-eater (q.v.).

<hw>Ant-eater, Banded</hw>. See Banded Ant-eater.

<hw>Antechinornys</hw>, n. scientific name for the genus with the one species of Long legged Pouched-Mouse (q.v.). (Grk. 'anti, opposed to, 'echivos, hedgehog, and mus, mouse, sc. a mouse different to the hedgehog.) It is a jumping animal exclusively insectivorous.

<hw>Antipodes</hw>, n. properly a Greek word, the plural of 'antipous, lit. "having feet opposed." The ancients, however, had no knowledge of the southern hemisphere. Under the word perioikos, Liddell and Scott explain that 'antipodes meant "those who were in opposite parallels and meridians." The word Antipodes was adopted into the Latin language, and occurs in two of the Fathers, Lactantius and Augustine. By the mediaeval church to believe in the antipodes was regarded as heresy. `O.E.D.' quotes two examples of the early use of the word in English.

1398. `Trevisa Barth. De P. R.,' xv. lii. (1495), p. 506:

"Yonde in Ethiopia ben the Antipodes, men that have theyr fete ayenst our fete."

1556. `Recorde Cast. Knowl.,' 93:

"People . . . called of the Greeks and Latines also 'antipodes, Antipodes, as you might say Counterfooted, or Counterpasers."

Shakspeare uses the word in five places, but, though he knew that this "pendent world" was spherical, his Antipodes were not Australasian. In three places he means only the fact that it is day in the Eastern hemisphere when it is night in England.

`Midsummer Night's Dream,' III. ii. 55:

"I'll believe as soon
This whole earth may be bored, and that the moon
May thro' the centre creep and so displease
His brother's noontide with the Antipodes."

`Merchant of Venice,' V. 127:

"We should hold day with the Antipodes
If you would walk in absence of the sun."

`Richard II.,' III. ii. 49:

"Who all this while hath revell'd in the night,
Whilst we were wandering with the Antipodes."

In `Henry VI.,' part 3, I. iv. 135, the word more clearly designates the East:

"Thou art as opposite to every good
As the Antipodes are unto us,
Or as the South to the Septentrion." [sc. the North.]

But more precise geographical indications are given in `Much
Ado,' II. i. 273, where Benedick is so anxious to avoid
Beatrice that he says—

"I will go on the slightest errand now to the Antipodes that you can devise to send me on. I will fetch you a tooth-picker now from the farthest inch of Asia; bring you the length of Prester John's foot; fetch you a hair of the great Kam's beard; do you any embassage to the Pygmies rather than hold three words conference with this harpy."

Now the Pygmies lived on the Upper Nile, near Khartoum,
Prester John in India, and the great Kam (Khan) in Tartary.

The word Antipodes in modern use is applied rather to places than to people. Geographically, the word means a place exactly opposite on the surface of the globe, as Antipodes Island (Eastward of New Zealand), which is very near the opposite end of the diameter of the globe passing through London. But the word is often used in a wider sense, and the whole of Australasia is regarded as the Antipodes of Great Britain.

The question is often asked whether there is any singular to the word Antipodes, and `O.E.D.' shows that antipode is still used in the sense of the exact opposite of a person. Antipod is also used, especially playfully. The adjectives used are Antipodal and Antipodean.

1640. Richard Brome [Title]:

"The Antipodes; comedy in verse." [Acted in 1638, first printed 4t0. 1640.]

<hw>Ant-orchis</hw>, n. an Australian and Tasmanian orchid, Chiloglottis gunnii, Lind.

<hw>Apple</hw> and <hw>Apple-tree</hw>, n. and adj. The names are applied to various indigenous trees, in some cases from a supposed resemblance to the English fruit, in others to the foliage of the English tree. The varieties are—

Black or Brush Apple—
Achras australis, R. Br.

Emu A.—
 Owenia acidula, F. v. M.; called also Native
 Nectarine and Native Quince.
 Petalostigma quadriloculare, F. v. M.; called also
 Crab-tree, Native Quince, Quinine-tree
 (q.v.)

Kangaroo A.—
See Kangaroo Apple.

Mooley A. (West N.S.W. name)—
Owenia acidula, F. v. M.

Mulga A.—
The Galls of Acacia aneura, F. v. M.

Oak A.—
Cones of Casuarina stricta, Ait.

Rose A.—
Owenia cerasifera, F. v. M.

1820. John Oxley, `Journal of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales,' p. 187:

"The blue gum trees in the neighbourhood were extremely fine, whilst that species of Eucalyptus, which is vulgarly called the apple-tree . . . again made its appearance. . . ."

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 260:

"It builds its nest of sticks lined with grass in Iron-bark and Apple-trees (a species of Angophora)."

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

"The apple-trees resemble the English apple only in leaf."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 195:

"In looking down upon the rich flats below, adjoining the stream, I was perpetually reminded of a thriving and rich apple-orchard. The resemblance of what are called apple-trees in Australia to those of the same name at home is so striking at a distance in these situations, that the comparison could not be avoided, although the former bear no fruit, and do not even belong to the same species."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 52:

"I have heard of men employed in felling whole apple-trees (Angophera lanceolata) for the sheep."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. ii. c. iv. p. 132;

"Red Apple, Quonui, affects salt grounds."

1847. J. D. Lang, `Phillipsland,' p. 256:

"The plains, or rather downs, around it (Yass) are thinly but most picturesquely covered with `apple-trees,' as they are called by the colonists, merely from their resemblance to the European apple-tree in their size and outline, for they do not resemble it in producing an edible fruit."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 32:

"The musk-plant, hyacinth, grass-tree, and kangaroo apple-tree are indigenous."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 219:

"Pomona would indignantly disown the apple-tree, for there is not the semblance of a pippin on its tufted branches."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 113:

"Sandy apple-tree flats, and iron-bark ridges, lined the creek here on either side."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 158:

"The desolate flats where gaunt apple-trees rot."

<HW>Apple-berry</HW>, n. the fruit of an Australian shrub, Billardiera scandens, Smith, N.O. Pittosporeae, called by children "dumplings."

1793. J. E. Smith, `Specimen of Botany of New Holland,' pp. 1, 3:

"Billardiera scandens. Climbing Apple Berry. . . . The name Billardiera is given it in honour of James Julian la Billardiere, M.D., F.M.L.S., now engaged as botanist on board the French ships sent in search of M. de la Peyrouse."

<hw>Apple-gum</hw>, n. See Gum.

<hw>Apple-scented gum</hw>, n. See Gum.

<hw>Apteryx</hw>, n. [Grk. 'a privative and pterux, a wing.] A New Zealand bird about the size of a domestic fowl, with merely rudimentary wings.See Kiwi.

1813. G. Shaw, `Naturalist's Miscellany.' c. xxiv. p. 1058 (`O.E.D.'):

"The Southern Apteryx."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 137:

"The present Apterix or wingless bird of that country (New
Zealand)."

1851. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 300 [Letter from Rev. W. Colenso, Waitangi, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, Sept. 4, 1850:

"You enquire after an Apteryx. How delighted should I be to succeed in getting you one. Three years ago Owen expressed a similar wish, and I have repeatedly tried, but failed. Yet here they still are in the mountain forests, though, doubtless, fast hastening towards extinction. I saw one in its wild state two years ago in the dense woods of the interior; I saw it clearly. . . . Two living specimens were lately taken by the Acheron, steamer, to Sydney, where they died; these were obtained at the Bay of Islands, where also I once got three at one time. Since then I have not been able to obtain another, although I have offered a great price for one. The fact is, the younger natives do not know how to take them, and the elder ones having but few wants, and those fully supplied, do not care to do so. Further, they can only be captured by night, and the dog must be well trained to be of service."

1874. F. P. Cobbe, in `Littell's Age,' Nov. 7, p. 355 (`Standard'):

"We have clipped the wings of Fancy as close as if she were an Apteryx.'

<hw>Arbutus, Native</hw>, n. See Wax-Cluster.

<hw>Ardoo</hw>, n. See Nardoo.

<hw>Artichoke</hw>, n. name given to the plant Astelia Alpina, R. Br., N.O. Liliaceae.

<hw>Ash</hw>, n. The name, with various epithets, is applied to the following different Australasian trees—

Black Ash—
Nephelium semiglaucum, F. v. M.,
N.O. Sapindaceae; called also Wild Quince.

Black Mountain A.— Eucalyptus leucoxylon, F. v. M.,
N.O. Myrtaceae.

Blue A.—
Elaeodendron australe, Vent., N.O. Celastrinae.

Blueberry A.— Elaeocarpus holopetalus, F. v. M.,
N.O. Tiliaceae.

Brush Apple— Acronychia baueri, Schott. (of Illawarra,
N.S.W.).

Crow's A.—
Flindersia australis, R. Br., N.O. Meliaceae.

Elderberry A. (of Victoria)—
Panax sambucifolius, Sieb., N.O. Araliaceae.

Illawarra A.—
Elaeocarpus kirtonia, F. v. M., N.O. Tiliaceae.

Moreton Bay A.—
Eucalyptus tessellaris, Hook., N.O. Myrtaceae.

Mountain A. (see Mountain Ash).

New Zealand A. (see Titoki).

Pigeonberry A.—
Elaeocarpus obovatus, G. Don., N.O. Tiliaceae.

Red A.—
Alphitonia excelsa, Reiss, N.O. Rhamnaceae.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 75:

"The Moreton Bay Ash (a species of Eucalyptus). ..was here also very plentiful."

<hw>Assigned</hw>, past part. of verb to assign, to allot. Used as adj. of a convict allotted to a settler as a servant. Colloquially often reduced to "signed."

1827. `Captain Robinson's Report,' Dec. 23:

"It was a subject of complaint among the settlers, that their assigned servants could not be known from soldiers, owing to their dress; which very much assisted the crime of `bush-ranging.'"

1837. J. D. Lang, `New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 31

"The assigned servant of a respectable Scotch family residing near Sydney."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 75:

"Of the first five persons we saw to Van Diemen's Land, four were convicts, and perhaps the fifth. These were the assigned servants of the pilot."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 324:

"Under the old practice, the convicts, as soon as they arrived from Britain, were assigned among the various applicants. The servant thus assigned was bound to perform diligently, from sunrise till sunset, all usual and reasonable labour."

<hw>Assignee</hw>, n. a convict assigned as a servant. The word is also used in its ordinary English sense.

1843. `Penny Cyclopaedia,' vol. xxv. p. 139, col. 2:

"It is comparatively difficult to obtain another assignee,—easy to obtain a hired servant."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 324:

"Any instance of gross treatment disqualified him for the future as an assignee of convict labour."

<hw>Assignment</hw>, n. service as above.

1836. C. Darwin, `Journal of Researches' (1890), c. xix. p. 324:

"I believe the years of assignment are passed away with discontent and unhappiness."

1852. John West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 126:

"That form of service, known as assignment, was established by
Governor King in 1804."

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 117:

"The assignment system was then in operation, and such as obtained free grants of land were allowed a certain proportion of convicts to bring it into cultivation."

<hw>Asthma</hw> Herb, Queensland, n. Euphorbia pilulifera, Linn. As the name implies, a remedy for asthma. The herb is collected when in flower and carefully dried.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 183:

"This plant, having obtained some reputation in Australasia in certain pulmonary complaints, has acquired the appellation to the Colonies of `Queensland Asthma Herb'. Nevertheless, it is by no means endemic in Australasia, for it is a common tropical weed."

<hw>Aua</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand fish, Agonostoma forsteri, Bleek. Another Maori name is Makawhiti; also called Sea-Mullet and sometimes Herring; (q.v.). It is abundant also in Tasmanian estuaries, and is one of the fishes which when dried is called Picton Herring (q.v.). See also Maray and Mullet. Agonostoma is a genus of the family Mugilidae or Grey-Mullets.

<hw>Aurora australis</hw>, n. the Southern equivalent for Aurora borealis.

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 214:

"Sept. 5, 1788. About half after six in the evening, we saw an Aurora Australis, a phenomenon uncommon in the southern hemisphere."

<hw>Austral</hw>, adj. "Belonging to the South, Southern. Lat. Australis, from auster, south-wind." (`O.E.D.') The word is rarely used in Australasia in its primary sense, but now as equivalent to Australian or Australasian.

1823. Wentworth's Cambridge poem on `Australasia':

"And grant that yet an Austral Milton's song,
Pactolus-like, flow deep and rich along,
An Austral Shakespeare rise, whose living page
To Nature true may charm in every age;
And that an Austral Pindar daring soar,
Where not the Theban Eagle reach'd before."

1825. Barron Field, `First Fruits of Australian Poetry,' Motto in Geographical Memoir of New South Wales, p. 485:

"I first adventure. Follow me who list; And be the second Austral harmonist." Adapted from Bishop Hall.

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 184:

"For this, midst Austral wilds I waken
Our British harp, feel whence I come,
Queen of the sea, too long forsaken,
Queen of the soul, my spirit's home."—Alien Song.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 43:

"Every servant in this Austral Utopia thinks himself a gentleman."

1868. C. Harpur, `Poems' (ed. 1883), p. 215:

"How oft, in Austral woods, the parting day
Has gone through western golden gates away."

1879. J. B. O'Hara, `Songs of the South,' p. 127:

"What though no weird and legendary lore
Invests our young, our golden Austral shore
With that romance the poet loves too well,
When Inspiration breathes her magic spell."

1894. Ernest Favenc [Title]:

"Tales of the Austral Tropics."

1896. [Title]:

"The Austral Wheel—A Monthly Cycling Magazine, No. 1, Jan."

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

"Our Austral Spring." [Title of an article describing Spring in
Australia.]

<hw>Australasia</hw>, n. (and its adjectives), name "given originally by De Brosses to one of his three divisions of the alleged Terra australis." (`O.E.D.') Now used as a larger term than Australian, to include the continent of Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, Fiji and islands. For peculiar use of the name for the Continent in 1793, see Australia.

1756. Charles de Brosses, `Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes,' tom. i. p. 80:

"On peut de meme diviser le monde austral inconnu en trois portions. .. .L'une dans l'ocean des Indes au sud de l'Asie que j'appellerai par cette raison australasie."

1766. Callander, `Terra Australis,' i. p. 49 (Translation of de Brosses)(`O.E.D.):

"The first [division] in the Indian Ocean, south of Asia, which for this reason we shall call Australasia."

1802. G. Shaw, `Zoology,' iii. p. 506 (`O.E.D.'):

"Other Australasian snakes."

1823. Subject for English poem at Cambridge University:

`Australasia.'

[The prize (Chancellor's Medal) was won by Winthrop Mackworth Praed. William Charles Wentworth stood second.] The concluding lines of his poem are:

"And Australasia float, with flag unfurl'd,
A new Britannia in another world."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 77:

"How far had these ideas been acted upon by the Colonists of
Austral Asia?" [sic.]

1852. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. 1. p. 109:

"`The Austral-Asiatic Review,' by Murray, also made its appearance [in Hobart] in February, 1828."

1855. Tennyson, `The Brook,' p. 194:

" Katie walks
By the long wash of Australasian seas
Far off, and holds her head to other stars,
And breathes in converse seasons."

[Altered in Edition of 1894 to "breathes in April-autumns."]

1857. Daniel Bunce [Title]:

"Australasiatic reminiscences."

1864. `The Australasian,' Oct. 1, First Number [Title]:

"The Australasian."

1880. Alfred R. Wallace [Title]:

"Australasia." [In Stanford's `Compendium of Geography and
Travel.']

1881. David Blair [Title]:

"Cyclopaedia of Australasia."

1890. E. W. Hornung, `Bride from the Bush,' p. 29:

"It was neither Cockney nor Yankee, but a nasal blend of both: it was a lingo that declined to let the vowels run alone, but trotted them out in ill-matched couples, with discordant and awful consequences; in a word, it was Australasiatic of the worst description."

1890. `Victorian Consolidated Statutes,' Administration and p.obate Act, Section 39:

"`Australasian Colonies,' shall mean all colonies for the time being on the main land of Australia. ..and shall also include the colonies of New Zealand, Tasmania and Fiji and any other British Colonies or possessions in Australasia now existing or hereafter to be created which the Governor in Council may from time to time declare to be Australasian Colonies within the meaning of this Act."

1895. Edward Jenks [Title]:

"History of the Australasian Colonies."

1896. J. S. Laurie [Title]:

"The Story of Australasia."

<hw>Australia</hw>, n., and <hw>Australian</hw>, adj. As early as the 16th century there was a belief in a Terra australis (to which was often added the epithet incognita), literally "southern land," which was believed to be land lying round and stretching outwards from the South Pole.

In `Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia,' Sydney, Jan. 1892, is printed a paper read at the Geographical Congress at Berne, by E. Delmar Morgan, on the `Early Discovery of Australia.' This paper is illustrated by maps taken from `Nordenskiold's Atlas.' In a map by Orontius Finoeus, a French cosmographer of Provence, dated 1531, the Terra australis is shown as "Terra Australis recenter inventa, sed nondum plene cognita." In Ortelius' Map, 1570, it appears as "Terra Australis nondum cognita." In Gerard Mercator's Map, 1587, as "Terra Australis" simply.

In 1606 the Spaniard Fernandez de Quiros gave the name of Terra Australis del Espiritu Santo to land which he thought formed part of the Great Southland. It is in fact one of the New Hebrides.

The word "Australian " is older than "Australia" (see quotations, 1693 and 1766). The name Australia was adapted from the Latin name Terra Australis. The earliest suggestion of the word is credited to Flinders, who certainly thought that he was inventing the name. (See quotation, 1814.) Twenty-one years earlier, however, the word is found (see quotation, 1793); and the passage containing it is the first known use of the word in print. Shaw may thus be regarded as its inventor. According to its title-page, the book quoted is by two authors, the Zoology, by Shaw and the Botany by Smith. The Botany, however, was not published. Of the two names—Australia and Australasia—suggested in the opening of the quotation, to take the place of New Holland, Shaw evidently favoured Australia, while Smith, in the `Transactions of the Linnaean Society,' vol. iv. p. 213 (1798), uses Australasia for the continent several times. Neither name, however, passed then into general use. In 1814, Robert Brown the Botanist speaks of "Terra Australis," not of "Australia." "Australia" was reinvented by Flinders.

Quotations for " Terra Australis"—

1621. R. Burton, `Anatomy of Melancholy' (edition 1854), p. 56:

"For the site, if you will needs urge me to it, I am not fully resolved, it may be in Terra Australis incognita, there is room enough (for of my knowledge, neither that hungry Spaniard nor Mercurius Britannicus have yet discovered half of it)."

Ibid. p. 314:

"Terra Australis incognita. ..and yet in likelihood it may be so, for without all question, it being extended from the tropic of Capricorn to the circle Antarctic, and lying as it doth in the temperate zone, cannot choose but yield in time some flourishing kingdoms to succeeding ages, as America did unto the Spaniards."

Ibid. p. 619:

"But these are hard-hearted, unnatural, monsters of men, shallow politicians, they do not consider that a great part of the world is not yet inhabited as it ought, how many colonies into America, Terra Australis incognita, Africa may be sent?"

Early quotations for "Australian"

1693. `Nouveau Voyage de la Terre Australe, contenant les Coutumes et les Moeurs des Australiens, etc.' Par Jaques Sadeur [Gabriel de Foigny].

[This is a work of fiction, but interesting as being the first book in which the word Australiens is used. The next quotation is from the English translation.]

1693. `New Discovery, Terra Incognita Australis,' p. 163
(`O.E.D.'):

"It is easy to judge of the incomparability of the Australians with the people of Europe."

1766. Callander, `Terra Australis' (Translation of De Brosses), c. ii. p. 280:

"One of the Australians, or natives of the Southern World, whom Gonneville had brought into France."

Quotations for "Australia"

1793. G. Shaw and I. E. Smith, `Zoology and Botany of New Holland,' p. 2:

"The vast Island or rather Continent of Australia, Australasia, or New Holland, which has so lately attracted the particular attention of European navigators and naturalists, seems to abound in scenes of peculiar wildness and sterility; while the wretched natives of many of those dreary districts seem less elevated above the inferior animals than in any other part of the known world; Caffraria itself not excepted; as well as less indued with the power of promoting a comfortable existence by an approach towards useful arts and industry. It is in these savage regions however that Nature seems to have poured forth many of her most highly ornamented products with unusual liberality."

1814. M. Flinders, `Voyage to Terra Australis,' Introduction, p. iii. and footnote:

"I have . . . ventured upon the readoption of the original Terra Australis, and of this term I shall hereafter make use, when speaking of New Holland [sc. the West] and New South Wales, in a collective sense; and when using it in the most extensive signification, the adjacent isles, including that of Van Diemen, must be understood to be comprehended." [Footnote]: "Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been to convert it into Australia; as being more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 9:

"New South Wales (or Australia, as we colonials say)."

1839. C. Darwin, `Naturalist's Voyage' (ed. 1890), p. 328:

"Farewell, Australia! You are a rising child, and doubtless some day will reign a great princess in the South; but you are too great and ambitious for affection, yet not great enough for respect. I leave your shores without sorrow or regret."

1852. A Liverpool Merchant [Title]:

"A Guide to Australia and the Gold Regions."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. viii. (new ed.) p. 152:

"The colonies are determined to be separate. Australia is a
term that finds no response in the patriotic feeling of any
Australian. . . . But this will come to an end sooner or later.
The name of Australia will be dearer, if not greater, to
Australian ears than the name of Great Britain."

[Mr. Trollope's prophecy has come true, and the name of
Australia is now dearer to an Australian than the name of his
own separate colony. The word "Colonial" as indicating
Australian nationality is going out of fashion. The word
"Australian" is much preferred.]

1878. F. P. Labilliere, `Early History of the Colony of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 184:

"In a despatch to Lord Bathurst, of April 4th, 1817, Governor Macquarie acknowledges the receipt of Captain Flinders's charts of `Australia.' This is the first time that the name of Australia appears to have been officially employed. The Governor underlines the word. . . . In a private letter to Mr. Secretary Goulbourn, M.P., of December 21st, 1817, [he]says . . . `the Continent of Australia, which, I hope, will be the name given to this country in future, instead of the very erroneous and misapplied name hitherto given it of New Holland, which, properly speaking, only applies to a part of this immense Continent.'"

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 64:

"It is pleasant to reflect that the name Australia was selected by the gallant Flinders; though, with his customary modesty, he suggested rather than adopted it."

1895. H. M. Goode, `The Argus,' Oct. 15, p. 7, col. 4:

"Condemning the absurd practice of using the word `Colonial' in connection with our wines, instead of the broader and more federal one, `Australian.' In England our artists, cricketer, scullers, and globe-trotters are all spoken of and acknowledged as Australians, and our produce, with the exception of wine, is classed as follows:—Australian gold and copper, Australian beef and mutton, Australian butter, Australian fruits, &c."

Ibid. p. 14:

"Merops or Bee-Eater. A tribe [of birds] which appears to be peculiarly prevalent in the extensive regions of Australia."

<hw>Australian</hw> flag, n. Hot climate and country work have brought in a fashion among bushmen of wearing a belt or leather strap round the top of trousers instead of braces. This often causes a fold in the shirt protruding all round from under the waistcoat, which is playfully known as "the Australian flag." Slang.

<hw>Australioid</hw> and <hw>Australoid</hw>, adj. like Australian, sc. aboriginal—a term used by ethnologists. See quotations.

1869. J. Lubbock, `Prehistoric Times,' vol. xii. p. 378:

"The Australoid type contains all the inhabitants of Australia and the native races of the Deccan."

1878. E. B. Tylor, `Encyclopaedia Britannica,' vol. ii. p. 112:

"He [Professor Huxley] distinguishes four principal types of mankind, the Australioid, Negroid, Mongoloid, and Xanthochroic, adding a fifth variety, the Melanochroic. The special points of the Australioid are a chocolate-brown skin, dark brown or black eyes, black hair (usually wavy), narrow (dolichocephalic) skull, brow-ridges strongly developed, projecting jaw, coarse lips and broad nose. This type is best represented by the natives of Australia, and next to them by the indigenous tribes of Southern India, the so-called coolies."

<hw>Austral Thrush</hw>, n. See Port-Jackson Thrush.

<hw>Avocet</hw>, n. a well-known European bird-name. The Australian species is the Red-necked A., Recurvirostra nova-hollandiae, Vieill.

<hw>Aweto</hw>, n. Maori name for a vegetable-caterpillar of New Zealand. See quotation.

1889. E. Wakefield, `New Zealand after Fifty Years,' p. 81:

". . . the aweto, or vegetable-caterpillar, called by the naturalists Hipialis virescens. It is a perfect caterpillar in every respect, and a remarkably fine one too, growing to a length in the largest specimens of three and a half inches and the thickness of a finger, but more commonly to about a half or two-thirds of that size. . . . When full-grown, it undergoes a miraculous change. For some inexplicable reason, the spore of a vegetable fungus Sphaeria Robertsii, fixes itself on its neck, or between the head and the first ring of the caterpillar, takes root and grows vigorously . . . exactly like a diminutive bulrush from 6 to 10 inches high without leaves, and consisting solely of a single stem with a dark-brown felt-like head, so familiar in the bulrushes . . . always at the foot of the rata."

1896. A. Bence Jones, in `Pearson's Magazine,' Sept., p. 290:

"The dye in question was a solution of burnt or powdered resin, or wood, or the aweto, the latter a caterpillar, which, burrowing in the vegetable soil, gets a spore of a fungus between the folds of its neck, and unable to free itself, the insect's body nourishes the fungus, which vegetates and occasions the death of the caterpillar by exactly filling the interior of the body with its roots, always preserving its perfect form. When properly charred this material yielded a fine dark dye, much prized for purposes of moko." [See Moko.]

<hw>Axe-breaker</hw>, n. name of a tree, Notelaea longifolia, Vent., N.O. Jasmineae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 579:

"Axe-breaker. Wood hard, close-grained and firm. Its vernacular name emphasizes its hardness."

B

<hw>Baal</hw>, or <hw>Bail</hw>, interj. and adv. "An aboriginal expression of disapproval." (Gilbert Parker, Glossary to `Round the Compass in Australia,' 1888.) It was the negative in the Sydney dialect.

1893. J. F. Hogan, `Robert Lowe,' p. 271, quoting from `The Atlas' (circa 1845):

"Traces, however, of the Egyptian language are discoverable among the present inhabitants, with whom, for instance, the word `Bale' or `Baal' is in continual use . . . ." [Evidently a joke.]

<hw>Babbler</hw>, n. a bird-name. In Europe, "name given, on account of their harsh chattering note, to the long-legged thrushes." (`O.E.D.') The group "contains a great number of birds not satisfactorily located elsewhere, and has been called the ornithological waste-basket." (`Century.') The species are—

The Babbler—
Pomatostomus temporalis, V. and H.

Chestnut-crowned B.—
P. ruficeps, Hart.

Red-breasted B.—
P. rubeculus, Gould.

White-browed B.—
P. superciliosus, V. and H.

<hw>Back-blocks</hw>, n. (1) The far interior of Australia, and away from settled country. Land in Australia is divided on the survey maps into blocks, a word confined, in England and the United States, to town lands.

(2) The parts of a station distant from the frontage (q.v.).

1872. Anon. `Glimpses of Life in Victoria,' p. 31:

". . . we were doomed to see the whole of our river-frontage purchased. . . . The back blocks which were left to us were insufficient for the support of our flocks, and deficient in permanent water-supply. . . ."

1880. J. Mathew, Song—`The Bushman':

"Far, far on the plains of the arid back-blocks
A warm-hearted bushman is tending his flocks.
There's little to cheer in that vast grassy sea:
But oh! he finds pleasure in thinking of me.
How weary, how dreary the stillness must be!
But oh! the lone bushman is dreaming of me."

1890. E. W. Horning, `A Bride from the Bush,' p. 298:

"`Down in Vic' you can carry as many sheep to the acre as acres to the sheep up here in the `backblocks.'"

1893. M. Gaunt, `English Illustrated, `Feb., p. 294:

"The back-blocks are very effectual levellers."

1893. Haddon Chambers, `Thumbnail Sketches of Australian Life,' p. 33

"In the back-blocks of New South Wales he had known both hunger and thirst, and had suffered from sunstroke."

1893. `The Australasian,' Aug. 12, p. 302, col. 1:

"Although Kara is in the back-blocks of New South Wales, the clothes and boots my brother wears come from Bond Street."

<hw>Back-block</hw>, adj. from the interior.

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydneyside Saxon,' vol. xii. p. 215:

"`What a nice mare that is of yours!' said one of the back-block youngsters."

<hw>Back-blocker</hw>, n. a resident in the back-blocks.

1870. `The Argus,' March 22, p. 7, col. 2

"I am a bushman, a back blocker, to whom it happens about once in two years to visit Melbourne."

1892. E. W. Hornung, `Under Two Skies,' p. 21:

"As for Jim, he made himself very busy indeed, sitting on his heels over the fire in an attitude peculiar to back-blockers."

<hw>Back-slanging</hw>, verbal n. In the back-blocks (q.v.) of Australia, where hotels are naturally scarce and inferior, the traveller asks for hospitality at the stations (q.v.) on his route, where he is always made welcome. There is no idea of anything underhand on the part of the traveller, yet the custom is called back-slanging.

<hw>Badger</hw>, n. This English name has been incorrectly applied in Australia, sometimes to the Bandicoot, sometimes to the Rock-Wallaby, and sometimes to the Wombat. In Tasmania, it is the usual bush-name for the last.

1829. `The Picture of Australia,' p. 173:

"The Parameles, to which the colonists sometimes give the name of badger. . . ."

1831. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 265:

"That delicious animal, the wombat (commonly known at that place [Macquarie Harbour] by the name of badger, hence the little island of that name in the map was so called, from the circumstance of numbers of that animal being at first found upon it)."

1850. James Bennett Clutterbuck, M.D., `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 37:

"The rock Wallaby, or Badger, also belongs to the family of the Kangaroo; its length from the nose to the end of the tail is three feet; the colour of the fur being grey-brown."

1875. Rev. J. G. Wood, `Natural History,' vol. i. p. 481:

"The Wombat or Australian Badger as it is popularly called by the colonists. . . ."

1891. W. Tilley, `Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 8:

"With the exception of wombats or `badgers,' and an occasional kangaroo . . . the intruder had to rely on the stores he carried with him."

ibid. p. 44:

"Badgers also abound, or did until thinned out by hungry prospectors."

<hw>Badger-box</hw>, n. slang name for a roughly- constructed dwelling.

1875. `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania,' September, p. 99 [`Port Davey in 1875,' by the Hon. James Reid Scott, M.L.C.]:

"The dwellings occupied by the piners when up the river are of the style known as `Badger-boxes,' in distinction from huts, which have perpendicular walls, while the Badger-box is like an inverted V in section. They are covered with bark, with a thatch of grass along the ridge, and are on an average about 14 x 10 feet at the ground, and 9 or 10 feet high."

<hw>Bail</hw>, n. "A framework for securing the head of a cow while she is milked." (`O.E.D.')

This word, marked in `O.E.D.' and other Dictionaries as
Australian, is provincial English. In the `English Dialect
Dictionary,' edited by Joseph Wright, Part I., the word is
given as used in "Ireland, Northamptonshire, Norfolk, Suffolk,
Hampshire and New Zealand." It is also used in Essex.

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 83:

"In every milking yard is an apparatus for confining a cow's head called a `bail.' This consists of an upright standiron, five feet in height, let into a framework, and about six inches from it another fixed at the heel, the upper part working freely in a slit, in which are holes for a peg, so that when the peg is out and the movable standiron is thrown back, there is abundance of room for a cow's head and horns, but when closed, at which time the two standirons are parallel to each other and six inches apart, though her neck can work freely up and down, it is impossible for her to withdraw her head . . ."

1874. W. M. B., `Narrative of Edward Crewe,' p. 225:

"The former bovine female was a brute to manage, whom it would have been impossible to milk without a `bail.' To what man or country the honour of this invention belongs, who can tell? It is in very general use in the Australian colonies; and my advice to any one troubled with a naughty cow, who kicks like fury during the process of milking, is to have a bail constructed in their cow-house."

<hw>Bail up</hw>, v. (1) To secure the head of a cow in a bail for milking.

(2) By transference, to stop travellers in the bush, used of bushrangers. The quotation, 1888, shows the method of transference. It then means generally, to stop. Like the similar verb, to stick up (q.v.), it is often used humorously of a demand for subscriptions, etc.

1844. Mrs. Chas. Meredith, `Notes and Sketches of New South Wales,' p. 132:

"The bushrangers . . . walk quickly in, and `bail up,' i.e. bind with cords, or otherwise secure, the male portion."

1847. Alex. Marjoribanks, `Travels in New South Wales,' p. 72:

". . . there were eight or ten bullock-teams baled up by three mounted bushrangers. Being baled up is the colonial phrase for those who are attacked, who are afterwards all put together, and guarded by one of the party of the bushrangers when the others are plundering."

1855 W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. ii. p. 309:

"So long as that is wrong, the whole community will be wrong,— in colonial phrase, `bailed up' at the mercy of its own tenants."

1862. G. T. Lloyd, `Thirty-three Years in Tasmania and Victoria,' p. 192:

"`Come, sir, immediately,' rejoined Murphy, rudely and insultingly pushing the master; `bail up in that corner, and prepare to meet the death you have so long deserved.'"

1879. W. J. Barry, `Up and Down,' p. 112:

"She bailed me up and asked me if I was going to keep my promise and marry her."

1880. W. Senior, `Travel and Trout,' p. 36:

"His troutship, having neglected to secure a line of retreat, was, in colonial parlance, `bailed up.'"

1880. G. Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p.133:

"The Kelly gang . . . bailed up some forty residents in the local public house."

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 76:

"Did I ever get stuck-up? Never by white men, though I have been bailed up by the niggers."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 105:

"A little further on the boar `bailed up' on the top of a ridge."

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 368:

"One of the young cows was a bit strange with me, so I had to shake a stick at her and sing out `Bail up' pretty rough before she'd put her head in. Aileen smiled something like her old self for a minute, and said, `That comes natural to you now, Dick, doesn't it ?' I stared for a bit and then burst out laughing.It was a rum go, wasn't it? The same talk for cows and Christians. That's how things get stuck into the talk in a new country. Some old hand like father, as had been assigned to a dairy settler, and spent all his mornings in the cow-yard, had taken to the bush and tried his hand at sticking up people. When they came near enough of course he'd pop out from behind a tree, with his old musket or pair of pistols, and when he wanted `em to stop, `Bail up, d— yer,' would come a deal quicker and more natural-like to his tongue than `Stand.' So `bail up' it was from that day to this, and there'll have to be a deal of change in the ways of the colonies, and them as come from `em before anything else takes its place between the man that's got the arms and the man that's got the money."

<hw>Bailing-up Pen</hw>, n. place for fastening up cattle.

1889. R. M. Praed, `Romance of Station,' vol. i. c. ii. [`Eng. Dial. Dict.']:

"Alec was proud of the stockyard and pointed out . . . the superior construction of the `crush,' or branding lane, and the bailing-up pen."

<hw>Bald-Coot</hw>, n. a bird-name, Porphyrio melanotus, Temm.; Blue, P. bellus, Gould. The European bald-coot is Fulica atra.

<hw>Ballahoo</hw>, n. a name applied to the Garfish (q.v.) by Sydney fishermen. The word is West Indian, and is applied there to a fast-sailing schooner; also spelled Bullahoo and Ballahou.

<hw>Balloon-Vine</hw> n. Australian name for the common tropical weed, Cardiospermum halicacabum, Linn., N.O. Sapindaceae: called also Heart-seed, Heart-pea, and Winter-cherry. It is a climbing plant, and has a heart-shaped scar on the seed.

<hw>Balsam of Copaiba Tree</hw>, n. The name is applied to the Australian tree, Geijera salicifolia, Schott, N.O. Rutaceae, because the bark has the odour of the drug of that name.

<hw>Bamboo-grass</hw>, n. an Australian cane-like grass, Glyceria ramigera, F. v. M. ; also called Cane Grass. Largely used for thatching purposes. Stock eat the young shoots freely.

<hw>Banana</hw>, n. There are three species native to Queensland, of which the fruit is said to be worthless—

Musa Banksii, F. v. M. M. Hillii, F. v. M. M. Fitzalani, F. v. M., N.O. Scitamineae.

The Bananas which are cultivated and form a staple export of Queensland are acclimatized varieties.

<hw>Banana-land</hw>, n. slang name for Queensland, where bananas grow in abundance.

<hw>Banana-lander</hw>, n. slang for a Queenslander (see above).

<hw>Banded Ant-eater</hw>, n. name given to a small terrestrial and ant-eating marsupial, Myrmecobius fasciatus, Waterh, found in West and South Australia. It is the only species of the genus, and is regarded as the most closely allied of all living marsupials to the extinct marsupials of the Mesozoic Age in Europe. It receives its name banded from the presence along the back of a well-marked series of dark transverse bands.

1871. G. Krefft, `Mammals of Australia':

"The Myrmecobius is common on the West Coast and in the interior of New South Wales and South Australia: the Murrumbidgee River may be taken as its most eastern boundary."

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' p. 340:

"Thus we have here [W. Australia] alone the curious little banded ant-eater (Myrmecobius fasciatus), which presents the nearest approach in its dentition to the most ancient known mammals whose remains are found in the oolite and Trias of the Mesozoic epoch."

<hw>Banded-Kangaroo</hw>, i.q. Banded-Wallaby. See Lagostrophus and Wallaby.

<hw>Banded-Wallaby</hw>, n. sometimes called Banded-Kangaroo. See Lagostrophus and Wallaby.

<hw>Bandicoot</hw>, n. an insect-eating marsupial animal; family, Peramelidae; genus, Perameles. "The animals of this genus, commonly called Bandicoots in Australia, are all small, and live entirely on the ground, making nests composed of dried leaves, grass and sticks, in hollow places. They are rather mixed feeders; but insects, worms, roots and bulbs, constitute their ordinary diet." (`Encyclopaedia Britannica,' 9th edit., vol. xv. p. 381.) The name comes from India, being a corruption of Telugu pandi-kokku, literally "pig-dog," used of a large rat called by naturalists Mus malabaricus, Shaw, Mus giganteus, Hardwicke; Mus bandis coota, Bechstein. The name has spread all over India. The Indian animal is very different from the Australian, and no record is preserved to show how the Anglo-Indian word came to be used in Australia. The Bandicoots are divided into three genera—the True Bandicoots (genus Perameles, q.v.), the Rabbit Bandicoots (genus Peragale, q.v.), and the Pig-footed Bandicoots (q.v.) (genus Choeropus, q.v.). The species are—

Broadbent's Bandicoot—
Perameles broadbenti, Ramsay.

Cockerell's B.—
P. cockerelli, Ramsay.

Common Rabbit B.—
Peragale lagotis, Reid.

Desert B.—
P. eremiana, Spencer.

Doria's B.—
Perameles dorerana, Quoy & Gaim.

Golden B.—
P. aurata, Ramsay.

Gunn's B.—
P. gunni, Gray.

Less Rabbit B.—
Peragale minor, Spencer.

Long-nosed B.—
Perameles nasuta, Geoffr.

Long-tailed B.—
P. longicauda, Peters & Doria.

North-Australian B.—
P. macrura, Gould.

Port Moresby B.—
P. moresbyensis, Ramsay.

Raffray's B.—
P. rafrayana, Milne-Edw.

Short-nosed B.—
P. obesula, Shaw.

Striped B.—
P. bougainvillii, Quoy & Gaim.

White-tailed Rabbit B.—
P. lesicura. Thomas.

Pig-footed B.—
Choeropus castanotis, Gray.

1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales', vol. ii. p. 188 (Bass's Diary at the Derwent, January 1799):

"The bones of small animals, such as opossums, squirrels, kangooroo rats, and bandicoots, were numerous round their deserted fire-places."

1820. W. C. Wentworth, `Description o New South Wales,' p. 3:

"The animals are, the kangaroo, native dog (which is a smaller species of the wolf), the wombat, bandicoot, kangaroo-rat, opossum, flying squirrel, flying fox, etc. etc."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 316

"The bandicoot is about four times he size of a rat, without a tail, and burrows in the ground or in hollow trees."

1832. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 28:

"The bandicoot is as large as a rabbit. There are two kinds, the rat and the rabbit bandicoot."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 233:

"The common people are not destitute of what Wordsworth calls `the poetry of common speech,' many of their similes being very forcibly and naturally drawn from objects familiarly in sight and quite Australian. `Poor as a bandicoot,' `miserable as a shag on a rock.'"

Ibid. p. 330:

"There is also a rat-like animal with a swinish face, covered with ruddy coarse hair, that burrows in the ground—the bandicoot. It is said to be very fine eating."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 26:

"The bandicoot is the size of a large rat, of a dark brown colour; it feeds upon roots, and its flesh is good eating. This animal burrows in the ground, and it is from this habit, I suppose, that when hungry, cold, or unhappy, the Australian black says that he is as miserable as the bandicoot."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals, p. 92:

"The bandicoots are good eating even for Europeans, and in my opinion are the only Australian mammals fit to eat. They resemble pigs, and the flesh tastes somewhat like pork."

<hw>Bangalay</hw>, n. a Sydney workmen's name for the timber of Eucalyptus botrioides, Smith. (See Gum.) The name is aboriginal, and by workmen is always pronounced Bang Alley.

<hw>Bangalow</hw>, n. an ornamental feathery-leaved palm, Ptychosperma elegans, Blume, N.O. Palmeae.

1851. J. Henderson, `Excursions in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p.229

"The Bangalo, which is a palm. . . The germ, or roll of young leaves in the centre, and near the top, is eaten by the natives, and occasionally by white men, either raw or boiled. It is of a white colour, sweet and pleasant to the taste."

1884. W. R. Guilfoyle, `Australian Botany,' p. 23:

"The aborigines of New South Wales and Queensland, and occasionally the settlers, eat the young leaves of the cabbage and bangalo palms."

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 193:

You see he was bred in a bangalow wood,
And bangalow pith was the principal food
His mother served out in her shanty."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 592:

"Bangalow. . . . The small stems sometimes go under the name of `Moreton Bay Canes.' It is a very ornamental, feathery-leaved palm."

<hw>Bang-tail muster</hw>. See quotation.

1887. W. S. S. Tyrwhitt, `The New Churn in the Queensland Bush,' p. 61:

"Every third or fourth year on a cattle station, they have what is called a `bang tail muster'; that is to say, all the cattle are brought into the yards, and have the long hairs at the end of the tail cut off square, with knives or sheep-shears. . . The object of it is. . .to find out the actual number of cattle on the run, to compare with the number entered on the station books."

<hw>Banker</hw>, n. a river full up to the top of the banks. Compare Shakspeare: "Like a proud river, peering o'er his bounds." (`King John,' III. i. 23.)

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol, iii. p. 175

"The Murrumbidgee was running a `banker'—water right up to the banks."

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. vii. p. 52:

"The driver stated that he had heard the river was `a banker.'"

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 45:

"The creeks were bankers, and the flood
Was forty miles round Bourke."

Ibid. p. 100:

"Till the river runs a banker,
All stained with yellow mud."

<hw>Banksia</hw>, n. "A genus of Australian shrubs with umbellate flowers,—now cultivated as ornamental shrubs in Europe." (`O.E.D.') Called after Mr. Banks, naturalist of the Endeavour, afterwards Sir Joseph Banks. The so-called Australian Honeysuckle (q.v.). See also Bottle-brush.

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 221:

"The different species of banksia. The finest new genus hitherto found in New Holland has been destined by Linnaeus, with great propriety, to transmit to posterity the name of Sir Joseph Banks, who first discovered it in his celebrated voyage round the world."

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' p. 557:

"A few berries, the yam and fern root, the flowers of the different banksia, and at times some honey, make up the whole vegetable catalogue."

1829. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of the Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 312:

"Scrubs where the different species of banksia are found, the flowers of which I (Mr. Caley) have reason to think afford it sustenance during winter."

1833. C. Sturt, `South Australia,' vol. ii. c. ii. p. 30:

"Some sandhills . . . crowned by banksias."

1845. J. Q. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 39:

"Many different species of banksia grow in great plenty in the neighbourhood of Sydney, and from the density of their foliage are very ornamental."

1846. L. Leichhardt, quoted by J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 331:

"The table-land is covered by forests of stringy-bark, of melaleuca-gum, and banksia."

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

"In this they will find an extremely rich collection of bottle-brush-flowered, zigzag-leaved, grey-tinted, odd-looking things, to most eyes rather strange than beautiful, notwithstanding that one of them is named Banksia speciosa. They are the `Botany Bays' of old-fashioned gardeners, but are more in the shrub and tree line than that of flowering pots. Banksia Solandei will remind them to turn to their `Cook's Voyages' when they get home, to read how poor Dr. Solander got up a mountain and was heartily glad to get down again."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 46:

"The banksias are of historic interest, inasmuch as the genus was dedicated already by the younger Linne in 1781 to Sir Joseph Banks, from whom the Swedish naturalist received branchlets of those species, which in Captain Cook's first voyage more than 100 years ago (1770) were gathered by Banks at Botany-Bay and a few other places of the east coast of Australia."

1887. J. Bonwick, `Romance of the Wool Trade,' p. 228:

"A banksia plain, with its collection of bottle-brush-like-flowers, may have its charms for a botanist, but its well-known sandy ground forbids the hope of good grasses."

<hw>Baobab</hw>, n. a tree, native of Africa, Adansonia digitata. The name is Ethiopian. It has been introduced into many tropical countries. The Australian species of the genus is A. gregorii, F. v. M., called also Cream of Tartar or Sour Gourd-tree, Gouty-stem (q.v.), and Bottle-tree (q.v.).

<hw>Barber</hw>, or <hw>Tasmanian Barber</hw>, n. a name for the fish Anthias rasor, Richards., family Percidae; also called Red-Perch. See Perch. It occurs in Tasmania, New Zealand, and Port Jackson. It is called Barber from the shape of the praeoperculum, one of the bones of the head. See quotation.

1841. John Richardson, `Description of Australian Fish,' p. 73:

"Serranus Rasor.— Tasmanian Barber. . . . The serrature of the preoperculum is the most obvious and general character by which the very numerous Serrani are connected with each other . . . The Van Diemen's Land fish, which is described below, is one of the `Barbers,' a fact which the specific appellation rasor is intended to indicate; the more classical word having been previously appropriated to another species. . . Mr. Lempriere states that it is known locally as the `red perch or shad.'"

[Richardson also says that Cuvier founded a subdivision of the Serrani on the characters of the scales of the jaws, under the name of `les Barbiers,' which had been previously grouped by Block under the title Anthias.]

<hw>Barcoo-grass</hw>, n. an Australian grass, Anthistiria membranacea, Lindl. One of the best pasture grasses in Queensland, but growing in other colonies also.

<hw>Barcoo Rot</hw>, n. a disease affecting inhabitants of various parts of the interior of Australia, but chiefly bushmen. It consists of persistent ulceration of the skin, chiefly on the back of the hands, and often originating in abrasions.

It is attributed to monotony of diet and to the cloudless climate, with its alternations of extreme cold at night and burning heat by day. It is said to be maintained and aggravated by the irritation of small flies.

1870. E. B. Kennedy, `Four Years in Queensland,' p. 46:

"Land scurvy is better known in Queensland by local names, which do not sound very pleasant, such as `Barcoo rot,' `Kennedy rot,' according to the district it appears in. There is nothing dangerous about it; it is simply the festering of any cut or scratch on one's legs, arms or hands. . . They take months to heal. . . Want of vegetables is assigned as the cause."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 58:

"In Western Queensland people are also subject to bad sores on the hand, called Barcoo-rot."

<hw>Barcoo Vomit</hw>, n. a sickness occurring in inhabitants of various parts of the high land of the interior of Australia. It is characterized by painless attacks of vomiting, occurring immediately after food is taken, followed by hunger, and recurring as soon as hunger is satisfied.

The name Barcoo is derived from the district traversed by the river Barcoo, or Cooper, in which this complaint and the Barcoo Rot are common. See Dr. E. C. Stirling's `Notes from Central Australia,' in `Intercolonial Quarterly Journal of Medicine and Surgery,' vol. i. p. 218.

<hw>Bargan</hw>, n. a name of the Come-back Boomerang (q.v.). (Spelt also barragan.)

1892. J. Fraser, `Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 70:

"The `come-back' variety (of boomerang) is not a fighting weapon. A dialect name for it is bargan, which word may be explained in our language to mean `bent like a sickle or crescent moon.'"

<hw>Barking Owl</hw>, n. a bird not identified, and not in Gould (who accompanied Leichhardt).

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition, p. 47:

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

<hw>Barrack</hw>, v. to jeer at opponents, to interrupt noisily, to make a disturbance; with the preposition "for," to support as a partisan, generally with clamour. An Australian football term dating from about 1880. The verb has been ruled unparliamentary by the Speaker in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It is, however, in very common colloquial use. It is from the aboriginal word borak (q.v.), and the sense of jeering is earlier than that of supporting, but jeering at one side is akin to cheering for the other. Another suggested derivation is from the Irish pronunciation of "Bark," as (according to the usually accepted view) "Larrikin" from "larking." But the former explanation is the more probable. There is no connection with soldiers' "barracks;" nor is it likely that there is any, as has been ingeniously suggested, with the French word baragouin, gibberish.

1890. `Melbourne Punch,' Aug. 14, p. 106, col. 3:

"To use a football phrase, they all to a man `barrack' for the
British Lion."

1893. `The Age,' June 17, p. 15, col. 4:

"[The boy] goes much to football matches, where he barracks, and in a general way makes himself intolerable."

1893. `The Argus,' July 5, p. 9, col. 4, Legislative Assembly:

"Mr. Isaacs:. . . He hoped this `barracking' would not be continued." [Members had been interrupting him.]

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Sept. 9, p. 1, col. 6:

"He noticed with pleasure the decrease of disagreeable barracking by spectators at matches during last season. Good-humoured badinage had prevailed, but the spectators had been very well conducted."

<hw>Barracker</hw>, n. one who barracks (q.v.).

1893. `The Age,' June 27, p. 6, col. 6:

"His worship remarked that the `barracking' that was carried on at football matches was a mean and contemptible system, and was getting worse and worse every day. Actually people were afraid to go to them on account of the conduct of the crowd of `barrackers.' It took all the interest out of the game to see young men acting like a gang of larrikins."

1894. `"The Argus,' Nov. 29, p. 4, col. 9:

"The `most unkindest cut of all' was that the Premier, who was Mr. Rogers's principal barracker during the elections, turned his back upon the prophet and did not deign to discuss his plan."

<hw>Barracks</hw>, n. a building on a station with rooms for bachelors.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 100

"A roomy, roughly-finished building known as the `barracks.' . . . . Three of the numerous bedrooms were tenanted by young men, . . . neophytes, who were gradually assimilating the love of Bush-land."

<hw>Barracouta</hw>, or <hw>Barracoota</hw>, n. The name, under its original spelling of Barracuda, was coined in the Spanish West Indies, and first applied there to a large voracious fish, Sphyraena pecuda, family Sphyraenidae. In Australia and New Zealand it is applied to a smaller edible fish, Thyrsites atun, Cuv. and Val., family Trichiuridae, called Snook (q.v.) at the Cape of Good Hope. It is found from the Cape of Good Hope to New Zealand.

1845. `Voyage to Port Philip,' p. 40:

"We hook the barracuda fish."

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fishes of New South Wales,' p. 69:

"Sphyrenidae. The first family is the barracudas, or sea-pike." [Footnote]: "This name is no doubt the same as Barracouta and is of Spanish origin. The application of it to Thyrsites atun in the Southern seas was founded on some fancied resemblance to the West Indian fish, which originally bore the name, though of course they are entirely different."

(2) The word is used as a nickname for an inhabitant of Hobart; compare Cornstalk.

<hw>Barramunda</hw>, n. a fish, i.q. Burramundi (q.v.).

<hw>Basket-Fence</hw>, n. Local name for a stake-hedge. See quotation.

1872. G. S. Baden-Powell, `New Homes for the Old Country,' p. 208:

"For sheep, too, is made the `basket fence.' Stakes are driven in, and their pliant `stuff' interwoven, as in a stake hedge in England."

<hw>Bastard Dory</hw> and <hw>John Dory</hw> (q.v.), spelt also <HW>Dorey</HW>, n. an Australian fish, Cyttus australis, family Cyttidae; the Australian representative of Zeus faber, the European "John Dory," and its close relative, is called Bastard Dorey in New Zealand, and also Boar-fish (q.v.).

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 387:

"Histiopterus. . . .The species figured attains to a length of twenty inches, and is esteemed as food. It is known at Melbourne by the names of `Boar-fish' or `Bastard Dorey' (fig.), Histiopterus recurvirostris."

<hw>Bastard Trumpeter</hw>, n. a fish. See Morwong, Paper-fish, and Trumpeter. In Sydney it is Latris ciliaris, Forst., which is called Moki in New Zealand; in Victoria and Tasmania, L. forsteri, Casteln.

1883. `Royal Commission on the Fisheries of Tasmania,' p. 35:

"The bastard trumpeter (Latris Forsteri). . . .Scarcely inferior to the real trumpeter, and superior to it in abundance all the year round, comes the bastard trumpeter. . . This fish has hitherto been confounded with Latris ciliaris (Forst.); but, although the latter species has been reported as existing in Tasmanian waters, it is most probably a mistake: for the two varieties (the red and the white), found in such abundance here, have the general characters as shown above. . . They must be referred to the Latris Forsteri of Count Castelnau, which appears to be the bastard trumpeter of Victorian waters."

<hw>Bat-fish</hw>, n. The name in England is given to a fish of the family Maltheidae. It is also applied to the Flying Gurnard of the Atlantic and to the Californian Sting-ray. In Australia, and chiefly in New South Wales, it is applied to Psettus argenteus, Linn., family Carangidae, or Horse Mackerels. Guenther says that the "Sea Bats," which belong to the closely allied genus Platax, are called so from the extraordinary length of some portion of their dorsal and anal fins and of their ventrals.

<hw>Bathurst Bur</hw>, n. Explained in quotation.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 261:

"The Bathurst bur (Xanthium spinosuzn), a plant with long triple spines like the barbary, and burs which are ruinous to the wool of the sheep—otherwise, itself very like a chenopodium, or good-fat-hen."

<hw>Bats-wing-coral</hw>, n. the Australian wood Erythrina vespertilio, Bentham, N.O. Leguminosae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 426:

"Batswing Coral. . . .The wood is soft, and used by the aborigines for making their `heilamans,' or shields. It is exceedingly light and spongy, and of the greatest difficulty to work up to get anything like a surface for polishing."

<hw>Bauera</hw>, n. a shrub, Bauera rubioides, Andr., N.O. Saxifrageae, the Scrub Vine, or Native Rose; commonly called in Tasmania "Bauera,"and celebrated for forming impenetrable thickets in conjunction with "cutting grass," Cladium psittacorum, Labill.

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 70:

"Bauera rubiaefolia. Madder leaved Bauera. A pretty little plant with pink flowers. This genus is named after the celebrated German draughtsman, whose splendid works are yet unrivalled in the art, especially of the Australian plants which he depicted in his voyage round New Holland with Capt. Flinders in the Investigator."

1888. R. M. Johnston, `Geology of Tasmania,' Intro. p. vi.:

"The Bauera scrub . . . is a tiny, beautiful shrub . . . Although the branches are thin and wiry, they are too tough and too much entangled in mass to cut, and the only mode of progress often is to throw one's self high upon the soft branching mass and roll over to the other side. The progress in this way is slow, monotonous, and exhausting."

1891. `The Australasian,' April 4, p. 670, col. 2:

"Cutting-grass swamps and the bauera, where a dog can't hardly
go,
Stringy-bark country, and blackwood beds, and lots of it broken
by snow."

1891. W. Tilley, `Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 7:

"Interposing the even more troublesome Bauera shrub; whose gnarled branches have earned for it the local and expressive name of `tangle-foot' or `leg ropes.' [It] has been named by Spicer the `Native Rose.'"

<hw>Beal</hw>, <hw>Bool</hw>, or <hw>Bull</hw>, n. a sweet aboriginal drink.

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

"A good jorum of bull (washings of a sugar bag)" [given to aborigines who have been working].

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. ii. p. 288:

"The flowers are gathered, and by steeping them a night in water the natives made a sweet beverage called `bool.'"

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `Aborigines of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 210:

"In the flowers of a dwarf species of banksia (B. ornata) there is a good deal of honey, and this was got out of the flowers by immersing them in water. The water thus sweetened was greedily swallowed by the natives. The drink was named beal by the natives of the west of Victoria, and was much esteemed."

<hw>Beal</hw> (2), n. i.q. Belar (q.v.).

<hw>Bean, Queensland</hw>, or <hw>Leichhardt</hw>, or <hw>Match-box</hw>, n. Entada scandens, Benth., N.O. Leguminosae. Though this bean has two Australian names, it is really widely distributed throughout the tropics. A tall climbing plant; the seeds are used for match-boxes.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 425:

"The seeds are about two inches across, by half-an-inch thick, and have a hard woody and beautifully polished shell, of a dark brown or purplish colour. These seeds are converted into snuff-boxes, scent-bottles, spoons, etc., and in the Indian bazaars they are used as weights. (`Treasury of Botany.') In the colonies we usually see the beans of this plant mounted with silver, as match-boxes. The wood itself is soft, fibrous, and spongy."

<hw>Bean-Tree</hw>, n. called also Moreton Bay Chestnut, Castanospermum australe, Cunn. and Fraser, N.O. Leguminosae; a tall tree with red flowers and large seed-pods. The timber of young specimens has beautiful dark clouding.

<hw>Bear, Native</hw>, n. the colonists' name for an animal called by the aborigines Koala, Koolah, Kool-la, and Carbora (Phascolarctus cinereus). It is a tree-climbing marsupial, about two feet in length, like a small bear in its heavy build. Its food is the young leaves of the Eucalyptus, and it is said that the Native Bear cannot be taken to England because it would die on board ship, owing to there being no fresh gum leaves. The writers are incorrect who call the animal a sloth.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 317

"Our coola (sloth or native bear) is about the size of an ordinary poodle dog, with shaggy, dirty-coloured fur, no tail, and claws and feet like a bear, of which it forms a tolerable miniature. It climbs trees readily and feeds upon their leaves."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 57:

"The bear (phascolomys) of the colonists is in reality a species of sloth, and partakes of all the characteristics of that animal; it is of the marsupial order, and is found chiefly in the neighbourhood of thickly timbered high land; its flesh is used by the aborigines for food, but is tough and unpalatable; its usual weight is from eight to twelve pounds." [Note: Phascolomys is the name of the Wombat, not the Bear.]

1854. G. H. Hayden, `The Australian Emigrant,' p. 126:

"The luckless carbora fell crashing through the branches." [Footnote] "The native name of an animal of the sloth species, but incorrectly called by the colonists a bear."

1855. W. Blandowski, `Transactions of Philosophical Society of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 68:

"The koala or karbor (Phascolarctus cinereus) frequents very high trees, and sits in places where it is most sheltered by the branches. . . . Its fur is of the same colour as the bark . . . like the cat has the power of contracting and expanding the pupil of the eye . . . . Its skin is remarkably thick . . . dense woolly fur . . . . The natives aver that the koala never drinks water."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 448:

"They were soon entirely out of provisions, but found a sort of substitute by living on the native bear (Phascolarctus cinereus), which was plentiful even in the forests."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 214:

"Look, high up in the branches of that tall tree is a native bear! It sits motionless. It has something the appearance of a solemn old man. How funny his great ears and Roman nose look! He sits on the branch as if it was a chair, holding with hand-like claws the surrounding twigs."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 9:

"We learned that a koala or native bear (Phascolarctus cinereus) was sitting on a tree near the but of a shepherd . . . not a dangerous animal. It is called `native bear,' but is in no wise related to the bear family. It is an innocent and peaceful marsupial, which is active only at night, and sluggishly climbs the trees, eating leaves and sleeping during the whole day. As soon as the young has left the pouch, the mother carries it with her on her back. The Australian bear is found in considerable numbers throughout the eastern part of the continent, even within the tropical circle."

<hw>Bearded Lizard</hw>, n. See Jew Lizard.

<hw>Beardie</hw>, or <hw>Beardy</hw>, n. a fish. In Scotland the name is applied to the Bearded Loach, Nemachilus barbatus, of Europe; in New South Wales the name is given to the fish Lotella marginata, Macl., of the family Gadidae, or Cod-fishes, which is also called Ling (q.v.).

<hw>Beaver-rat</hw>, n. an aquatic rodent, something like the English water-rat, genus Hydromys.

1864. `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land' [paper by Morton Allport], p. 62:

"Common to both fresh and brackish water is the yellow bellied beaver-rat or musk-rat (Hydromys chrysogaster)."

<hw>Beech</hw>, n. There is only one true Beech in Australia, Fagus cunninghamii, Hook, N.O. Cupuliferae; but the name is applied to many other kinds of Australian trees, viz.—

(1) Simply to

Cryptocarya glaucescens, R. Br., N.O. Laurineae, called also Black Sassafras, White Laurel, She Beech, and Black Beech.

Flindersia australis, R. Br., N.O. Meliaceae, called also Flindosa Ash, Crow's Ash, and Rasp-pod, and invariably Myrtle to Tasmania.

Gmelina leichhardtii, F. v. M., N.O. Verbenaceae.

Monotoca elliptica, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae.

Phyllanthus ferdinandi, Muell. and Arg., N.O. Euphorbiaceae, called also Pencil Cedar in Southern New South Wales.

Schizomeria ovata, D. Don, N.O. Saxifrageae, called also Corkwood, Light-wood, Coachwood, and White Cherry.

Trochocarpa laurina, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae, called also Brush Cherry, and Brush Myrtle.

(2) With various epithets the name is also used as follows—

Evergreen Beech—

Fagus cunninghamii, Hook, N.O. Cupuliferae, called also Myrtle and Negro-head Beech.

Flindosy B.—

Flindersia schottiana, F. v. M., N.O. Meliaceae, called also Ash and Stave-wood.

Indian B.—

Pongamia glabra, Vent., N.O. Leguminosae, B. Fl.

Mountain B.—

Lomatia longifolia, R. Br., N.O. Proteaceae.

Native B.—

Callicoma serratifolia, Andr., N.O. Saxifragiae, "one of the trees called by the early colonists `Black Wattle,' from the fancied resemblance of the flowers to those of some of the wattles." (Maiden, p. 389.)

Negro-head B., i.q. Evergreen B. (q.v. supra).

Queensland B.—

Gmelina leichhardtii , F. v. M., N.O. Verbenaceae, a tall valuable timber-tree.

Red B.—

Tarrietia trifoliata, F. v. M., N.O. Sterculiaceae.

She B.—

Cryptocazya obovata, R. Br., H.0. Laurineae, B. Fl., called also Bastard Sycamore.

White B.—

Elaeocarpus kirtoni, F. v. M., N.O. Tiliaceae, called also Mountain Ash.

(3) In New Zealand, there are six species of true beeches, which according to Kirk are as follows—

Blair's B.—

Fagus blairii, T. Kirk.

Entire-leaved B.—

F. solandri, Hook. f.

Mountain B.—

F. cliffortioides, Hook. f.

Pointed-leaved B.—

F. apiculata, Colenso.

Silver B.—

F. Menziesii, Hook. f.

Tooth-leaved B.—

F. fusca, Hook. f.

All these, however, are commonly called Birches.

See also the words Ash, Myrtle, Sassafras.

<hw>Bee-eater</hw>, n. a bird-name. The European Bee-eater is Merops apiaster; the Australian species is Merops ornatus, Lath. The bird was called "M. phrygius, the Embroidered Merops," by Shaw.

1793. G. Shaw, `Zoology [and Botany] of New Holland,' p. 14:

"Specific character.—Black Merops varied with yellow. The bird figured in its natural size on the present plate is a species of Merops or Bee-eater; a tribe which appears to be peculiarly prevalent in the extensive regions of Australia, since more birds of this genus have been discovered than of any other, except the very numerous one of Psittacus."

[The birds, however, have been since this date further differentiated, and are now all classed in other genera, except the present species.]

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 144:

"The wattled bee-eater, of which a plate is annexed, fell in our way during the course of the day. . . . Under the eye, on each side, is a kind of wattle of an orange colour. . . This bird seems to be peculiar to New Holland."

Ibid. p. 190:

"We this day shot a knob-fronted bee-eater (see plate annexed).
This is about the size of a black-bird." [Description follows.]

<hw>Beef-wood</hw>, n. the timber of various Australian trees, especially of the genus Casuarina, and some of the Banksias; often used as a synonym of She-oak (q.v.). The name is taken from the redness of the wood.

1826. J. Atkinson, `Agriculture and Grazing in New South Wales,' p. 31:

"The wood is well known in England by the names of Botany Bay wood, or beef wood.The grain is very peculiar, but the wood is thought very little of in the colony; it makes good shingles, splits, in the colonial phrase, from heart to bark . . ."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. i. c. i. p. 22:

"They seemed to be covered with cypresses and beef-wood."

1846. C. Holtzapffel, `Turning,' vol. i. p. 74:

"Beef wood. Red-coloured woods are sometimes thus named, but it is generally applied to the Botany-Bay oak."

1852. G. C. Munday, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 219:

"A shingle of the beef-wood looks precisely like a raw beef-steak."

1856. Capt. H. Butler Stoney, `A Residence in Tasmania,' p. 265:

"We now turn our attention to some trees of a very different nature, Casuarina stricta and quadrivalvis, commonly called He and She oak, and sometimes known by the name of beef-wood, from the wood, which is very hard and takes a high polish, exhibiting peculiar maculae spots and veins scattered throughout a finely striated tint . . ."

1868. Paxton's `Botanical Dictionary,' p. 116:

"Casuarinaceae,or Beefwoods. Curious branching, leafless trees or shrubs, with timber of a high order, which is both hard and heavy, and of the colour of raw beef, whence the vulgar name."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants.' (See `Index of vernacular names.')

<hw>Belar</hw>, n. (various spellings, Belah, billa, beela, beal), an aboriginal name for the tree Casuarina glauca. The colonists call the tree Bull-oak, probably from this native name.

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 18:

"A voice in the beela grows wild in its wail."

1868. J. A. B., `Meta,' p. 19:

"With heartfelt glee we hail the camp,
And blazing fire of beal."

[Footnote]: "Aboriginal name of the gum-tree wood."

1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. vi. p. 110:

"These scrubs . . . sometimes crown the watersheds as `belar.'"

<hw>Bell-bird</hw>, n. name given to several birds, from their note, like the tinkling of a bell. In Australia, a Honey-eater, Myzantha melanophrys, Gould ('Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 80), the `Australian Bell-bird' (the same bird as Myzantha flavirostris, V. and H.), chiefly found in New South Wales; also Oreoica gutturalis, Gould (vol. ii. pl. 81), the `Bell-bird' of Western Australia; and Oreoica cristata, Lewin. In New Zealand, Anthornis melanura, Sparrm., chief Maori names, Korimako (q.v.) in North, and Makomako in South. Buller gives ten Maori names. The settlers call it Moko (q.v.). There is also a Bell-bird in Brazil.

1774. J. Hawkesworth, `Voyages,' vol. ii. p. 390 [Journal of Jan. 17, 1770):

"In the morning we were awakened by the singing of the birds; the number was incredible, and they seemed to strain their throats in emulation of each other. This wild melody was infinitely superior to any that we had ever heard of the same kind; it seemed to be like small bells most exquisitely tuned, and perhaps the distance, and the water between, might be no small advantage to the sound. Upon enquiry we were informed that the birds here always began to sing about two hours after midnight, and continuing their music till sunrise were, like our nightingales, silent the rest of the day."

[This celebrated descriptive passage by Dr. Hawkesworth is based upon the following original from `Banks's Journal,' which now, after an interval of 122 years, has just been published in London, edited by Sir J. D. Hooker.]

1770. J. Banks, `Journal,' Jan. 17 (edition 1896):

"I was awakened by the singing of the birds ashore, from whence we are distant not a quarter of a mile. Their numbers were certainly very great. They seemed to strain their throats with emulation, and made, perhaps, the most melodious wild music I have ever heard, almost imitating small bells, but with the most tunable silver sound imaginable, to which, maybe, the distance was no small addition. On inquiring of our people, I was told that they had observed them ever since we had been here, and that they began to sing about one or two in the morning, and continue till sunrise, after which they are silent all day, like our nightingales."

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. viii. p. 84:

"The cry of the bell-bird seems to be unknown here."

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 319:

"Mr. Caley thus observes on this bird: `Dell-bird or Bell-bird. So called by the colonists. It is an inhabitant of bushes, where its disagreeable noise (disagreeable at least to me) [but not to the poets] may be continually heard; but nowhere more so than on going up the harbour to Paramatta, when a little above the Flats.'"

1835. T. B. Wilson, `Voyage Round the World,' p. 259:

"During the night, the bell bird supplied, to us, the place of the wakeful nightingale . . . a pleasing surprise, as we had hitherto supposed that the birds in New Holland were not formed for song."

1839. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' p. 23:

"Every bough seemed to throng with feathered musicians: the melodious chimes of the bell-bird were specially distinct."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 102:

"Look at the bell-bird's nest, admire the two spotted salmon coloured eggs."

Ibid. ('Verses written whilst we lived in tents'), p. 171:

"Through the Eucalyptus shade,
Pleased could watch the bell-bird's flutter,
Blending with soft voice of waters
The delicious tones they utter."

1846. Lady Martin, `Bush journey, 1846, Our Maoris,' p. 93:

"We did hear the birds next morning as Captain Cook had described —first the bell-bird gave its clear, full note, and then came such a jargoning as made one's heart glad."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 81:

"Oreoica gutturalis, Gould. Crested Oreoica. Bell-bird, Colonists of Swan River [Western Australia]. . . I find the following remarks in my note-book— `Note, a very peculiar piping whistle, sounding like weet-weet-weet-weet-oo, the last syllable fully drawn out and very melodious. . . . In Western Australia, where the real Bell-bird is never found, this species has had that appellation given to it,—a term which must appear ill-applied to those who have heard the note of the true Bell-bird of the brushes of New South Wales, whose tinkling sound so nearly resembles that of a distant sheep-bell as occasionally to deceive the ears of a practised shepherd."

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 93:

"Every now and then we stood, by common consent, silent and almost breathless, to listen to the bell-bird, a dingy little fellow, nearly as large as a thrush with the plumage of a chaffinch, but with such a note! How can I make you hear its wild, sweet, plaintive tone, as a little girl of the party said `just as if it had a bell in its throat;' but indeed it would require a whole peal of silver bells to ring such an exquisite chime."

1868. F. Napier Broome, `Canterbury Rhymes,' second edition, p. 108:

"Where the bell-bird sets solitudes ringing,
Many times I have heard and thrown down
My lyre in despair of all singing."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 21:

"Listen to the bell-bird. Ping, ping, sounds through the vast hushed temple of nature."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 81:

"The bell-bird, with metallic but mellow pipe, warns the wanderer that he is near water in some sequestered nook."

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 8:

"And softer than slumber and sweeter than singing,
The notes of the bell-bird are running and ringing."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 85:

"Anthornis melanura. Chatham Island Bell-bird (A. Melanocephala), the Bell-bird—so-called from the fanciful resemblance of one of its notes to the distant tolling of a bell."

1889. Prof. Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 119:

"Bell-bird, Korimako,or Makomako (Anthornis melanura), is still common in many parts of the South Island—e.g. in the neighbourhood of Dunedin; but has almost disappeared from the North Island. Its song is remarkably fine."

1893. W. P. Reeves, `The Passing of the Forest,' `Review of Reviews,' Feb. 1893, p. 45:

"Gone are the forest birds, arboreal things,
Eaters of honey, honey-sweet in song;
The tui, and the bell-bird—he who sings
That brief rich music one would fain prolong.'

1896. G. A. Keartland, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Part II., Zoology, Aves, p. 74:

"In the north they [Oreoica] are frequently called `Bell-birds,' but bear no resemblance to Manorhina melanophrys in plumage, shape, or note. The Oreoica is such an accomplished ventriloquist that it is difficult to find."

<hw>Bell-bottomed</hw>, adj. a particular fashion of trouser affected by the larrikin (q.v.).

1891. `The Argus,' Dec. 5, p. 13, col. 2:

"Can it be that the pernicious influence of the House is gradually tingeing the high priests of the bell-bottomed ballottee with conservatism!"

<hw>Bell-Frog, Golden</hw>, n. See Golden Bell-Frog.

<hw>Bell-topper</hw>, n. The ordinary Australian name for the tall silk-hat.

1860. W. Kelly, `Life in Victoria,' p. 268 [Footnote]:

"Bell-topper was the derisive name given by diggers to old style hat, supposed to indicate the dandy swell."

<hw>Benjamin</hw>, n. a husband, in Australian pigeon-English.

1870. Chas. H. Allen, `A Visit to Queensland and her Goldfields,' p. 182:

"There are certain native terms that are used by the whites also as a kind of colonial slang, such as `yabber,' to talk; `budgeree,' good; `bale,' no; `yan,' to go; `cabon,' much; and so on.

"With the black people a husband is now called a `benjamin,' probably because they have no word to their own language to express this relationship."

<hw>Benjamin-Tree</hw>, n. also called Weeping Fig in Queensland, Ficus benjaminea, Linn., N.O. Urticaceae.

<hw>Bent-grass</hw>. n. See Grass.

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 65:

"Agrostis virginica. Virginian Agrostis, or Bent-grass. . . . Many species of this genus go under the general name of Bent-grass. Their roots spread along among light and sandy soil in which they generally grow with joints like the Squitch or Couch grass of England."

<hw>Berigora</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a bird of genus Falco, from beri, claw, and gora, long. See Hawk

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 185:

"The native name of this bird which we have adopted as its specific name, is Berigora. It is called by the settlers Orange-speckled Hawk."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' I. i. pl. 11:

"Hieracidea berigora. Brown Hawk. Berigora, Aborigines of New South Wales. Orange-speckled Hawk of the Colonists."

<hw>Berley</hw>, n. term used by Australian fishermen for ground bait. It is probably of aboriginal origin.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales,' p. 75:

"With hook and line along the rocks of our sea-coast these fishes are caught, but the bait should be crabs. It is usual to wrench legs and shell off the back, and cast them out for Berley."

1896. `Badminton Magazine,' August, p. 201:

"I would signal to the sharks by opening and washing out a few of the largest fish at the boat's head, sometimes adding bait chopped small to serve for what Australian fishermen call Berley."

<hw>Betcherrygah</hw>, n. bird-name, Melopsittacus undulatus, Shaw. See Budgerigar.

<hw>Bettongia</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus of Prehensile-tailed Kangaroo-Rats, whose aboriginal name is Bettong. They are the only ground-dwelling marsupials with prehensile tails, which they use for carrying bunches of grasses and sticks. See Kangaroo-Rat.

<hw>Biddy-biddy</hw>, or <hw>Biddybid</hw>, n. a corruption of Maori name piripiri. It is a kind of bur.

1880. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open, `New Zealand Country Journal,' vol. xii. p. 95:

"Piri-piri (acaena sanguisorbe) by settlers has been converted or corrupted into biddy-biddy; a verb has been formed on it, which is in very constant use for a good part of the year at least. To biddy, is to rid one of burrs, as `I'll just biddy my clothes before I come in.' Small birds are occasionally found in a wretched state of discomfort in which they appear a moving mass of burrs. Parroquets, pipets, and the little white-eyes, have been found victims suffering from these tenacious burrs of the piri-piri, just moving little brown balls unable to fly till picked up and released from their bonds."

1896. `Otago Witness,' Jan. 23, vol. ii. p. 36:

"Yes, biddybids detract very materially from the value of the wool, and the plant should not be allowed to seed where sheep are depastured. They are not quite so bad as the Bathurst burr, but they are certainly in the same category."

<hw>Biddy</hw>, v. See Biddy-biddy, n.

<hw>Bidgee Widgee</hw>, n. name given to a Tasmanian Bur (q.v.).

<hw>Bidyan Ruffe</hw>, n. a fresh-water fish of New South Wales, Therapon richardsonii, Castln., family Percidae. Mr. J. Douglas Ogilby, Assistant Zoologist at the Australian Museum, Sydney, says in a letter "The Bidyan Ruffe of Sir Thomas Mitchell is our Therapon ellipticus, Richards (T. richardsonii, Castln.). Found in all the rivers of the Murray system, and called Kooberry by the natives." It is also called the Silver Perch and sometimes Bream.

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

"Bidyan is the aboriginal name."

Ibid. vol. i. p. 135:

"Abundance of that which the men commonly called bream (Cernua bidyana), a very coarse but firm fish, which makes a groaning noise when taken out of the water."

<hw>Big-head</hw>, n. a fish. The name is used locally for various fishes; in Australia it is Eleotris nudiceps, Castln., family Gobiidae, a river fish. Of the genus Eleotris, Guenther says that as regards form they repeat almost all the modifications observed among the Gobies, from which they differ only in having the ventral fins non-coalescent. See Bull-head (2).

<hw>Billabong</hw>, n. an effluent from a river, returning to it, or often ending in the sand, in some cases running only in flood time.

In the Wiradhuri dialect of the centre of New South Wales, East coast, billa means a river and bung dead. See Bung. Billa is also a river in some Queensland dialects, and thus forms part of the name of the river Belyando. In the Moreton Bay dialect it occurs in the form pill , and in the sense of `tidal creek.' In the `Western Australian Almanack' for 1842, quoted in J. Fraser's `Australian Language,' 1892, Appendix, p. 50, Bilo is given for River.

Billabong is often regarded as a synonym for Anabranch (q.v.); but there is a distinction. From the original idea, the Anabranch implies rejoining the river; whilst the Billabong implies continued separation from it; though what are called Billabongs often do rejoin.

1862. W. Landsborough, `Exploration of Australia,' p. 30:

"A dried-up tributary of the Gregory, which I named the
Macadam."

[Footnote]: "In the south, such a creek as the Macadam is termed a billy-bonn [sic], from the circumstance of the water carrier returning from it with his pitcher (billy) empty (bong, literally dead)."

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia, vol. i. p. 298:

1880. P. J. Holdsworth, `Station Hunting on the Warrego:'

"In yon great range may huddle billabongs."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 25:

"What a number of swallows skim about the `billabongs' along the rivers in this semi-tropical region."

1893. `The Argus,' April 8, p. 4, col. 1:

"Let's make a start at once, d'ye hear; I want to get over to the billabong by sunrise."

<hw>Billet</hw>, n. an appointment, a position; a very common expression in Australia, but not confined to Australia; adapted from the meaning, "an official order requiring the person to whom it is addressed to provide board and lodging for the soldier bearing it." (`O.E.D.')

1890. E. W. Hornung, `A Bride from the Bush,' p. 267:

"If ever she went back to Australia, she'd remember my young man, and get him a good billet."

<hw>Billy</hw>, n. a tin pot used as a bushman's kettle. The word comes from the proper name, used as abbreviation for William. Compare the common uses of `Jack,' `Long Tom,' `Spinning Jenny.' It came into use about 1850. It is not used in the following.

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 48:

"He then strikes a light and makes a fire to boil his kettle and fry his bacon."

About 1850, the billy superseded the quart-pot (q.v.), chiefly because of its top-handle and its lid. Another suggested derivation is that billy is shortened from billycan, which is said to be bully-can (sc. Fr. bouili). In the early days "boeuf bouilli" was a common label on tins of preserved meat in ship's stores. These tins, called "bully-tins," were used by diggers and others as the modern billy is (see quotation 1835). A third explanation gives as the origin the aboriginal word billa (river or water).

1835. T. B. Wilson, `Voyage Round the World,' p. 238:

"An empty preserved meat-canister serving the double purpose of tea-kettle and tea-pot."

[The word billy is not used, but its origin is described.]

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 202:

"A tin pan bearing the familiar name of a billy."

1871 J. J. Simpson, `Recitations,' p. 5:

"He can't get a billy full for many a mile round."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 41:

"A billy (that is a round tin pitcher with a lid) in his hand."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 69:

"A tin can, which the connoisseurs call for some reason or other a `billy.'"

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' p. 24:

"A very black camp-kettle, or billy, of hot tea."

1892. `The Australasian,' April 9, p. 707, col. 4:

"How we praised the simple supper
(we prepared it each in turn),
And the tea! Ye gods! 'twas nectar.
Yonder billy was our urn."

<hw>Billy-can</hw>, n. a variation of the above, more used by townsmen than bushmen.

1892. `The Australasian,' April 9, p. 707, col. 4:

"But I said, `Dear friend and brother, yonder billy-can is mine; You may confiscate the washing that is hanging on the line, You may depredate the larder, take your choice of pot and pan; But, I pray thee, kind sundowner, spare, oh spare, my billy-can.'"

<hw>Bingy</hw> [g soft], n. stomach or belly. Aboriginal. The form at Botany Bay was bindi; at Jervis Bay, binji.

1851. Rev. David Mackenzie, `Ten Years in Australia,' p. 140:

"They lay rolling themselves on the ground, heavily groaning in pain, and with their hands rubbing their bellies, exclaiming, `Cabonn buggel along bingee' (that is, I am very sick in the stomach)."

<hw>Birch</hw>, n. In New Zealand, the trees called birches are really beeches (q.v.), but the term birch is used very vaguely; see quotation 1889. In Tasmania, the name is applied to Dodonaea ericifolia, Don., N.O. Sapindaceae.

1853. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 125:

"White-birch of Nelson and Otago (from colour of bark), Black-heart Birch of Wellington, Fagus solandri, Hook, a lofty, beautiful ever-green tree, 100 feet high. Black-birch (Tawhai) of Auckland and Otago (from colour of bark), Red-birch of Wellington and Nelson (from colour of timber), Fagus fusca, N.O. Cupuliferae, a noble tree 60 to 90 feet high."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 91:

"Like all small-leaved forest trees it [Fagus solandri, Hook. f.] is termed `birch' by the bushman. . . . It is not too much to say that the blundering use of common names in connection with the New Zealand beeches, when the timber has been employed in bridges and constructive works, has caused waste and loss to the value of many thousands of pounds."

<hw>Bird-catching Plant</hw>, n. a New Zealand shrub or tree, Pisonia brunoniana, Endl., N.O. Nyctagineae; Maori name, Parapara.

1883. R. H. Govett, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xvi. Art. xxviii. p. 364::

"A Bird-killing Tree. . . . In a shrub growing in my father's garden at New Plymouth, two Silver-eyes (Zosterops) and an English Sparrow had been found with their wings so glued by the sticky seed-vessels that they were unable to move, and could only fly away after having been carefully washed."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 293:

"It is sometimes termed the `birdcatching plant' by settlers and bushmen . . . It will always be a plant of special interest, as small birds are often found captured by its viscid fruits, to which their feathers become attached as effectively as if they were glued."

<hw>Bird's-nest fungus</hw>, n. a small fungus of the genus Cyathus, four species of which occur in Queensland.

<hw>Bitter-Bark</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Petalostigma quadrilo culare, F. v. M., N.O. Euphorbiacea. Called also Crab-tree, Native Quince, Emu apple, and Quinine-tree. The bark contains a powerful bitter essence, which is used medicinally. The name is also applied to Tabernaemontana orientalis, R. Br., N.O. Apocyneae, and to Alstonia constricta, F. v. M., N.O. Aporynacece, which is also called Feverbark.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 204:

"Bitter Bark. This small tree has an intensely bitter bark, and a decoction of it is sometimes sold as `bitters."

<hw>Bitter-Leaf</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for the Native Hop. See Hops and Hopbush.

<hw>Bittern</hw>, n. bird-name well known in England. The Australian species are—

The Bittern—

Botaurus paeciloptilus, Wagl.

Black B.—

Butoroides flavicollis, Lath.

Green B.—

B. javanica, Horsfield.

Little B.—

Ardetta pusilla, Vieill.

<hw>Blackberry, Native</hw>, or <hw>Bramble</hw>, n. called also Raspberry. Three species of the genus Rubus occur in Queensland—Rubus moluccanus, Linn., R. parvifolius, Linn., R.

rosifolius, Smith, N.O. Rosaceae See also Lawyer.

<hw>Blackbird</hw>, n. "A cant name for a captive negro, or Polynesian, on board a slave or pirate ship." (`O.E.D.') But no instance is given of its use for a negro.

1871. `Narrative of the Voyage of the Brig Carl' [pamphlet]

"They were going to take a cruise round the islands `black-bird' catching."

1872. `The Argus,' Dec. 21, Supplement, p. 2, col. 1 [Chief Justice's charge in the case of the `Carl Outrage']:

"They were not going pearl-fishing but blackbird-hunting. It is said you should have evidence as to what blackbird-hunting meant. I think it is a grievous mistake to pretend to ignorance of things passing before our eyes everyday. We may know the meaning of slang words, though we do not use them. Is there not a wide distinction between blackbird-hunting and a legitimate labour-trade, if such a thing is to be carried on? What did he allude to? To get labourers honestly if they could, but, if not, any way?"

1881. `Chequered Career,' p.188 (`O.E.D.')

"The white men on board know that if once the `blackbirds' burst the hatches . . . they would soon master the ship."

<hw>Black-birding</hw>, n. kidnapping natives of South Sea islands for service in Queensland plantations.

1871. `Narrative of the Voyage of the Brig Carl' [pamphlet]:

"All the three methods, however, of obtaining labour in the South Seas—that which was just and useful, that which was of suspicious character, and that which was nothing, more or less, than robbery and murder—were in use the same time, and all three went by the same general slang term of `blackbirding,' or `blackbird catching.'"

1872. Rev. H. S. Fagan, `The Dark Blue' (Magazine), June, p. 437:

"Well, you see how it is that C is not safe, even though he is a missionary bishop, after A has made the name of missionary an offence by his ingenious mode of `black-birding.'"

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 78:

"In the early days of sugar-planting there may have been black-birding, but it was confined to a very few, and it is done away with altogether now."

<hw>Black-birding</hw>, adj.

1883. `The Academy,' Sept. 8, p. 158 (`O.E.D.')

"[He] slays Bishop Patteson by way of reprisal for the atrocities of some black-birding crew."

<hw>Blackboy</hw>, n. a grass-tree. Name applied to all species of the genus Xanthorroea, but especially to X. preissii, Endl., N.O. Liliaceae. Compare Maori-head.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' ii. 4, 132:

"Black Boy . . . gum on the spear, resin on the trunk."

Ibid. ii. 12, 280 [Note]

"These trees, called blackboys by the colonists, from the resemblance they bear in the distance to natives."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 92:

"Gas admirably fitted for domestic purposes had been extracted from the shrub called the `blackboy.' I regret to state that the gas . . . is not . . . at present known in the colony."

1886. R. Henty, `Australiana,' p. 15:

"The common grass-tree or `blackboy,' so called from its long dark stem and dark seed head (when dry)."

1896. `The Australasian,' Feb. 15, p. 313 (with an Illustration):

"The Blackboy trees are a species of grass-tree or Xanthorrhoea, exuding a gummy substance used by the blacks for fastening glass and quartz-barbs to their spears. Many years ago, when coal was scarce in Western Australia, an enterprising firm . . . erected a gas-making plant, and successfully lit their premises with gas made from the Blackboy."

1896. Modern:

A story is told of a young lady saying to a naval officer:— "I was this morning watching your ship coming into harbour, and so intently that I rode over a young blackboy." The officer was shocked at her callousness in expressing no contrition.

<hw>Black-Bream</hw>, n. an Australian fish, Chrysophrys australis, Gunth., family Sparidae, or Sea-Breams; called in Tasmania Silver-Bream, the fish there called Black-Bream being another of the Sparidae, Girella tricuspidata, Cuv. and Val. See Tarwhine and Black-fish.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 42:

"Chrysophrys comprises the tarwhine and black-bream of the Sydney fishermen. . . . We have two species in Australia. . . . The black-bream, C. australis, Gunth., and the tarwhine, C. sarba, Forsk. . . . The Australian bream is as common on the south as on the east coast. It affords excellent sport to anglers in Victoria."

<hw>Blackbutt</hw>, n. Eucalyptus pilularis, Smith, Victoria; E. regnans, F. v. M., New South Wales; a timber tree, a gum. Another name is Flintwood. The lower part of the trunk is black.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 49:

"The range . . . having with the exception of the Blackbutt all the trees . . . of Moreton Bay."

1863. M. K. Beveridge, `Gatherings among Gum-trees,' p. 86:

"'Tis there the `blackbut' rears its head."

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 30:

"A tree of considerable size. . . The bark smooth and falling off in flakes upward, and on the branches."

1897. `The Age,' Feb. 22, p. 5, col. 3:

"Mr. Richards stated that the New South Wales black butt and tallow wood were the most durable and noiseless woods for street-paving, as well as the best from a sanitary point of view."

<hw>Black-Cod</hw>, n. a New Zealand fish, Notothenia angustata.

<hw>Blackfellow</hw>, n. an aboriginal Australian.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' i. 4, 74:

"The native Miago . . . appeared delighted that these `black fellows,' as he calls them, have no throwing sticks."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 9:

"The well-known tracks of blackfellows are everywhere visible."

1871. Dingo, `Australian Rhymes,' p. 14:

"Wurragaroo loved Wangaraday
In a blackfellow's own peculiar way."

<hw>Black-Fern</hw>, n. The Tasmanian species so called is Athyrium australe, Presl., N.O. Polypodeae.

<hw>Black-fish</hw>, n. The name is given, especially in Sydney, to the sea-fishes Girella simplex, Richards (see Ludrick), and Girella tricuspidata, Cuv. and Val.; also to a fresh-water fish all over Australia, Gadopsis marmoratus, Richards. G. marmoratus is very common in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and parts of Tasmania. There are local varieties. It is much esteemed as a food fish, but is, like all mud fishes, rich and oily. Girella belongs to the family Sparida, or Sea-Breams, and Gadopsis to the Gadopsidae, a family allied to that containing the Cod fishes. The name was also formerly applied to a whale.

1853. C. St. Julian and E. K. Silvester, `Productions, Industry, and Resources of New South Wales,' p. 115:

"There is a species of whale called by those engaged in the south sea fishing the Black-fish or Black-whale, but known to the naturalist as the Southern Rorqual, which the whalemen usually avoid."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 100

"Nothing is better eating than a properly cooked black-fish.
The English trout are annihilating them, however."

<hw>Black-Line</hw>. See Black-War.

<hw>Black-Perch</hw>, n. a river fish of New South Wales. Therapon niger, Castln., family Percidae. A different fish from those to which the name is applied elsewhere. See Perch.

<hw>Black-and-white Ringed Snake</hw>. See under Snake.

<hw>Black Rock-Cod</hw>, n. an Australian fish, chiefly of New South Wales, Serranus daemeli, Gunth.; a different fish from the Rock-Cod of the northern hemisphere. The Serrani belong to the family Percidae, and are commonly called "Sea-perches."

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 33:

"The genus Serranus comprises most of the fishes known as `rock cod.'. . . One only is sufficiently useful as an article of food to merit notice, and that is the `black rock cod' (Serranus damelii, Guenther), without exception the very best of all our fishes."

<hw>Black-Snake.</hw> See under Snake.

<hw>Black-Swan.</hw> See Swan.

<hw>Black Thursday</hw>, the day of a Victorian conflagration, which occurred on Feb. 6, 1851. The thermometer was 112 degrees in the shade. Ashes from the fire at Macedon, 46 miles away, fell in Melbourne. The scene forms the subject of the celebrated picture entitled "Black Thursday," by William Strutt, R.B.A.

1859. Rev. J. D. Mereweather, `Diary of a Working Clergyman in Australia,' p. 81:

"Feb. 21 . . . Dreadful details are reaching us of the great bush fires which took place at Port Phillip on the 6th of this month . . . . Already it would seem that the appellation of `Black Thursday' has been given to the 6th February, 1851, for it was on that day that the fires raged with the greatest fury."

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillman, `Australian Life,' p. 39:

"The old colonists still repeat the most terrible stories of Black Thursday, when the whole country seemed to be on fire. The flames leaped from tree to tree, across creeks, hills, and gullies, and swept everything away. Teams of bullocks in the yoke, mobs of cattle and horses, and even whole families of human beings, in their bush-huts, were completely destroyed, and the charred bones alone found after the wind and fire had subsided."

<hw>Black-Tracker</hw>, n. an aboriginal employed in tracking criminals.

1867. `Australia as it is,' pp. 88-9:

"The native police, or `black trackers,' as they are sometimes called, are a body of aborigines trained to act as policemen, serving under a white commandant—a very clever expedient for coping with the difficulty . . . of hunting down and discovering murderous blacks, and others guilty of spearing cattle and breaking into huts . . ."

1870. `The Argus,' March 26, p. 5, col. 4:

"The troopers, with the assistance of two black trackers, pursued the bushrangers . . ."

1870. Ibid. April 13, p. 6, col. 7:

. . . two members of the police force and a black tracker . . . called at Lima station . . ."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xvii. p. 165:

"Get the black-trackers on the trail."

1893. `The Argus,' April 8, p. 4, col. 3 .

"Only three weeks before he had waddied his gin to death for answering questions put to her by a blacktracker, and now he advanced to Charlie . . . and said,. . . `What for you come alonga black fella camp?'"

1896. `The Argus,' March 30, p. 6, col. 9:

"About one hundred and fifty horsemen have been out to-day in addition to the local police. The black-trackers arrived by the train last night, and commenced work this morning."

<hw>Black-Trevally</hw>. See Trevally.

<hw>Black-War</hw>, or <hw>Black-Line</hw>, a military operation planned in 1830 by Governor Arthur for the capture of the Tasmanian aborigines. A levy en masse of the colonists was ordered. About 5000 men formed the "black line," which advanced across the island from north to south-east, with the object of driving the tribes into Tasman's Peninsula. The operation proved a complete failure, two blacks only being captured at a cost to the Government of L 30,000.

1835. H. Melville, `History of Van Diemen's Land,' p. 103:

"The parties forming the `black line,' composed, as they were, of a curious melange of masters and servants, took their respective stations at the appointed time. As the several parties advanced, the individuals along the line came closer and closer together —the plan was to keep on advancing slowly towards a certain peninsula, and thus frighten the Aborigines before them, and hem them in."

1852. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol, ii. p. 54:

"Thus closed the Black War. This campaign of a month supplied many adventures and many an amusing tale, and, notwithstanding the gravity of his Excellency, much fun and folly . . . . Five thousand men had taken the field. Nearly L 30,000 had been expended, and probably not much less in time and outlay by the settlers, and two persons only were captured."

<hw>Black Wednesday</hw>, n. a political phrase for a day in Victoria (Jan. 9, 1878), when the Government without notice dismissed many Civil Servants, including heads of departments, County Court judges and police magistrates, on the ground that the Legislative Council had not voted the money for their salaries.

1878. `Melbourne Punch,' May 16, vol. xlvi. p. 195 [Title of Cartoon]:

"In Memoriam. Black Wednesday, 9th January 1878."

1896. `The Argus,' [Sydney telegram] Aug. 18, p. 6, col. 4:

"The times in the public service at present reminded him of Black Wednesday in Victoria, which he went through. That caused about a dozen suicides among public servants. Here it had not done so yet, but there was not a head of a department who did not now shake in his shoes."

<hw>Blackwood</hw>, n. an Australian timber, Acacia melanoxylon, R. Br.; often called Lightwood; it is dark in colour but light in weight.

1828. `Report of Van Diemen's Land Company,' Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land, 1832,' p. 118

"Without a tree except a few stumps of blackwood."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' p. 21:

"Grassy slopes thickly timbered with handsome Blackwood trees."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 359:

"Called `Blackwood' on account of the very dark colour of the mature wood."

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 4:

"Blackwood, Lightwood—rather frequent on many rich river-flats . . . .It is very close-grained and heavy, and is useful for all purposes where strength and flexibility are required."

<hw>Bladder Saltbush</hw>, n. a Queensland shrub, Atriplex vesicarium, Heward, N.O. Salsolaceae. The Latin and vernacular names both refer to "the bladdery appendage to fruiting perianth." (Bailey.) See Saltbush.

<hw>Blandfordia</hw>, n. the scientific name of the Gordon-Lily (see under Lily). The plant was named after George, Marquis of Blandford, son of the second Duke of Marlborough. The Tasmanian aboriginals called the plant Remine, which name has been given to a small port where it grows in profusion on the west coast.

<hw>Bleeding-Heart</hw>, n. another name for the Kennedya (q.v.).

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

"The trailing scarlet kennedyas, aptly called the `bleeding- heart' or `coral-pea,' brighten the greyness of the sandy peaty wastes."

<hw>Blight</hw>. See Sandy-blight.

<hw>Blight-bird</hw>, n. a bird-name in New Zealand for the Zosterops (q.v.). Called also Silver-eye (q.v.), Wax-eye, and White-eye (q.v.). It is called Blight-bird because it eats the blight on trees.

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 130:

"The white-eye or blight-bird, with cheerful note, in crowded flocks, sweeps over the face of the country, and in its progress clears away multitudes of small insect pests."

1885. A. Hamilton, `Native Birds of Petane, Hawke's Bay,' `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xviii. p. 125:

"Zosterops lateralis, white-eye, blight-bird. One of our best friends, and abundant in all parts of the district."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' (2nd ed.) vol. i. p. 82:

"By the settlers it has been variously designated as Ring-eye, Wax-eye, White-eye, or Silver-eye, in allusion to the beautiful circlet of satiny-white feathers which surrounds the eyes; and quite as commonly the `Blightbird' or `Winter-migrant.' . . . It feeds on that disgusting little aphis known as American blight, which so rapidly covers with a fatal cloak of white the stems and branches of our best apple-trees; it clears our early cabbages of a pestilent little insect, that left unchecked would utterly destroy the crop; it visits our gardens and devours another swarming parasite that covers our roses."

<hw>Blind Shark</hw>, or <hw>Sand Shark</hw>, n. i.q. Shovel-nose (q.v.).

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods `Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales, p. 97:

"Rhinobatus granulatus or shovel-nose, which is properly speaking a Ray, is called here the blind or sand shark, though, as Mr. Hill remarks, it is not blind. He says `that it attains the length of from 6 to 7 feet, and is also harmless, armed only with teeth resembling small white beads secured closely upon a cord; it however can see tolerably well, and searches on sandy patches for crustaceae and small shell fish.'"

1886. J. Douglas-Ogilby, `Catalogue of the Fishes of New South Wales,' p. 5:

"Rhinobatus Granulatus . . . I have not seen a New South Wales example of this fish, which appears to have been confounded with the following by writers on the Australian fauna. Rhinobatus Bongainvillei, Muell and Heule, Habitat Port Jackson. Shovel-nosed Ray of Sydney fishermen."

<hw>Blind-your-Eyes</hw>, n. another name for the Milky Mangrove. See Mangrove.

, doing the</hw>, v. lounging in the fashionable promenade. In Melbourne, it is Collins Street, between Elizabeth and Swanston Streets. In Sydney, "The Block" is that portion of the city bounded by King, George, Hunter, and Pitt Streets. It is now really two blocks, but was all in one till the Government purchased the land for the present Post Office, and then opened a new street from George to Pitt Street. Since then the Government, having purchased more land, has made the street much wider, and it is now called Martin's Place.

1869. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic Philosopher,' (in an Essay on `Doing the Block') (reprint), p. 13:

"If our Victorian youth showed their appreciation for domestic virtues, Victorian womanhood would `do the Block' less frequently."

1872. `Glimpses of Life in Victoria by a Resident,' p. 349:

"A certain portion of Collins street, lined by the best drapers' and jewellers' shops, with here and there a bank or private office intervening, is known as `the Block,' and is the daily resort of the belles and beaux. . . ."

1875. R. and F. Hill, `What We Saw in Australia,' p. 267:

"To `do the block' corresponds in Melbourne to driving in Hyde
Park."

1876. Wm. Brackley Wildey, `Australasia and the Oceanic Region,' p. 234:

"The streets are thronged with handsome women, veritable denizens of the soil, fashionably and really tastefully attired, `doing the block,' patrolling Collins-street, or gracefully reclining in carriages. . . ."

1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 126:

"You just do as I tell you, and we'll go straight off to town and `do the block.'"

1894. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Oct. 6, p. 6, col. 1:

"But the people doing the block this morning look very nice."

<hw>Block, on the</hw>.(1) On the promenade above referred to.

1896. `The Argus,' July 17, p. 4. col. 7:

" We may slacken pace a little now and again, just as the busy man, who generally walks quickly, has to go slowly in the crowd on the Block."

(2) Term in mining, fully explained in `The Miner's Right,' chapters vii. and viii.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Miner's Right,' p. 86:

"I declare the Liberator Lead to be `on the block.'"

`Extract from Mining Regulation 22' (Ibid. p. 77):

"The ground shall be open for taking up claims in the block form."

<hw>Blood-bird</hw>, n. name given to the Sanguineous Honey-eater. See Honey-eater.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 63:

"Myzomela sanguinolenta, Sanguineous Honey-eater. Blood-bird of the Colonists of New South Wales."

<hw>Blood-sucker</hw>, n. popular name for certain species of Lizards belonging to the genus Amphibolurus (Grammatophora). Especially applied to A. muricata, Shaw.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 37:

"Another description of lizard is here vulgarly called the `bloodsucker.' "

1890. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Natural History of Victoria,' Dec. 12, pl. cxi.:

"Why the popular name of `Bloodsucker' should be so universally given to this harmless creature by the Colonists (except on the locus a non lucendo principle) I cannot conceive."

1890. A. H. S. Lucas, `Handbook of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,' Melbourne, p. 70:

"Two species of `blood sucker' so absurdly designated."

<hw>Blood-wood</hw>, or <hw>Blood-tree</hw>, n. a name applied, with various epithets, to many of the Gum-trees (q.v.), especially to—(1) Eucalyptus corymbosa, Smith, sometimes called Rough-barked bloodwood; (2) E. eximia, Schauer, Mountain or Yellow bloodwood; (3) Baloghia lucida, Endl., N.O. Euphorbiaceae, called Brush Bloodwood. The sap is blood-red, running copiously when cut across with a knife.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 271:

"The natives tell me it breeds in the winter in Mun'ning-trees or Blood-trees of the colonists (a species of Eucalyptus)."

1847. L.Leichhardt,' Overland Expedition,' p. 292:

"The bergue was covered with fine bloodwood trees, stringy-bark, and box."

1892. A. J. North, `Proceedings of Linnaean Society,' New South Wales, vol. vii. series 2, p. 396:

"I traced her to a termite nest in a bloodwood tree (Eucalyptus corymbosa)."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' 448:

"It [E. eximia] is called `bloodwood,' partly because kino exudes in the concentric circles of the wood . . . partly because its fruits are in shape very similar to those of E. corymbosa."

<hw>Blow</hw>, n. stroke of the shears in sheep-shearing.

1890. `The Argus,' September 20, p. 13, col. 7:

"The shearers must make their clip clean and thorough. If it be done so incompetently that a `second blow' is needed, the fleece is hacked."

<hw>Blow,/2/</hw> n. braggadocio, boasting.

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' viii. p. 71:

"Is there not very much that the Australian may well be proud of, and may we not commend him for a spice of blow?"

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydney-Side Saxon,' p. 77:

"He can walk as fast as some horses can trot, cut out any beast that ever stood on a camp, and canter round a cheese-plate. This was a bit of blow."

1893. `The Australasian,' Aug. 12, p. 102, col. 1:

"Now Digby Holland will think it was mere Australian blow."

<hw>Blow</hw>, v. to boast; abbreviated from the phrase "to blow your own trumpet." The word is not Australian though often so regarded. It is common in Scotland and in the United States.

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 387:

"The blast of the trumpet as heard in Victoria is louder than all the blasts—and the Melbourne blast beats all the other blowing of that proud colony. My first, my constant, my parting advice to my Australian cousins is contained in two words, `don't blow.'"

<hw>Blower</hw>, n. a boaster. (See Blow, v.)

1890. Rolf Boldrewood,' A Colonial Reformer,' p. 411:

"A regular Sydney man thinks all Victorians are blowers and speculators."

<hw>Blowing</hw>, verbal n. boasting.

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 387:

"A fine art much cultivated in the colonies, for which the colonial phrase of `blowing' has been created."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 9:

"Blowing (that is, talking loudly and boastingly on any and every subject)."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 45:

"He was famous for `blowing' in Australian parlance . . . of his exploits."

<hw>Bluebell</hw>, n. The name is given in Tasmania to the flower Wahlenbergia gracilis, De C., N.O. Campanulaceae.

<hw>Blueberry</hw>, n. i.q. Native Currant (q.v.). The name is also given to Dianella longifolia, R. Br., N.O. Liliaceae.

<hw>Blueberry Ash</hw>, n. a Victorian tree, Elaeocarpus holopetalus, F. v. M.

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 15:

"Blueberry Ash or Prickly Fig. A noble tree, attaining a height of 120 feet. Wood pale, fine-grained; exquisite for cabinet work."

<hw>Blue-bush</hw>, n. an Australian forage plant, a kind of Salt-bush, Kochia pyrainidata, Benth, N.O. Chenopodiaceae.

1876. W. Harcus. `South Australia,' p. 124:

"[The country] would do splendidly for sheep, being thickly grassed with short fine grass, salt and blue bush, and geranium and other herbs."

<hw>Blue-Cod</hw>, n. name given to a New Zealand fish, Percis colias, family Trachinidae. Called also in New Zealand Rock-Cod (q.v.). The fish is of a different family from the Cod of the northern hemisphere.

<hw>Blue-creeper</hw>, n. name given to the creeper, Comesperma volubile, Lab., N.O. Campanulaceae.

<hw>Blue-eye</hw>, n. a bird name. The Blue faced Honey-eater (q.v.).

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 68:

"Entomyza cyanotis, Swains. Blue-faced Entomyza. Blue-eye of the colonists."

<hw>Blue-fish</hw>, n. name given in Sydney to Girella cyanea, of the family Sparidae, or Sea-Breams. It is different from the Blue-fish of the American coasts, which is of the family Carangidae.

<hw>Blue-Groper</hw>, n. a fish of New South Wales and Tasmania, Cossyphus gouldii, one of the Labridae or Wrasses, often called Parrot-Fish in Australia. Called also Blue-head in Tasmania. Distinct from the fish called the Groper (q.v).

<hw>Blue-gum</hw>, n. See under Gum. It is an increasing practice to make a single word of this compound, and to pronounce it with accent on the first syllable, as `wiseman,' `goodman.'

<hw>Blue-head</hw>, n. Tasmanian name for the fish called the Blue-Groper (q.v.)

<hw>Blue Lobelia</hw>, n. The indigenous species in Tasmania which receives this name is Lobelia gibbosa, Lab., N.O. Campanulaceae.

<hw>Blue-pointer</hw>, n. a name given in New South
Wales to a species of Shark, Lamna glauca, Mull. and
Heule, family Lamnidae, which is not confined to
Australasia.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 95:

"On the appearance of a `blue pointer' among boats fishing for schnapper outside, the general cry is raised, `Look out for the blue pointer.' . . . These are high swimming fishes, and may be readily seen when about pushing their pursuits; the beautiful azure tint of their back and sides, and independent manner they have of swimming rapidly and high among the boats in search of prey, are means of easy recognition, and they often drive the fishermen away."

<hw>Bluestone</hw>, n. a kind of dark stone of which many houses and public buildings are built.

1850. `The Australasian' (Quarterly), Oct. [Footnote], p. 138:

"The ancient Roman ways were paved with polygonal blocks of a stone not unlike the trap or bluestone around Melbourne."

1855. R. Brough Smyth, `Transactions of Philosophical Society, Victoria,' vol. i. p. 25:

"The basalt or `bluestone,' which is well adapted to structural purposes, and generally obtains where durability is desired."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook to New Zealand,' p. 62:

"Basalts, locally called `bluestones,' occur of a quality useful for road-metal, house-blocks, and ordinary rubble masonry."

1890. `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania,' p. xx. [Letter from Mr. S. H. Wintle]:

"The newer basalts, which in Victoria have filled up so extensively Miocene and Pliocene valleys, and river channels, are chiefly vesicular Zeolitic dolerites and anaemesites, the former being well represented by the light-coloured Malmsbury `bluestone' so extensively employed in buildings in Melbourne."

<hw>Blue-tongued Lizard</hw>, n. name given to Tiliqua nigroluteus, Gray, a common Australian and Tasmanian lizard belonging to the family Scincidae. The name is derived from its blue-coloured tongue, and on account of its sluggish habits it is also often called the Sleepy lizard.

1887. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria,' Dec. 14, pl. 131:

"Not uncommon about Melbourne, where it is generally called the
`Blue-tongued Lizard,' or `Sleepy Lizard.'"

<hw>Blue-wing</hw>, n. a sportsman's name (as in England) for the bird called the Shoveller (q.v.).

<hw>Bluey</hw>, n. (1) A blue blanket commonly used by swagmen in Australia. He wraps his bundle in it, and the whole is called a Swag (q.v.). To hump bluey means to go on the tramp, carrying a swag on the back.

(2) In the wet wildernesses of Western Tasmania a rough shirt or blouse is made of this material, and is worn over the coat like an English smock-frock. Sailors and fishermen in England call it a "Baltic shirt."

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 13, col. 2:

"We shall have to hump bluey again."

1891. R. Wallace, `Rural Economy and Agriculture of Australia and New Zealand,' p. 73:

"`Humping bluey' is for a workman to walk in search of work."

1891. W. Tilley, `The Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 29:

"Leehan presents an animated scene . . . . Heavily laden drays, pack-horses and mules, form constant processions journeying from Dundas or Trial; miners with their swags, surveyors in their `blueys' . . . all aid effectively in the panorama."

<hw>Board</hw>, n. term used by shearers. See quotation.

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Dec. 23, p. 6, col. 1:

"`The board' is the technical name for the floor on which the sheep are shorn."

With a full board, with a full complement of shearers.

1894. `The Herald,' Oct. 6, p. 1. Col. 2:

"The secretary of the Pastoralists' Association . . . reports that the following stations have started shearing with full boards."

<hw>Boar-fish</hw>, n. a name applied in England to various dissimilar fishes which have projecting snouts. (`Century.') In New Zealand it is given to Cyttus australis, family Cyttidae, which is related to the John Dory (q.v.). This name is sometimes applied to it, and it is also called Bastard Dory (q.v.). In Melbourne the Boar-fish is Histiopterus recurvirostris, family Percidae, and Pentaceropsis recurvirostris, family Pentacerotidae. Mrs. Meredith, in `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' 1880 (pl. vi.), figures Histiopterus recurvirostris with the vernacular name of Pig-faced Lady. It is a choice edible fish.

<hw>Boil down</hw>, v. to reduce a statement to its simplest form; a constant term amongst pressmen. Over the reporters' table in the old `Daily Telegraph' office (Melbourne) there was a big placard with the words-"Boil it down." The phrase is in use in England. `O.E.D.' quotes `Saturday Review,' 1880. The metaphor is from the numerous boiling-down establishments for rendering fat sheep into tallow. See quotation, 1878.

1878. F. P. Labilliere, `Early History of the Colony of Victoria,' vol. ii. p. 330:

"The first step which turned the tide of ill-fortune was the introduction of the system of boiling down sheep. When stock became almost worthless, it occurred to many people that, when a fleece of wool was worth from half-a-crown to three shillings in England, and a sheep's tallow three or four more, the value of the animal in Australia ought to exceed eighteenpence or two shillings. Accordingly thousands of sheep were annually boiled down after shearing . . . until . . . the gold discovery; and then `boiling down,' which had saved the country, had to be given up. . . . The Messrs. Learmonth at Buninyong . . . found it answered their purpose to have a place of their own, instead of sending their fat stock, as was generally done, to a public `boiling down' establishment."

1895. `The Argus,' Aug. 17, p. 8, col. 2:

"Boiled down, the matter comes to this."

<hw>Bonduc Nuts</hw>, n. a name in Australia for the fruit of the widely distributed plant Caesalpina bonducella, Flem., N.O. Leguminosae. Called Molucca Beans in Scotland and Nicker Nuts elsewhere.

<hw>Bonito</hw>, n. Sir Frederick McCoy says that the Tunny, the same fish as the European species Thynnus thynnus, family Scombridae, or Mackerels, is called Bonito, erroneously, by the colonists and fishermen. The true Bonito is Thynnus pelamys, Linn., though the name is also applied to various other fishes in Europe, the United States, and the West Indies.

<hw>Bony-Bream</hw>, i.q. Sardine (q.v.).

<hw>Boobook</hw>, n. an owl. Ninox boobook (see Owl); Athene boobook (Gould's `Birds of Australia,' vol.i. pl. 32)." From cry or note of bird. In the Mukthang language of Central Gippsland, BawBaw, the mountain in Gippsland, is this word as heard by the English ear." (A. W. Howitt.) In South Australia the word is used for a mopoke.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 188:

"The native name of this bird, as Mr. Caley informs us, is Buck'buck. It may be heard nearly every night during winter, uttering a cry, corresponding with that word. . . .The lower order of the settlers in New South Wales are led away by the idea that everything is the reverse in that country to what it is in England : and the cuckoo, as they call this bird, singing by night, is one of the instances which they point out."

1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. 11, col. 4:

"In most cases—it may not be in all—the familiar call, which is supposed to sound like `More-pork,' is not the mopoke (or podargus) at all, but the hooting of a little rusty red feather-legged owl, known as the Boobook. Its double note is the opposite of the curlew, since the first syllable is dwelt upon and the second sharp. An Englishman hearing it for the first time, and not being told that the bird was a `more-pork,' would call it a night cuckoo."

<hw>Booby</hw>, n. English bird-name. Used in Australia for the Brown-Gannet. See Gannet.

<hw>Boobyalla</hw>, or <hw>Boobialla</hw>, n. the aboriginal name for the tree Acacia longifolia, Willd., N.O. Leguminosae, also called Native Willow. A river in Tasmania bears the name of Boobyalla, the tree being plentiful on the coast.

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p63:

"Acacia sophora. Sophora podded Acacia or Booby-aloe. This species forms a large shrub on the sand-hills of the coast."

1843. J. Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies,' p. 59:

"The sandbanks at the mouth of Macquarie Harbour are covered with Boobialla, a species of Acacia, the roots of which run far in the sand."

1855. J. Milligan, `Vocabulary of Dialects of the Aboriginal Tribes of Tasmania,' `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania,' vol. iii. p. 238:

"Wattle tree—seaside. (Acacia Maritinia) Boobyallah."

1861. Mrs. Meredith, `Over the Straits,' vol. ii. p. 62:

"Boobyalla bushes lay within the dash of the ceaseless spray."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 359:

"Boobyalla . . . an excellent tree for binding coast-sands."

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 4:

"On the coast it is known by the native name, Boobyalla."

<hw>Boomah</hw>, or <hw>Boomer</hw>, n. name of a very large kangaroo, Macropus giganteus, Shaw. The spelling "boomah" seems due to a supposed native origin. See quotation, 1872, the explanation in which is probably erroneous. It is really from the verb to boom, to rush with violence.

1830. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 110:

"Snapped the boomah's haunches, and he turned round to offer battle."

1833. Lieut. Breton, `Excursions in New South Wales, Western Australia, and Van Diemen's Land,' p. 251:

"Boomah. Implies a large kangaroo."

Ibid. p. 254:

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

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 244:

"The Great or Forest Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), the `Forester' of the Colonists. . . .The oldest and heaviest male of the herd was called a `Boomer,' probably a native term."

1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 325:

"The forester (Macropus major, Shaw), the male being known by the name of `boomer,' and the young female by that of `flying doe,' is the largest and only truly gregarious species."

1854. G. H. Haydon, `The Australian Emigrant,' p. 124:

"It was of an old man kangaroo,a regular boomer."

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 169:

"An officer from Van Diemen's Land told me that he had once killed in that colony a kangaroo of such magnitude, that, being a long way from home, he was unable, although on horseback, to carry away any portion except the tail, which alone weighed thirty pounds. This species is called the boomah, and stands about seven feet high."

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 47:

"Sometimes starting a grand boomah, or great red kangaroo."

1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. v. p. 124:

"Some of the male kangaroos, called `boomers,' were described as being four or five feet high."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 55:

"The Boomer starts, and ponders
What kind of beasts we be."

1867. W. Richardson, `Tasmanian Poems,' p. 26:

"The dogs gather round a `boomer' they've got."

1872. Mrs. E. Millett, `An Australian Parsonage,' p. 195:

"A tall old Booma, as the natives call the male kangaroo, can bring his head on a level with the face of a man on horseback. . . . A kangaroo's feet are, in fact, his weapons of defence with which, when he is brought to bay, he tears his antagonists the dogs most dreadfully, and instances are not wanting of even men having been killed by a large old male. No doubt this peculiar method of disposing of his enemies has earned him the name of Booma, which in the native language signifies to strike."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 16:

"As he plunged into the yellow waters, the dogs were once more by his side, and again the `boomer' wheeled, and backed against one of the big trees that stud these hollows."

Applied generally to something very large.

1885. `Australasian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 76:

"When the shades of evening come,
I choose a boomer of a gum."

<hw>Boomerang</hw>, n. a weapon of the Australian aborigines, described in the quotations. The origin of the word is by no means certain. One explanation is that of Mr. Fraser in quotation, 1892. There may perhaps be an etymological connection with the name woomera (q.v.), which is a different weapon, being a throwing stick, that is, an instrument with which to throw spears, whilst the boomerang is itself thrown; but the idea of throwing is common to both. In many parts the word is pronounced by the blacks bummerang. Others connect it with the aboriginal word for "wind," which at Hunter River was burramaronga, also boomori. In New South Wales and South Queensland there is a close correspondence between the terms for wind and boomerang.

1827. Captain P. P. King, `Survey of Intertropical and West Coasts of Australia,' vol. i. p. 355:

"Boomerang is the Port Jackson term for this weapon, and may be retained for want of a more descriptive name."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 108:

"We gambolled all the way up, throwing small pieces of bark at each other, after the manner of the native youths, who practise this with a view of strengthening their arms, and fitting them for hurling a curious weapon of war called a `bomering,' which is shaped thus:" \ \ / /

Ibid. p. 280:

"Around their loins was the opossum belt, in one side of which they had placed their waddies, with which they meant to break the heads of their opponents, and on the other was the bomering, or stick, with which they threw their spears."

[This is a confusion between boomerang and woomera (q.v.). Perhaps Mr. Dawson wrote the second word, and this is a misprint.]

1839. Major T. L. `Mitchell, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' vol. ii. p. 348:

"The bommereng, or their usual missile, can be thrown by a skilful hand, so as to rise upon the air, and thus to deviate from the usual path of projectiles, its crooked course being, nevertheless, equally under control."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 186:

"The admirable dexterity with which they fling the bomerangs. To our thinking the thrower was only sending the instrument along the ground, when suddenly, after spinning along it a little way, it sprung up into the air, performing a circle, its crescent shape spinning into a ring, constantly spinning round and round, until it came and fell at his feet."

1845. O. Wendell Holmes, `Modest Request' (in Poems):

"Like the strange missile which the Australian throws,
Your verbal boomerang slaps you on the nose."

1849. J. P. Townsend, `Rambles in New South Wales,' p. 39:

"This instrument, called a bommereng, is made of wood, and is much like the blade of a scimitar. I believe it has been introduced into England as a plaything for children."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 57:

"The boomerang is an extraordinary missile, formed in the shape of a crescent, and when propelled at an object, apparently point blank, it turns in any direction intended by the thrower, so that it can actually be directed in this manner against a person standing by his side. The consummate art visible in its unnatural-looking progression greatly depends upon the manner in which it is made to rebound from the ground when thrown."

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. p. 107;

"He [Sir Thomas Mitchell] applied to the screw propeller the revolving principle of the boomerang of the Australian natives."

1867. G. G. McCrae, `Balladeadro,' p. 25:

"While circling thro' the air there sang
The swift careering boomerang."

1888. A. Seth, `Encyclopaedia Britannica,' vol. xxiv. p. 530, col. 2:

"He [Archbishop Whately] was an adept in various savage sports, more especially in throwing the boomerang."

1889. P. Beveridge, `Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina,' p. 49:

"Boomerang: a thin piece of wood, having the shape of a parabola, about eighteen inches or two feet long from point to point, the curve being on the thin side. Of the broad sides of the missile one is slightly convex, the other is flat. The thin sides are worked down finely to blunt edges. The peculiar curve of the missile gives it the property of returning to the feet of the thrower. It is a dangerous instrument in a melee. Of course the wood from which it is made is highly seasoned by fire. It is therefore nearly as hard as flint."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 49:

[A full description of the use of the boomerang is given, with illustrations.]

"The boomerang is a curved, somewhat flat, and slender weapon, made from a hard and heavy wood, Brigalow (Acacia excelsa), or Myall (Acacia pendula), but the best one I found was made of a lighter kind of wood. The curving of the boomerang, which often approaches a right angle, must be natural, and in the wood itself. One side is perfectly flat, and the other slightly rounded. The ends are pointed."

1890. G. W. Rusden, `Proceedings, Royal Colonial Institute,' vol. xxii. p. 62:

"You hardly ever see an allusion in the English Press to the boomerang which does not refer to it as a weapon of war which returns to the thrower, whereas the returning boomerang is not a weapon of war, and the boomerang which is a weapon of war does not return to the thrower. There are many kinds of boomerang—some for deadly strife, some for throwing at game, and the returning boomerang, which is framed only for amusement. If a native had no other missile at hand, he would dispatch it at a flight of ducks. Its circular course, however, makes it unfit for such a purpose, and there is a special boomerang made for throwing at birds. The latter keeps a straight course, and a native could throw it more than two hundred yards."

1892. J. Fraser, `The Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 69:

"The name bumarang has always hitherto been written boomerang; but, considered etymologically, that is wrong, for the root of it is buma—strike, fight, kill; and -ara, -arai, -arang, are all of them common formative terminations."

1893. `The Argus,' July 1, p. 8, col. 7:

"`I tell you, sir,' said Mr. Healy at an Irish political meeting, `that there are at the present moment crystallizing in this city precedents which will some day come home to roost like a boomerang.'"

<hw>Boongary</hw>, n. the tree-kangaroo of North Queensland, a marsupial tree-climber, about the size of a large wallaby, Dendrolagus lumholtzii, Collett. A native name. Bangaray = Red Kangaroo, in Governor Hunter's vocabulary of the Port Jackson dialect (1793).

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 226:

"The tree-kangaroo is without comparison a better-proportioned animal than the common kangaroo. The fore-feet, which are nearly as perfectly developed as the hind-feet, have large crooked claws, while the hind-feet are somewhat like those of a kangaroo, though not so powerful. The sole of the foot is somewhat broader and more elastic on account of a thick layer of fat under the skin. In soft ground its footprints are very similar to those of a child. The ears are small and erect, and the tail is as long as the body of the animal. The skin is tough, and the fur is very strong and beautiful. . . . Upon the whole the boongary is the most beautiful mammal I have seen in Australia. It is a marsupial, and goes out only in the night. During the day it sleeps in the trees, and feeds on the leaves."

<hw>Bora</hw>, n. a rite amongst the aborigines of eastern Australia; the ceremony of admitting a young black to the rights of manhood. Aboriginal word.

The word bur, given by Ridley, means not only girdle but `circle.' In the man-making ceremonies a large circle is made on the ground, where the ceremonies take place.

1875. W. Ridley, `Kamilaroi,' p. 24:

"Girdle—bor or bur. Hence Bora, the ceremony of initiation into manhood, where the candidate is invested with the belt of manhood."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 24:

"The great mystery of the Blacks is the Bora—a ceremony at which the young men found worthy receive the rank of warriors."

1892. J. Fraser, `Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 6:

"These ceremonies are . . . called the Bora."

<hw>Borage, Native</hw>, n. a plant, Pollichia zeylanica, F. v. M., N.O. Boragineae. The so-called Native Borage is not endemic to Australia. In India it is used as a cure for snake bites.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 124:

"The native borage (Trichodesina zeylanica, R. Br.)."

<hw>Borak</hw>, n. aboriginal word of New South Wales, meaning banter, chaff, fun at another's expense. (See quotation, 1845.) Prior to 1870 the word was much in use on the stations in New South Wales. About 1870 Victorian farmers' sons took shearing work there, and brought back the word with them. It was subsequently altered to barrack (q.v.).

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 steal my sheep I shall be very angry, and will shoot you and no mistake.'"

1856. W. W. Dobie, `Recollections of a Visit to Port Phillip, Australia, in 1852-55' p. 93:

". . . he gravely assured me that it was `merrijig' (very good), and that `blackfellow doctor was far better than whitefellow doctor.' In proof of which he would say, `Borak you ever see black fellow with waddie (wooden) leg. Bungalallee white fellow doctor cut him leg, borak black fellow stupid like it that."

1885. `Australasian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 75:

"On telling him my adventures, how Bob in my misery had `poked borack' at me. . . ."

1888. Alfred J.Chandler,' Curley' in `Australian Poets,' 1788-1888, ed. Sladen, p. 100:

"Here broke in Super Scotty, `Stop
Your borak, give the bloomin' man a show.'"

1893. `The Argus,' Aug. 26, p. 13, col. 1:

"It does not do for a man whose mission it is to wear stuff and a horse-hair wig to `poke borak' at that venerable and eminently respectable institution—the law, and still worse is it for a practising barrister to actually set to work, even in the most kindly spirit, to criticise the judges, before whom at any moment he may be called upon to plead."

<hw>Borboby</hw>, n. i.q. Corrobbery (q.v.), but the word is rare.

1890. Carl Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals' [Title of illustration], p. 122:

"A warrior in great excitement just before Borboby commences."

<hw>Boree</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the tree Acacia pendula, A. Cunn., N.O. Leguminosae; a variety of Myall, probably from Queensland aboriginal word Booreah, fire. It would be preferred by black or white man as firewood over any other timber except giddea (q.v.).

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 363:

"Weeping, or true myall. It is sometimes called bastard gidgee in Western New South Wales. Called boree by aboriginals, and often boree, or silver-leaf boree, by the colonists of Western New South Wales. Nilyah is another New South Wales name."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' iii. p. 30:

"Myall and boree belts of timbers."

1893. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 6o:

"The timber, of course, when seen close at hand is strange. Boree and gidyah, coolibah and whitewood, brigelow, mulgah, and myall are the unfamiliar names by which you learn to recognise the commonest varieties."

<hw>Borer</hw>, n. name applied to an Australian insect. See quotation.

1876. W. Harcus, `South Australia,' p. 110:

"There is another destructive insect called the `borer,' not met with near the sea-coast, but very active and mischievous inland, its attacks being chiefly levelled against timber. This creature is about the size of a large fly."

<hw>Boronia</hw>, n. scientific and vernacular name of a genus of Australian plants, certain species of which are noted for their peculiar fragrance. The genus is especially characteristic of West Australia, to which out of fifty-nine species thirty-three are confined, while only five are known in Tasmania. Boronia belongs to the N.O. Rutaceae.

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 72:

"Boronia variabilis. A beautiful little heath-like plant growing about the Cascade and other hills round about Hobart Town. . . . This genus is named after Borone, an Italian servant of the late Dr. Sibthorp, who perished at Athens. . . .Another species found in Van Diemen's Land is the Lemon plant of the mountains."

1896. `The Melburnian,' vol. xxii., No. 3, August 28, p. 53:

"Winter does not last for ever, and now at each street corner the scent of boronia and the odour of wattle-blossom greet us from baskets of the flower-girl."

<hw>Boss-cockie</hw>, n. a slang name in the bush for a farmer, larger than a Cockatoo (see Cockatoo, n. 2), who employs other labour as well as working himself.

<hw>Botany Bay</hw>, n. lying to the south of the entrance to Port Jackson, New South Wales, the destination of the first two shiploads of convicts from England. As a matter of fact, the settlement at Botany Bay never existed. The "First Fleet," consisting of eleven sail under Governor Phillip, arrived at Botany Bay on January 18, 1788. The Governor finding the place unsuitable for a settlement did not land his people, but on January 25 removed the fleet to Port Jackson. On the next day (January 26) he landed his people at Sydney Cove, and founded the city of Sydney. The name, however, citing to popular imagination, and was used sometimes as the name of Australia. Seventy years after Governor Phillip, English schoolboys used "go to Botany Bay" as an equivalent to "go to Bath." Captain Cook and his naturalists, Banks and Solander, landed at Botany Bay, and the name was given (not at first, when the Bay was marked Stingray, but a little later) from the large number of plants collected there.

1770. `Captain Cook's Original Journal,' ed. by Wharton, 1893, p. 247:

"6 May. . . .The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the Name of Botany Bay."

1789. [Title]:

"The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay," published in
London.

1789. Captain Watkin Tench [Title]: "A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay," published in London.

1793 G. Barrington [Title]:

"Voyage to Botany Bay," [published in London.]

This was the popular book on the new settlement, the others being high priced. As Lowndes says, "A work of no authority, but frequently printed." Barrington, the pickpocket, whose name it bears, had nothing to do with it. It was pirated from Phillip, Collins, etc. It went through various editions and enlargements to 1810 or later. After 1795 the name was altered to `Voyage to New South Wales.'

1798. D. Collins, `Account of the English Colony in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 502:

"The word `Botany Bay' became a term of reproach that was indiscriminately cast on every one who resided in New South Wales."

1840. Thos. Hood, `Tale of a Trumpet:

"The very next day
She heard from her husband at Botany Bay."

1851. Rev. David Mackenzie, `Ten Years in Australia,' p. 50:

". . . a pair of artificially black eyes being the Botany Bay coat of arms."

1852. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' Vol. ii. p. 91:

"Some gentlemen, on a visit to a London theatre, to draw the attention of their friends in an opposite box, called out cooey; a voice in the gallery answered `Botany Bay!'"

1894. `Pall Mall Budget,' May 17, p. 20, col. 1:

"The owner of the ship was an ex-convict in Sydney—then called Botany Bay—who had waxed wealthy on the profits of rum, and the `shangai-ing' of drugged sailors."

<hw>Botany-Bay Greens</hw>, n. a vegetable common to all the colonies, Atriplex cinereum, Poir, N.O. Salsolaceae.

1810. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 263:

"Botany Bay greens are abundant; they much resemble sage in appearance; and are esteemed a very good dish by the Europeans."

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 134:

"I do not think it necessary to enter upon any description of the Barilla shrubs (Atriplex halimus, Rhagodur billardiera; and Salicornia arbuscula), which, with some others, under the promiscuous name of Botany Bay greens, were boiled and eaten along with some species of seaweed, by the earliest settlers, when in a state of starvation."

1835. Ibid. p. 69:

"Atriplex Halimus. Barrilla. Botany Bay Greens. This is the plant so common on the shores of Cape Barren and other islands of the Straits, from which the alkaline salt is obtained and brought up in boats to the soap manufactory at Hobart Town. It has been set down as the same plant that grows on the coast of Spain and other parts of Europe."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 9:

"Once used as a pot-herb in New South Wales. Leichhardt used a species of Atriplex as a vegetable, and spoke very highly of it."

<hw>Botany-Bay Oak</hw>, or <hw>Botany-Bay Wood</hw>, n. a trade name in England for the timber of Casuarina. See Beef-wood.

<hw>Bottle-brush</hw>, n. name given to various species of Callistemon and Melaleuca, N.O. Myrtaceae; the Purple Bottle-brush is Melaleuca squamea, Lab. The name is also more rarely given to species of Banksia, or Honeysuckle (q.v.). The name bottle-brush is from the resemblance of the large handsome blossoms to the brush used to clean out wine-bottles.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 359:

"Red Bottle-brush. The flowers of some species of Callistemon are like bottle-brushes in shape."

<hw>Bottle-Gourd</hw>, n. an Australian plant, Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser., N.O. Cucurbitaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 192:

"Bottle Gourd. This plant, so plentiful along the tropical coast of Queensland, is said to be a dangerous poison. It is said that some sailors were killed by drinking beer that had been standing for some time in a bottle formed of one of these fruits. (F. M. Bailey.)"

<hw>Bottle-Swallow</hw>, n. a popular name for the bird Lagenoplastis ariel, otherwise called the Fairy Martin. See Martin. The name refers to the bird's peculiar retort shaped nest. Lagenoplashs is from the Greek lagaenos, a flagon, and plautaes, a modeller. The nests are often constructed in clusters under rocks or the eaves of buildings. The bird is widely distributed in Australia, and has occurred in Tasmania.

<hw>Bottle-tree</hw>, n. an Australian tree, various species of Sterculia, i.q. Kurrajong (q.v.). So named from its appearance. See quotations.

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 264:

"The sterculia, or bottle-tree, is a very singular curiosity. It generally varies in shape between a soda-water and port-wine bottle, narrow at the basis, gradually widening at the middle, and tapering towards the neck."

1848. L. Leichhardt, Letter in `Cooksland, by J. D. Lang, p. 91:

"The most interesting tree of this Rosewood Brush is the true bottle-tree, a strange-looking unseemly tree, which swells slightly four to five feet high, and then tapers rapidly into a small diameter; the foliage is thin, the crown scanty and irregular, the leaves lanceolate, of a greyish green; the height of the whole tree is about forty-five feet."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 127:

"It was on this range (Lat. 26 degrees, 42') that Mitchell saw the bottle-tree for the first time. It grew like an enormous pear-shaped turnip, with only a small portion of the root in the ground."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 60:

"A `Kurrajong.' The `Bottle-tree' of N.E. Australia, and also called `Gouty-stem,' on account of the extraordinary shape of the trunk. It is the `Binkey' of the aboriginals.

"The stem abounds in a mucilaginous substance resembling pure tragacanth, which is wholesome and nutritious, and is said to be used as an article of food by the aborigines in cases of extreme need. A similar clear jelly is obtainable by pouring boiling water on chips of the wood."

<hw>Bottom</hw>, n. in gold-mining, the old river-bed upon which the wash-dirt rests, and upon which the richest alluvial gold is found; sometimes called the gutter.

1887. H. H. Hayter, `Christmas Adventure,' p. 5:

"We reached the bottom, but did not find gold."

<hw>Bottom</hw>, v. to get to the bedrock, or clay, below which it was useless to sink (gold-mining).

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. xv. p. 219:

"In their anxiety to bottom their claims, they not seldom threw away the richest stuff."

<hw>Boundary-rider</hw>, n. a man who rides round the fences of a station to see that they are in order.

1890. E. W. Hornung, `A Bride from the Bush,' p. 279:

"A boundary-rider is not a `boss' in the Bush, but he is an important personage in his way. He sees that the sheep in his paddock draw to the water, that there is water for them to draw to, and that the fences and gates are in order. He is paid fairly, and has a fine, free, solitary life."

1892. `Scribner's Magazine,' Feb., p. 147:

"The manager's lieutenants are the `boundary-riders,' whose duty it is to patrol the estate and keep him informed upon every portion of it."

<hw>Bower-bird</hw> n. Australian bird. See quotation, 1891. See Ptilonorhynchinae. The following are the varieties—-

Fawn-breasted Bower-bird— Chlamydoderea cerviniventris, Gould.

Golden B.—

Prionodura newtoniana, De Vis.

Great B.—

Chlambydodera nuchalis, Gould (`Birds of Australia,' vol.iv. pl. 9).

Queensland B.—

C. orientalis, Gould.

Satin B.—

Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, Vieillot.

Spotted B.—

Chlamydodera maculata, Gould (ibid. pl. 8).

Yellow-spotted B.—

C. gutttata, Gould.

And the Regent-bird (q.v.).

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 140:

"The same person had the last season found, to his surprise, the playhouse, or bower, of the Australian satin bower-bird."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 28:

"Any shred of glass or metal which arrests the eye or reflects the rays of the sun is a gem in the bower-bird's collection, which seems in a sense to parody the art decorations of a modern home."

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"In one is a representation of the playing place of the spotted bowerbird. These bowers are quite independent of the birds' nests, which are built on neighbouring trees. They first construct a covered passage or bower about three feet long, and near it they place every white or bright object they can find, such as the bleached bones of animals, pieces of white or coloured stone, feathers, shells, etc., etc.; the feathers they place on end. When these curious playing places were first discovered, they were thought to be made by the native women for the amusement of their children. More than a bushel of small pieces of bleached bones or shells are often found at one of these curious sporting places. Sometimes a dozen or more birds will assemble, and they delight in chasing each other through the bower and playing about it."

<hw>Box</hw>, <hw>Box-tree</hw>, <hw>Box-gum</hw>, n. The name is applied to many Eucalypts, and to a few trees of the genus Tristania, as given below, all of the N.O. Myrtaceae, chiefly from the qualities of their timber, which more or less resembles "Boxwood." Most of these trees also bear other vernacular names, and the same tree is further often described vernacularly as different kinds of Box. China-, Heath-, and Native-Box (q.v. below) are of other Natural Orders and receive their names of Box from other reasons. The following table is compiled from Maiden:—

Bastard Box—
Eucalyptus goniocalyx, F. v. M.;
E. largiflorens, F. v. M. (called also Cooburn);
E. longifolia, Link.; E. microtheca, F. v. M.;
E. polyanthema, F. v. M.; E. populifolia,
Hook. (called also Bembil or Bimbil Box and Red Box);
Tristania conferta, R. Br.;
T. laurana, R. Br., all of the N.O. Myrtaceae.

Black Box—
Eucalyptus obliqua, L'Herit.;
E. largiflorens, F. v. M.;
E. microtheca, F. v. M.

Brisbane Box—-
Tristania conferta, R. Br.

Broad-leaved Box—
Eucalyptus acmenoides, Schau.

Brown Box—
Eucalyptus polyanthema, Schau.

Brush Box—
Tristania conferta, R. Br.

China Box— Murraya exotica, Linn., N.O. Rutaceae
(not a tree, but a perfume plant, which is found also in India
and China).

Dwarf, or Flooded Box— Eucalyptus microtheca,
F. v. M. (Also called Swamp Gum, from its habit of growing on
land inundated during flood time. An aboriginal name for the
same tree is goborro.)

Grey Box—
Eucalyptus goniocalyx, F. v. M.;
E. hemiphloia, F. v. M.;
E. largiflorens, F. v. M.;
E. polyanthema, Schau.;
E. saligna, Smith.

Gum-topped Box—
Eucalyptus hemiphloia, F. v. M.

Heath Box— Alyxia buxifolia, R. Br., N.O. Apocyneae (called also Tonga-beanwood, owing to its scent)

Iron-bark Box—
Eucalyptus obliqua, L'Herit.

Narrow-leaved Box—
Eucalyptus microtheca, F. v. M.

Native Box— Bursaria spinosa, Cav.,
N.O. Pittosporeae. (Called also Box-thorn
and Native-Olive. It is not a timber-tree but a forage-
plant. See quotation, 1889.)

Poplar Box—
Eucalyptus populifolia, Hook.

Red Box—
Eucalyptus populifolia, Hook.;
E. polyanthema, Schau.;
Tristania
conferta, R. Br.

Thozet's Box—
Eucalyptus raveretiana, F. v. M.

White Box—
Eucalyptus hemiphloia, F. v. M.;
E. odorata, Behr.;
E. populifolia, Hook.;
Tristania conferta, R. Br.

Yellow Box—
Eucalyptus hemiphloia, F. v. M.
E. largiflorens, F. v. M.
E. melliodora, A. Cunn.

1820. John Oxley, `Two Expeditions,' p. 126:

"The country continued open forest land for about three miles, the cypress and the bastard-box being the prevailing timber; of the former many were useful trees."

1838. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions, vol. ii. p. 55:

"The small kind of tree . . . which Mr. Oxley, I believe, terms the dwarf-box, grows only on plains subject to inundation . . . . It may be observed, however, that all permanent waters are invariably surrounded by the `yarra.' These peculiarities are only ascertained after examining many a hopeless hollow, where grew the `goborro' only; and after I had found my sable guides eagerly scanning the `yarra' from afar, when in search of water, and condemning any view of the `goborro' as hopeless during that dry season."

[See Yarra, a tree.]

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. p. 6:

"Belts of open forest land, principally composed of the box-tree of the colonists, a species of eucalyptus (in no respect resembling the box of Europe)."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 15:

"The Honey-Eucalypt (Eucalyptus melliodora). This tree passes by the very unapt vernacular name Yellow Box-tree, though no portion of it is yellow, not even its wood, and though the latter resembles the real boxwood in no way whatever. Its systematic specific name alludes to the odour of its flowers, like that of honey, and as the blossoms exude much nectar, like most eucalypts, sought by bees, it is proposed to call it the small-leaved Honey-Eucalypt, but the Latin name might as easily be conveyed to memory, with the advantage of its being a universal one, understood and used by all nations."

1881. A.C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 46:

"Poor country, covered with ti-tree, box, and iron-bark saplings, with here and there heavy timber growing on sour-looking ridges."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 7:

"The clumps of box-gums clinging together for sympathy."

1888. J. Howlett Ross, `Laureate of the Centaurs,' p. 41:

"Box shrubs which were not yet clothed with their creamy-white plumes (so like the English meadowsweet)."

1889. P. Beveridge, `Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina,' p. 59:

"These spears are principally made from a tall-growing box (one of the eucalypts) which often attains to an altitude of over 100 feet; it is indigenous to the north-western portion of the colony, and to Riverina; it has a fine wavy grain, consequently easily worked when in a green state. When well seasoned, however, it is nearly as hard as ebony."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 121:

"Native box is greedily eaten by sheep, but its thorny character preserves it from extinction upon sheep-runs: usually a small scrub, in congenial localities it developes into a small tree."

<hw>Box</hw>, n. See succeeding verb.

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 67:

"Great care must of course be taken that no two flocks come into collision, for a `box,' as it is technically called, causes an infinity of trouble, which is the reason that the stations are so far apart."

<hw>Box</hw>, v. to mix together sheep that ought to be kept separate apparently from "to box" in the sense of to shut up in narrow limits (`O.E.D.' v. i. 5); then to shut up together and so confuse the classification; then the sense of shutting up is lost and that of confusion remains.

1881. A.C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 253:

"All the mobs of different aged lambs which had been hitherto kept apart were boxed up together."

1889. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 356:

"After they'd got out twenty or thirty they'd get boxed, like a new hand counting sheep, and have to begin all over again."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 84:

"At nightfall, the fifteen flocks of sheep were all brought in, and `boxed,' or mixed together, to Ernest's astonishment."

1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 166:

"He must keep tally when the sheep are being counted or draughted, I'm not sure which, and swear—no, he needn't swear—when they get boxed."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 54:

"But the travelling sheep and the Wilga sheep were boxed on the
Old Man Plain.
'Twas a full week's work ere they drafted out and hunted them off
again."

<hw>Boxer</hw>, n. This word means in Australia the stiff, low-crowned, felt hat, called a billy-cock or bowler. The silk-hat is called a bell-topper (q.v.).

1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 9, p. 14, col. 2:

"And will you wear a boxer that is in a battered state ?
I wonder, will you—now that you're a knight?"

<hw>Box-wood</hw>, n. a New Zealand wood, Olea lanceolata, Hook., N.O. Jasminea (Maori name, Maire). Used by the `Wellington Independent' (April 19, 1845) for woodcuts, and recommended as superior to box-wood for the purpose. See also Box, n.

<hw>Boyla</hw>, n. aboriginal word for a sorcerer.

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. i. p. 384:

"The absolute power of boylas or evil sorcerers . . . he chanted gloomily:—

  Oh, wherefore would they eat the muscles?
  Now boylas storm and thunder make.
  Oh, wherefore would they eat the muscles ?"

<hw>Bramble, Native</hw>, n. See Blackberry.

<hw>Bread, Native</hw>, n. a kind of fungus. "The sclerotium of Polyporus mylitta, C. et M. Until quite recently the sclerotium was known, but not the fructification. It was thought probable that its fruit would be ascomycetous, and on the authority of Berkeley it was made the type of a genus as Mylitta Australis. It is found throughout Eastern Australia and Tasmania. The aborigines ate it, but to the European palate it is tough and tasteless, and probably as indigestible as leather." (L. Rodway.)

1843. James Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies,' p. 40:

"Natural Order. Fungi. . . . Mylitta Australis. Native Bread. This species of tuber is often found in the Colony, attaining to the size of a child's head: its taste somewhat resembles boiled rice. Like the heart of the Tree-fern, and the root of the Native Potato, cookery produces little change."

1848. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 157:

"11th October, 1848 . . . Specimens of the fungus known as `native bread,' Mylitta Australis, lay upon the table. A member observed that this substance, grated and made into a pudding with milk alone, had been found by him very palatable. Prepared in the same way, and combined with double its weight of rice or sago, it has produced a very superior dish. It has also been eaten with approval in soup, after the manner of truffle, to which it is nearly allied."

1857. Dr. Milligan, in Bishop Nixon's `Cruise of the Beacon,' p. 27:

"But that which afforded the largest amount of solid and substantial nutritious matter was the native bread, a fungus growing in the ground, after the manner of the truffle, and generally so near the roots of trees as to be reputed parasitical."

1896. `Hobart Mercury,' Oct. 30, p. 2, last col.:

"A large specimen of `native bread,' weighing 12 lb., has been unearthed on Crab Tree farm in the Huon district, by Mr. A. Cooper. It has been brought to town, and is being examined with interest by many at the British Hotel. It is one of the fungi tribe that forms hard masses of stored food for future use."

<hw>Breadfruit-tree</hw>, name given by the explorer Leichhardt to the Queensland tree, Gardenia edulis, F. v. M., N.O. Rubiaceae.

<hw>Breakaway</hw>, n.(1) A bullock that leaves the herd.

1893. `The Argus,' April 29, p. 4, col. 4:

"The smartest stock horse that ever brought his rider up within whip distance of a breakaway or dodged the horns of a sulky beast, took the chance."

(2) The panic rush of sheep, cattle, or other animals at the sight or smell of water.

1891: "The Breakaway," title of picture by Tom Roberts at Victorian Artists' Exhibition.

<hw>Bream</hw>, n. The name is applied in Australia to various species of Chrysophrys, family Sparidae, and to other fishes of different families. The Black-Bream (q.v.) is C. australis, Gunth. The Bony-Bream is also called the Sardine (q.v.). The Silver-Bream (q.v.) or White-Bream is Gerres ovatus, Gunth., family Percidae. The Red-Bream is a Schnapper (q.v.) one year old. The popular pronunciation is Brim, and the fishes are all different from the various fishes called Bream in the northern hemisphere. See also Tarwhine and Blue-fish.

<hw>Brickfielder</hw>, n. (1) Originally a Sydney name for a cold wind, blowing from the south and accompanied by blinding clouds of dust; identical with the later name for the wind, the Southerly Buster (q.v.). The brickfields lay to the south of Sydney, and when after a hot wind from the west or north-west, the wind went round to the south, it was accompanied by great clouds of dust, brought up from the brickfields. These brickfields have long been a thing of the past, surviving only in "Brickfield Hill," the hilly part of George Street, between the Cathedral and the Railway Station. The name, as denoting a cold wind, is now almost obsolete, and its meaning has been very curiously changed and extended to other colonies to denote a very hot wind. See below (Nos. 2 and 3), and the notes to the quotations.

1833. Lieut. Breton, R.N., `Excursions in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land,' p. 293:

"It sometimes happens that a change takes place from a hot wind to a `brickfielder,' on which occasions the thermometer has been known to fall, within half an hour, upwards of fifty degrees! That is to say, from above 100 degrees to 50 degrees! A brickfielder is a southerly wind, and it takes its local name from the circumstances of its blowing over, and bringing into town the flames [sic] of a large brick-field: it is nearly as detestable as a hot wind."

[Lieut. Breton must have had a strong imagination. The brickfields, at that date, were a mile away from the town, and the bringing in of their flames was an impossibility. Perhaps, however, the word is a misprint for fumes; yet even then this earliest quotation indicates part of the source of the subsequent confusion of meaning. The main characteristic of the true brickfielder was neither flames nor fumes,—and certainly not heat,—but choking dust.]

1839. W. H. Leigh, `Reconnoitering Voyages, Travels, and Adventures in the new Colony of South Australia,' etc., p. 184:

"Whirlwinds of sand come rushing upon the traveller, half blinding and choking him,—a miniature sirocco, and decidedly cousin-german to the delightful sandy puffs so frequent at Cape Town. The inhabitants call these miseries `Brickfielders,' but why they do so I am unable to divine; probably because they are in their utmost vigour on a certain hill here, where bricks are made."

[This writer makes no allusion to the temperature of the wind, whether hot or cold, but lays stress on its especial characteristic, the dust. His comparison with the sirocco chiefly suggests the clouds of sand brought by that wind from the Libyan Desert, with its accompanying thick haze and darkness (`half blinding and choking'), rather than its relaxing warmth.]

1844. John Rae, `Sydney Illustrated,' p. 26:

"The `brickfielder' is merely a colonial name for a violent gust of wind, which, succeeding a season of great heat, rushes in to supply the vacuum and equalises the temperature of the atmosphere; and when its baneful progress is marked, sweeping over the city in thick clouds of brick-coloured dust (from the brickfields), it is time for the citizens to close the doors and windows of their dwellings, and for the sailor to take more than half his canvas in, and prepare for a storm."

[Here the characteristic is again dust from the brickfields, as the origin of the name, with cold as an accompaniment.]

1844. Mrs.Meredith, `Notes and Sketches of New South Wales,' p. 44:

"These dust winds are locally named `brickfielders,' from the direction in which they come" [i.e. from neighbouring sandhills, called the brickfields].

[Here dust is the only characteristic observed, with the direction of the wind as the origin of its name.]

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 4:

"The greatest peculiarity in the climate is what is called by colonists a brickfielder. This wind has all the characteristics of a sirocco in miniature . . . . Returning home, he discovers that the house is full of sand; that the brickfielder has even insinuated itself between the leaves of his books; at dinner he will probably find that his favourite fish has been spoiled by the brickfielder. Nor is this all; for on retiring to rest he will find that the brickfielder has intruded even within the precincts of his musquito curtains."

[Here again its dust is noted as the distinguishing feature of the wind, just as sand is the distinguishing feature of the `sirocco' in the Libyan Desert, and precipitated sand,—`blood rain' or `red snow,'—a chief character of the sirocco after it reaches Italy.]

1847. Alex. Marjoribanks, `Travels in New South Wales,' p. 61:

"The hot winds which resemble the siroccos in Sicily are, however, a drawback . . . but they are almost invariably succeeded by what is there called a `brickfielder,' which is a strong southerly wind, which soon cools the air, and greatly reduces the temperature."

[Here the cold temperature of the brickfielder is described, but not its dust, and the writer compares the hot wind which precedes the brickfielder with the sirocco. He in fact thinks only of the heat of the sirocco, but the two preceding writers are thinking of its sand, its thick haze, its quality of blackness and its suffocating character,—all which applied accurately to the true brickfielder.]

1853. Rev. H. Berkeley Jones, `Adventures in Australia in 1852 and 1853,' p. 228:

"After the languor, the lassitude, and enervation which some persons experience during these hot blasts, comes the `Brickfielder,' or southerly burster."

[Cold temperature noticed, but not dust.]

1853. `Fraser's Magazine,' 48, p. 515:

"When the wind blows strongly from the southward, it is what the Sydney people call a `brickfielder'; that is, it carries with it dense clouds of red dust or sand, like brick dust, swept from the light soil which adjoins the town on that side, and so thick that the houses and streets are actually hidden; it is a darkness that may be felt."

[Here it is the dust, not the temperature, which determines the name.]

(2) The very opposite to the original meaning,—a severe hot wind. In this inverted sense the word is now used, but not frequently, in Melbourne and in Adelaide, and sometimes even in Sydney, as the following quotations show. It will be noted that one of them (1886) observes the original prime characteristic of the wind, its dust.

1861. T. McCombie,' Australian Sketches,' p. 79:

"She passed a gang of convicts, toiling in a broiling `brickfielder.'"

1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia with Notes by the Way,' p. 155:

"The `brickfielders' are usually followed, before the day closes, with `south-busters' [sic.]."

1886. F. Cowan, `Australia, a Charcoal Sketch':

"The Buster and Brickfielder: austral red-dust blizzard; and red-hot Simoom."

This curious inversion of meaning (the change from cold to hot) may be traced to several causes. It may arise—

(a) From the name itself. People in Melbourne and Adelaide, catching at the word brickfielder as a name for a dusty wind, and knowing nothing of the origin of the name, would readily adapt it to their own severe hot north winds, which raise clouds of dust all day, and are described accurately as being `like a blast from a furnace,' or `the breath of a brick-kiln.' Even a younger generation in Sydney, having received the word by colloquial tradition, losing its origin, and knowing nothing of the old brickfields, might apply the word to a hot blast in the same way.

(b) From the peculiar phenomenon.—A certain cyclonic change of temperature is a special feature of the Australian coastal districts. A raging hot wind from the interior desert (north wind in Melbourne and Adelaide, west wind in Sydney) will blow for two or three days, raising clouds of dust; it will be suddenly succeeded by a `Southerly Buster' from the ocean, the cloud of dust being greatest at the moment of change, and the thermometer falling sometimes forty or fifty degrees in a few minutes. The Sydney word brickfielder was assigned originally to the latter part—the dusty cold change. Later generations, losing the finer distinction, applied the word to the whole dusty phenomenon,and ultimately specialized it to denote not so much the extreme dustiness of its later period as the more disagreeable extreme heat of its earlier phase.

(c) From the apparent, though not real, confusion of terms, by those who have described it as a `sirocco.'—The word sirocco (spelt earlier schirocco, and in Spanish and other languages with the sh sound, not the s) is the Italian equivalent of the Arabic root sharaga, `it rose.' The name of the wind, sirocco, alludes in its original Arabic form to its rising, with its cloud of sand, in the desert high-lands of North Africa. True, it is defined by Skeat as `a hot wind,' but that is only a part of its definition. Its marked characteristic is that it is sand-laden, densely hazy and black, and therefore `choking,' like the brickfielder. The not unnatural assumption that writers by comparing a brickfielder with a sirocco, thereby imply that a brickfielder is a hot wind, is thus disposed of by this characteristic, and by the notes on the passages quoted. They were dwelling only on its choking dust, and its suffocating qualities,—`a miniature sirocco.' See the following quotations on this character of the sirocco:—

1841. `Penny Magazine,' Dec. 18, p. 494:

"The Islands of Italy, especially Sicily and Corfu, are frequently visited by a wind of a remarkable character, to which the name of sirocco, scirocco, or schirocco, has been applied. The thermometer rises to a great height, but the air is generally thick and heavy . . . . People confine themselves within doors; the windows and doors are shut close, to prevent as much as possible the external air from entering; . . . but a few hours of the tramontane, or north wind which generally succeeds it, soon braces them up again. [Compare this whole phenomenon with (b) above.] There are some peculiar circumstances attending the wind. . . . Dr. Benza, an Italian physician, states:—`When the sirocco has been impetuous and violent, and followed by a shower of rain, the rain has carried with it to the ground an almost impalpable red micaceous sand, which I have collected in large quantities more than once in Sicily. . . . When we direct our attention to the island of Corfu, situated some distance eastward of Sicily, we find the sirocco assuming a somewhat different character. . . . The more eastern sirocco might be called a refreshing breeze [sic]. . . . The genuine or black sirocco (as it is called) blows from a point between south-east and south-south-east.'"

1889. W. Ferrell, `Treatise on Winds,' p. 336:

"The dust raised from the Sahara and carried northward by the sirocco often falls over the countries north of the Mediterranean as `blood rain,' or as `red snow,' the moisture and the sand falling together. . . .The temperature never rises above 95 degrees."

1889. `The Century Dictionary,' s.v. Sirocco:

"(2) A hot, dry, dust-laden wind blowing from the highlands of Africa to the coasts of Malta, Sicily and Naples. . . . During its prevalence the sky is covered with a dense haze."

(3) The illustrative quotations on brickfielder, up to this point, have been in chronological consecutive order. The final three quotations below show that while the original true definition and meaning, (1), are still not quite lost, yet authoritative writers find it necessary to combat the modern popular inversion, (2).

1863. Frank Fowler, `The Athenaeum,' Feb. 21, p. 264, col. 1:

"The `brickfielder' is not the hot wind at all; it is but another name for the cold wind, or southerly buster, which follows the hot breeze, and which, blowing over an extensive sweep of sandhills called the Brickfields, semi-circling Sydney, carries a thick cloud of dust (or `brickfielder') across the city."

[The writer is accusing Dr. Jobson (see quotation 1862, above) of plagiarism from his book `Southern Lights and Shadows.']

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' vol. ii. p. 11:

"A dust which covered and penetrated everything and everywhere.
This is generally known as a `brickfielder.'"

1896. `Three Essays on Australian Weather,' `On Southerly Buster,' by H. A. Hunt, p. 17:

"In the early days of Australian settlement, when the shores of Port Jackson were occupied by a sparse population, and the region beyond was unknown wilderness and desolation, a great part of the Haymarket was occupied by the brickfields from which Brickfield Hill takes its name. When a `Southerly Burster' struck the infant city, its approach was always heralded by a cloud of reddish dust from this locality, and in consequence the phenomenon gained the local name of `brickfielder.' The brickfields have long since vanished, and with them the name to which they gave rise, but the wind continues to raise clouds of dust as of old under its modern name of `Southerly Burster."

<hw>Bricklow</hw>, n. obsolete form of Brigalow (q.v.).

<hw>Brigalow</hw>, n. and adj. Spellings various. Native name, Buriargalah. In the Namoi dialect in New South Wales, Bri or Buri is the name for Acacia pendula, Cunn.; Buriagal, relating to the buri; Buriagalah == place of the buri tree. Any one of several species of Acacia, especially A. harpophylla, F. v. M., H.O. Leguminosae. J. H. Maiden (`Useful Native Plants,' p. 356, 1889) gives its uses thus:

"Wood brown, hard, heavy, and elastic; used by the natives for spears, boomerangs, and clubs. The wood splits freely, and is used for fancy turnery. Saplings used as stakes in vineyards have lasted twenty years or more. It is used for building purposes, and has a strong odour of violets.'

1846. L. Leichhardt, quoted by J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 312:

"Almost impassable bricklow scrub, so called from the bricklow (a species of acacia)."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 4:

"The Bricklow Acacia, which seems to be identical with the Rosewood Acacia of Moreton Bay; the latter, however, is a fine tree, 50 to 60 feet high, whereas the former is either a small tree or a shrub. I could not satisfactorily ascertain the origin of the word Bricklow, but as it is well understood and generally adopted by all the squatters between the Severn River and the Boyne, I shall make use of the name. Its long, slightly falcate leaves, being of a silvery green colour, give a peculiar character to the forest, where the tree abounds."—[Footnote]: "Brigaloe Gould."

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 79:

"Good-bye to the Barwan and brigalow scrubs."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 190:

"Now they pass through a small patch of Brigalow scrub. Some one has split a piece from a trunk of a small tree. What a scent the dark-grained wood has!"

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia;' vol. iv. p. 69:

"There exudes from the Brigalow a white gum, in outward appearance like gum-arabic, and even clearer, but as a `sticker' valueless, and as a `chew-gum' disappointing."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 23:

"The glare of a hard and pitiless sky overhead, the infinite vista of saltbush, brigalow, stay-a-while, and mulga, the creeks only stretches of stone, and no shelter from the shadeless gums."

<hw>Brill</hw>, n. a small and very bony rhomboidal fish of New Zealand, Pseudorhombus scaphus, family Pleuronectidae. The true Brill of Europe is Rhombus levis.

<hw>Brisbane Daisy</hw>, n. See Daisy, Brisbane.

<hw>Bristle-bird</hw>, n. a name given to certain Australian Reed-warblers. They are—Sphenura brachyptera, Latham; Long-tailed B.—S. longirostris, Gould; Rufous-headed B.—S. broadbentii, McCoy. See Sphenura.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 232:

"He (Mr. Caley) calls it in his notes `Bristle Bird.'"

<hw>Broad-leaf</hw>, n. a settlers' name for Griselinia littoralis, Raoul; Maori name, Paukatea.

1879. W. N. Blair, `Building Materials of Otago,' p. 155:

"There are few trees in the [Otago] bush so conspicuous or so well known as the broad-leaf. . . . It grows to a height of fifty or sixty feet, and a diameter of from three to six; the bark is coarse and fibrous, and the leaves a beautiful deep green of great brilliancy."

1879. J. B. Armstrong, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xii. Art. 49, p. 328:

"The broadleaf (Griselinia littoralis) is abundant in the district [of Banks' Peninsula], and produces a hard red wood of a durable nature."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 103:

"The rough trunks and limbs of the broadleaf."

<hw>Broker</hw>, n. Australian slang for a man completely ruined, stonebroke.

1891. `The Australasian,' Nov. 21, p. 1014:

"We're nearly `dead brokers,' as they say out here. Let's harness up Eclipse and go over to old Yamnibar."

<hw>Bronze-wing</hw>, n. a bird with a lustrous shoulder, Phaps chalcoptera, Lath. Called also Bronze-wing Pigeon.

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 145:

"One of the gold-winged pigeons, of which a plate is annexed. [Under plate, Golden-winged Pigeon.] This bird is a curious and singular species remarkable for having most of the feathers of the wing marked with a brilliant spot of golden yellow, changing, in various reflections of light, to green and copper-bronze, and when the wing is closed, forming two bars of the same across it."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 31:

"The pigeons are by far the most beautiful birds in the island; they are called bronze-winged pigeons."

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. ii. p. 57:

"Mr. Fitzpatrick followed his kangaroo hounds, and shot his emus, his wild turkeys, and his bronze-wings."

1865. `Once a Week.' `The Bulla-Bulla Bunyip.'

"Hours ago the bronze-wing pigeons had taken their evening draught from the coffee-coloured water-hole beyond the butcher's paddock, and then flown back into the bush to roost on `honeysuckle' and in heather."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 122:

"Another most beautiful pigeon is the `bronze-wing,' which is nearly the size of the English wood-pigeon, and has a magnificent purply-bronze speculum on the wings."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 33:

"Both the bronze-wing and Wonga-Wonga pigeon are hunted so keenly that in a few years they will have become extinct in Victoria."

1893. `The Argus,' March 25, p. 4, col. 6:

"Those who care for museum studies must have been interested in tracing the Australian quail and pigeon families to a point where they blend their separate identities in the partridge bronze-wing of the Central Australian plains. The eggs mark the converging lines just as clearly as the birds, for the partridge-pigeon lays an egg much more like that of a quail than a pigeon, and lays, quail fashion, on the ground."

<hw>Brook-Lime</hw>, n. English name for an aquatic plant, applied in Australia to the plant Gratiola pedunculata, R. Br., N.O. Scrophularinae. Also called Heartsease.

<hw>Broom</hw>, n. name applied to the plant Calycothrix tetragona, Lab., N.O. Myrtaceae.

<hw>Broom, Native</hw>, n. an Australian timber, Viminaria denudala, Smith, N.O. Leguminosae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 612:

"Native broom. Wood soft and spongy."

<hw>Broom, Purple</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for Comesperma retusum, Lab., N.O. Polygaleae.

<hw>Brown Snake</hw>, n. See under Snake.

<hw>Brown-tail</hw>, n. bird-name for the Tasmanian Tit. See Tit.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii, pl. 54:

"Acanthiza Diemenensis, Gould. Brown-tail, colonists of Van Diemen's Land."

<hw>Brown Tree-Lizard</hw>, n. of New Zealand, Naultinus pacificus.

<hw>Browny</hw> or <hw>Brownie</hw>, n. a kind of currant loaf.

1890. E. D. Cleland, `The White kangaroo,' p. 57:

"Cake made of flour, fat and sugar, commonly known as
`Browny.'"

1890. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 57:

"Four o'clock. `Smoke O!' again with more bread and brownie (a bread sweetened with sugar and currants)."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass,' p. 36:

"Roast mutton and brownie are given us to eat."

<hw>Brumby, Broombie</hw> (spelling various), n. a wild horse. The origin of this word is very doubtful. Some claim for it an aboriginal, and some an English source. In its present shape it figures in one aboriginal vocabulary, given in Curr's `Australian Race' (1887), vol. iii. p. 259. At p. 284, booramby is given as meaning "wild" on the river Warrego in Queensland. The use of the word seems to have spread from the Warrego and the Balowne about 1864. Before that date, and in other parts of the bush ere the word came to them, wild horses were called clear-skins or scrubbers, whilst Yarraman (q.v.) is the aboriginal word for a quiet or broken horse. A different origin was, however, given by an old resident of New South Wales, to a lady of the name of Brumby, viz. "that in the early days of that colony, a Lieutenant Brumby, who was on the staff of one of the Governors, imported some very good horses, and that some of their descendants being allowed to run wild became the ancestors the wild horses of New South Wales and Queensland." Confirmation of this story is to be desired.

1880. `The Australasian,' Dec. 4, p. 712, col. 3:

"Passing through a belt of mulga, we saw, on reaching its edge, a mob of horses grazing on the plains beyond. These our guide pronounced to be `brumbies,' the bush name here [Queensland] for wild horses."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 176:

"The wild horses of this continent known all over it by the
Australian name of `brumbies.'"

Ibid. p. 178:

"The untamed and `unyardable' scrub brumby."

1888. R. Kipling, `Plain Tales from the Hills,' p. 160:

"Juggling about the country, with an Australian larrikin; a `brumby' with as much breed as the boy. . . . People who lost money on him called him a `brumby.'"

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms.' p. 67:

"The three-cornered weed he rode that had been a `brumbee.'"

1895. `Chambers' Journal,' Nov. 2, Heading `Australian Brumbie Horses':

"The brumbie horse of Australia, tho' not a distinct equine variety, possesses attributes and qualities peculiar to itself, and, like the wild cattle and wild buffaloes of Australia, is the descendant of runaways of imported stock."

1896. `Sydney Morning Herald,' (Letter from `J. F. G.,' dated Aug. 24):

"Amongst the blacks on the Lower Balonne, Nebine, Warrego, and Bulloo rivers the word used for horse is `baroombie,' the `a' being cut so short that the word sounds as `broombie,' and as far as my experience goes refers more to unbroken horses in distinction to quiet or broken ones (`yarraman')."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 156:

"Yet at times we long to gallop where the reckless bushman rides
In the wake of startled brumbies that are flying for their
hides."

<hw>Brush</hw>, n. at first undergrowth, small trees, as in England; afterwards applied to larger timber growth and forest trees. Its earlier sense survives in the compound words; see below.

1820. Oxley, `New South Wales' (`O.E.D.'):

"The timber standing at wide intervals, without any brush or undergrowth."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' (2nd ed.) vol. i. p. 62:

"We journeyed . . . at one time over good plains, at another through brushes."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. i. Introd. p. 77:

"Jungle, or what in New South Wales would be called brush."

Ibid. vol. v. Pl. 59:

"Those vast primeval forests of New South Wales to which the colonists have applied the name of brushes."

1853. Chas. St. Julian and Edward K. Silvester, `The Productions, Industry, and Resources of New South Wales,' p. 20:

"What the colonists term `brush' lands are those covered with tall trees growing so near each other and being so closely matted together by underwood, parasites, and creepers, as to be wholly impassable."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 67, note:

"Brush was allotted to the growth of large timber on alluvial lands, with other trees intermixed, and tangled vines. The soil was rich, and `brushland' was well understood as a descriptive term. It may die away, but its meaning deserves to be pointed out."

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

<hw>Brush-Bloodwood</hw>, n. See Bloodwood.

<hw>Brush-Cherry</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Trochocarpa laurina, R. Br., and Eugenia myrtifolia, Simms. Called also Brush-Myrtle.

<hw>Brush-Deal</hw>, n. a slender Queensland tree, Cupania anacardioides, A. Richard. See Brush, above.

<hw>Brusher</hw>, n. a Bushman's name, in certain parts, for a small wallaby which hops about in the bush or scrub with considerable speed. "To give brusher," is a phrase derived from this, and used in many parts, especially of the interior of Australia, and implies that a man has left without paying his debts. In reply to the question "Has so-and-so left the township? "the answer, "Oh yes, he gave them brusher," would be well understood in the above sense.

<hw>Brush-Kangaroo</hw>, n. another name for the Wallaby (q.v.).

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. viii. p. 273:

"A place . . . thickly inhabited by the small brush-kangaroo."

1830. `Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society,' i. 29:

"These dogs . . . are particularly useful in catching the bandicoots, the small brush kangaroo, and the opossum."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. ii. p. 28:

"The brush-kangaroo . . . frequents the scrubs and rocky hills."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. iii. p. 24:

"Violet was so fast that she could catch the brush-kangaroo (the wallaby) within sight."

<hw>Brush-Myrtle</hw>, i.q. Brush-Cherry (q.v.)

<hw>Brush-Turkey</hw>, n. See Turkey.

<hw>Brush-Turpentine</hw>, n. another name for the tree Syncarpia leptopetala, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae, called also Myrtle (q.v.).

<hw>Bubrush</hw>, n. See Wonga and Raupo.

<hw>Buck</hw>, v. Used "intransitively of a horse, to leap vertically from the ground, drawing the feet together like a deer, and arching the back. Also transitively to buck off." (`O.E.D.') Some say that this word is not Australian, but all the early quotations of buck and cognate words are connected with Australia. The word is now used freely in the United States; see quotation, 1882.

1870. E. B. Kennedy, `Four Years in Queensland,' p. 193:

"Having gained his seat by a nimble spring, I have seen a man (a Sydney native) so much at his ease, that while the horse has been `bucking a hurricane,' to use a colonial expression, the rider has been cutting up his tobacco and filling his pipe, while several feet in the air, nothing to front of him excepting a small lock of the animal's mane (the head being between its legs), and very little behind him, the stern being down; the horse either giving a turn to the air, or going forward every buck."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 131:

"`Well,' said one, `that fellow went to market like a bird.' `Yes,' echoed another, `Bucked a blessed hurricane.' `Buck a town down,' cried a third. `Never seed a horse strip himself quicker,' cried a fourth."

1882. Baillie-Grohman, `Camps in the Rockies,' ch. iv. p. 102 ('Standard'):

"There are two ways, I understand, of sitting a bucking horse . . . one is `to follow the buck,' the other `to receive the buck.'"

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 55:

"The performance is quite peculiar to Australian horses, and no one who has not seen them at it would believe the rapid contortions of which they are capable. In bucking, a horse tucks his head right between his fore-legs, sometimes striking his jaw with his hind feet. The back meantime is arched like a boiled prawn's; and in this position the animal makes a series of tremendous bounds, sometimes forwards, sometimes sideways and backwards, keeping it up for several minutes at intervals of a few seconds."

<hw>Buck</hw>, n. See preceding verb.

1868. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 224:

"I never saw such bucks and jumps into the air as she [the mare] performed."

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 206:

"For, mark me, he can sit a buck
For hours and hours together;
And never horse has had the luck
To pitch him from the leather."

<hw>Bucker</hw>, <hw>Buck-jumper</hw>, n. a horse given to bucking or buck-jumping.

1853. H. Berkeley Jones, `Adventures in Australia in 1852 and 1853,' [Footnote] p. 143:

"A `bucker' is a vicious horse, to be found only in Australia."

1884. `Harper's Magazine,' July, No. 301, p. 1 (`O.E.D.'):

"If we should . . . select a `bucker,' the probabilities are that we will come to grief."

1893. Haddon Chambers, `Thumbnail Sketches of Australian Life,' p. 64:

"No buck jumper could shake him off."

1893. Ibid. p. 187:

"`Were you ever on a buck-jumper?' I was asked by a friend, shortly after my return from Australia."

<hw>Buck-jumping</hw>, <hw>Bucking</hw>, verbal nouns.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 43:

"At length it shook off all its holders, and made one of those extraordinary vaults that they call buck-jumping."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' vol. ii. p. 212:

"That same bucking is just what puzzles me utterly."

1859. Rev. J. D. Mereweather, `Diary of a Working Clergyman in Australia and Tasmania, kept during the years 1850-1853,' p. 177:

"I believe that an inveterate buckjumper can be cured by slinging up one of the four legs, and lunging him about severely in heavy ground on the three legs. The action they must needs make use of on such an occasion somewhat resembles the action of bucking; and after some severe trials of that sort, they take a dislike to the whole style of thing. An Irishman on the Murrumbidgee is very clever at this schooling. It is called here `turning a horse inside out.'"

1885. Forman (Dakota), item 26, May 6, 3 (`O.E.D.'):

"The majority of the horses there [in Australia] are vicious and given to the trick of buck jumping." [It may be worth while to add that this is not strictly accurate.]

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 94:

"`I should say that buck jumping was produced in this country by bad breaking,' said Mr. Neuchamp oracularly. `Don't you believe it, sir. Bucking is like other vices—runs in the blood.'"

<hw>Buck-shot</hw>, n. a settlers' term for a geological formation. See quotation.

1851. `The Australasian Quarterly,' p. 459:

"The plain under our feet was everywhere furrowed by Dead men's graves, and generally covered with the granulated lava, aptly named by the settlers buck-shot, and found throughout the country on these trappean `formations. Buck-shot is always imbedded in a sandy alluvium, sometimes several feet thick."

<hw>Buddawong</hw>, n. a variation of Burrawang (q.v.).

1877. Australie, `The Buddawong's Crown,' `Australian Poets,' 1788-1888, ed. Sladen, p. 39:

"A Buddawong seed-nut fell to earth,
In a cool and mossy glade,
And in spring it shot up its barbed green swords,
Secure 'neath the myrtle's shade.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And the poor, poor palm has died indeed.
But little the strangers care,
`There are zamias in plenty more,' they say,
But the crown is a beauty rare."

<hw>Budgeree</hw>, adj. aboriginal word for good, which is common colloquially in the bush. See Budgerigar.

1793. J.Hunter, `Port Jackson,' p. 195:

"They very frequently, at the conclusion of the dance, would apply to us . . . for marks of our approbation . . . which we never failed to give by often repeating the word boojery, good; or boojery caribberie, a good dance."

<hw>Budgerigar</hw>, or <hw>Betcherrygah</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the bird called by Gould the Warbling Grass-parrakeet; called also Shell-parrot and Zebra- Grass-parrakeet. In the Port Jackson dialect budgeri, or boodgeri, means good, excellent. In `Collins' Vocabulary' (1798), boodjer-re = good. In New South Wales gar is common as first syllable of the name for the white cockatoo, as garaweh. See Galah. In the north of New South Wales kaar= white cockatoo. The spelling is very various, but the first of the two above given is the more correct etymologically. In the United States it is spelt beauregarde, derived by `Standard' from French beau and regarde, a manifest instance of the law of Hobson -Jobson.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 297:

"The betshiregah (Melopsittacus Undulatus, Gould) were very numerous."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. Pl. 44:

"Melopsittacus Undulatus. Warbling Grass-Parrakeet. Canary Parrot—colonists. Betcherrygah—natives of Liverpool Plains."

1857. Letter, Nov.17, in `Life of Fenton J. A. Hort' (1896), vol. i. p. 388:

"There is also a small green creature like a miniature cockatoo, called a Budgeragar, which was brought from Australia. He is quaint and now and then noisy, but not on the whole a demonstrative being."

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 48:

"Young paroquets, the green leeks, and the lovely speckled budgregores."

1865. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 7:

"I saw several pairs of those pretty grass or zebra parroquets, which are called here by the very inharmonious name of `budgereghars.'"

2890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. xiv. p. 127:

"The tiny budgeriegar, sometimes called the shell parrot."

<hw>Bugle</hw>, n. name given to the Australian plant Ajuga australis, R. Br., N.O. Labiatae.

<hw>Bugler</hw>, n. a name given in Tasmania to the fish Centriscus scolopax, family Centriscidae; called in Europe the Trumpet-fish, Bellows-fish, the latter name being also used for it in Tasmania. The structure of the mouth and snout suggests a musical instrument, or, combined with the outline of the body, a pair of bellows. The fish occurs also in Europe.

<hw>Bugong</hw>, or <hw>Bogong</hw>, or <hw>Bougong</hw>, n. an Australian moth, Danais limniace, or Agrotis spina, eaten by the aborigines.

1834. Rev. W. B. Clarke, `Researches in the Southern Gold Fields of New South Wales' (second edition), p. 228:

"These moths have obtained their name from their occurrence on the `Bogongs' or granite mountains. They were described by my friend Dr. Bennett in his interesting work on `New South Wales,' 1832-4, as abundant on the Bogong Mountain, Tumut River. I found them equally abundant, and in full vigour, in December, coming in clouds from the granite peaks of the Muniong Range. The blacks throw them on the fire and eat them."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 355:

"The westward range is called the Bougongs. The blacks during summer are in the habit of coming thus far to collect and feed on the great grey moths (bougongs) which are found on the rocks."

1871. `The Athenaeum,' May 27, p. 660:

"The Gibbs Land and Murray districts have been divided into the following counties: . . . Bogong (native name of grubs and moths)."

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `The Aborigines of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 207

"The moths—the Bugong moths(Agrolis suffusa) are greedily devoured by the natives; and in former times, when they were in season, they assembled in great numbers to eat there, and they grew fat on this food." [Also a long footnote.]

1890. Richard Helms, `Records of the Australian Museum,' vol. i. No. 1:

"My aim was to obtain some `Boogongs,' the native name for the moths which so abundantly occur on this range, and no doubt have given it its name."

1896. `Sydney Mail,' April 4, Answers to Correspondents:

"It cannot be stated positively, but it is thought that the name of the moth `bogong' is taken from that of the mountain. The meaning of the word is not known, but probably it is an aboriginal word."

<hw>Bull-a-bull</hw>, or <hw>Bullybul</hw>, n. a child's corruption of the Maori word Poroporo (q.v.), a flowering shrub of New Zealand. It is allied to the Kangaroo-Apple (q.v.).

1845. `New Plymouth's National Song,' in Hursthouse's `New Zealand,' p. 217:

"And as for fruit, the place is full
Of that delicious bull-a-bull."

<hw>Bullahoo</hw>, n. See Ballahoo.

<hw>Bull-ant</hw>, n. contracted and common form of the words Bull-dog Ant (q.v.).

<hw>Bull-dog Ant</hw>, n. (frequently shortened to Bull-dog or Bull-ant), an ant of large size with a fierce bite. The name is applied to various species of the genus Myrmecia, which is common throughout Australia and Tasmania.

1878. Mrs. H. Jones, `Long Years in Australia,' p. 93:

"Busy colonies of ants (which everywhere infest the country). . . One kind is very warlike—the `bull-dog': sentinels stand on the watch, outside the nest, and in case of attack disappear for a moment and return with a whole army of the red-headed monsters, and should they nip you, will give you a remembrance of their sting never to be forgotten."

1888. Alleged `Prize Poem,' Jubilee Exhibition:

"The aborigine is now nearly extinct,
But the bull-dog-ant and the kangaroo rat
Are a little too thick—I think."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 142:

"Where the wily free-selector walks in armour-plated pants,
And defies the stings of scorpion and the bites of bull-dog
ants."

<hw>Bull-dog Shark</hw>, i.q. Bull-head (1) (q.v.).

<hw>Bull-head</hw>, n. The name is applied to many fishes of different families in various parts of the world, none of which are the same as the following two. (1) A shark of Tasmania and South Australia of small size and harmless, with teeth formed for crushing shells, Heterodontus phillipi , Lacep., family Cestraciontidae; also called the Bull-dog Shark, and in Sydney, where it is common, the Port-Jackson Shark : the aboriginal name was Tabbigan. (2) A freshwater fish of New Zealand, Eleotris gobioides, Cuv.and Val., family Gobiidae. See Bighead.

<hw>Bulln-Bulln</hw>, n. an aboriginal name for the Lyre-bird (q.v.). This native name is imitative. The most southerly county in Victoria is called Buln-Buln; it is the haunt of the Lyre-bird.

1857. D. Bunce, `Travels with Leichhardt in Australia,' p. 70:

"We afterwards learned that this was the work of the Bullen Bullen, or Lyre-bird, in its search for large worms, its favourite food."

1871. `The Athenaeum,' May 27, p. 660:

"The Gipps Land and Murray districts have been divided into the following counties: . . . Buln Buln (name of Lyre-bird)."

<hw>Bull-Oak</hw>, n. See Oak.

<hw>Bullocky</hw>, n. and adj. a bullockdriver." In the bush all the heavy hauling is done with bullock-drays. It is quite a common sight up the country to see teams of a dozen and upwards." (B. and L.)

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xii. p. 121:

"By George, Jack, you're a regular bullocky boy."

<hw>Bull-puncher</hw>, or <hw>Bullock-puncher</hw>, n. slang for a bullockdriver. According to Barrere and Leland's `Slang Dictionary,' the word has a somewhat different meaning in America, where it means a drover. See Punch.

1872. C. N. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 49:

"The `bull-puncher,' as bullock-drivers are familiarly called."

1873. J. Mathew, song `Hawking,' in `Queenslander,' Oct. 4:

"The stockmen and the bushmen and the shepherds leave the station,
And the hardy bullock-punchers throw aside their occupation."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 143:

"These teams would comprise from five to six pairs of bullocks each, and were driven by a man euphoniously termed a `bull-puncher.' Armed with a six-foot thong, fastened to a supple stick seven feet long. . . ."

<hw>Bull-rout</hw>, n. a fish of New South Wales, Centropogon robustus, Guenth., family Scorpaenidae.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 48:

"It emits a loud and harsh grunting noise when it is caught. . . . The fisherman knows what he has got by the noise before he brings his fish to the surface. . . . When out of the water the noise of the bull-rout is loudest, and it spreads its gills and fins a little, so as to appear very formidable. . . . The blacks held it in great dread, and the name of bull-rout may possibly be a corruption of some native word."

<hw>Bull's-eye</hw>, n. a fish of New South Wales, Priacanthus macracanthus, Cuv.and Val. Priacanthus, says Guenther, is a percoid fish with short snout, lower jaw and chin prominent, and small rough scales all over them and the body generally. The eye large, and the colour red, pink, or silvery.

1884. E. P. Ramsay, `Fisheries Exhibition Literature,' vol. v. p. 311:

"Another good table-fish is the `bull's-eye,' a beautiful salmon-red fish with small scales. . . . At times it enters the harbours in considerable numbers; but the supply is irregular."

<hw>Bulls-wool</hw>, n. colloquial name for the inner portion of the covering of the Stringybark-tree (q.v.). This is a dry finely fibrous substance, easily disintegrated by rubbing between the hands. It forms a valuable tinder for kindling a fire in the bush, and is largely employed for that purpose. It is not unlike the matted hair of a bull, and is reddish in colour, hence perhaps this nickname, which is common in the Tasmanian bush.

<hw>Bully</hw>, n. a Tasmanian fish, Blennius tasmanianus, Richards., family Blennidae.

<hw>Bulrush</hw>, n. See Wonga and Raupo.

<hw>Bung, to go</hw>, v. to fail, to become bankrupt. This phrase of English school-boy slang, meaning to go off with an explosion, to go to smash (also according to Barrere and Leland still in use among American thieves), is in very frequent use in Australia. In Melbourne in the times that followed the collapse of the land-boom it was a common expression to say that Mr. So-and-so had "gone bung," sc. filed his schedule or made a composition with creditors; or that an institution had "gone bung," sc. closed its doors, collapsed. In parts of Australia, in New South Wales and Queensland, the word "bung" is an aboriginal word meaning "dead," and even though the slang word be of English origin, its frequency of use in Australia may be due to the existence of the aboriginal word, which forms the last syllable in Billabong (q.v.), and in the aboriginal word milbung blind, literally, eye-dead.

(a) The aboriginal word.

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 430:

"A place called Umpie Bung, or the dead houses."
[It is now a suburb of Brisbane, Humpy-bong.]

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 175 [in Blacks' pigeon English]:

"Missis bail bong, ony cawbawn prighten. (Missis not dead, only dreadfully frightened.)"

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 73:

"But just before you hands 'im [the horse] over and gets the money, he goes bong on you" (i.e. he dies).

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p: 142:

"Their [the blacks'] ordinary creed is very simple. `Directly me bung (die) me jump up white feller,' and this seems to be the height of their ambition."

1895. `The Age,' Dec. 21, p. 13, col. 6:

"`Then soon go bong, mummy,' said Ning, solemnly.

`Die,' corrected Clare. You mustn't talk blacks' language.'

`Suppose you go bong,' pursued Ning reflectively, `then you go to Heaven.'"

(b) The slang word.

1885. `Australian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 40:

"He was importuned to desist, as his musical talent had `gone bung,' probably from over-indulgence in confectionery."

1893. `The Argus,' April 15 (by Oriel), p. 13, col. 2:

"Still change is humanity's lot. It is but the space of a day
Till cold is the damask cheek, and silent the eloquent tongue,
All flesh is grass, says the preacher, like grass it is withered
away,
And we gaze on a bank in the evening, and lo, in the morn
'tis bung."

1893. Professor Gosman, `The Argus,' April 24, p. 7, col. 4:

"Banks might fail, but the treasures of thought could never go `bung.'"

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), April 25, p. 2, col. 4:

"Perhaps Sydney may supply us with a useful example. One member of the mischief-making brotherhood wrote the words `gone bung' under a notice on the Government Savings Bank, and he was brought before the Police Court charged with damaging the bank's property to the extent of 3d. The offender offered the Bench his views on the bank, but the magistrates bluntly told him his conduct was disgraceful, and fined him L 3 with costs, or two months' imprisonment."

<hw>Bunga</hw> or <hw>Bungy</hw>, n. a New Zealand settlers' corruption of the Maori word punga (q.v.).

<hw>Bunt</hw>, n. a Queensland fungus growing on wheat, fetid when crushed. Tilletia caries, Tul., N.O. Fungi.

<hw>Bunya-Bunya</hw>, n. aboriginal word. [Bunyi at heads of Burnett, Mary, and Brisbane rivers, Queensland; baanya, on the Darling Downs.] An Australian tree, Araucaria bidwillii, Hooker, with fruit somewhat like Bertholletia excelsa, N.O. Coniferae. Widgi-Widgi station on the Mary was the head-quarters for the fruit of this tree, and some thousands of blacks used to assemble there in the season to feast on it; it was at this assembly that they used to indulge in cannibalism ; every third year the trees were said to bear a very abundant crop. The Bunya-Bunya mountains in Queensland derive their name from this tree.

1843. L. Leichhardt, Letter in `Cooksland, by J. D. Lang, p. 82:

"The bunya-bunya tree is noble and gigantic, and its umbrella-like head overtowers all the trees of the bush."

1844. Ibid. p. 89:

"The kernel of the Bunya fruit has a very fine aroma, and it is certainly delicious eating."

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 25:

"The Bunya-Bunya or Araucaria on the seeds of which numerous tribes of blacks are accustomed to feed."

1879. W. R. Guilfoyle, `First Book of Australian Botany,' p. 58:

"A splendid timber tree of South Queensland, where it forms dense forests, one of the finest of the Araucaria tribe, attaining an approximate height of 200 feet. The Bunya-Bunya withstands drought better than most of the genus, and flourishes luxuriantly in and around Melbourne."

1887. J. Mathew, in Curr's `Australian Race,' vol. iii. p. 161:

[A full account.] "In laying up a store of bunyas, the blacks exhibited an unusual foresight. When the fruit was in season, they filled netted bags with the seeds, and buried them."

1889. Hill, quoted by J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 7:

"The cones shed their seeds, which are two to two and a half inches long by three-quarters of an inch broad; they are sweet before being perfectly ripe, and after that resemble roasted chestnuts in taste. They are plentiful once in three years, and when the ripening season arrives, which is generally in the month of January, the aborigina&ls assemble in large numbers from a great distance around, and feast upon them. Each tribe has its own particular set of trees, and of these each family has a certain number allotted, which are handed down from generation to generation with great exactness. The bunya is remarkable as being the only hereditary property which any of the aborigines are known to possess, and it is therefore protected by law. The food seems to have a fattening effect on the aborigines, and they eat large quantities of it after roasting it at the fire."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 377:

"The `Bunya-bunya' of the aboriginals—a name invariably adopted by the colonists."

1892. J. Fraser, `Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 50:

"The Bunya-bunya tree, in the proper season, bears a fir cone of great size—six to nine inches long-and this, when roasted, yields a vegetable pulp, pleasant to eat and nutritious."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 19, p. 7, col. 1:

"There is a beautiful bunya-bunya in a garden just beyond, its foliage fresh varnished by the rain, and toning from a rich darkness to the very spring tint of tender green."

<hw>Bunyip</hw>, n. (1) the aboriginal name of a fabulous animal. See quotations. For the traditions of the natives on this subject see Brough Smyth, `Aborigines of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 435.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 391:

"Certain large fossil bones, found in various parts of Australia Felix, have been referred by the natives, when consulted on the subject by the colonists, to a huge animal of extraordinary appearance, called in some districts the Bunyup, in others the Kianpraty, which they assert to be still alive. It is described as of amphibious character, inhabiting deep rivers, and permanent water-holes, having a round head, an elongated neck, with a body and tail resembling an ox. These reports have not been unattended to, and the bunyup is said to have been actually seen by many parties, colonists as well as aborigines. . . .[A skull which the natives said was that of a `piccinini Kianpraty' was found by Professor Owen to be that of a young calf. The Professor] considers it all but impossible that such a large animal as the bunyup of the natives can be now living in the country. [Mr. Westgarth suspects] it is only a tradition of the alligator or crocodile of the north."

1849. W. S. Macleay, `Tasmanian journal,' vol. iii. p. 275:

"On the skull now exhibited at the Colonial Museum of Sydney as that of the Bunyip."

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 214:

"Did my reader ever hear of the Bunyip (fearful name to the aboriginal native!) a sort of `half-horse, half-alligator,' haunting the wide rushy swamps and lagoons of the interior?"

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 258:

"The river is too deep, child, and the Bunyip lives in the water under the stones."

1865. `Once a Week,' Dec. 31, p. 45, The Bulla Bulla Bunyip':

"Beyond a doubt, in `Lushy Luke's' belief, a Bunyip had taken temporary lodgings outside the town. This bete noire of the Australian bush Luke asserted he had often seen in bygone times. He described it as being bigger than an elephant, in shape like a `poley' bullock, with eyes like live coals, and with tusks like a walrus's. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"What the Bunyip is, I cannot pretend to say, but I think it is highly probable that the stories told by both old bushmen and blackfellows, of some bush beast bigger and fiercer than any commonly known in Australia, are founded on fact. Fear and the love of the marvellous may have introduced a considerable element of exaggeration into these stories, but I cannot help suspecting that the myths have an historical basis."

1872. C. Gould, `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania,' 1872, p. 33:

"The belief in the Bunyip was just as prevalent among the natives in parts hundreds of miles distant from any stream in which alligators occur. . . . Some other animal must be sought for." . . . [Gould then quotes from `The Mercury' of April 26, 1872, an extract from the `Wagga Advertiser']: "There really is a Bunyip or Waa-wee, actually existing not far from us . . . in the Midgeon Lagoon, sixteen miles north of Naraudera . . . I saw a creature coming through the water with tremendous rapidity . . . . The animal was about half as long again as an ordinary retriever dog, the hair all over its body was jet black and shining, its coat was very long." [Gould cites other instances, and concludes that the Bunyip is probably a seal.]

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 202:

"In the south-eastern part of Australia the evil spirit of the natives is called Bunjup, a monster which is believed to dwell in the lakes. It has of late been supposed that this is a mammal of considerable size that has not yet been discovered . . . is described as a monster with countless eyes and ears. . . . He has sharp claws, and can run so fast that it is difficult to escape him. He is cruel, and spares no one either young or old."

1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. 11, col. 4:

"The hollow boom so often heard on the margin of reedy swamps —more hollow and louder by night than day—is the mythical bunyip, the actual bittern."

(2) In a secondary sense, a synonym for an impostor.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 214:

"One advantage arose from the aforesaid long-deferred discovery —a new and strong word was adopted into the Australian vocabulary: Bunyip became, and remains a Sydney synonoyme for impostor, pretender, humbug, and the like. The black fellows, however, unaware of the extinction, by superior authority, of their favourite loup-garou, still continue to cherish the fabulous bunyip in their shuddering imagination."

1853. W. C. Wentworth—Speech in August quoted by Sir Henry Parkes in `Fifty Years of Australian History' (1892), vol. i. p. 41:

"They had been twitted with attempting to create a mushroom, a Brummagem, a bunyip aristocracy; but I need scarcely observe that where argument fails ridicule is generally resorted to for aid."

<hw>Burnet, Native</hw>, n. The name is given in Australia to the plant Acaena ovina, Cunn., N.O. Rosaceae.

<hw>Burnett Salmon</hw>, n. one of the names given to the fish Ceratodus forsteri, Krefft. See Burramundi.

<hw>Burnt-stuff</hw>, n. a geological term used by miners. See quotation.

1853. Mrs. Chas. Clancy, `Lady's Visit to Gold Diggings,' p. 112:

"The top, or surface soil, for which a spade or shovel is used, was of clay. This was succeeded by a strata almost as hard as iron—technically called `burnt-stuff'—which robbed the pick of its points nearly as soon as the blacksmith had steeled them at a charge of 2s. 6d. a point."

<hw>Bur</hw>, n. In Tasmania the name is applied to Acaena rosaceae, Vahl., N.O. Rosaceae.

<hw>Burramundi</hw>, or <hw>Barramunda</hw>, n. a fresh-water fish, Osteoglossum leichhardtii, Guenth., family Osteoglossidae, found in the Dawson and Fitzroy Rivers, Queensland. The name is also incorrectly applied by the colonists to the large tidal perch of the Fitzroy River, Queensland, Lates calcarifer, Guenth., a widely distributed fish in the East Indies, and to Ceratodus forsteri, Krefft, family Sirenidae, of the Mary and Burnett Rivers, Queensland. Burramundi is the aboriginal name for O. leichhardtii. The spelling barramunda is due to the influence of barracouta (q.v.). See Perch.

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 189:

"There is a fish too at Rockhampton called the burra mundi,—
I hope I spell the name rightly,—which is very commendable."

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 357:

"Ceratodus. . . . Two species, C. forsteri and C. miolepis, are known from fresh-waters of Queensland. . . . Locally the settlers call it `flathead,' `Burnett or Dawson salmon,' and the aborigines `barramunda,' a name which they apply also to other largescaled fresh-water fishes, as the Osteoglossum leichhardtii. . . . The discovery of Ceratodus does not date farther back than the year 1870."

1882. W. Macleay, `Descriptive Catalogue of Australian fishes' ('Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales,' vol. vi. p. 256):

"Osteoglossum leichhardtii, Gunth. Barramundi of the aborigines of the Dawson River."

1892. Baldwin Spencer, `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria,' vol. iv. [Note on the habits of Ceratodus forsterii]

"It has two common names, one of which is the `Burnett Salmon' and the other the `Barramunda" . . . the latter name . . . is properly applied to a very different form, a true teleostean fish (Osteoglossum leichhardtii) which is found . . . further north . . . in the Dawson and Fitzroy . . . Mr. Saville Kent states that the Ceratodus is much prized as food. This is a mistake, for, as a matter of fact, it is only eaten by Chinese and those who can afford to get nothing better."

<hw>Burrawang</hw>, or <hw>Burwan</hw>, n. an Australian nut-tree, Macrozamia spiralis, Miq.

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

"The burwan is a nut much relished by our natives, who prepare it by roasting and immersion in a running stream, to free it from its poisonous qualities."

1851. J. Henderson, `Excursions in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 238

"The Burrowan, which grows in a sandy soil, and produces an inedible fruit, resembling the pine-apple in appearance."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 41:

"Burrawang nut, so called because they used to be, and are to some extent now, very common about Burrawang, N.S.W. The nuts are relished by the aboriginals. An arrowroot of very good quality is obtained from them."

<hw>Bush</hw>, n. Not originally an Australian application. "Recent, and probably a direct adoption of the Dutch Bosch, in colonies originally Dutch" (`O.E.D.'), [quoting (1780) Forster, in `Phil. Trans.' lxxi. 2, "The common Bush-cat of the Cape;" and (1818) Scott, `Tapestr. Chamber,' "When I was in the Bush, as the Virginians call it"]. "Woodland, country more or less covered with natural wood applied to the uncleared or untitled districts in the British Colonies which are still in a state of nature, or largely so, even though not wooded; and by extension to the country as opposed to the towns." (`O.E.D.')

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 48:

"I have spent a good deal of my time in the woods, or bush, as it is called here.'

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 85:

"With the exception of two or three little farms, comprising about 20 or 30 acres of cultivation, all was `bush' as it is colonially called. The undergrowth was mostly clear, being covered only with grass or herbs, with here and there some low shrubs."

1837. J. D. Lang, `New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 253:

"His house was well enough for the bush, as the country is generally termed in the colony."

1855. From a letter quoted in Wathen's `The Golden Colony,' p. 117:

"`The Bush,' when the word is used in the towns, means all the uninclosed and uncultivated country . . . when in the country, `the Bush' means more especially the forest. The word itself has been borrowed from the Cape, and is of Dutch origin."

1857. `The Argus,' Dec. 14, p. 5, col. 7:

"`Give us something to do in or about Melbourne, not away in the bush,' says the deputation of the unemployed."

1861. T. McCombie,' Australian Sketches,' p. 123:

"At first the eternal silence of the bush is oppressive, but a short sojourn is sufficient to accustom a neophyte to the new scene, and he speedily becomes enamoured of it."

1865. J. F. Mortlock, `Experiences of a Convict,' p. 83:

"The `bush,' a generic term synonymous with `forest' or `jungle,' applied to all land in its primaeval condition, whether occupied by herds or not."

1872. A. McFarland, `Illawarra and Manaro,' p. 113:

"All the advantages of civilized life have been surrendered for the bush, its blanket and gunyah."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 250:

"The technical meaning of the word `bush.' The bush is the gum-tree forest, with which so great a part of Australia is covered, that folk who follow a country life are invariably said to live in the bush. Squatters who look after their own runs always live in the bush, even though their sheep are pastured on plains. Instead of a town mouse and a country mouse in Australia, there would be a town mouse and a bush mouse; but mice living in the small country towns would still be bush mice."

Ibid. c. xx. p. 299:

"Nearly every place beyond the influence of the big towns is called `bush,' even though there should not be a tree to be seen around."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 67, n.:

"Bush was a general term for the interior. It might be thick bush, open bush, bush forest, or scrubby bushterms which explain themselves."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 40:

"The first thing that strikes me is the lifeless solitude of the bush. . . . There is a deep fascination about the freedom of the bush."

1890. E. W. Hornung [Title]:

"A Bride from the Bush."

1896. `Otago Daily Times,' Jan. 27, p. 2, col. 5:

"Almost the whole of New South Wales is covered with bush. It is not the bush as known in New Zealand. It is rather a park-like expanse, where the trees stand widely apart, and where there is grass on the soil between them."

<hw>Bush</hw>, adj. or in composition, not always easy to distinguish, the hyphen depending on the fancy of the writer.

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 75:

"The round trundling of our cart wheels, it is well known, does not always improve the labours of Macadam, much less a bush road."

1848. Letter by Mrs. Perry, given in Canon Goodman's `Church in Victoria, during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,'p. 75:

"A hard bush sofa, without back or ends."

1849. J. Sidney, `Emigrants' Journal, and Travellers' Magazine,' p. 40 (Letter from Caroline Chisholm):

"What I would particularly recommend to new settlers is `Bush Partnership'—Let two friends or neighbours agree to work together, until three acres are cropped, dividing the work, the expense, and the produce—this partnership will grow apace; I have made numerous bush agreements of this kind . . . I never knew any quarrel or bad feeling result from these partnerships, on the contrary, I believe them calculated to promote much neighbourly good will; but in the association of a large number of strangers, for an indefinite period, I have no confidence."

1857. W. Westgarth, `Victoria,' c. xi. p. 250:

"The gloomy antithesis of good bushranging and bad bush-roads."

[Bush-road, however, does not usually mean a made-road through the bush, but a road which has not been formed, and is in a state of nature except for the wear of vehicles upon it, and perhaps the clearing of trees and scrub.]

1864. `The Reader,' April 2, p. 40, col. 1 (`O.E.D.'):

"The roads from the nascent metropolis still partook mainly of the random character of `bush tracks.'"

1865. W. Hewitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. p. 211:

"Dr. Wills offered to go himself in the absence of any more youthful and, through bush seasoning, qualified person."

1880. `Blackwood's Magazine,' Feb., p. 169 [Title]:

"Bush-Life in Queensland."

1881. R. M. Praed, `Policy and Passion,' c. i. p. 59:

"The driver paused before a bush inn."

[In Australia the word "inn" is now rare. The word "hotel" has supplanted it.]

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv.p. 3:

"Not as bush roads go. The Australian habit is here followed of using `bush' for country, though no word could be more ludicrously inapplicable, for there is hardly anything on the way that can really be called a bush."

1894. `Sydney Morning Herald' (exact date lost):

"Canada, Cape Colony, and Australia have preserved the old significance of Bush—Chaucer has it so—as a territory on which there are trees; it is a simple but, after all, a kindly development that when a territory is so unlucky as to have no trees, sometimes, indeed, to be bald of any growth whatever, it should still be spoken of as if it had them."

1896. Rolf Boldrewood, in preface to `The Man from Snowy River':

"It is not easy to write ballads descriptive of the bushland of Australia, as on light consideration would appear."

1896. H. Lawson, `While the Billy boils,' p. 104:

"About Byrock we met the bush liar in all his glory. He was dressed like—like a bush larrikin. His name was Jim."

<hw>Bush-faller</hw>, n. one who cuts down timber in the bush.

1882. `Pall Mall Gazette,' June 29, p. 2, col. 1:

"A broken-down, deserted shanty, inhabited once, perhaps, by rail-splitters or bush-fallers." [`O.E.D.,' from which this quotation is taken, puts (?) before the meaning; but "To fall" is not uncommon in Australia for "to fell."]

<hw>Bush-fire</hw>, n. forests and grass on fire in hot summers.

1868. C. Dilke, `Greater Britain,' vol. ii. part iii. c. iii. p. 32:

"The smoke from these bush-fires extends for hundreds of miles to sea."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xxii. p. 156:

"A reserve in case of bush-fires and bad seasons."

<hw>Bush-lawyer</hw>, n. (1) A Bramble. See Lawyer.

(2) Name often used for a layman who fancies he knows all about the law without consulting a solicitor. He talks a great deal, and `lays down the law.'

1896. H. G. Turner, `Lecture on J. P. Fawkner':

"For some years he cultivated and developed his capacity for rhetorical argument by practising in the minor courts of law in Tasmania as a paid advocate, a position which in those days, and under the exceptional circumstances of the Colony, was not restricted to members of the legal profession, and the term Bush Lawyer probably takes its origin from the practice of this period."

<hw>Bush-magpie</hw>, n. an Australian bird, more commonly called a Magpie (q.v.).

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 235:

". . . the omnipresent bush-magpie. Here he may warble all the day long on the liquid, mellifluous notes of his Doric flute, fit pipe indeed for academic groves . . . sweetest and brightest, most cheery and sociable of all Australian birds."

<hw>Bushman</hw>, n. (1) Settler in the bush. Used to distinguish country residents from townsfolk.

1852. `Blackwood's Magazine,' p. 522 (`O.E.D.'):

"Where the wild bushman eats his loathly fare."

1880. J. Mathew, song, `The Bushman:'

"How weary, how dreary the stillness must be!
But oh! the lone bushman is dreaming of me."

1886. Frank Cowan: `Australia; a Charcoal Sketch':

"The bushman . . . Gunyah, his bark hovel; Damper, his unleavened bread baked in the ashes; Billy, his tea-kettle, universal pot and pan and bucket; Sugar-bag, his source of saccharine, a bee-tree; Pheasant, his facetious metaphoric euphism for Liar, quasi Lyre-bird; Fit for Woogooroo, for Daft or Idiotic; Brumby, his peculiar term for wild horse; Scrubber, wild ox; Nuggeting, calf-stealing; Jumbuck, sheep, in general; an Old-man, grizzled wallaroo or kangaroo; Station, Run, a sheep- or cattle-ranch; and Kabonboodgery—an echo of the sound diablery for ever in his ears, from dawn to dusk of Laughing Jackass and from dusk to dawn of Dingo—his half-bird -and-beast-like vocal substitute for Very Good. . . ."

1896. H.Lawson, `While the Billy boils,' p. 71:

"He was a typical bushman, . . . and of the old bush school; one of those slight active little fellows, whom we used to see in cabbage-tree hats, Crimean shirts, strapped trousers, and elastic-side boots."

(2) One who has knowledge of the bush, and is skilled in its ways. A "good bushman" is especially used of a man who can find his way where there are no tracks.

1868. J. Bonwick, `John Batman, Founder of Victoria,' pp. 78, 79:

"It is hardly likely that so splendid a bushman as Mr. Batman would venture upon such an expedition had he not been well. In fact a better bushman at this time could not be met with."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 3:

"The worst bushman had to undertake the charge of the camp, cook the provisions, and look after the horses, during the absence of the rest on flying excursions."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 40:

"Very slight landmarks will serve to guide a good bushman, for no two places are really exactly alike."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 78:

"One of the best bushmen in that part of the country: the men said he could find his way over it blindfold, or on the darkest night that ever was."

(3) Special sense. See quotation.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 80:

"Some were what is termed, par excellence, bushmen—that is, men who split rails, get posts, shingles, take contracts for building houses, stockyards, etc.—men, in fact, who work among timber continually, sometimes felling and splitting, sometimes sawing."

<hw>Bushmanship</hw>, n. knowledge of the ways of the bush.

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 261:

"A good laugh at the bushmanship displayed."

<hw>Bushranger</hw>, n. one who ranges or traverses the bush, far and wide; an Australian highwayman; in the early days usually an escaped convict. Shakspeare uses the verb `to range' in this connection.

"Then thieves and robbers range abroad unseen
In murders and in outrage, boldly here."
(`Richard II.,' III. ii. 39.)

"Ranger" is used in modern English for one who protects and not for one who robs; as `the Ranger' of a Park.

1806. May 4, `Sydney Gazette' or `New South Wales Advertiser, given in `History of New South Wales,' p. 265:

"Yesterday afternoon, William Page, the bushranger repeatedly advertised, was apprehended by three constables."

1820. W. C. Wentworth, `Description of New South Wales,' p. 166:

[The settlements in Van Diemen's Land have] "been infested for many years past by a banditti of runaway convicts, who have endangered the person and property of every one. . . . These wretches, who are known in the colony by the name of bushrangers. . ."

1820. Lieut. Chas. Jeffreys, `Van Dieman's [sic] Land,' p. 15:

"The supposition . . . rests solely on the authority of the Bush Rangers, a species of wandering brigands, who will be elsewhere described."

1838. T. L. `Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. i. p. 9:

"Bushrangers, a sub-genus in the order banditti, which happily can now only exist there in places inaccessible to the mounted police."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 81:

"This country [Van Diemen's Land] is as much infested as New South Wales with robbers, runaway convicts, or, as they are termed, Bush-rangers."

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 77:

"The whole region was infested by marauding bands of bush-rangers, terrible after nightfall."

1887. J. F. Hogan, `The Irish in Australia, p. 252:

"Whilst he was engaged in this duty in Victoria, a band of outlaws—'bushrangers' as they are colonially termed— who had long defied capture, and had carried on a career of murder and robbery, descended from their haunts in the mountain ranges."

<hw>Bush-ranging</hw>, n. the practice of the Bushranger (q.v.).

1827. `Captain Robinson's Report,' Dec. 23

"It was a subject of complaint among the settlers, that their assigned servants could not be known from soldiers, owing to their dress; which very much assisted the crime of `bush-ranging.'"

<hw>Bush-scrubber</hw>, n. a bushman's word for a boor, bumpkin, or slatternly person. See Scrubber.

1896. Modern. Up-country manservant on seeing his new mistress:

"My word! a real lady! she's no bush-scrubber!"

<hw>Bush-telegraph</hw>, n. Confederates of bushrangers who supply them with secret information of the movements of the police.

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 507:

"The police are baffled by the false reports of the confederates and the number and activity of the bush telegraphs."

1893. Kenneth Mackay, `Out Back,' p. 74:

"A hint dropped in this town set the bush telegraphs riding in all directions."

<hw>Bushwoman</hw>, n. See quotation.

1892. `The Australasian,' April 9, p. 707, col. 1:

"But who has championed the cause of the woman of the bush— or, would it be more correct to say bushwoman, as well as bushman?—and allowed her also a claim to participate in the founding of a nation?"

<hw>Bush-wren</hw>, n. See Wren.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 108:

[A full description.]

<hw>Bushed</hw>, adj., quasi past participle, lost in the bush; then, lost or at a loss.

1661. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 115:

"I left my seat to reach a shelter, which was so many miles off, that I narrowly escaped being `bushed.'"

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. i. p. 283:

"The poor youth, new to the wilds, had, in the expressive phrase of the colonials, got bushed, that is, utterly bewildered, and thus lost all idea of the direction that he ought to pursue."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 29:

"I get quite bushed in these streets."

1896. `The Argus,' Jan. 1, p. 4, col. 9:

"The Ministry did not assume its duty of leading the House, and Mr. Higgins graphically described the position of affairs by stating that the House was `bushed;' while Mr. Shiels compared the situation to a rudderless ship drifting hither and thither."

<hw>Bustard</hw>, n. "There are about twenty species, mostly of Africa, several of India, one of Australia, and three properly European." (`Century.') The Australian variety is Eupodotis australis, Gray, called also Wild Turkey, Native Turkey, and Plain Turkey. See Turkey.

<hw>Buster, Southerly</hw>, n. The word is a corruption of `burster,' that which bursts. A sudden and violent squall from the south. The name, used first in Sydney, has been adopted also in other Australian cities. See Brickfielder.

1863. F. Fowler, in `Athenaeum,' Feb. 21, p. 264, col. 1:

"The cold wind or southerly buster which . . . carries a thick cloud of dust . . . across the city."

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 587:

"Southerly Busters by `Ironbark.'"

1886. F. Cowan, `Australia, a Charcoal Sketch':

"The Buster and Brickfielder: austral red-dust blizzard; and red-hot Simoom."

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' p. 40:

"Generally these winds end in what is commonly called a `southerly buster.' This is preceded by a lull in the hot wind; then suddenly (as it has been put) it is as though a bladder of cool air were exploded, and the strong cool southerly air drives up with tremendous force. However pleasant the change of temperature may be it is no mere pastime to be caught in a `southerly buster,' but the drifting rain which always follows soon sets matters right, allays the dust, and then follows the calm fresh bracing wind which is the more delightful by contrast with the misery through which one has passed for three long dreary days and nights."

1893. `The Australasian,' Aug. 12, p. 302, col. 1:

"You should see him with Commodore Jack out in the teeth of the `hard glad weather,' when a southerly buster sweeps up the harbour."

1896. H. A.Hunt, in `Three Essays on Australian Weather' (Sydney), p. 16:

An Essay on Southerly Bursters, . . . with Four Photographs and Five Diagrams."

[Title of an essay which was awarded the prize of L 25 offered by the Hon. Ralph Abercrombie.]

<hw>Butcher</hw>, n. South Australian slang for a long drink of beer, so-called (it is said) because the men of a certain butchery in Adelaide used this refreshment regularly; cf. "porter" in England, after the drink of the old London porters.

<hw>Butcher-bird</hw>, n. The name is in use elsewhere, but in Australia it is applied to the genus Cracticus. The varieties are—

The Butcher-bird—
Cracticus torquatus, Lath.; formerly
C. destructor, Gould.

Black B.—
C. quoyi, Less.

Black-throated B.—
C. nigrigularis, Gould.

Grey B. (Derwent Jackass)—
C. cinereus, Gould (see Jackass).

Pied B.—
C. picatus, Gould.

Rufous B.—
C. rufescens, De Vis.

Silver-backed B.—
C. argenteus, Gould.

Spalding's B.—
C. spaldingi, Masters.

White-winged B.—
C. leucopterus, Cav.

The bird is sometimes called a Crow-shrike.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 213:

"Mr. Caley observes—Butcher-bird. This bird used frequently to come into some green wattle-trees near my house, and in wet weather was very noisy; from which circumstance it obtained the name of `Rain-bird.'"

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. Pl. 52:

"Cracticus Destructor. Butcher Bird, name given by colonists of Swan River, a permanent resident in New South Wales and South Australia. I scarcely know of any Australian bird so generally dispersed."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 50:

"Close to the station one or two butcher-birds were piping their morning song, a strange little melody with not many notes, which no one who has heard it will ever forget."

<hw>Buttercup</hw>, n. The familiar English flower is represented in Australia and Tasmania by various species of Ranunculus, such as R. lappaceus, Sm., N.O. Ranunculaceae.

<hw>Butter-fish</hw>, n. a name given in Australia to Oligorus mitchellii, Castln. (see Murray Perch); in Victoria, to Chilodactylus nigricans, Richards. (see Morwong); in New Zealand, to Coridodax pullus, Forst., called also Kelp-fish. The name is in allusion to their slippery coating of mucus. See Kelp-fish.

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip,' vol. iii. p. 44:

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

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 533:

"The `butter-fish,' or `kelp-fish' of the colonists of New Zealand (C. pullus), is prized as food, and attains to a weight of four or five pounds."

<hw>Butterfly-conch</hw>, n. Tasmanian name for a marine univalve mollusc, Voluta papillosa, Swainson.

<hw>Butterfly-fish</hw>, n. a New Zealand sea-fish, Gasterochisma melampus, Richards., one of the Nomeidae. The ventral fins are exceedingly broad and long, and can be completely concealed in a fold of the abdomen. The New Zealand fish is so named from these fins; the European Butterfly-fish, Blennius ocellaris, derives its name from the spots on its dorsal fin, like the eyes in a peacock's tail or butterfly's wing.

<hw>Butterfly-Lobster</hw>, n. a marine crustacean, so called from the leaf-like expansion of the antennae. It is "the highly specialized macrourous decapod Ibacus Peronii." (W. A. Haswell.)

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 248:

"Those curious crustaceans that I have heard called `butterfly lobsters'. . . the shell of the head and body (properly known as the carapace) expands into something like wing-forms, entirely hiding the legs beneath them."

<hw>Butterfly-Plant</hw>, n. a small flowering plant, Utricularia dichotoma, Lab., N.O. Leutibularina.

<hw>Button-grass</hw>, n. Schaenus sphaerocephalus, Poiret, N.O. Cyperaceae. The grass is found covering barren boggy land in Tasmania, but is not peculiar to Tasmania. So called from the round shaped flower (capitate inflorescence), on a thin stalk four or five feet long, like a button on the end of a foil.

<hw>Buzzard</hw>, n. an English bird-name applied in Australia to Gypoictinia melanosternon, Gould, the Black-breasted Buzzard.

C

<hw>Cabbage Garden</hw>, a name applied to the colony of Victoria by Sir John Robertson, the Premier of New South Wales, in contempt for its size.

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' p. 30:

"`The cabbage garden,' old cynical Sir John Robertson, of New South Wales, once called Victoria, but a garden notwithstanding. Better at any rate `the cabbage garden' than the mere sheep run or cattle paddock."

<hw>Cabbage-Palm</hw>, n. same as Cabbage-tree (1) (q.v.).

<hw>Cabbage-tree</hw>, n (1)Name given to various palm trees of which the heart of the young leaves is eaten like the head of a cabbage. In Australia the name is applied to the fan palm, Livistona inermis, R. Br., and more commonly to Livistona australis, Martius. In New Zealand the name is given to various species of Cordyline, especially to Cordyline indivisa. See also Flame-tree (2).

1769. `Capt. Cook's Journal,' ed. Wharton (1893), p. 144:

"We likewise found one Cabage Tree which we cut down for the sake of the cabage."

1802. G.Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 60:

"Even the ships crews helped, except those who brought the cabbage trees."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. c. iv. p. 132:

"Cabbage-tree . . . grew in abundance."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 72:

"Several of my companions suffered by eating too much of the cabbage-palm."

1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. i. p. 414:

"Clumps of what the people of King George's Sound call cabbage-trees."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 240:

"There stands an isolated `cabbage-tree' (Ti of the natives; Cordyline Australis) nearly thirty feet high, with ramified branches and a crown of luxuriant growth."

(2) A large, low-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, made out of the leaves of the Cabbage-tree (Livistona).

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' 335:

"This hat, made of white filaments of the cabbage-tree, seemed to excite the attention of the whole party."

1852. G. F. P., `Gold Pen and Pencil Sketches,' xv.:

"With scowl indignant flashing from his eye,
As though to wither each unshaven wretch,
Jack jogs along, nor condescends reply,
As to the price his cabbage-tree might fetch."

1864. `Once a Week,' Dec. 31, p. 45, The Bulla Bulla Bunyip':

"Lushy Luke endeavoured to sober himself by dipping his head in the hollowed tree-trunk which serves for the water-trough of an up-country Australian inn. He forgot, however, to take off his `cabbage-tree' before he ducked, and angry at having made a fool of himself, he gave fierce orders, in a thick voice, for his men to fall in, shoulder arms, and mark time."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. pp. 160, 161:

"The cabbage-palm was also a new species, called by Mr. Brown the Livistonia inermis. It was abundant; but the cabbage (the heart of the young budding leaves) too small to be useful as an article of food, at least to a ship's company. But the leaves were found useful. These dried and drawn into strips were plaited into hats for the men, and to this day the cabbage-tree hat is very highly esteemed by the Australians, as a protection from the sun, and allowing free ventilation." [Note]: "A good cabbage-tree hat, though it very much resembles a common straw hat, will fetch as much as L3."

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 527:

". . . trousers, peg-top shaped, and wore a new cabbage-tree hat."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 33:

"A brand-new cabbage-tree hat protected his head."

<hw>Cabbage-tree Mob</hw>, and <hw>Cabbagites</hw>, obsolete Australian slang for modern Larrikins (q.v)., because wearing cabbage-tree hats.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes `(edition 1855), p. 17:

"There are to be found round the doors of the Sydney Theatre a sort of `loafers' known as the Cabbage-tree mob,—a class who, in the spirit of the ancient tyrant, one might excusably wish had but one nose in order to make it a bloody one. . . . Unaware of the propensities of the cabbagites he was by them furiously assailed."

<hw>Cad</hw>, n. name in Queensland for the Cicada (q.v.).

1896. `The Australasian,' Jan. 11, p. 76, col. 1:

"From the trees sounds the shrill chirp of large green cicada (native cads as the bushmen call them)."

<hw>Caddie</hw>, n. a bush name for the slouch-hat or wide-awake. In the Australian bush the brim is generally turned down at the back and sometimes all round.

<hw>Cadet</hw>, n. term used in New Zealand, answering to the Australian Colonial Experience, or jackaroo (q.v.).

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 68:

"A cadet, as they are called—he is a clergyman's son learning sheepfarming under our auspices."

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking About in New Zealand,' p. 6:

"The military designation of cadet was applied to any young fellow who was attached to a sheep or cattle station in the same capacity as myself. He was `neither flesh nor fowl nor good red herring,' neither master nor man. He was sent to work with the men, but not paid."

<hw>Caloprymnus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus called the Plain Kangaroo-Rat. (Grk. kalos, beautiful, and prumnon, hinder part.) It has bright flanks. See Kangaroo-Rat.

<hw>Camp</hw>, n. (1) A place to live in, generally temporary; a rest.

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' pp. 46, 47:

" I was shown my camp, which was a slab but about a hundred yards away from the big house. . . . I was rather tired, and not sorry for the prospect of a camp."

(2) A place for mustering cattle.

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 64:

"All about the run, at intervals of fire or six miles, are cattle-camps, and the cattle that belong to the surrounding districts are mustered on their respective camps."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 26:

"There was never his like in the open bush,
And never his match on the cattle-camps."

(3) In Australia, frequently used for a camping-out expedition. Often in composition with "out," a camp-out.

1869. `Colonial Monthly,' vol. iv.p. 289:

"A young fellow with even a moderate degree of sensibility must be excited by the novelty of his first `camp-out' in the Australian bush."

1880. R. H. Inglis, `Australian Cousins,' p. 233:

"We're going to have a regular camp; we intend going to Port
Hocking to have some shooting, fishing, and general diversion."

(4) A name for Sydney and for Hobart, now long obsolete, originating when British military forces were stationed there.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 70:

"It is the old resident—he who still calls Sydney, with its population of twelve thousand inhabitants, the camp,—that can appreciate these things: he who still recollects the few earth-huts and solitary tents scattered through the forest brush surrounding Sydney Cove (known properly then indeed by the name of `The Camp')."

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 193:

"Living during the winter in Hobarton, usually called `the camp,' in those days."

<hw>Camp</hw>, v. (1) Generally in composition with "out," to sleep in the open air, usually without any covering. Camping out is exceedingly common in Australia owing to the warmth of the climate and the rarity of rain.

1867. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 125:

"I like to hear of benighted or belated travellers when they have had to `camp out,' as it is technically called."

1875. R. and F. Hill, `What we saw in Australia,' p. 208:

"So the Bishop determined to `camp-out' at once where a good fire could be made."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 43:

"There is room here for fifty, rolled up on the floor; and should that fail them, there is no end of other places; or the bush, as a fall back, where, indeed, some of them prefer camping as it is."

1891. `The Australasian,' Nov. 14, p. 963, col. 1: `A Lady in the Kermadecs':

"For three months I `camped out' there alone, shepherding a flock of Angoras."

(2) By extension, to sleep in any unusual place, or at an unusual time.

1893. `Review of Reviews' (Australasian ed. ), March, p. 51:

"The campaign came to an abrupt and somewhat inglorious close,
Sir George Dibbs having to `camp' in a railway carriage, and
Sir Henry Parkes being flood-bound at Quirindi."

1896. Modern:

"Visitor,—`Where's your Mother?' `Oh, she's camping.'" [The lady was enjoying an afternoon nap indoors.]

(3) To stop for a rest in the middle of the day.

1891. Mrs. Cross (Ada Cambridge), `The Three Miss Kings,' p. 180:

"We'll have lunch first before we investigate the caves—if it's agreeable to you. I will take the horses out, and we'll find a nice place to camp before they come."

(4) To floor or prove superior to. Slang.

1886. C. H. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 207:

"At punching oxen you may guess
There's nothing out can camp him.
He has, in fact, the slouch and dress,
Which bullock-driver stamp him."

<hw>Camphor-wood</hw>, n. an Australian timber; the wood of Callitris (Frenea) robusta, Cunn., N.O. Coniferae. Called also Light, Black, White, Dark, and Common Pine, as the wood varies much in its colouring. See Pine.

<hw>Canajong</hw>, n. Tasmanian aboriginal name for the plants called Pig-faces (q.v.).

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 44:

"Pig-faces. It was the canajong of the Tasmanian aboriginal. The fleshy fruit is eaten raw by the aborigines: the leaves are eaten baked."

<hw>Canary</hw>, n. (1) A bird-name used in New Zealand for Clitonyx ochrocephala, called also the Yellow-head. Dwellers in the back-blocks of Australia apply the name to the Orange-fronted Ephthianura (E. aurifrons, Gould), and sometimes to the White-throated Gerygone (Gerygone albigularis).

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 56:

"Clitonyx Ochrocephala. Yellow-head. `Canary' of the colonists."

(2) Slang for a convict. See quotations. As early as 1673, `canary-bird' was thieves' English for a gaol-bird.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 117:

"Convicts of but recent migration are facetiously known by the name of canaries, by reason of the yellow plumage in which they are fledged at the period of landing."

1870. T. H. Braim, `New Homes,' c. ii. p. 72:

"The prisoners were dressed in yellow-hence called `canary birds.'"

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. vi. p. 49:

"Can't you get your canaries off the track here for about a quarter of an hour, and let my mob of cattle pass ?"

<hw>Candle-nut</hw>, n. The name is given in Queensland to the fruit of Aleurites moluccana, Willd., N.O. Euphorbiaceae. The nuts are two or more inches diameter. The name is often given to the tree itself, which grows wild in Queensland and is cultivated in gardens there under the name of A. triloba, Forst. It is not endemic in Australia, but the vernacular name of Candle-nut is confined to Australia and the Polynesian Islands.

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 472:

"Candle-nut. The kernels when dried and stuck on a reed are used by the Polynesian Islanders as a substitute for candles, and as an article of food in New Georgia. These nuts resemble walnuts somewhat in size and taste. When pressed they yield a large proportion of pure palatable oil, used as a drying-oil for paint, and known as country walnut-oil and artists' oil."

<hw>Cane-grass</hw>, n. i.q. Bamboo-grass (q.v.).

<hw>Cape-Barren Goose</hw>, n. See Goose.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 114, [Footnote]:

"The `Cape Barren Goose' frequents the island from which it takes its name, and others in the Straits. It is about the same size as a common goose, the plumage a handsome mottled brown and gray, somewhat owl-like in character."

[Cape Barren Island is in Bass Strait, between Flinders Island and Tasmania. Banks Strait flows between Cape Barren Island and Tasmania. The easternmost point on the island is called Cape Barren.]

<hw>Cape-Barren Tea</hw>, n. a shrub or tree, Correa alba, Andr., N.O. Rutaceae.

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 134:

"Leptospermum lanigerum, hoary tea-tree; Acacia decurrens, black wattle; Correa alba, Cape Barren tea. The leaves of these have been used as substitutes for tea in the colony."

<hw>Cape Lilac</hw>, n. See Lilac.

<hw>Cape Weed</hw>, n. In Europe, Roccella tinctoria, a lichen from the Cape de Verde Islands, from which a dye is produced. In New Zealand, name given to the European cats-ear, Hypaechoris radicata. In Australia it is as in quotation below. See `Globe Encyclopaedia,' 1877 (s.v.).

1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `First Book of Australian Botany,' p. 60:

"Cape Weed. Cryptostemma Calendulaceum. (Natural Order, Compositae.) This weed, which has proved such a pest in many parts of Victoria, was introduced from the Cape of Good Hope, as a fodder plant. It is an annual, flowering in the spring, and giving a bright golden hue to the fields. It proves destructive to other herbs and grasses, and though it affords a nutritious food for stock in the spring, it dies off in the middle of summer, after ripening its seeds, leaving the fields quite bare."

<hw>Caper-tree</hw>, n. The Australian tree of this name is Capparis nobilis, F. v. M., N.O. Capparideae. The Karum of the Queensland aboriginals. The fruit is one to two inches in diameter. Called also Grey Plum or Native Pomegranate. The name is also given to Capparis Mitchelli, Lindl. The European caper is Capparis spinosa, Linn.

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 10:

"Native Caper Tree or Wild Pomegranate. Natural Order, Capparideae. Found in the Mallee Scrub. A small tree. The wood is whitish, hard, close-grained, and suitable for engraving, carving, and similar purposes. Strongly resembles lancewood."

<hw>Captain Cook</hw>, or <hw>Cooker</hw>, n. New Zealand colonists' slang. First applied to the wild pigs of New Zealand, supposed to be descended from those first introduced by Captain Cook; afterwards used as term of reproach for any pig which, like the wild variety, obstinately refused to fatten. See Introduction.

1879. W. Quin, `New Zealand Country Journal,' vol. iii. p. 55:

"Many a rare old tusker finds a home in the mountain gorges. The immense tusks at Brooksdale attest the size of the wild boars or Captain Cooks, as the patriarchs are generally named."

1894. E. Wakefield, `New Zealand after Fifty Years,' p. 85:

"The leanness and roughness of the wild pig gives it quite a different appearance from the domesticated variety; and hence a gaunt, ill-shaped, or sorry-looking pig is everywhere called in derision a `Captain Cook.'"

<hw>Carbora</hw>, n. aboriginal name for (1) the Native Bear. See Bear.

(2) A kind of water worm that eats into timber between high and low water on a tidal river.

<hw>Cardamom</hw>, n. For the Australian tree of this name, see quotation.

1890. C. Lumholtz,' Among Cannibals,' p. 96:

"The Australian cardamom tree." [Footnote]: "This is a fictitious name, as are the names of many Australian plants and animals. The tree belongs to the nutmeg family, and its real name is Myristica insipida. The name owes its existence to the similarity of the fruit to the real cardamom. But the fruit of the Myristica has not so strong and pleasant an odour as the real cardamom, and hence the tree is called insipida."

<hw>Carp</hw>, n. The English fish is of the family Cyprinidae. The name is given to different fishes in Ireland and elsewhere. In Sydney it is Chilodactylus fuscus, Castln., and Chilodactylus macropterus, Richards.; called also Morwong (q.v.). The Murray Carp is Murrayia cyprinoides, Castln., a percoid fish. Chilodactylis belongs to the family Cirrhitidae, in no way allied to Cyprinidae, which contains the European carps. Cirrhitidae, says Guenther, may be readily recognized by their thickened undivided lower pectoral rays, which in some are evidently auxiliary organs of locomotion, in others, probably, organs of touch.

<hw>Carpet-Shark</hw>, n. i.q. Wobbegong (q.v.)

<hw>Carpet-Snake</hw>, n. a large Australian snake with a variegated skin, Python variegata, Gray. In Whitworth's `Anglo-Indian Dictionary,' 1885 (s.v.), we are told that the name is loosely applied (sc. in India) to any kind of snake found in a dwelling-house other than a cobra or a dhaman. In Tasmania, a venomous snake, Hoplocephalus curtus, Schlegel. See under Snake.

<hw>Carrier</hw>, n. a local name for a water-bag.

1893. A. F. Calvert, `English Illustrated,' Feb., p. 321:

"For the water-holders or `carriers' (made to fit the bodies of the horses carrying them, or to `ride easily' on pack-saddles)."

<hw>Carrot, Native</hw>, (1) Daucus brachiatus, Sieb., N.O. Umbelliferae. Not endemic in Australia.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 64:

"The native carrot . . . was here withered and in seed."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 124:

"Native carrot. Stock are very fond of this plant when young. Sheep thrive wonderfully on it where it is plentiful. It is a small annual herbaceous plant, growing plentifully on sandhills and rich soil; the seeds, locally termed `carrot burrs,' are very injurious to wool, the hooked spines with which the seeds are armed attaching themselves to the fleece, rendering portions of it quite stiff and rigid. The common carrot belongs, of course, to this genus, and the fact that it is descended from an apparently worthless, weedy plant, indicates that the present species is capable of much improvement by cultivation."

(2) In Tasmania Geranium dissectum, Linn., is also called "native carrot."

<hw>Cascarilla, Native</hw>, n. an Australian timber, Croton verreauxii, Baill., N.O. Euphorbiaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 408:

"Native cascarilla. A small tree; wood of a yellowish colour, close-grained and firm."

<hw>Cassowary</hw>, n. The word is Malay, the genus being found in "the Islands in the Indian Archipelago." (`O.E.D.') The Australian variety is Casuarius australis, Waller. The name is often erroneously applied (as in the first two quotations), to the Emu (q.v.), which is not a Cassowary.

1789. Governor Phillip, `Voyage,' c. xxii. p. 271:

"New Holland Cassowary. [Description given.] This bird is not uncommon to New Holland, as several of them have been seen about Botany Bay, and other parts. . . . Although this bird cannot fly, it runs so swiftly that a greyhound can scarcely overtake it. The flesh is said to be in taste not unlike beef."

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. xi. p. 438:

"The cassowary of New South Wales is larger in all respects than the well-known bird called the cassowary."

1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia' (Supplement):

"Casuarius Australis, Wall., Australian Cassowary, sometimes called Black Emu."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 73:

"One day an egg of a cassowary was brought to me; this bird, although it is nearly akin to the ostrich and emu, does not, like the latter, frequent the open plains, but the thick brushwood. The Australian cassowary is found in Northern Queensland from Herbert river northwards, in all the large vine-scrubs on the banks of the rivers, and on the high mountains of the coasts."

Ibid. p. 97.

"The proud cassowary, the stateliest bird of Australia . . . this beautiful and comparatively rare creature.'"

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"The Australian cassowary. . . . They are somewhat shorter and stouter in build than the emu."

<hw>Casuarina</hw>, n. the scientific name of a large group of trees common to India, and other parts lying between India and Australasia, but more numerous in Australia than elsewhere, and often forming a characteristic feature of the vegetation. They are the so-called She-oaks (q.v.). The word is not, however, Australian, and is much older than the discovery of Australia. Its etymology is contained in the quotation, 1877.

1806. `Naval Chronicles,' c. xv. p. 460:

"Clubs made of the wood of the Casuarina."

1814. R. Brown, `Botany of Terra Australis,' in M. Flinders' `Voyage to Terra Australis,' vol. ii. p. 571:

"Casuarinae. The genus Casuarina is certainly not referable to any order of plants at present established . . . it may be considered a separate order. . . . The maximum of Casuarina appears to exist in Terra Australis, where it forms one of the characteristic features of the vegetation."

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 160:

"The dark selvage of casuarinas fringing its bank."

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 10:

"The vegetation assumed a new character, the eucalyptus and casuarina alternating with the wild cherry and honeysuckle."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 34:

"The scientific name of these well-known plants is as appropriate as their vernacular appellation is odd and unsuited. The former alludes to the cassowary (Casuarius), the plumage of which is comparatively as much reduced among birds, as the foliage of the casuarinas is stringy among trees. Hence more than two centuries ago Rumph already bestowed the name Casuarina on a Java species, led by the Dutch colonists, who call it there the Casuaris-Boom. The Australian vernacular name seems to have arisen from some fancied resemblance of the wood of some casuarinas to that of oaks, notwithstanding the extreme difference of the foliage and fruit; unless, as Dr. Hooker supposes, the popular name of these trees and shrubs arose from the Canadian `Sheack.'"

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 397:

"From a fancied resemblance of the wood of casuarinas to that of oak, these trees are called `oaks,' and the same and different species have various appellations in various parts."

1890. C. Lumholtz; `Among Cannibals,' p. 33:

"Along its banks (the Comet's) my attention was drawn to a number of casuarinas—those leafless, dark trees, which always make a sad impression on the traveller; even a casual observer will notice the dull, depressing sigh which comes from a grove of these trees when there is the least breeze.'"

<hw>Cat-bird</hw>, n. In America the name is given to Mimus carolinensis, a mocking thrush, which like the Australian bird has a cry resembling the mewing of a cat. The Australian species are—

The Cat-bird—
Ailuraedus viridis, Lath.

Spotted C.—
Ailuraedus maculosus, Ramsay.
Pomatostomus rubeculus, Gould.

Tooth-billed C.—
Scenopaeus dentirostris, Ramsay.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 11:

"Its loud, harsh and extraordinary note is heard; a note which differs so much from that of all other birds, that having been once heard it can never be mistaken. In comparing it to the nightly concert of the domestic cat, I conceive that I am conveying to my readers a more perfect idea of the note of this species than could be given by pages of description. This concert, like that of the animal whose name it bears, is performed either by a pair or several individuals, and nothing more is required than for the hearer to shut his eyes from the neighbouring foliage to fancy himself surrounded by London grimalkins of house-top celebrity."

1888. D.Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 36:

"One of the most peculiar of birds' eggs found about the Murray is that of the locally-termed `cat-bird,' the shell of which is veined thickly with dark thin threads as though covered with a spider's web."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals.' p. 96:

"The cat-bird (AEluraedus maculosus), which makes its appearance towards evening, and has a voice strikingly like the mewing of a cat."

1893. `The Argus,' March 25:

"Another quaint caller of the bush is the cat-bird, and its eggs are of exactly the colour of old ivory."

1896. G. A. Keartland, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' pt. ii. Zoology, p. 92:

"Their habit of mewing like a cat has gained for them the local cognomen of cat-birds."

<hw>Cat-fish</hw>, n. The name is applied in the Old World to various fishes of the family Siluridae, and also to the Wolf-fish of Europe and North America. It arises from the resemblance of the teeth in some cases or the projecting "whiskers" in others, to those of a cat. In Victoria and New South Wales it is a fresh-water fish, Copidoglanis tandanus, Mitchell, brought abundantly to Melbourne by railway. It inhabits the rivers of the Murray system, but not of the centre of the continent. Called also Eel-fish and Tandan (q.v.). In Sydney the same name is applied also to Cnidoglanis megastoma, Rich., and in New Zealand Kathetostoma monopterygium. Cnidoglanis and Cnidoglanis are Siluroids, and Kathetostoma is a"stargazer," i.e. a fish having eyes on the upper surface of the head, belonging to the family Trachinidsae.

1851. J. Henderson, `Excursions in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 207:

"The Cat-fish, which I have frequently caught in the McLeay, is a large and very ugly animal. Its head is provided with several large tentacatae, and it has altogether a disagreeable appearance. I have eat its flesh, but did not like it."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 213 [Footnote]:

"Mr. Frank Buckland . . . writing of a species of rock-fish, says—`I found that it had a beautiful contrivance in the conformation of its mouth. It has the power of prolongating both its jaws to nearly the extent of half-an-inch from their natural position. This is done by a most beautiful bit of mechanism, somewhat on the principle of what are called `lazy tongs.' The cat-fish possesses a like feature, but on a much larger scale, the front part of the mouth being capable of being protruded between two and three inches when seizing prey.'"

<hw>Cat, Native</hw>, n. a small carnivorous marsupial, of the genus Dasyurus. The so-called native cat is not a cat at all, but a marsupial which resembles a very large rat or weasel, with rather a bushy tail. It is fawn-coloured or mouse-coloured, or black and covered with little white spots; a very pretty little animal. It only appears at night, when it climbs fences and trees and forms sport for moonlight shooting. Its skin is made into fancy rugs and cloaks or mantles.

The animal is more correctly called a Dasyure (q.v.).
The species are—

Black-tailed Native Cat
Dasyurus geoffroyi, Gould.

Common N.C. (called also Tiger Cat, q.v.)—
D. viverrimus, Shaw.

North Australian N.C.—
D. hallucatus, Gould.

Papuan N.C.—
D. albopienetatus, Schl.

Slender N.C.—
D. gracilis, Ramsay.

Spotted-tailed N.C. (called also Tiger Cat)—
D. maculatus, Kerr.

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 67:

"The native cat is similar [to the Tiger Cat; q.v.] but smaller, and its for is an ashy-grey with white spots. We have seen two or three skins quite black, spotted with white, but these are very rare."

1885. H. H.Hayter, `Carboona,' p. 35:

"A blanket made of the fur-covered skins of the native cat."

1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. 11, col. 4:

"The voices of most of our night animals are guttural and unpleasing. The 'possum has a throaty half-stifled squeak, the native cat a deep chest-note ending with a hiss and easily imitated." [See Skirr.]

<hw>Catholic Frog</hw>, n. name applied to a frog living in the inland parts of New South Wales, Notaden bennettii, Guenth., which tides over times of drought in burrows, and feeds on ants. Called also "Holy Cross Toad." The names are given in consequence of a large cross-shaped blackish marking on the back.

1801. J. J. Fletcher, `Proceedings of the Linnaean Society, New South Wales,' vol. vi. (2nd series), p. 265:

"Notaden bennettii, the Catholic frog, or as I have heard it called the Holy Cross Toad, I first noticed in January 1885, after a heavy fall of rain lasting ten days, off and on, and succeeding a severe drought."

<hw>Cat's Eyes</hw>, n. Not the true Cat's-eye, but the name given in Australia to the opercula of Turbo smaragdus, Martyn, a marine mollusc. The operculum is the horny or shelly lid which closes the aperture of most spiral shell fish.

<hw>Cat's-head Fern</hw>, n. Aspidium aculeatum, Sw.:

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 220:

"The cat's-head fern; though why that name was given to it I have not the remotest idea. . . . It is full of beauty—the pinnules so exquisitely formed and indented, and gemmed beneath with absolute constellations of Spori Polystichum vestitum."

<hw>Catspaw</hw>, n. a Tasmanian plant, Trichinium spathulatum, Poir., N.O. Amarantaceae.

<hw>Cat's Tail</hw>, n. See Wonga.

<hw>Cattle-bush</hw>, n. a tree, Atalaya hemiglauca, F. v. M., N.O. Sapindacea. It is found in South Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland, and is sometimes called Whitewood.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 117:

"Cattle-bush . . . The leaves of this tree are eaten by stock, the tree being frequently felled for their use during seasons of drought."

<hw>Cattle-duffer</hw>, n. a man who steals cattle (usually by altering their brands). See also Duffer.

1886. `Melbourne Punch,' July 15, Cartoon Verses:

"Cattle-duffers on a jury may be honest men enough,
But they're bound to visit lightly sins in those
who cattle duff."

<hw>Cattle-racket</hw>, n. Explained in quotation.

1852. `Settlers and Convicts; or Recollections of Sixteen Years' Labour in the Australian Backwoods,' p. 294:

"A Cattle-racket. The term at the head of this chapter was originally applied in New South Wales to the agitation of society which took place when some wholesale system of plunder in cattle was brought to light. It is now commonly applied to any circumstance of this sort, whether greater or less, and whether springing from a felonious intent or accidental."

<hw>Caustic-Creeper</hw>, n. name given to Euphorbia drummondii, Boiss., N.O. Euphorbiaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 127:

"Called `caustic-creeper' in Queensland. Called `milk-plant' and `pox-plant' about Bourke. This weed is unquestionably poisonous to sheep, and has recently (Oct. 1887) been reported as having been fatal to a flock near Bourke, New South Wales. . . . When eaten by sheep in the early morning, before the heat of the sun has dried it up, it is almost certain to be fatal. Its effect on sheep is curious. The head swells to an enormous extent, becoming so heavy that the animal cannot support it, and therefore drags it along the ground; the ears suppurate. (Bailey and Gordon.)"

<hw>Caustic-Plant</hw>, or <hw>Caustic-Vine</hw>, n. Sarcostemma australis, R. Br., N.O. Asclepiadea. Cattle and sheep are poisoned by eating it.

<hw>Cavally</hw>, n. the original form of the Australian fish-name Trevally (q.v.). The form Cavally is used to Europe, but is almost extinct in Australia; the form Trevally is confined to Australia.

<hw>Cedar</hw>,</hw> n. The true Cedar is a Conifer (N.O. Coniferae) of the genus Cedrus, but the name is given locally to many other trees resembling it in appearance, or in the colour or scent of their wood. The New Zealand Cedar is the nearest approach to the true Cedar, and none of the so-called Australian Cedars are of the order Coniferae. The following are the trees to which the name is applied in Australia:—

Bastard Pencil Cedar—
Dysoxylon rfum, Benth., N.O. Meliaceae.

Brown C.—
Ehretia acuminata, R. Br., N.O. Asperifoliae.

Ordinary or Red C.— Cedrela australis, F. v. M. Cedrela toona, R. Br., N.O. Meliaceae. [C. toona is the "Toon" tree of India: its timber is known in the English market as Moulmein Cedar; but the Baron von Mueller doubts the identity of the Australian Cedar with the "Toon" tree; hence his name australis.]

Pencil C.—
Dysoxylon Fraserianum, Benth., N.O. Meliaceae.

Scrub White C.— Pentaceras australis, Hook. and Don.,
N.O. Rutacea.

White C.—
Melia composita, Willd., N.O. Meliaceae.

Yellow C.—
Rhus rhodanthema, F. v. M., N.O. Anacardiacae.

In Tasmania, three species of the genus Arthrotaxis are
called Cedars or Pencil Cedars; namely, A. cupressoides,
Don., known as the King William Pine; A. laxifolza,
Hook., the Mountain Pine; and A. selaginoides, Don., the
Red Pine. All these are peculiar to the island.

In New Zealand, the name of Cedar is applied to Libocedrus bidwillii, Hook., N.O. Coniferae; Maori name, Pahautea.

1838. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions, vol. i. p. 328:

"The cedar of the colony (Cedrela toona, R. Br.), which is to be found only in some rocky gullies of the coast range."

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 63:

"Besides being valuable as a timber-producing tree, this red cedar has many medicinal properties. The bark is spoken of as a powerful astringent, and, though not bitter, said to be a good substitute for Peruvian bark in the cure of remitting and intermitting fevers."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 123:

"Pahautea, Cedar. A handsome conical tree sixty to eighty feet high, two to three feet in diameter. In Otago it produces a dark-red, freeworking timber, rather brittle . . . frequently mistaken for totara."

<hw>Celery, Australian</hw>, or <hw>Native</hw>, n. Apium australe, Thon. Not endemic in Australia. In Tasmania, A. prostratum, Lab., N.O. Umbelliferae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 7:

"Australian Celery. This plant may be utilised as a culinary vegetable. (Mueller.) It is not endemic in Australia."

<hw>Celery-topped Pine</hw>. n. See Pine. The tree is so called from the appearance of the upper part of the branchlets, which resemble in shape the leaf of the garden celery.

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 9:

"The tanekaha is one of the remarkable `celery-topped pines,' and was discovered by Banks and Solander during Cook's first voyage."

<hw>Centaury, Native</hw>, n. a plant, Erythraea australis, R. Br., N.O. Gentianeae. In New South Wales this Australian Centaury has been found useful in dysentery by Dr. Woolls.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 175:

"Native centaury . . . is useful as a tonic medicine, especially in diarrhoea and dysentery. The whole plant is used and is pleasantly bitter. It is common enough in grass-land, and appears to be increasing in popularity as a domestic remedy."

<hw>Centralia</hw>, n. a proposed name for the colony South Australia ,(q.v.).

1896. J. S. Laurie, `Story of Australasia,' p. 299:

"For telegraphic, postal, and general purposes one word is desirable for a name—e.g. why not Centralia; for West Australia, Westralia; for New South Wales, Eastralia?"

<hw>Cereopsis</hw>, n. scientific name of the genus of the bird peculiar to Australia, called the Cake Barren Goose. See Goose. The word is from Grk. kaeros, wax, and 'opsis, face, and was given from the peculiarities of the bird's beak. The genus is confined to Australia, and Cereopsis novae-hollandiae is the only species known. The bird was noticed by the early voyagers to Australia, and was extraordinarily tame when first discovered.

<hw>Channel-Bill</hw>, n. name given to a bird resembling a large cuckoo, Scythrops novae-hollandiae, Lath. See Scythrops.

<hw>Cheesewood</hw>, n. a tree, so-called in Victoria (it is also called Whitewood and Waddywood in Tasmania), Pittosporum bicolor, Hook., N.O. Pittosporeae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 588:

"Cheesewood is yellowish-white, very hard, and of uniform texture and colour. It was once used for clubs by the aboriginals of Tasmania. It turns well, and should be tested for wood engraving. (`Jurors' Reports, London International Exhibition of 1862.') It is much esteemed for axe-handles, billiard-cues, etc."

<hw>Cherry, Herbert River</hw>, n. a Queensland tree, Antidesma dallachyanum, Baill., N.O. Euphorbiaceae. The fruit is equal to a large cherry in size, and has a sharp acid flavour.

<hw>Cherry, Native</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Exocarpus cupressiformis, R. Br., N.O. Santalaceae.

1801. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 242:

"Of native fruits, a cherry, insipid in comparison of the European sorts, was found true to the singularity which characterizes every New South Wales production, the stone being on the outside of the fruit."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 411:

"The shrub which is called the native cherry-tree appears like a species of cyprus, producing its fruit with the stone united to it on the outside, the fruit and the stone being each about the size of a small pea. The fruit, when ripe, is similar in colour to the Mayduke cherry, but of a sweet and somewhat better quality, and slightly astringent to the palate, possessing, upon the whole, an agreeable flavour."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1851, p. 219:

"The cherry-tree resembles a cypress but is of a tenderer green, bearing a worthless little berry, having its stone or seed outside, whence its scientific name of exocarpus."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 33:

"We also ate the Australian cherry, which has its stone, not on the outside, enclosing the fruit, as the usual phrase would indicate, but on the end with the fruit behind it. The stone is only about the size of a sweet-pea, and the fruit only about twice that size, altogether not unlike a yew-berry, but of a very pale red. It grows on a tree just like an arbor vitae, and is well tasted, though not at all like a cherry in flavour."

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 40:

"The principal of these kinds of trees received its generic name first from the French naturalist La Billardiere, during D'Entrecasteaux's Expedition. It was our common Exocarpus cupressiformis, which he described, and which has been mentioned so often in popular works as a cherry-tree, bearing its stone outside of the pulp. That this crude notion of the structure of the fruit is erroneous, must be apparent on thoughtful contemplation, for it is evident at the first glance, that the red edible part of our ordinary exocarpus constitutes merely an enlarged and succulent fruit-stalklet (pedicel), and that the hard dry and greenish portion, strangely compared to a cherry-stone, forms the real fruit, containing the seed."

1889. J. H. `Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 30:

"The fruit is edible. The nut is seated on the enlarged succulent pedicel. This is the poor little fruit of which so much has been written in English descriptions of the peculiarities of the Australian flora. It has been likened to a cherry with the stone outside (hence the vernacular name) by some imaginative person."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 19, p. 7, col. 1:

"Grass-trees and the brown brake-fern, whips of native cherry, and all the threads and tangle of the earth's green russet vestment hide the feet of trees which lean and lounge between us and the water, their leaf heads tinselled by the light."

<hw>Cherry-picker</hw>, n. bird-name. See quotation.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. p. 70:

"Melithreptus Validirostris, Gould. Strong-billed Honey-eater [q.v.]. Cherry-picker, colonists of Van Diemen's Land."

<hw>Chestnut Pine</hw>, n. See Pine.

<hw>Chewgah-bag</hw>, n. Queensland aboriginal pigeon-English for Sugar-bag (q.v.).

<hw>Chinkie</hw>, n. slang for a Chinaman. "John," short for John Chinaman, is commoner.

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 233:

"The pleasant traits of character in our colonialised `Chinkie,' as he is vulgarly termed (with the single variation `Chow')."

<hw>Chock-and-log</hw>, n. and adj. a particular kind of fence much used on Australian stations. The Chock is a thick short piece of wood laid flat, at right-angles to the line of the fence, with notches in it to receive the Logs, which are laid lengthwise from Chock to Chock, and the fence is raised in four or five layers of this chock-and-log to form, as it were, a wooden wall. Both chocks and logs are rough-hewn or split, not sawn.

1872. G. S. Baden-Powell,'New Homes for the Old Country,' p. 207:

"Another fence, known as `chock and log,' is composed of long logs, resting on piles of chocks, or short blocks of wood."

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

"And to finish the Riverine picture, there comes a herd of kangaroos disturbed from their feeding-ground, leaping through the air, bounding over the wire and `chock-and-log' fences like so many india-rubber automatons."

<hw>Choeropus</hw>, n. the scientific name for the genus of Australian marsupial animals with only one known species, called the Pigfooted-Bandicoot (q.v.), and see Bandicoot. (Grk. choiros, a pig, and pous, foot.) The animal is about the size of a rabbit, and is confined to the inland parts of Australia.

<hw>Christmas</hw>, n. and adj. As Christmas falls in Australasia at Midsummer, it has different characteristics from those in England, and the word has therefore a different connotation.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' p. 184:

"Sheep-shearing in November, hot midsummer weather at Christmas, the bed of a river the driest walk, and corn harvest in February, were things strangely at variance with my Old-World notions."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 164:

"One Christmas time when months of drought
Had parched the western creeks,
The bush-fires started in the north
And travelled south for weeks."

<hw>Christmas-bush</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Ceratopetalum gummiferum, Smith, N.O. Saxifrageae. Called also Christmas-tree (q.v.), and Officer-bush.

1888. Mrs. McCann, `Poetical Works,' p. 226:

"Gorgeous tints adorn the Christmas bush with a crimson blush."

<hw>Christmas-tree</hw>, n. In Australia, it is the same as Christmas-bush (q.v.). In New Zealand, it is Metrosideros tomentosa, Banks, N.O. Myrtaceae; Maori name, Pohutukawa (q.v.).

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 240:

"Some few scattered Pohutukaua trees (Metrosideros tomentosa), the last remains of the beautiful vegetation . . . About Christmas these trees are full of charming purple blossoms; the settler decorates his church and dwelling with its lovely branches, and calls the tree `Christmas-tree'! "

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 186:

"The Christmas-tree is in a sense the counterpart of the holly of the home countries. As the scarlet berry gives its ruddy colour to Christmas decorations in `the old country,' so here the creamy blossoms of the Christmas-tree are the only shrub flowers that survive the blaze of midsummer."

1889. E. H. and S. Featon, `New Zealand Flora,' p. 163:

"The Pohutukawa blossoms in December, when its profusion of elegant crimson-tasselled flowers imparts a beauty to the rugged coast-line and sheltered bays which may fairly be called enchanting. To the settlers it is known as the `Christmas-tree,' and sprays of its foliage and flowers are used to decorate churches and dwellings during the festive Christmastide. To the Maoris this tree must possess a weird significance, since it is related in their traditions that at the extreme end of New Zealand there grows a Pohutukawa from which a root descends to the beach below. The spirits of the dead are supposed to descend by this to an opening, which is said to be the entrance to `Te Reinga.'"

<hw>Chucky-chucky</hw>, n. aboriginal Australian name for a berry; in Australia and New Zealand, the fruit of species of Gaultheria. See Wax Cluster.

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 146:

"To gather chucky-chuckies—as the blacks name that most delicious of native berries."

1891. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' `New Zealand Country Journal,' vol. xv. p. 198:

"When out of breath, hot and thirsty, how one longed for a handful of chuckie-chucks. In their season how good we used to think these fruits of the gaultheria, or rather its thickened calyx. A few handfuls were excellent in quenching one's thirst, and so plentifully did the plant abound that quantities could soon be gathered. In these rude and simple days, when housekeepers in the hills tried to convert carrots and beet-root into apricot and damson preserves, these notable women sometimes encouraged children to collect sufficient chuckie-chucks to make preserve. The result was a jam of a sweet mawkish flavour that gave some idea of a whiff caught in passing a hair-dresser's shop."

<hw>Chum</hw>, n. See New Chum.

<hw>Chy-ack</hw>, v. simply a variation of the English slang verb, to cheek.

1874. Garnet Walch, `Adamanta,' Act ii. sc. ii. p. 27:

"I've learnt to chi-ike peelers."

[Here the Australian pronunciation is also caught. Barere and Leland give "chi-iked (tailors), chaffed unmercifully," but without explanation.]

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 742 :

"The circle of frivolous youths who were yelping at and chy-acking him."

1894. E. W. Hornung, `Boss of Taroomba,' p. 5:

"It's our way up here, you know, to chi-ak each other and our visitors too."

<hw>Cicada</hw>, n. an insect. See Locust.

1895. G. Metcalfe, `Australian Zoology,' p. 62:

"The Cicada is often erroneously called a locust. . . . It is remarkable for the loud song, or chirruping whirr, of the males in the heat of summer; numbers of them on the hottest days produce an almost deafening sound."

<hw>Cider-Tree</hw>, or </hw>Cider-Gum, n. name given in Tasmania to Eucalyptus gunnii, Hook., N.O. Myrtaceae. See Gum.

1830. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 119:

"Specimens of that species of eucalyptus called the cider-tree, from its exuding a quantity of saccharine liquid resembling molasses. . . . When allowed to remain some time and to ferment, it settles into a coarse sort of wine or cider, rather intoxicating if drank to any excess."

<hw>City</hw>, n. In Great Britain and Ireland the word City denotes "a considerable town that has been, (a) an episcopal seat, (b) a royal burgh, or (c) created to the dignity, like Birmingham, Dundee, and Belfast, by a royal patent. In the United States and Canada, a municipality of the first class, governed by a mayor and aldermen, and created by charter." (`Standard.') In Victoria, by section ix. of the Local Government Act, 1890, 54 Victoria, No. 1112, the Governor-in-Council may make orders, #12:

"To declare any borough, including the city of Melbourne and the town of Geelong, having in the year preceding such declaration a gross revenue of not less than twenty thousand pounds, a city."

<hw>Claim</hw>, n. in mining, a piece of land appropriated for mining purposes: then the mine itself. The word is also used in the United States. See also Reward-claim and Prospecting-claim.

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. xiv. p. 213:

"A family named Cavanagh . . . entered a half-worked claim."

1863. H. Fawcett, `Political Economy,' pt. iii. c. vi. p. 359 (`O.E.D.'):

"The claim upon which he purchases permission to dig."

1887. H. H. Hayter, `Christmas Adventure,' p. 3:

"I decided . . . a claim to take up."

<hw>Clay-pan</hw>, n. name given, especially in the dry interior of Australia, to a slight depression of the ground varying in size from a few yards to a mile in length, where the deposit of fine silt prevents the water from sinking into the ground as rapidly as it does elsewhere.

1875. John Forrest, `Explorations in Australia,' p. 260:

"We travelled down the road for about thirty-three miles over stony plains; many clay-pans with water but no feed."

1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Narrative, vol. i. p. 17:

"One of the most striking features of the central area and especially amongst the loamy plains and sandhills, is the number of clay-pans. These are shallow depressions, with no outlet, varying in length from a few yards to half a mile, where the surface is covered with a thin clayey material, which seems to prevent the water from sinking as rapidly as it does in other parts."

<hw>Clean-skins</hw>, or <hw>Clear-skins</hw>, n. unbranded cattle or horses.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 206:

"These clean-skins, as they are often called, to distinguish them from the branded cattle."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xv. p. 109:

"Strangers and pilgrims, calves and clear-skins, are separated at the same time."

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' p. 82:

"`Clear-skins,' as unbranded cattle were commonly called, were taken charge of at once."

1893. `The Argus,' April 29, p.4, col. 4:

"As they fed slowly homeward bellowing for their calves, and lowing for their mates, the wondering clean-skins would come up in a compact body, tearing, ripping, kicking, and moaning, working round and round them in awkward, loblolly canter."

<hw>Clearing lease</hw>, n. Explained in quotation.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. i. c. x. p. 321:

"[They] held a small piece of land on what is called a clearing lease—that is to say, they were allowed to retain possession of it for so many years for the labour of clearing the land."

<hw>Clematis</hw>, n. the scientific and vernacular name of a genus of plants belonging to the N.O. Ranunculaceae. The common species in Australia is C. aristata, R. Br.

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 124:

"The beautiful species of clematis called aristata, which may be seen in the months of November and December, spreading forth its milk-white blossoms over the shrubs . . . in other places rising up to the top of the highest gum-trees."

<hw>Clianthus</hw>, n. scientific name for an Australasian genus of plants, N.O. Leguminosae, containing only two species—in Australia, Sturt's Desert Pea (q.v.), C. dampieri; and in New Zealand, the Kaka-bill (q.v.), C. puniceus. Both species are also called Glory-Pea, from Grk. kleos, glory, and anthos, a flower.

1892. `Otago Witness,' Nov.24, `Native Trees':

"Hooker says the genus Clianthus consists of the Australian and New Zealand species only, the latter is therefore clearly indigenous. `One of the most beautiful plants known' (Hooker). Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Solandel found it during Cook's first voyage."

<hw>Climbing-fish</hw>, n. i.q. Hopping-fish (q.v.).

<hw>Climbing-Pepper</hw>, n. See Pepper.

<hw>Clitonyx</hw>, n. the scientific name of a genus of New Zealand birds, including the Yellow-head (q.v.) and the White-head (q.v.); from Greek klinein, root klit, to lean, slant, and 'onux, claw. The genus was so named by Reichenbach in 1851, to distinguish the New Zealand birds from the Australian birds of the genus Orthonyx (q.v.), which formerly included them both.

<hw>Clock-bird</hw>, n. another name for the Laughing Jachass. See Jackass.

<hw>Clock, Settlers'</hw>, n. i.q. Clock-bird, (q.v.)

<hw>Cloudy-Bay Cod</hw>, n. a New Zealand name for the Ling (q.v.). See also Cod.

<hw>Clover-Fern</hw>, n. another name for the plant called Nardoo (q.v.).

<hw>Clover, Menindie</hw>, n. an Australian fodder plant, Trigonella suavissima, Lind., N.O. Leguminoseae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 143:

`From its abundance in the neighbourhood of Menindie, it is often called Menindie-clover.' It is the `Australian shamrock' of Mitchell. This perennial, fragrant, clover-like plant is a good pasture herb."

<hw>Clover-Tree</hw>, n. a Tasmanian tree, called also Native Laburnun. See under Laburnum.

<hw>Coach</hw>, n. a bullock used as a decoy to catch wild cattle. This seems to be from the use of coach as the University term for a private tutor.

1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. vi. p. 110:

"To get them [sc. wild cattle] a party of stockmen take a small herd of quiet cattle, `coaches.'"

<hw>Coach</hw>, v. to decoy wild cattle or horses with tame ones.

1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. vi. p. 121:

"Here he [the wild horse] may be got by `coaching' like wild cattle."

<hw>Coach-whip Bird</hw>, n. Psophodes crepitans, V. and H. (see Gould's `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 15); Black-throated C.B., P. nigrogularis, Gould. Called also Whipbird and Coachman.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 330:

"This bird is more often heard than seen. It inhabits bushes. The loud cracking whip-like noise it makes (from whence the colonists give it the name of coachwhip), may be heard from a great distance."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 158:

"If you should hear a coachwhip crack behind, you may instinctively start aside to let the mail pass; but quickly find it is only our native coachman with his spread-out fantail and perked-up crest, whistling and cracking out his whip-like notes as he hops sprucely from branch to branch."

1844. Mrs. Meredith, `Notes and Sketches of New South Wales,' p. 137:

"Another equally singular voice among our feathered friends was that of the `coachman,' than which no title could be more appropriate, his chief note being a long clear whistle, with a smart crack of the whip to finish with."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 177:

"The bell-bird, by the river heard;
The whip-bird, which surprised I hear,
In me have powerful memories stirred
Of other scenes and strains more dear;
Of sweeter songs than these afford,
The thrush and blackbird warbling clear."
—Old Impressions.

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 71:

"The coach-whip is a small bird about the size of a sparrow, found near rivers. It derives its name from its note, a slow, clear whistle, concluded by a sharp jerking noise like the crack of a whip."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. ii. p. 76:

"The whip-bird, whose sharp wiry notes, even, are far more agreeable than the barking of dogs and the swearing of diggers."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 24:

"That is the coach-whip bird. There again.
Whew-ew-ew-ew-whit. How sharply the last note sounds."

1887. R. M. Praed, `Longleat of Kooralbyn,' c. vi. p. 54:

"The sharp st—wt of the whip-bird . . . echoed through the gorge."

1888. James Thomas, `May o' the South,' `Australian Poets 1788-1888' (ed. Sladen), p. 552:

"Merrily the wagtail now
Chatters on the ti-tree bough,
While the crested coachman bird
`Midst the underwood is heard."

<hw>Coast</hw>, v. to loaf about from station to station.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' xxv. 295:

"I ain't like you, Towney, able to coast about without a job of work from shearin' to shearin'."

<hw>Coaster</hw>, n. a loafer, a Sundowner (q.v.).

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' viii. 75:

"A voluble, good-for-nothing, loafing impostor, a regular `coaster.'"

<hw>Cobb</hw>, n. sometimes used as equivalent to a coach. "I am going by Cobb." The word is still used, though no Mr. Cobb has been connected with Australian coaches for many years. See quotation.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 184:

"Mr. Cobb was an American, and has returned long ago to his native country. He started a line of conveyances from Melbourne to Castlemaine some time after the gold discoveries. Mr. Cobb had spirit to buy good horses, to get first-class American coaches, to employ good Yankee whips, and in a couple of years or so he had been so extensively patronised that he sold out, and retired with a moderate fortune." [But the Coaching Company retained . . . the style of Cobb & Co.]

1879 (about). `Queensland Bush Song':

"Hurrah for the Roma Railway!
Hurrah for Cobb and Co.!
Hurrah, hurrah for a good fat horse
To carry me Westward Ho!"

<hw>Cobbler</hw>, n. (1) The last sheep, an Australian shearing term. (2) Another name for the fish called the Fortescue (q.v.)

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Dec. 23, p. 6, col. 1:

"Every one might not know what a `cobbler' is. It is the last sheep in a catching pen, and consequently a bad one to shear, as the easy ones are picked first. The cobbler must be taken out before `Sheep-ho' will fill up again. In the harvest field English rustics used to say, when picking up the last sheaf, `This is what the cobbler threw at his wife.' `What?' `The last,' with that lusty laugh, which, though it might betray `a vacant mind,' comes from a very healthy organism."

<hw>Cobblers-Awl</hw>, n. bird-name. The word is a provincial English name for the Avocet. In Tasmania, the name is applied to a Spine-Bill (q.v.) from the shape of its beak.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 61:

"Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris, Lath., Slender-billed Spine-bill. Cobbler's Awl, Colonists of Van Diemen's Land. Spine-bill, Colonists of New South Wales."

<hw>Cobbler's Pegs</hw>, name given to a tall erect annual weed, Erigeron linifolius, Willd., N.O. Compositae and to Bidens pilosus, Linn., N.O. Compositae.

<hw>Cobbra</hw>, n. aboriginal word for head, skull. [Kabura or Kobbera, with such variations as Kobra, Kobbera, Kappara, Kopul, from Malay Kapala, head: one of the words on the East Coast manifestly of Malay origin.—J. Mathew. Much used in pigeon converse with blacks. `Goodway cobra tree' = `Tree very tall.'] Collins, `Port Jackson Vocabulary,' 1798 (p. 611), gives `Kabura, ca-ber-ra.' Mount Cobberas in East Gippsland has its name from huge head-like masses of rock which rise from the summit.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 31:

"The black fellow who lives in the bush bestows but small attention on his cobra, as the head is usually called in the pigeon-English which they employ."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xiii. p. 134:

"I should be cock-sure that having an empty cobbra, as the blacks say, was on the main track that led to the grog-camp."

<hw>Cock-a-bully</hw>, n. a popular name for the New Zealand fish Galaxias fasciatus, Gray, a corruption of its Maori name Kokopu (q.v.).

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 3:

"During my stay in New Zealand my little girl caught a fish rather larger than an English minnow. Her young companions called it a `cock-a bully.' It was pretty obvious to scent a corruption of a Maori word, for, mark you, cock-a-bully has no meaning. It looks as if it were English and full of meaning. Reflect an instant and it has none. The Maori name for the fish is `kokopu'"

<hw>Cockatiel</hw>, <hw>-eel</hw>, n. an arbitrary diminutive of the word Cockatoo, and used as another name for the Cockatoo-Parrakeet, Calopsitta novae-hollandiae, and generally for any Parrakeet of the genus Calopsitta. (`O.E.D.')

<hw>Cockatoo</hw>, n. (1) Bird-name. The word is Malay, Kakatua. (`O.E.D.') The varieties are—

Banksian Cockatoo—
Calyptorhynchus banksii, Lath.

Bare-eyed C.—
Cacatua gymnopis, Sclater.

Black C.—
Calyptorhynchus funereus, Shaw.

Blood-stained C.—
Cacatua sanguinea, Gould.

Dampier's C.—
Licmetis pastinator, Gould.

Gang-gang C.— Callocephalon galeatum, Lath. [See
Gang-gang.]

Glossy C.—
Calyptorhynchus viridis, Vieill.

Long-billed C.—
Licmetis nasicus, Temm. [See Corella.]

Palm C.—
Microglossus aterrimus, Gmel.

Pink C.—
Cacatua leadbeateri, V. & H. (Leadbeater, q.v.).

Red-tailed C.—
Calyptorhynchus stellatus, Wagl.

Rose-breasted C.— Cacatua roseicapilla, Vieill. [See
Galah. Gould calls it Cocatua eos.

White C.—
Cacatua galerita, Lath.

White-tailed C.—
Calyptorhynchus baudinii, Vig.

D

<hw>Dabchick</hw>, n. common English bird-name. The New Zealand species is Podiceps rufipectus. There is no species in Australia.

<hw>Dacelo</hw>, n. Name given by "W. E. Leach, 1816. An anagram or transposition of Lat. Alcedo, a Kingfisher." (`Century.') Scientific name for the Jackass (q.v.).

<hw>Dactylopsila</hw>, n. the scientific name of the Australian genus of the Striped Phalanger, called locally the Striped Opossum; see Opossum. It has a long bare toe. (Grk. daktulos, a finger, and psilos, bare.)

<hw>Daisy, Brisbane</hw>, n. a Queensland and New South Wales plant, Brachycome microcarpa, F. v. M., N.O. Compositae.

<hw>Daisy, Native</hw>, n. a Tasmanian flower, Brachycome decipiens, Hook., N.O. Compositae.

<hw>Daisy Tree</hw>, n. two Tasmanian trees, Astur stellulatus, Lab., and A. glandulosus, Lab., N.O. Compositae. The latter is called the Swamp-Daisy-Tree.

<hw>Dam</hw>, n. In England, the word means a barrier to stop water in Australia, it also means the water so stopped, as `O.E.D.' shows it does in Yorkshire.

1873. Marcus Clarke, `Holiday Peak, &c.,' p. 76:

"The dams were brimming at Quartz-borough, St. Roy reservoir was running over."

1892. `Scribner's Magazine,' Feb., p. 141:

"Dams as he calls his reservoirs scooped out in the hard soil."

1893. `The Leader,' Jan. 14:

"A boundary rider has been drowned in a dam."

1893. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 68:

"At present few stations are subdivided into paddocks smaller than 20,000 acres apiece. If in each of these there is but one waterhole or dam that can be relied upon to hold out in drought, sheep and cattle will destroy as much grass in tramping from the far corners of the grazing to the drinking spot as they will eat. Four paddocks of 5,000 acres each, well supplied with water, ought to carry almost double the number of sheep."

1896. `The Argus,' March 30, p. 6, col. 9:

"[The murderer] has not since been heard of. Dams and waterholes have been dragged . . . but without result."

<hw>Dammara</hw>, n. an old scientific name of the genus, including the Kauri Pine (q.v.). It is from the Hindustani, damar, `resin.' The name was applied to the Kauri Pine by Lambert in 1832, but it was afterwards found that Salisbury, in 1805, had previously constituted the genus Agathis for the reception of the Kauri Pine and the Dammar Pine of Amboyna. This priority of claim necessitated the modern restoration of Agathis as the name of the genus.

<hw>Damper</hw>, n. a large scone of flour and water baked in hot ashes; the bread of the bush, which is always unleavened. [The addition of water to the flour suggests a more likely origin than that given by Dr. Lang. See quotation, 1847.]

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 190

"The farm-men usually make their flour into flat cakes, which they call damper, and cook these in the ashes . . ."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. ii. c. viii. p. 203:

"I watched the distorted countenances of my humble companions while drinking their tea and eating their damper."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketches of New South Wales,' p. 103:

"Damper (a coarse dark bread)."

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

"I must here enlighten my readers as to what `damper' is. It is the bread of the bush, made with flour and water kneaded together and formed into dough, which is baked in the ashes, and after a few months keeping is a good substitute for bread."

[The last clause contains a most extraordinary statement— perhaps a joke. Damper is not kept for months, but is generally made fresh for each meal. See quotation, 1890, Lumholtz.]

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 122:

"A cake baked in the ashes, which in Australia is usually styled a damper." [Footnote]: "This appellation is said to have originated somehow with Dampier, the celebrated navigator."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 284:

"`Damper' is a dough made from wheat-flour and water without yeast, which is simply pressed flat, and baked in the ashes; according to civilized notions, rather hard of digestion, but quite agreeable to hungry woodmen's stomachs."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 20:

"At first we had rather a horror of eating damper, imagining it to be somewhat like an uncooked crumpet. Experience, however, showed it to be really very good. Its construction is simple, and is as follows. Plain flour and water is mixed on a sheet of bark, and then kneaded into a disc some two or three inches thick to about one or two feet in diameter, great care to avoid cracks being taken in the kneading. This is placed in a hole scraped to its size in the hot ashes, covered over, and there left till small cracks caused by the steam appear on the surface of its covering. This is a sign that it is nearly done, and in a few minutes the skilful chef will sound it over with his "Wedges of damper (or bread baked in hot ashes) were cut from time to time from great circular flat loaves of that palatable and wholesome but somewhat compressed-looking bread."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 32:

"Damper is the name of a kind of bread made of wheat flour and water. The dough is shaped into a flat round cake, which is baked in red-hot ashes. This bread looks very inviting, and tastes very good as long as it is fresh, but it soon becomes hard and dry."

<hw>Damson, Native</hw>, n. called also Native Plum, an Australian shrub, Nageia spinulosa, F. v. M., N.O. Coniferae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 53:

"Native Damson or Native Plum. This shrub possesses edible fruit, something like a plum, hence its vernacular names. The Rev. Dr. Woolis tells me that, mixed with jam of the Native Currant (Leptomeria acida), it makes a very good pudding."

<hw>Dandelion, Native</hw>, n. a flowering plant, Podolepis acuminata, R. Br., N.O. Compositae.

<hw>Daphne, Native</hw>, n. an Australian timber, Myoporum viscorum, R. Br., N.O. Myoporineae; called also Dogwood and Waterbush.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 575:

"Native Daphne. . . . Timber soft and moderately light, yet tough. It is used for building purposes. It dresses well, and is straight in the grain."

<HW>Darling Pea</HW>, n. an Australian plant, Swainsonia galegifolia, R. Br., N.O. Leguminosae; i.q. Indigo Plant (q.v.). See also Poison-bush. The Darling Downs and River were named after General (later Sir Ralph) Darling, who was Governor of New South Wales from Dec. 19, 1825 to Oct. 21, 1831. The "pea" is named from one of these.

<hw>Darling Shower</hw>, n. a local name in the interior of Australia, and especially on the River Darling, for a dust storm, caused by cyclonic winds.

<hw>Dart</hw>, n. (1) Plan, scheme, idea [slang]. It is an extension of the meaning—"sudden motion."

1887. J. Farrell, `How: he died,' p. 20:

"Whose `dart' for the Looard
Was to appear the justest steward
That ever hiked a plate round."

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 9, p. 4, col. 2:

"When I told them of my `dart,' some were contemptuous, others incredulous."

1892. Rolf Boldrewood, `Nevermore,' p. 22:

"Your only dart is to buy a staunch horse with a tip-cart."

(2) Particular fancy or personal taste.

1895. Modern:

"`Fresh strawberries eh!—that's my dart,' says the bushman when he sees the fruit lunch in Collins-street."

<hw>Darter</hw>, n. common English name for birds of the genus Plotus. So called from the way it "darts" upon its prey. The Australian species is Plotus novae- hollandiae, Gould.

<hw>Dasyure</hw>, and <hw>Dasyurus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus of Australian animals called Native Cats. See under Cat. The first form is the Anglicized spelling and is scientifically used in preference to the misleading vernacular name. From the Greek dasus, thick with hair, hairy, shaggy, and 'oura, tail. They range over Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and the adjacent islands. Unlike the Thylacine and Tasmanian Devil (q.v.), which are purely terrestrial, the Dasyurus are arboreal in their habits, while they are both carnivorous and insectivorous.

The Thylacine, Tasmanian Devil, Pouched Mice, and Banded Ant-eater have sometimes been incorrectly classed as Dasyures, but the name is now strictly allotted to the genus Dasyurus, or Native Cat.

<hw>Date, Native</hw>, n. a Queensland fruit, Capparis canescens, Banks, N.O. Capparideae. The fruit is shaped like a pear, and about half an inch in its largest diameter. It is eaten raw by the aborigines.

<hw>Deadbeat</hw>, n. In Australia, it means a man "down on his luck," "stone-broke," beaten by fortune. In America, the word means an impostor, a sponge. Between the two uses the connection is clear, but the Australian usage is logically the earlier.

<hw>Dead-bird</hw>, n. In Australia, a recent slang term, meaning "a certainty." The metaphor is from pigeon-shooting, where the bird being let loose in front of a good shot is as good as dead.

<hw>Dead-finish</hw>, n. a rough scrubtree.

(1)Albizzia basaltica, Benth., N.O. Leguminosae.

(2) Acacia farnesiana, Willd., N.O. Leguminosae. See quotation, 1889.

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia', p. 272:

"On the eastern face of the coast range are pine, red cedar, and beech, and on the western slopes, rose-wood, myall, dead-finish, plum-tree, iron-wood and sandal-wood, all woods with a fine grain suitable for cabinet-making and fancy work."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 355:

"Sometimes called by the absurd name of `Dead Finish.' This name given to some species of Acacia and Albizzia, is on account of the trees or shrubs shooting thickly from the bottom, and forming an impenetrable barrier to the traveller, who is thus brought to a `dead finish' (stop)"

1893. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 60:

"The hawthorn is admirably represented by a brush commonly called `dead finish.'" [p. 61]: "Little knolls are crowned with `dead finish' that sheep are always glad to nibble."

<hw>Dead-wood Fence</hw>, n. The Australian fence, so called, is very different from the fence of the same name in England. It is high and big, built of fallen timber, logs and branches. Though still used in Australia for fencing runs, it is now usually superseded by wire fences.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 157:

"A `dead-wood fence,' that is, a mass of timber four or five feet thick, and five or six high, the lower part being formed of the enormous trunks of trees, cut into logs six or eight feet long, laid side by side, and the upper portion consisting of the smaller branches skilfully laid over, or stuck down and twisted."

1872. G. Baden-Powell, `New Homes for the Old Country,' p. 207:

"A very common fence is built by felling trees round the space to be enclosed, and then with their stems as a foundation, working up with the branches, a fence of a desirable height."

<hw>Deal, Native</hw>, n. an Australian timber, Nageia elata, F. v. M., N.O. Coniferae. For other vernacular names see quotation.

1869. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 589:

"Pine, white pine, called she-pine in Queensland; native deal, pencil cedar. This tree has an elongated trunk, rarely cylindrical; wood free from knots, soft, close, easily worked, good for joiners' and cabinet-work; some trees afford planks of great beauty. (Macarthur.) Fine specimens of this timber have a peculiar mottled appearance not easily described, and often of surpassing beauty."

[See also Pine.]

<hw>December</hw>, n. a summer month in Australia. See Christmas.

1885. J. Hood, `Land of the Fern,' p. 34:

"Warm December sweeps with burning breath
Across the bosom of the shrinking earth."

<hw>Deepsinker</hw>, n. (1) The largest sized tumbler; (2) the long drink served in it. The idea is taken from deep-sinking in a mining shaft.

1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 15, p. 6, Col 5:

"As athletes the cocoons can run rings round the beans; they can jump out of a tumbler—whether medium, small, or deepsinker is not recorded."

<hw>Deep Yellow-Wood</hw>, n. Rhus rhodanthema, F. v. M., N.O. Anacardiaceae. A tree with spreading head; timber valuable. See Yellow-Wood.

<hw>Deferred Payment</hw>, n. a legal phrase. "Land on deferred payment"; "Deferred payment settler"; "Pastoral deferred payment." These expressions in New Zealand have reference to the mode of statutory alienation of Crown lands, known in other colonies as conditional sale, etc., i.e. sale on time payment, with conditions binding the settler to erect improvements, ending in his acquiring the fee-simple. The system is obsolete, but many titles are still incomplete.

<hw>Dell-bird</hw>, n. another name for the Bell-bird (q.v.).

<hw>Dendrolagus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus of Australian marsupials called Tree-Kangaroos (q.v.). (Grk. dendron, a tree, and lagows, a hare.) Unlike the other kangaroos, their fore limbs are nearly as long as the hinder pair, and thus adapted for arboreal life. There are five species, three belong to New Guinea and two to Queensland; they are the Queensland Tree-Kangaroo, Dendrolagus lumholtzi; Bennett's T.-k., D. bennettianus; Black T.-k., D. ursinus : Brown T.-k., D. inustus; Doria's T.-k., D. dorianus. See Kangaroo.

<hw>Derry</hw>, n. slang. The phrase "to have a down on" (see Down) is often varied to "have a derry on." The connection is probably the comic-song refrain, "Hey derry down derry."

1896. `The Argus,' March 19, p. 5, col. 9:

"Mr. Croker: Certainly. We will tender it as evidence.
(To the witness.) Have you any particular `derry' upon this
Wendouree?—No; not at all. There are worse vessels knocking
about than the Wendouree."

<hw>Dervener</hw>, n. See quotation, and Derwenter.

1896. `The Argus,' Jan. 2, p. 3, col. 4, Letters to the Editor:

"`Dervener.'—An expression used in continental Australia for a man from the Derwent in Tasmania. Common up till 1850 at least.—David Blair."

Ibid. Jan. 3, p. 6, col. 6:

"With respect to `dervener,' the word was in use while the blue shirt race existed [sc. convicts], and these people did not become extinct until after 1860.—Cymro-Victoria."

<hw>Derwenter</hw>, n. a released convict from Hobart Town, Tasmania, which is on the River Derwent.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xx. p. 140:

"An odd pair of sawyers, generally `Derwenters,' as the
Tasmanian expirees were called."

<hw>Desert Lemon</hw>, n. called also Native Kumquat, Atalantia glauca, Hook., N.O. Rutacea.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 8:

"The native kumquat or desert lemon. The fruit is globular, and about half an inch in diameter. It produces an agreeable beverage from its acid juice."

<hw>Desert-Oak</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Casuarina decaisneana, F. v. M. See Casuarina and Oak.

1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Narrative, p. 49:

"We had now amongst these sandhills come into the region of the `Desert Oak' (Casuarina Decaisneana). Some of the trees reach a height of forty or fifty feet, and growing either singly or in clumps form a striking feature amongst the thin sparse scrub. . . . The younger ones resemble nothing so much as large funeral plumes. Their outlines seen under a blazing sun are indistinct, and they give to the whole scene a curious effect of being `out of focus.'"

<hw>Devil, Tasmanian</hw>, n. an animal, Sarcophilus ursinus, Harris. Formerly, but erroneously, referred to the genus Dasyurus (q.v.), which includes the Native Cat (see under Cat): described in the quotations.

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

"The devil, or as naturalists term it, Dasyurus ursinus, is very properly named."

1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 323:

"The devil (Dasyurus ursinus, Geoff.), about the size of a bull terrier, is an exceedingly fierce and disgusting-looking animal, of a black colour, usually having one white band across the chest, and another across the back, near the tail. It is a perfect glutton, and most indiscriminate in its feeding."

1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. vii. p. 186:

"Dasyurus ursinus—a carnivorous marsupial. Colonists in Tasmania, where only it exists . . . called it the `devil,' from the havoc it made among their sheep and poultry."

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"In the next division is a pair of Tasmanian devils (Dasyurus ursinus); these unprepossessing-looking brutes are hated by every one in Tasmania, their habitat, owing to their destructiveness amongst poultry, and even sheep. They are black in colour, having only a white band across the chest, and possess great strength in proportion to their size."

<hw>Devil's Guts</hw>, n. The name is given in Australia to the Dodder-Laurel (see Laurel), Cassytha filiformis, Linn., N.O. Lauraceae. In Tasmania the name is applied to Lyonsia straminea, R. Br., N.O. Apocyneae.

1862. W. Archer, `Products of Tasmania,' p. 41:

"Lyonsia (Lyonsia straminea, Br.). Fibres of the bark fine and strong. The lyonsia is met with, rather sparingly, in dense thickets, with its stems hanging like ropes among the trees."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `useful Native Plants,' p. 14:

"This and other species of Cassythia are called `dodder-laurel.' The emphatic name of `devil's guts' is largely used. It frequently connects bushes and trees by cords, and becomes a nuisance to the traveller." [This plant is used by the Brahmins of Southern India for seasoning their buttermilk. (`Treasury of Botany.')]

Ibid. p. 162:

"It is also used medicinally."

<hw>Devil-on-the-Coals</hw>, n. a Bushman's name for a small and quickly-baked damper.

1862. Rev. A. Polehampton, `Kangaroo Land,' p. 77:

"Instead of damper we occasionally made what is colonially known as `devils on the coals.' . . . They are convenient when there is not time to make damper, as only a minute or so is required to bake them. They are made about the size of a captain's biscuit, and as thin as possible, thrown on the embers and turned quickly with the hand."

<hw>Diamond Bird</hw>, n. a bird-name. In the time of Gould this name was only applied to Pardalotus punctatus, Temm. Since that time it has been extended to all the species of the genus Pardalotus (q.v.). The broken colour of the plumage suggested a sparkling jewel.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 238:

"We are informed by Mr. Caley that this species is called diamond bird by the settlers, from the spots on its body. By them it is reckoned as valuable on account of its skin."

<hw>Diamond Snake</hw>, n. In Queensland and New South Wales, Pythonon spilotes, Lacep.; in Tasmania, Hoplocephalus superhus, Gray, venomous. See under Snake.

<hw>Digger</hw>, n. a gold-miner. The earliest mines were alluvial. Of course the word is used elsewhere, but in Australia it has this special meaning.

1852. Title:

"Murray's Guide to the Gold Diggings.—The Australian Gold
Diggings; where they are, and how to get at them; with letters
from Settlers and Diggers telling how to work them. London:
Stewart & Murray) 1852."

1853. Valiant, `Letter to Council,' given in McCombie's `History of Victoria' (1853), c. xvi. p. 248:

"It caused the diggers, as a body, to pause in their headlong career."

1855. W. Howitt, `Land, Labour, and Gold,' vol. ii. p. 148, Letter xxx:

"Buckland River, January 29th, 1854. The diggers here are a very quiet and civil race, at the same time that they are a most active and laborious one. . . . The principal part of the diggers here are from the Ovens."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 31:

"Drink success to the digger's trade,
And break up to the squatter's."

1896. H. Lawson, `While the Billy boils,' p. 148:

"His Father's Mate had always been a general favourite with the diggers and fossickers, from the days when he used to slip out first thing in the morning and take a run across the frosty flat in his shirt."

<hw>Digger's Delight</hw>, n. a flower, Veronica perfoliata, R. Br., N.O. Scrophularaneae, described in quotations.

1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `First Book of Australian Botany,' p. 64:

"Digger's Delight, Veronica perfoliata, N.O. Scrophularineae. A pretty, blue-flowering shrub, with smooth stem-clasping leaves; found in the mountainous districts of Victoria and New South Wales, and deriving its common name from a supposition that its presence indicated auriferous country. It is plentiful in the elevated cold regions of Australia."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 147:

"Such native flowers as the wild violet, the shepherd's purse, or the blue-flowered `digger's delight.' This latter has come, perhaps, with the seeds from some miner's holding amongst the iron-barks in the gold country, and was once supposed to grow only on auriferous soils. When no one would think of digging for gold in this field, the presence of the flower is, perhaps, as reliable an indication of a golconda underneath as the reports and information on the strength of which many mining companies are floated."

<hw>Diggerdom</hw>, n. collective noun, the diggers.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 43:

"Diggerdom is gloriously in the ascendant here."

<hw>Diggeress</hw>, n. a digger's wife.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 43:

"The digger marching off, followed by his diggeress, a tall, slim young woman, who strode on like a trooper. . . . Open carriages driving about, crowded with diggers and their diggeresses."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 36:

"I'm tir'd of being a diggeress,
And yearn a farmer's home to grace."

<hw>Diggings</hw>, n. a place where gold-mining is carried on. The word is generally regarded as singular. Though common in Australia, it is very old, even in the sense of a place where digging for gold is carried on.

1769. De Foe's `Tour of Great Britain,' i. 39 (`O.E.D.'):

"King Henry VIII. was induced to dig for Gold. He was disappointed, but the Diggings are visible at this Day."

1852. J. Morgan, `Life and Adventures of William Buckley' (published at Hobart), p. 183 [quoting from the `Victoria Commercial Review,' published at Melbourne, by Messrs. Westgarth, Ross, & Co., under date September 1, 1851]:

"The existence of a `goldfield' was not ascertained until May last. . . . Numbers of persons are daily `prospecting' throughout this Colony and New South Wales in search of gold. . . .In Victoria, as well as in New South Wales, regular `diggings' are now established."

1852. Murray, `The Australian Gold Diggings: where they are and how to get at them,' p. 1;

"It cannot but be acceptable to the crowds of intending colonists and gold seekers, to present them with a picture of the `Progress of the Diggins,' [sic] drawn by the diggers."

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. xv. p. 234:

"Immigrants who had not means to start to the diggings."

1870. J. O. Tucker, `The Mute,' p. 48:

"Ye glorious diggings `neath a southern clime!
I saw thy dawn."

[`Ye,' `thy.' Is this singular or plural?]

1887. H. H. Hayter, `Christmas Adventure,' p. i:

"Fryer's creek, a diggings more than 90 miles from Melbourne."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. vii. p. 71:

"It was a goldfield and a diggings in far-away Australia."

<hw>Dilli</hw>, later <hw>Dilly-bag</hw>, n. an aboriginal word, coming from Queensland, for a bag made either of grasses or of fur twisted into cord. Dhilla is the term for hair in Kabi dialect, Mary River, Queensland. Dirrang and jirra are corresponding words in the east of New South Wales. The aboriginal word dilli has been tautologically increased to dilly-bag, and the word is used by bushmen for a little bag for odds-and-ends, even though made of calico or holland.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 90:

"In their `dillis' (small baskets) were several roots or tubers."

Ibid. p. 195:

"A basket (dilli) which I examined was made of a species of grass."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 34:

"I learned too at the camp to plait dilly-bags."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 210:

"Mayboy came forward dangling a small dilly-bag."

1896. A.J. North, `Report of Australian Museum,' p. 26:

"Dilly-bag (partly wool and partly grass)."

<hw>Dingle-bird</hw>, n. a poetical name for the Australian Bell-bird (q.v.).

1870. F. S. Wilson, `Australian Songs,' p. 30:

"The bell-like chimings of the distant dingle-bird."

1883. C. Harpur, `Poems,' p. 78:

"I . . . list the tinkling of the dinglebird."

<hw>Dingo</hw>, n. the native dog of Australia, Canis dingo. "The aborigines, before they obtained dogs from Europeans, kept the dingo for hunting, as is still done by coast tribes in Queensland. Name probably not used further south than Shoalhaven, where the wild dog is called Mirigang." (A. W. Howitt.)

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 280:

[A dingo or dog of New South Wales. Plate. Description by J. Hunter.] "It is capable of barking, although not so readily as the European dogs; is very ill-natured and vicious, and snarls, howls, and moans, like dogs in common. Whether this is the only dog in New South Wales, and whether they have it in a wild state, is not mentioned; but I should be inclined to believe they had no other; in which case it will constitute the wolf of that country; and that which is domesticated is only the wild dog tamed, without having yet produced a variety, as in some parts of America."

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' p. 614 [Vocab.]:

"Jungo—-Beasts, common name.
Tein-go—-Din-go.
Wor-re-gal—-Dog."

1820. W. C. Wentworth, `Description of New South Wales,' p. 62:

"The native dog also, which is a species of the wolf, was proved to be fully equal in this respect [sport] to the fox; but as the pack was not sufficiently numerous to kill these animals at once, they always suffered so severely from their bite that at last the members of the hunt were shy in allowing the dogs to follow them."

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. 55:

"Tigko—-a bitch."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes `(1855), p. 153:

"I have heard that the dingo, warragal or native dog, does not hunt in packs like the wolf and jackal."

1860. William Story, `Victorian Government Prize Essays,' p. 101:

"The English hart is so greatly superior, as an animal of chase, to that cunning poultry thief the fox, that I trust Mister Reynard will never be allowed to become an Australian immigrant, and that when the last of the dingoes shall have shared the fate of the last English wolf, Australian Nimrods will resuscitate, at the antipodes of England, the sterling old national sport of hart hunting, conjointly with that of African boks, gazelles, and antelopes, and leave the fox to their English cousins, who cannot have Australian choice."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 103:

"In the neighbourhood of Brisbane and other large towns where they have packs, they run the dingoes as you do foxes at home."

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 113:

"The arms of the Wimmera should be rabbit and dingo, `rampant,' supporting a sun, `or, inflamed.'"

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 71:

"Dingoes, the Australian name for the wild dogs so destructive to sheep. They were . . . neither more nor less than wolves, but more cowardly and not so ferocious, seldom going in large packs. They hunted kangaroos when in numbers, or driven to it by hunger; but usually preferred smaller and more easily obtained prey, as rats, bandicoots, and 'possums."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 38:

"On the large stations a man is kept whose sole work it is to lay out poison for the dingo. The black variety with white breast generally appears in Western Queensland along with the red."

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"The dingo of northern Australia can be distinguished from his brother of the south by his somewhat smaller size and courageous bearing. He always carries his tail curled over his back, and is ever ready to attack any one or anything; whilst the southern dingo carries his tail low, slinks along like a fox, and is easily frightened. The pure dingo, which is now exceedingly rare in a wild state, partly through the agency of poison, but still more from the admixture of foreign breeds, is unable to bark, and can only express its feelings in long-drawn weird howls."

1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. l1, col. 4:

"Why is the first call of a dingo always apparently miles away, and the answer to it—another quavering note slightly more shrill—so close at hand? Is it delusion or distance?"

<hw>Dinornis</hw>, n. the scientific name given by Professor Owen to the genus of huge struthious birds of the post-Pliocene period, in New Zealand, which survive in the traditions of the Maoris under the name of Moa (q.v.). From the Greek deinos, terrible, and 'ornis, bird.

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

"The specimens [fossil-bones] transmitted . . . were confided to the learned Professor [Owen] for determination; and these materials, scanty as they were, enabled him to define the generic characters of Dinornis, as afforded by the bones of the hind extremity."

Ibid. p. xxiv:

"Professor Owen had well-nigh exhausted the vocabulary of terms expressive of largeness by naming his successive discoveries ingens, giganteus, crassus, robustus, and elephantopus, when he had to employ the superlative Dinornis maximus to distinguish a species far exceeding in stature even the stately Dinornis giganteus. In this colossal bird . . . some of the cervical vertebrae almost equal in size the neck-bones of a horse! The skeleton in the British Museum . . . measures 11 feet in height, and . . . some of these feathered giants attained to a still greater stature."

<hw>Dipper</hw>, n. a vessel with a handle at the top of the side like a big tin mug. That with which one dips. The word is not Australian, but is of long standing in the United States, where it is used as a name for the constellation of the Great Bear.

1893. `Australasian Schoolmaster,' Feb.:

"These answers have not the true colonial ring of the following, which purports to be the remark of the woman of Samaria: `Sir, the well is very deep, and you haven't got a dipper.'"

<hw>Dips</hw>, n. Explained in quotation.

1859. G. Bunce, `Travels with Leichhardt,' p. 161:

". . . Dr. Leichhardt gave the party a quantity of dough boys, or as we called them, dips. . ."

[p. 171]: "In this dilemma, Dr. Leichhardt ordered the cook to mix up a lot of flour, and treated us all to a feed of dips. These were made as follows:—a quantity of flour was mixed up with water, and stirred with a spoon to a certain consistency, and dropped into a pot of boiling water, a spoonful at a time. Five minutes boiling was sufficient, when they were eaten with the water in which they were boiled."

<hw>Dirt</hw>, n. In Australia, any alluvial deposit in which gold is found; properly Wash-dirt. The word is used in the United States. See quotation, 187.

1853. Mrs. Chas. Clancy, `Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings,' p. 109:

"And after doing this several times, the `dirt,' of course, gradually diminishing, I was overjoyed to see a few bright specks."

1857. Borthwick, `California,' [Bartlett, quoted in `O.E.D.'] p. 120:

"In California, `dirt' is the universal word to signify the substance dug; earth, clay, gravel, or loose slate. The miners talk of rich dirt and poor dirt, and of stripping off so many feet of `top dirt' before getting to `pay-dirt,' the latter meaning dirt with so much gold in it that it will pay to dig it up and wash it."

1870. J. O. Tucker, `The Mute,'p. 40:

"Others to these the precious dirt convey,
Linger a moment till the panning's through."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xiv. p. 142:

"We were clean worked out . . . before many of our neighbours at Greenstone Gully, were half done with their dirt."

Ibid. c. xviii. p. 177:

"We must trust in the Oxley `dirt' and a kind Providence."

<hw>Dish</hw>, n. and adj. a small and rough vessel in which gold is washed. The word is used in the United States.

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 17:

"I have obtained good dish prospects after crudely crushing up the quartz."

<hw>Dishwasher</hw>, n. an old English bird-name for the Water-Wagtail; applied in Australia to Seisura inquieta, Lath., the Restless Fly-catcher (q.v.). Seisura is from Grk. seiein (to shake), and 'oura (a tail), being thus equal in meaning to Wagtail. Also called Dishlick, Grinder, and Razor-grinder (q.v.).

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of the Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 250:

"This bird is called by the colonists Dishwasher. It is very curious in its actions. In alighting on the stump of a tree it makes several semi-circular motions, spreading out its tail, and making a loud noise somewhat like that caused by a razor-grinder when at work."

<hw>Distoechurus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus of the New Guinea Pentailed-Phalanger, or so-called Opossum-mouse (q.v.). It has a tail with the long hairs arranged in two opposite rows, like the vanes of a feather.(Grk. distoichos, with two rows, and 'oura, a tail.)

<hw>Diver</hw>, n. common bird-name used in Australia for a species of Grebe.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vii. pl. 80:

"Podiceps australis, Gould; Australian Tippet Grebe; Diver of the Colonists."

<hw>Doctor</hw>, n. word used in the South Australian bush for "the cook."

1896. `The Australasian,' June 13, p. 1133, col. 1:

"`The doctor's in the kitchen, and the boss is in the shed;
   The overseer's out mustering on the plain;
  Sling your bluey down, old boy, for the clouds are overhead,
   You are welcome to a shelter from the rain.'"

<hw>Dodder Laurel</hw>, n. i.q. Devil's Guts (q.v.).

<hw>Dog-fish</hw>, n. The name belongs to various fishes of distinct families, chiefly sharks. In Australia, it is used for the fish Scyllium lima, family Scylliidae. In New South Wales it is Scyllium maculatum, Bl. The Sprite Dog-fish of New Zealand is Acanthias maculatus, family Spinacidae. The Spotted Dog-fish of New South Wales is Scyllium anale. The Dusky Dogfish of New South Wales is Chiloscyllium modestum, Gunth., and there are others in Tasmania and Australia.

<hw>Dogleg</hw>, adj. applied to a primitive kind of fence made of rough timber. Crossed spars, which are the doglegs, placed at intervals, keep in place a low rail resting on short posts, and are themselves fixed by heavy saplings resting in the forks above.

1875. R. and F. Hill, `What we saw in Australia,' p. 61:

". . . we made acquaintance with the `dog's leg' fence. This is formed of bare branches of the gum-tree laid obliquely, several side by side, and the ends overlapping, so that they have somewhat the appearance that might be presented by the stretched-out legs of a crowd of dogs running at full speed. An upright stick at intervals, with a fork at the top, on which some of the cross-branches rest, adds strength to the structure."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 13:

"While the primaeval `dog-leg' fence of the Victorian bush, or the latter-day `chock and log' are no impediments in the path of our foresters." [sc. kangaroos; see Forester.]

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 71:

"As we rode up we could see a gunyah made out of boughs, and a longish wing of dog leg fence, made light but well put together."

<hw>Dog's Tongue</hw>, n. name given to the plant Cynoglossum suaveolens, R. Br., N.O. Asperifoliae.

<hw>Dogwood</hw>, n. various trees and their wood; none of them the same as those called dogwood in the Northern Hemisphere, but their woods are used for similar purposes, e.g. butchers' skewers, fine pegs, and small pointed wooden instruments. In Australia generally, Jacksonia scoparia, R. Br., also Myoporum platycarpum, R. Br. In Tasmania, Bedfordia salicina, De C., N.O. Compositae, which is also called Honeywood, and in New South Wales, Cottonwood (q.v.), and the two trees Pomaderris elliptica, Lab., and P. apetala, Lab., N.O. Rhamnaceae, which are called respectively Yellow and Bastard Dogwood. See also Coranderrk. In parts of Tasmania, Pomaderris apetala, Lab., N.O. Rhamn/ac?/eae, is also called Dogwood, or Bastard Dogwood.

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 16:

"There is a secluded hollow of this kind near Kangaroo Bottom, near Hobart Town, where the common dogwood of the colony (pomaderris apetala) has sprung up so thick and tall, that Mr. Babington and myself having got into it unawares one day, had the greatest difficulty imaginable to get out after three or four hours' labour. Not one of the plants was more than six inches apart from the others, while they rose from 6 to 12 yards in height, with leaves at the top which almost wholly excluded the light of the sun."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 11:

"Iron-bark ridges here and there, with spotted gum, with dogwood (Jacksonia) on a sandy soil." (p. 20): "A second creek, with running water, which from the number of dogwood shrubs (Jacksonia), in the full glory of their golden blossoms, I called `Dogwood Creek.'"

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue—Economic Woods,' p. 46:

"Native dogwood, a hard, pale-brown, well-mottled wood; good for turnery."

<hw>Dogwood Poison-bush</hw>, n. a New South Wales name; the same as Ellangowan Poison-bush (q.v.).

<hw>Dollar</hw>, n. See Holy Dollar.

<hw>Dollar-bird</hw>, n. name given to the Roller (q.v.). See quotations.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 202:

"The settlers call it dollar-bird, from the silver-like spot on the wing."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia;' vol. ii. pl. 17:

"Eurystomus Australis, Swains., Australian Roller. Dollar Bird of the Colonists. During flight the white spot in the centre of each wing, then widely expanded, shows very distinctly, and hence the name of Dollar Bird.'"

1851. I. Henderson, `Excursions in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 183:

"The Dollar-bird derives its name from a round white spot the size of a dollar, on its wing. It is very handsome, and flies in rather a peculiar manner. It is the only bird which I have observed to perform regular migrations; and it is strange that in such a climate any one should do so. But it appears that the dollar-bird does not relish even an Australian winter. It is the harbinger of spring and genial weather."

<hw>Dollar-fish</hw> n. a name often given formerly to the John Dory (q.v.), from the mark on its side. See quotation, 1880. The name Dollar-fish is given on the American coasts to a different fish.

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 451:

"The fishermen of Roman Catholic countries hold this fish in special respect, as they recognize in a black round spot on its side the mark left by the thumb of St. Peter, when he took the piece of money from its mouth."

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 62:

"The dory has been long known, and when the currency of the colony was in Mexican coin it was called a `dollar-fish.'"

<hw>Dorca-Kangaroo</hw>, n. See Dorcopsis and Kangaroo.

<hw>Dorcopsis</hw>, n. the scientific name of a genus of little Kangaroos with pretty gazelle-like faces. (Grk. dorkas, a gazelle, and 'opsis, appearance.) They are called Dorca-Kangaroos, and are confined to New Guinea, and form in some respects a connecting link between Macropus and the Tree-Kangaroo (q.v.). There are three species—the Brown Dorca Kangaroo, Dorcopsis muelleri; Grey D., D. luctuosa, Macleay's D., D. macleayi. See Kangaroo (e).

<hw>Dottrel</hw>, n. formerly Dotterel, common English bird-name, applied in Australia to Charadrius australis, Gould.

Black-fronted Dottrel—
Charadrius nigrifrons, Temm.

Double-banded D.—
C. bicincta, Jord. and Selb.

Hooded D.—
C. monacha, Geoff.

Large Sand D.—
C. (AEgialitis) geoffroyi, Wag.

Mongolian Sand D.—
C. (AEgialitis) mongolica, Pallas.

Oriental D.—
C. veredus, Gould.

Red-capped Dottrel— Charadrius ruficapilla, Temm.; called also Sand-lark.

Red-necked D.—
C. (AEgialitis) mastersi, Ramsay.

Ringed D.—
C. hiaticula, Linn. [See also Red-knee.]

<hw>Dove</hw>, n. a well-known English bird-name, applied in Australia to the—

Barred-shouldered Dove—
Geopelia humeralis, Temm.

Ground D.—
G. tranquilla, Gould.

Little D.—
G. cuneata, Lath. [See also Ground-dove.]

<hw>Dove-Petrel</hw>, n. a well-known English bird-name. The species in the-Southern Seas are—

Prion turtur, Smith.

Banks D.-P.—
P. banksii, Smith.

Broad-billed D.-P.—
P. vittata, Forst.

Fairy D.-P.—
P. ariel, Gould.

<hw>Dover</hw>, n. a clasp knife, by a maker of that name, once much used in the colonies.

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 418:

"In plates and knives scant is the shepherd's store,
`Dover' and pan are all, he wants no more."

1893. April 15, `A Traveller's Note':

"`So much a week and the use of my Dover' men used to say in making a contract of labour."

1894. `Bush Song' [Extract]:

"Tie up the dog beside the log,
And come and flash your Dover."

<hw>Down</hw>, n. a prejudice against, hostility to; a peculiarly Australian noun made out of the adverb.

1856. W. W. Dobie, `Recollections of a Visit to Port Philip,' p. 84:

". . . the bushranger had been in search of another squatter, on whom `he said he had a down'. . ."

1884. J. W. Bull, `Early Life in South Australia,' p. 179:

"It was explained that Foley had a private `down' on them, as having stolen from him a favourite kangaroo dog."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia, vol. iv. p. 180:

"They [diggers] had a `dead down' on all made dishes."

1893. Professor Gosman, `The Argus,' April 24, p. 7, col. 4:

"That old prejudice in the minds of many men to the effect that those who represented the churches or religious people had a regular down upon freedom of thought."

1893. `The Age,' June 24, p. 5, col. 1:

"Mr. M. said it was notorious in the department that one of the commissioners had had `a down' on him."

1893. R. L. Stevenson, `Island Nights' Entertainments,' p. 46:

"`They have a down on you,' says Case. `Taboo a man because they have a down on him'' I cried. `I never heard the like.'"

<hw>Down</hw>, adv. "To come, or be down," is the phrase used in Australian Universities for to be "plucked," or "ploughed," or "spun," i.e., to fail in an examination. It has been in use for a few years, certainly not earlier than 1886. The metaphor is either taken from a fall from a horse, or perhaps from the prize-ring. The use has no connection with being "sent down," or "going down," at Oxford or Cambridge.

<hw>Draft</hw>, v. to separate and sort cattle. An adaptation of the meaning "to select and draw off for particular service," especially used of soldiers.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. vi. p. 46:

"I should like to be drafting there again."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Squatter's Dream,' p. 2:

"There were those cattle to be drafted that had been brought from the Lost Waterhole."

<hw>Draft</hw>, n. a body of cattle separated from the rest of the herd.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. ii. p. 22:

"A draft of out-lying cattle rose and galloped off."

<hw>Drafter</hw>, n. a man engaged in drafting cattle.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xviii. p. 227:

"They behave better, though all the while keeping the drafters incessantly popping at the fence by truculent charges."

<hw>Drafting-gate</hw>, n. gate used in separating cattle and sheep into different classes or herds.

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 4, col. 7:

"But the tent-flap seemed to go up and down quick as a drafting-gate."

<hw>Drafting-stick</hw>, n. a stick used in drafting cattle.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. x. p. 72:

"We . . . armed ourselves with drafting-sticks and resolutely faced it."

<hw>Drafting-yard</hw>, n. a yard for drafting cattle.

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 13, col. 1:

"There were drafting-yards and a tank a hundred yards off, but no garden."

<hw>Dray</hw>, n. an ordinary cart for goods. See quotation, 1872.

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

"They send their produce to the market . . . receiving supplies for home consumption on the return of their drays or carts from thence."

1872. C. H. Eden, "My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 31:

"A horse dray, as known in Australia, is by no means the enormous thing its name would signify, but simply an ordinary cart on two wheels without springs." [There are also spring-drays.]

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 41:

"One told by camp fires when the station drays
Were housed and hidden, forty years ago."

<hw>Dromicia</hw>, n. the scientific name of the Australian Dormouse Phalangers, or little Opossum- or Flying-Mice, as they are locally called. See Opossum, Opossum-mouse, and Phalanger. They are not really the "Flying"-Mice or Flying-phalanger, as they have only an incipient parachute, but they are nearly related to the Pigmy Petaurists (q.v.) or small Flying-Phalangers. (Grk. dromikos, good at running, or swift.)

<hw>Drongo</hw>, n. This bird-name was "given by Le Vaillant in the form drongeur to a South African bird afterwards known as the Musical Drongo, Dicrurus musicus, then extended to numerous . . . fly-catching, crow-like birds." (`Century.') The name is applied in Australia to Chibia bracteata, Gould, which is called the Spangled Drongo.

1895. W. 0. Legge, `Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science' (Brisbane), p. 448:

"There being but one member of the interesting Asiatic genus Drongo in Australia, it was thought best to characterize it simply as the Drongo without any qualifying term."

<hw>Drop</hw>, n. (Slang.) To "have the drop on" is to forestall, gain advantage over, especially by covering with a revolver.

It is curious that while an American magazine calls this phrase
Australian (see quotation), the `Dictionary of Slang'—one
editor of which is the distinguished American, Godfrey
C. Leland—says it is American. It is in common use in
Australia.

1894. `Atlantic Monthly,' Aug., p. 179.

"His terrible wife, if we may borrow a phrase from Australia, `had the drop on him' in every particular."

<hw>Drooping Acacia</hw>, n. See Acacia.

<hw>Drove</hw>, v. to drive travelling cattle or sheep.

1890. A. J. Vogan, `Black Police,' p. 334:

"I don't know how you'd be able to get on without the `boys' to muster, track, and drove."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River' [Poem `In the Droving Days'], p. 95:

"For though lie scarcely a trot can raise,
He can take me back to the droving days."

<hw>Drum</hw>, n. a bundle; more usually called a swag (q.v.).

1866. Wm. Starner, `Recollections of a Life of Adventure,' vol. i. p. 304

". . . and `humping his drum' start off for the diggings to seek more gold."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 17:

"They all chaffed us about our swags, or donkeys, or drums, as a bundle of things wrapped in a blanket is indifferently called."

1886. Frank Cowan, `Australia, Charcoal Sketch,' p. 31:

"The Swagman: bed and board upon his back—or, having humped his drum and set out on the wallaby . . ."

<hw>Drummer</hw>, n. a New South Wales name for the fish Girella elevata, Macl., of the same family as the Black-fish (q.v.).

<hw>Dry-blowing</hw>, n. a Western Australian term in gold-mining.

1894. `The Argus,' March 28, p. 5, col. 5:

"When water is not available, as unfortunately is the case at Coolgardie, `dry blowing' is resorted to. This is done by placing the pounded stuff in one dish, and pouring it slowly at a certain height into the other. If there is any wind blowing it will carry away the powdered stuff; if there is no wind the breath will have to be used. It is not a pleasant way of saving gold, but it is a case of Hobson's choice. The unhealthiness of the method is apparent."

<hw>Duboisine</hw>, n. an alkaloid derived from the plant Duboisia myoposides, N.O. Sofanaceae, a native of Queensland and New South Wales. It is used in medicine as an application to the eye for the purpose of causing the pupil to dilate, in the same way as atropine, an alkaloid obtained from the belladonna plant in Europe, has long been employed. Duboisine was discovered and introduced into therapeutics by a Brisbane physician.

<hw>Duck</hw>, n. the well-known English name of the birds of the Anatinae, Fuligulinae, and other series, of which there are about 125 species comprised in about 40 genera. The Australian genera and species are—-

Blue-billed Duck—
Erismatura australis, Gould.

Freckled D.—
Stictonetta naevosa, Gould.

Mountain D. (the Shel-drake, q.v.).

Musk D. (q.v.)—
Biziura lobata, Shaw.

Pink-eared D., or Widgeon (q.v.)—
Malacorhynchus membranaceus, Lath.

Plumed Whistling D.—
Dendrocygna eytoni, Gould.

Whistling D.—
D. vagans, Eyton. [Each species of the
Dendrocygna called also by sportsmen Tree-duck.]

White-eyed D., or Hard-head (q.v.)—
Nyroca australis, Gould.

Wild D.—
Anas superciliosa, Gmel.

Wood D. (the Maned Goose; see Goose).

The following is a table of the ducks as compiled by Gould nearly fifty years ago.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vii:

Plate

Anas superciliosa, Gmel.
Australian Wild Duck . . . 9

Anas naevosa, Gould,
Freckled Duck . . . 10

Anas punctata, Cuv.
Chestnut-breasted Duck . . . 11

Spatula Rhyncotis,
Australian Shoveller . . . 12

Malacorhynchus membranaceus, . . . 13
Membranaceous Duck

Dendrocygna arcuata,
Whistling Duck (q.v.) . . . 14

Leptolarsis Eytoni, Gould,
Eyton's Duck . . . 15

Nyroca Australis, Gould,
White-eyed Duck . . . 16

Erismatura Australis,
Blue-billed Duck . . . 17

Biziura lobata,
Musk Duck . . . 18

The following is Professor Parker's statement of the New Zealand Ducks.

1889. Prof. Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 117:

"There are eleven species of Native Ducks belonging to nine genera, all found elsewhere, except two—the little Flightless Duck of the Auckland Islands (genus Nesonetta) and the Blue Mountain Duck (Hymenolaemus). Among the most interesting of the non-endemic forms, are the Paradise Duck or Sheldrake (Casarca variegata), the Brown Duck (Anas chlorotis), the Shoveller or Spoonbill Duck (Rhynchaspis variegata), and the Scaup or Black Teal (Fuligula Novae-Zealandiae)."

<hw>Duckbill</hw>, n. See Platypus. Sometimes also called Duckmole.

<hw>Duckmole</hw>, n. See Platypus.

1825. Barron Field, `First Fruits of Australian Poetry,' in `Geographical Memoirs of New South Wales,' p. 496:

"When sooty swans are once more rare,
And duck-moles the museum's care."

[Appendix : "Water or duck-mole."]

1875. Schmidt, `Descent and Darwinism,' p. 237:

"The Ornithorhyncus or duck-mole of Tasmania."

<hw>Duck-shoving</hw>, and <hw>Duckshover</hw>, n. a cabman's phrase.

In Melbourne, before the days of trams, the wagonette-cabs used to run by a time-table from fixed stations at so much (generally 3d.) a passenger. A cabman who did not wait his turn on the station rank, but touted for passengers up and down the street in the neighbourhood of the rank, was termed a Duck-shover.

1870. D. Blair, `Notes and Queries,' Aug. 6, p. 111:

"Duck-shoving is the term used by our Melbourne cabmen to express the unprofessional trick of breaking the rank, in order to push past the cabman on the stand for the purpose of picking up a stray passenger or so."

1896. `Otago Daily Times,' Jan. 25, p. 3, col. 6:

"The case was one of a series of cases of what was technically known as `duck shoving,' a process of getting passengers which operated unfairly against the cabmen who stayed on the licensed stand and obeyed the by-law."

<hw>Dudu</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a pigeon, fat-breasted, and very good eating.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (3rd ed. 1855), c. vii. p. 170:

"In the grassland, a sort of ground pigeon, called the dudu, a very handsome little bird, got up and went off like a partridge, strong and swift, re-alighting on the ground, and returning to cover."

<hw>Duff</hw>, v. to steal cattle by altering the brands.

1869. E. Carton Booth, `Another England,' p. 138:

"He said there was a `duffing paddock' somewhere on the Broken River, into which nobody but the owner had ever found an entrance, and out of which no cattle had ever found their way—at any rate, not to come into their owner's possession. . . . The man who owned the `duffing paddock' was said to have a knack of altering cattle brands . . ."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. xiv. p. 162:

"I knew Redcap when he'd think more of duffing a red heifer than all the money in the country."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydneyside Saxon,' p. 95:

"As to the calves I'm a few short myself, as I think that half-caste chap of yours must have `duffed.'"

<hw>Duffer</hw>, n. a cattle stealer, i.q. Cattle-duffer (q.v.).

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xxv. p. 352:

"What's a little money . . . if your children grow up duffers and planters?"

<hw>Duffer</hw>2, n. a claim on a mine which turns out unproductive, called also shicer (q.v.). [This is only a special application of the slang English, duffer, an incapable person, or a failure. Old English Daffe, a fool]

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 193:

"It was a terrible duffer anyhow, every ounce of gold got from it cost L 20 I'll swear."

1864. J Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 55:

"Tho' duffers are so common
And golden gutters rare,
The mining sons of woman
Can much ill fortune bear."

1873. A.Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 291:

"A shaft sunk without any produce from it is a duffer. . . . But of these excavations the majority were duffers. It is the duffering part of the business which makes it all so sad.So much work is done from which there is positively no return."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 266:

"The place is then declared to be a `duffer,' and abandoned, except by a few fanatics, who stick there for months and years."

1891. `The Australasian,' Nov. 21, p. 1014:

"Another duffer! Rank as ever was bottomed! Seventy-five feet hard delving and not a colour!"

<hw>Duffer out</hw>, v. A mine is said to duffer out, when it has ceased to be productive.

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 279:

"He then reported to the shareholders that the lode had `duffered out,' and that it was useless to continue working."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 73:

"Cloncurry has, to use the mining parlance, duffered out."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. vi. p. 58:

"`So you're duffered out again, Harry,' she said."

<hw>Dugong Oil</hw>, n. an oil obtained in Australia, from Halicore dugong, Gmel., by boiling the superficial fat. A substitute for cod-liver oil. The dugongs are a genus of marine mammals in the order Sirenia. H. dugong inhabits the waters of North and North-east Australia, the southern shores of Asia, and the east coast of Africa. The word is Malay.

<hw>Dug-out</hw>, n. a name imported into New Zealand from America, but the common name for an ordinary Maori canoe.

<hw>Duke Willy</hw>, n. See Whistling Dick.

<hw>Dummy</hw>, n. (1) In Australia, when land was thrown open for selection (q.v.), the squatters who had previously the use of the land suffered. Each squatter exercised his own right of selection. Many a one also induced others to select nominally for themselves, really for the squatter. Such selector was called a dummy. The law then required the selector to swear that he was selecting the land for his own use and benefit. Some of the dummies did not hesitate to commit perjury. Dictionaries give "dummy, adj. fictitious or sham." The Australian noun is an extension of this idea. Webster gives "(drama) one who plays a merely nominal part in any action, sham character." This brings us near to the original dumby, from dumb, which is radically akin to German dumm, stupid.

1866. D. Rogerson, `Poetical Works, p. 23:

"The good selectors got most of the land,
The dummies being afraid to stand."

1866. H. Simcox, `Rustic Rambles, p. 21:

"See the dummies and the mediums,
Bagmen, swagmen, hastening down."

1872. A. McFarland, `Illawarra and Manaro,' p. 125:

"Since free selection was introduced, a good many of the squatters (they say, in self-defence) have, in turn, availed themselves of it, to secure `the eyes' or water-holes of the country, so far as they could by means of `dummies,' and other blinds."

1879. R. Niven, `Fraser's Magazine,' April, p. 516:

"This was the, in the colony, well-known `dummy' system. Its nature may be explained in a moment. It was simply a swindling transaction between the squatter on the one hand and some wretched fellow on the other, often a labourer in the employment of the squatter, in which the former for a consideration induced the latter to personate the character of a free selector, to acquire from the State, for the purpose of transferring to himself, the land he most coveted out of that thrown open for selection adjoining his own property."

1892. `Scribner's Magazine,' Feb. p. 140:

"By this device the squatter himself, all the members of the family, his servants, shepherds, boundary-riders, station-hands and rabbiters, each registered a section, the dummies duly handing their `selection' over to the original holder for a slight consideration."

(2) Colloquial name for the grip-car of the Melbourne trams. Originally the grip-car was not intended to carry passengers: hence the name.

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), p. 5, col. 5:

"Linked to the car proper is what is termed a dummy."

1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 2, p. 7, col. 5:

"But on the tramcar, matters were much worse. The front seat of the dummy was occupied by a young Tasmanian lady and her cousin, and, while one portion of the cart struck her a terrible blow on the body, the shaft pinned her by the neck against the front stanchion of the dummy."

<hw>Dummy</hw>, v. to obtain land in the way above described.

1873. A.Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. vi. p. 101:

"Each partner in the run has purchased his ten thousand, and there have been many Mrs. Harrises. The Mrs. Harris system is generally called dummying—putting up a non-existent free-selector—and is illegal. But I believe no one will deny that it has been carried to a great extent."

1896. `The Champion' (Melbourne), Jan. 11:

"The verb `to dummy' and the noun `dummyism' are purely
Australian, quotations to illustrate the use of which can be
obtained from `Hansard,' the daily papers, and such works as
Epps' monograph on the `Land Tenure Systems of Australasia.'"

<hw>Dummyism</hw>, n. obtaining land by misrepresentation. See Dummy, n.

1875. `The Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, p. 8, col. 2:

"`Larrikinism' was used as a synonym for `blackguardism,' and `dummyism' for perjury."

1876. `The Argus,' Jan. 26, p. 6, col. 6:

"Mr. Bent thought that a stop should be put to all selection and dummyism till a land law was introduced."

1887. J. F. Hogan, `The Irish in Australia, p. 98:

"This baneful and illegal system of land-grabbing is known throughout the colonies by the expressive name of `dummyism,' the persons professing to be genuine selectors, desirous of establishing themselves on the soil, being actually the agents or the `dummies of the adjoining squatters."

<hw>Dump</hw>, n. a small coin formerly used in Australia and Tasmania. Its history is given in the quotations. In England the word formerly meant a heavy leaden counter; hence the expression, "I don't care a dump." See Holy Dollar.

1822. `Hobart Town Gazette,' December 14:

"Government Public Notice.—The Quarter Dollars, or `Dumps,'
struck from the centre of the Spanish Dollar, and issued by
His Excellency Governor Macquarie, in the year 1813, at One
Shilling and Threepence each, will be exchanged for Treasury
Bills at Par, or Sterling money."

1823. `Sydney Gazette,' Jan. ['Century']:

"The small colonial coin denominated dumps have all been called in. If the dollar passes current for five shillings the dump lays claim to fifteen pence value still in silver money."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 44

"He only solicits the loan of a `dump,' on pretence of treating his sick gin to a cup of tea."

Ibid. p. 225:

"The genuine name of an Australian coin, in value 1s. 3d."

1852. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 141:

"Tattered promissory notes, of small amount and doubtful parentage, fluttered about the colony; dumps, struck out from dollars, were imitated by a coin prepared without requiring much mechanical ingenuity."

1870. T. H. Braim, `New Homes,' c. iii. p. 131:

"The Spanish dollar was much used. A circular piece was struck out of the centre about the size of a shilling, and it was called a `dump.'"

1879. W. J. Barry, `Up and Down,' p. 5:

"The coin current in those days (1829) consisted of ring- dollars and dumps, the dump being the centre of the dollar punched out to represent a smaller currency."

1893. `The Daily News' (London), May 11, p. 4:

"The metallic currency was then [1819-25] chiefly Spanish dollars, at that time and before and afterwards the most widely disseminated coin in the world, and they had the current value of 5s. But there were too few of them, and therefore the centre of them was cut out and circulated under the name of `dumps' at 1s. 3d. each, the remainder of the coin—called by way of a pun, `holy dollars'—still retaining its currency value of 5s."

<hw>Dump</hw>, v. to press closely; applied to wool. Bales are often marked "not to be dumped."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 98:

"The great object of packing so close is to save carriage through the country, for however well you may do it, it is always re-pressed, or `dumped,' as it is called, by hydraulic pressure on its arrival in port, the force being so great as to crush two bales into one."

1875. R. and F. Hill, `What we saw in Australia,' p. 207:

"From the sorting-tables the fleeces are carried to the packing-shed; there, by the help of machinery, they are pressed into sacks, and the sacks are then themselves heavily pressed and bound with iron bands, till they become hard cubes. This process is called `dumping.'"

<hw>Dumplings</hw>, n. i.q. Apple-berry (q.v.).

<hw>Dundathee</hw>, or <hw>Dundathu Pine</hw>, n. the Queensland species (Agathis robusta, Sal.) of the Kauri Pine (q.v.); and see Pine.

<hw>Dungaree-Settler</hw>, n. Now obsolete. See quotation.

1852. Anon, `Settlers and Convicts; or, Recollections of Sixteen Years' Labour in the Australian Backwoods,' p. 11:

"The poor Australian settler (or, according to colonist phraseology, the Dungaree-settler; so called from their frequently clothing themselves, their wives, and children in that blue Indian manufacture of cotton known as Dungaree) sells his wheat crop."

<hw>Dunite</hw>, n. an ore in New Zealand, so called from Dun mountain, near Nelson.

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 56:

"Chrome ore. This ore, which is a mixture of chromic iron and alumina, is chiefly associated with magnesian rock, resembling olivine in composition, named Dunite by Dr. Hochstetter."

<hw>Dust</hw>, n. slang for flour.

1893. Dec. 12, `A Traveller's Note':

"A bush cook said to me to-day, we gave each sundowner a pannikin of dust."

<hw>Dwarf-box</hw>, n. Eucalyptus microtheca, F. v. M. See Box. This tree has also many other names. See Maiden's `Useful Native Plants,' p. 495.

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. i. c. i. p. 22:

"Dwarf-box and the acacia pendula prevailed along the plains."

Clyx.com

AUSTRAL ENGLISH

A DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN WORDS, PHRASES AND USAGES

INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS

V. CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS

VI. QUOTATIONS. THEIR PURPOSE

VII. BOOKS USED AS AUTHORITIES

VIII.SCIENTIFIC WORDS

IX. ASSISTANCE RECEIVED

I. ORIGIN OF THE WORK.

II. TITLE AND SCOPE OF THE BOOK.

III. SOURCES OF NEW WORDS.

IV. LAW OF HOBSON-JOBSON.

V. CLASSIFICATION OF THE WORDS.

VI. QUOTATIONS.

VII. AUTHORITIES.

VIII. SCIENTIFIC WORDS.

IX. ASSISTANCE RECEIVED.

EDWARD E. MORRIS.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS OF NAMES

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS

AUSTRALASIAN DICTIONARY

A

B

C

D