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

"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.)