1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 100_Austral English

"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.