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

"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About 1850, the billy superseded the quart-pot (q.v.),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--