Chapter 3 of 5 · 7523 words · ~38 min read

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,'