1865. `Once a Week.' `The Bulla-Bulla Bunyip.'_Austral English

"Hours ago the bronze-wing pigeons had taken their evening

draught from the coffee-coloured water-hole beyond the

butcher's paddock, and then flown back into the bush to roost

on `honeysuckle' and in heather."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 122:

"Another most beautiful pigeon is the `bronze-wing,' which is

nearly the size of the English wood-pigeon, and has a

magnificent purply-bronze speculum on the wings."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 33:

"Both the bronze-wing and Wonga-Wonga pigeon are hunted so

keenly that in a few years they will have become extinct in

Victoria."

1893. `The Argus,' March 25, p. 4, col. 6:

"Those who care for museum studies must have been interested in

tracing the Australian quail and pigeon families to a point

where they blend their separate identities in the partridge

bronze-wing of the Central Australian plains. The eggs mark

the converging lines just as clearly as the birds, for the

partridge-pigeon lays an egg much more like that of a quail

than a pigeon, and lays, quail fashion, on the ground."

<hw>Brook-Lime</hw>, n. English name for an aquatic

plant, applied in Australia to the plant Gratiola

pedunculata, R. Br., N.O. Scrophularinae. Also

called Heartsease.

<hw>Broom</hw>, n. name applied to the plant

Calycothrix tetragona, Lab., N.O. Myrtaceae.

<hw>Broom, Native</hw>, n. an Australian timber,

Viminaria denudala, Smith, N.O. Leguminosae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 612:

"Native broom. Wood soft and spongy."

<hw>Broom, Purple</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for

Comesperma retusum, Lab., N.O. Polygaleae.

<hw>Brown Snake</hw>, n. See under Snake.

<hw>Brown-tail</hw>, n. bird-name for the Tasmanian

Tit. See Tit.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii, pl. 54:

"Acanthiza Diemenensis, Gould. Brown-tail, colonists of

Van Diemen's Land."

<hw>Brown Tree-Lizard</hw>, n. of New Zealand,

Naultinus pacificus.

<hw>Browny</hw> or <hw>Brownie</hw>, n. a kind of

currant loaf.

1890. E. D. Cleland, `The White kangaroo,' p. 57:

"Cake made of flour, fat and sugar, commonly known as

`Browny.'"

1890. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 57:

"Four o'clock. `Smoke O!' again with more bread and brownie

(a bread sweetened with sugar and currants)."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass,' p. 36:

"Roast mutton and brownie are given us to eat."

<hw>Brumby, Broombie</hw> (spelling various), n. a wild

horse. The origin of this word is very doubtful. Some claim

for it an aboriginal, and some an English source. In its

present shape it figures in one aboriginal vocabulary, given in

Curr's `Australian Race' (1887), vol. iii. p. 259. At p. 284,

booramby is given as meaning "wild" on the river Warrego

in Queensland. The use of the word seems to have spread from

the Warrego and the Balowne about 1864. Before that date, and

in other parts of the bush ere the word came to them, wild

horses were called clear-skins or scrubbers,

whilst Yarraman (q.v.) is the aboriginal word for a

quiet or broken horse. A different origin was, however, given

by an old resident of New South Wales, to a lady of the name of

Brumby, viz. "that in the early days of that colony, a

Lieutenant Brumby, who was on the staff of one of the

Governors, imported some very good horses, and that some of

their descendants being allowed to run wild became the

ancestors the wild horses of New South Wales and Queensland."

Confirmation of this story is to be desired.

1880. `The Australasian,' Dec. 4, p. 712, col. 3:

"Passing through a belt of mulga, we saw, on reaching its edge,

a mob of horses grazing on the plains beyond. These our guide

pronounced to be `brumbies,' the bush name here [Queensland]

for wild horses."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 176:

"The wild horses of this continent known all over it by the

Australian name of `brumbies.'"

Ibid. p. 178:

"The untamed and `unyardable' scrub brumby."

1888. R. Kipling, `Plain Tales from the Hills,' p. 160:

"Juggling about the country, with an Australian larrikin; a

`brumby' with as much breed as the boy. . . . People who lost

money on him called him a `brumby.'"

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms.' p. 67:

"The three-cornered weed he rode that had been a `brumbee.'"

1895. `Chambers' Journal,' Nov. 2, Heading `Australian Brumbie

Horses':

"The brumbie horse of Australia, tho' not a distinct equine

variety, possesses attributes and qualities peculiar to itself,

and, like the wild cattle and wild buffaloes of Australia, is

the descendant of runaways of imported stock."

1896. `Sydney Morning Herald,' (Letter from `J. F. G.,' dated

Aug. 24):

"Amongst the blacks on the Lower Balonne, Nebine, Warrego, and

Bulloo rivers the word used for horse is `baroombie,' the `a'

being cut so short that the word sounds as `broombie,' and as

far as my experience goes refers more to unbroken horses in

distinction to quiet or broken ones (`yarraman')."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 156:

"Yet at times we long to gallop where the reckless bushman rides

In the wake of startled brumbies that are flying for their

hides."

<hw>Brush</hw>, n. at first undergrowth, small trees, as

in England; afterwards applied to larger timber growth and

forest trees. Its earlier sense survives in the compound

words; see below.

1820. Oxley, `New South Wales' (`O.E.D.'):

"The timber standing at wide intervals, without any brush or

undergrowth."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' (2nd ed.) vol. i. p. 62:

"We journeyed . . . at one time over good plains, at another

through brushes."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. i. Introd. p. 77:

"Jungle, or what in New South Wales would be called brush."

Ibid. vol. v. Pl. 59:

"Those vast primeval forests of New South Wales to which the

colonists have applied the name of brushes."

1853. Chas. St. Julian and Edward K. Silvester, `The

Productions, Industry, and Resources of New South Wales,'

p. 20:

"What the colonists term `brush' lands are those covered with

tall trees growing so near each other and being so closely

matted together by underwood, parasites, and creepers, as to be

wholly impassable."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 67,

note:

"Brush was allotted to the growth of large timber on alluvial

lands, with other trees intermixed, and tangled vines. The

soil was rich, and `brushland' was well understood as a

descriptive term. It may die away, but its meaning deserves to

be pointed out."

<hw>Brush-Apple</hw>, n. See Apple.

<hw>Brush-Bloodwood</hw>, n. See Bloodwood.

<hw>Brush-Cherry</hw>, n. an Australian tree,

Trochocarpa laurina, R. Br., and Eugenia

myrtifolia, Simms. Called also Brush-Myrtle.

<hw>Brush-Deal</hw>, n. a slender Queensland tree,

Cupania anacardioides, A. Richard. See Brush,

above.

<hw>Brusher</hw>, n. a Bushman's name, in certain parts,

for a small wallaby which hops about in the bush or scrub with

considerable speed. "To give brusher," is a phrase derived

from this, and used in many parts, especially of the interior

of Australia, and implies that a man has left without paying

his debts. In reply to the question "Has so-and-so left the

township? "the answer, "Oh yes, he gave them brusher," would

be well understood in the above sense.

<hw>Brush-Kangaroo</hw>, n. another name for the

Wallaby (q.v.).

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

p. 273:

"A place . . . thickly inhabited by the small brush-kangaroo."

1830. `Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society,' i. 29:

"These dogs . . . are particularly useful in catching the

bandicoots, the small brush kangaroo, and the opossum."

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

"The brush-kangaroo . . . frequents the scrubs and rocky hills."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. iii. p. 24:

"Violet was so fast that she could catch the brush-kangaroo

(the wallaby) within sight."

<hw>Brush-Myrtle</hw>, i.q. Brush-Cherry (q.v.)

<hw>Brush-Turkey</hw>, n. See Turkey.

<hw>Brush-Turpentine</hw>, n. another name for the tree

Syncarpia leptopetala, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae,

called also Myrtle (q.v.).

<hw>Bubrush</hw>, n. See Wonga and Raupo.

<hw>Buck</hw>, v. Used "intransitively of a horse, to

leap vertically from the ground, drawing the feet together like

a deer, and arching the back. Also transitively to buck off."

(`O.E.D.') Some say that this word is not Australian, but all

the early quotations of buck and cognate words are

connected with Australia. The word is now used freely in the

United States; see quotation, 1882.

1870. E. B. Kennedy, `Four Years in Queensland,' p. 193:

"Having gained his seat by a nimble spring, I have seen a man

(a Sydney native) so much at his ease, that while the horse has

been `bucking a hurricane,' to use a colonial expression, the

rider has been cutting up his tobacco and filling his pipe,

while several feet in the air, nothing to front of him

excepting a small lock of the animal's mane (the head being

between its legs), and very little behind him, the stern being

down; the horse either giving a turn to the air, or going

forward every buck."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 131:

"`Well,' said one, `that fellow went to market like a bird.'

`Yes,' echoed another, `Bucked a blessed hurricane.' `Buck a

town down,' cried a third. `Never seed a horse strip himself

quicker,' cried a fourth."

1882. Baillie-Grohman, `Camps in the Rockies,' ch. iv. p. 102

('Standard'):

"There are two ways, I understand, of sitting a bucking horse

. . . one is `to follow the buck,' the other `to receive the

buck.'"

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 55:

"The performance is quite peculiar to Australian horses, and no

one who has not seen them at it would believe the rapid

contortions of which they are capable. In bucking, a horse

tucks his head right between his fore-legs, sometimes striking

his jaw with his hind feet. The back meantime is arched like a

boiled prawn's; and in this position the animal makes a series

of tremendous bounds, sometimes forwards, sometimes sideways

and backwards, keeping it up for several minutes at intervals

of a few seconds."

<hw>Buck</hw>, n. See preceding verb.

1868. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 224:

"I never saw such bucks and jumps into the air as she [the

mare] performed."

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 206:

"For, mark me, he can sit a buck

For hours and hours together;

And never horse has had the luck

To pitch him from the leather."

<hw>Bucker</hw>, <hw>Buck-jumper</hw>, n. a horse given

to bucking or buck-jumping.

1853. H. Berkeley Jones, `Adventures in Australia in 1852 and

1853,' [Footnote] p. 143:

"A `bucker' is a vicious horse, to be found only in Australia."

1884. `Harper's Magazine,' July, No. 301, p. 1 (`O.E.D.'):

"If we should . . . select a `bucker,' the probabilities are

that we will come to grief."

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

p. 64:

"No buck jumper could shake him off."

1893. Ibid. p. 187:

"`Were you ever on a buck-jumper?' I was asked by a friend,

shortly after my return from Australia."

<hw>Buck-jumping</hw>, <hw>Bucking</hw>, verbal nouns.

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

"At length it shook off all its holders, and made one of those

extraordinary vaults that they call buck-jumping."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' vol. ii. p. 212:

"That same bucking is just what puzzles me utterly."

1859. Rev. J. D. Mereweather, `Diary of a Working Clergyman in

Australia and Tasmania, kept during the years 1850-1853,'

p. 177:

"I believe that an inveterate buckjumper can be cured by

slinging up one of the four legs, and lunging him about

severely in heavy ground on the three legs. The action they

must needs make use of on such an occasion somewhat resembles

the action of bucking; and after some severe trials of that

sort, they take a dislike to the whole style of thing. An

Irishman on the Murrumbidgee is very clever at this schooling.

It is called here `turning a horse inside out.'"

1885. Forman (Dakota), item 26, May 6, 3 (`O.E.D.'):

"The majority of the horses there [in Australia] are vicious

and given to the trick of buck jumping." [It may be worth while

to add that this is not strictly accurate.]

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 94:

"`I should say that buck jumping was produced in this country

by bad breaking,' said Mr. Neuchamp oracularly. `Don't you

believe it, sir. Bucking is like other vices--runs in the

blood.'"

<hw>Buck-shot</hw>, n. a settlers' term for a

geological formation. See quotation.

1851. `The Australasian Quarterly,' p. 459:

"The plain under our feet was everywhere furrowed by Dead

men's graves, and generally covered with the granulated

lava, aptly named by the settlers buck-shot, and found

throughout the country on these trappean `formations.

Buck-shot is always imbedded in a sandy alluvium,

sometimes several feet thick."

<hw>Buddawong</hw>, n. a variation of Burrawang

(q.v.).

1877. Australie, `The Buddawong's Crown,' `Australian Poets,'

1788-1888, ed. Sladen, p. 39:

"A Buddawong seed-nut fell to earth,

In a cool and mossy glade,

And in spring it shot up its barbed green swords,

Secure 'neath the myrtle's shade.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And the poor, poor palm has died indeed.

But little the strangers care,

`There are zamias in plenty more,' they say,

But the crown is a beauty rare."

<hw>Budgeree</hw>, adj. aboriginal word for good, which

is common colloquially in the bush. See Budgerigar.

1793. J.Hunter, `Port Jackson,' p. 195:

"They very frequently, at the conclusion of the dance, would

apply to us . . . for marks of our approbation . . . which we

never failed to give by often repeating the word

boojery, good; or boojery caribberie, a good

dance."

<hw>Budgerigar</hw>, or <hw>Betcherrygah</hw>, n.

aboriginal name for the bird called by Gould the Warbling

Grass-parrakeet; called also Shell-parrot and

Zebra- Grass-parrakeet. In the Port Jackson dialect

budgeri, or boodgeri, means good, excellent. In

`Collins' Vocabulary' (1798), boodjer-re = good. In New South

Wales gar is common as first syllable of the name for

the white cockatoo, as garaweh. See Galah. In

the north of New South Wales kaar= white cockatoo. The

spelling is very various, but the first of the two above given

is the more correct etymologically. In the United States it is

spelt beauregarde, derived by `Standard' from French

beau and regarde, a manifest instance of the law

of Hobson -Jobson.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 297:

"The betshiregah (Melopsittacus Undulatus, Gould) were

very numerous."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. Pl. 44:

"Melopsittacus Undulatus. Warbling Grass-Parrakeet.

Canary Parrot--colonists. Betcherrygah--natives of

Liverpool Plains."

1857. Letter, Nov.17, in `Life of Fenton J. A. Hort' (1896), vol.

i. p. 388:

"There is also a small green creature like a miniature

cockatoo, called a Budgeragar, which was brought from

Australia. He is quaint and now and then noisy, but not

on the whole a demonstrative being."

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 48:

"Young paroquets, the green leeks, and the lovely speckled

budgregores."

1865. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 7:

"I saw several pairs of those pretty grass or zebra parroquets,

which are called here by the very inharmonious name of

`budgereghars.'"

2890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. xiv. p. 127:

"The tiny budgeriegar, sometimes called the shell parrot."

<hw>Bugle</hw>, n. name given to the Australian plant

Ajuga australis, R. Br., N.O. Labiatae.

<hw>Bugler</hw>, n. a name given in Tasmania to the fish

Centriscus scolopax, family Centriscidae; called

in Europe the Trumpet-fish, Bellows-fish, the

latter name being also used for it in Tasmania. The structure

of the mouth and snout suggests a musical instrument, or,

combined with the outline of the body, a pair of bellows. The

fish occurs also in Europe.

<hw>Bugong</hw>, or <hw>Bogong</hw>, or <hw>Bougong</hw>,

n. an Australian moth, Danais limniace, or

Agrotis spina, eaten by the aborigines.

1834. Rev. W. B. Clarke, `Researches in the Southern Gold Fields

of New South Wales' (second edition), p. 228:

"These moths have obtained their name from their occurrence on

the `Bogongs' or granite mountains. They were described by my

friend Dr. Bennett in his interesting work on `New South

Wales,' 1832-4, as abundant on the Bogong Mountain, Tumut

River. I found them equally abundant, and in full vigour, in

December, coming in clouds from the granite peaks of the

Muniong Range. The blacks throw them on the fire and eat

them."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 355:

"The westward range is called the Bougongs. The blacks during

summer are in the habit of coming thus far to collect and feed

on the great grey moths (bougongs) which are found on the

rocks."

1871. `The Athenaeum,' May 27, p. 660:

"The Gibbs Land and Murray districts have been divided into the

following counties: . . . Bogong (native name of grubs and

moths)."

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `The Aborigines of Victoria,'

vol. i. p. 207

"The moths--the Bugong moths(Agrolis suffusa) are

greedily devoured by the natives; and in former times, when

they were in season, they assembled in great numbers to eat

there, and they grew fat on this food." [Also a long footnote.]

1890. Richard Helms, `Records of the Australian Museum,'

vol. i. No. 1:

"My aim was to obtain some `Boogongs,' the native name for the

moths which so abundantly occur on this range, and no doubt

have given it its name."

1896. `Sydney Mail,' April 4, Answers to Correspondents:

"It cannot be stated positively, but it is thought that the

name of the moth `bogong' is taken from that of the mountain.

The meaning of the word is not known, but probably it is an

aboriginal word."

<hw>Bull-a-bull</hw>, or <hw>Bullybul</hw>, n. a child's

corruption of the Maori word Poroporo (q.v.), a

flowering shrub of New Zealand. It is allied to the

Kangaroo-Apple (q.v.).

1845. `New Plymouth's National Song,' in Hursthouse's `New

Zealand,' p. 217:

"And as for fruit, the place is full

Of that delicious bull-a-bull."

<hw>Bullahoo</hw>, n. See Ballahoo.

<hw>Bull-ant</hw>, n. contracted and common form of the

words Bull-dog Ant (q.v.).

<hw>Bull-dog Ant</hw>, n. (frequently shortened to

Bull-dog or Bull-ant), an ant of large size with

a fierce bite. The name is applied to various species of the

genus Myrmecia, which is common throughout Australia and

Tasmania.

1878. Mrs. H. Jones, `Long Years in Australia,' p. 93:

"Busy colonies of ants (which everywhere infest the

country). . . One kind is very warlike--the `bull-dog':

sentinels stand on the watch, outside the nest, and in case of

attack disappear for a moment and return with a whole army of

the red-headed monsters, and should they nip you, will give you

a remembrance of their sting never to be forgotten."

1888. Alleged `Prize Poem,' Jubilee Exhibition:

"The aborigine is now nearly extinct,

But the bull-dog-ant and the kangaroo rat

Are a little too thick--I think."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 142:

"Where the wily free-selector walks in armour-plated pants,

And defies the stings of scorpion and the bites of bull-dog

ants."

<hw>Bull-dog Shark</hw>, i.q. Bull-head (1) (q.v.).

<hw>Bull-head</hw>, n. The name is applied to many

fishes of different families in various parts of the world,

none of which are the same as the following two. (1) A shark

of Tasmania and South Australia of small size and harmless,

with teeth formed for crushing shells, Heterodontus

phillipi , Lacep., family Cestraciontidae; also

called the Bull-dog Shark, and in Sydney, where it is

common, the Port-Jackson Shark : the aboriginal name was

Tabbigan. (2) A freshwater fish of New Zealand,

Eleotris gobioides, Cuv.and Val., family

Gobiidae. See Bighead.

<hw>Bulln-Bulln</hw>, n. an aboriginal name for the

Lyre-bird (q.v.). This native name is imitative. The most

southerly county in Victoria is called Buln-Buln; it is

the haunt of the Lyre-bird.

1857. D. Bunce, `Travels with Leichhardt in Australia,' p. 70:

"We afterwards learned that this was the work of the Bullen

Bullen, or Lyre-bird, in its search for large worms, its

favourite food."

1871. `The Athenaeum,' May 27, p. 660:

"The Gipps Land and Murray districts have been divided into the

following counties: . . . Buln Buln (name of Lyre-bird)."

<hw>Bull-Oak</hw>, n. See Oak.

<hw>Bullocky</hw>, n. and adj. a bullockdriver."

In the bush all the heavy hauling is done with bullock-drays.

It is quite a common sight up the country to see teams of a

dozen and upwards." (B. and L.)

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xii. p. 121:

"By George, Jack, you're a regular bullocky boy."

<hw>Bull-puncher</hw>, or <hw>Bullock-puncher</hw>,

n. slang for a bullockdriver. According to Barrere and

Leland's `Slang Dictionary,' the word has a somewhat different

meaning in America, where it means a drover. See Punch.

1872. C. N. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 49:

"The `bull-puncher,' as bullock-drivers are familiarly called."

1873. J. Mathew, song `Hawking,' in `Queenslander,' Oct. 4:

"The stockmen and the bushmen and the shepherds leave the station,

And the hardy bullock-punchers throw aside their occupation."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 143:

"These teams would comprise from five to six pairs of bullocks

each, and were driven by a man euphoniously termed a

`bull-puncher.' Armed with a six-foot thong, fastened to a

supple stick seven feet long. . . ."

<hw>Bull-rout</hw>, n. a fish of New South Wales,

Centropogon robustus, Guenth., family

Scorpaenidae.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,'

p. 48:

"It emits a loud and harsh grunting noise when it is

caught. . . . The fisherman knows what he has got by the noise

before he brings his fish to the surface. . . . When out of the

water the noise of the bull-rout is loudest, and it spreads its

gills and fins a little, so as to appear very formidable. . . .

The blacks held it in great dread, and the name of bull-rout

may possibly be a corruption of some native word."

<hw>Bull's-eye</hw>, n. a fish of New South Wales,

Priacanthus macracanthus, Cuv.and Val.

Priacanthus, says Guenther, is a percoid fish with short

snout, lower jaw and chin prominent, and small rough scales all

over them and the body generally. The eye large, and the

colour red, pink, or silvery.

1884. E. P. Ramsay, `Fisheries Exhibition Literature,' vol. v.

p. 311:

"Another good table-fish is the `bull's-eye,' a beautiful

salmon-red fish with small scales. . . . At times it enters

the harbours in considerable numbers; but the supply is

irregular."

<hw>Bulls-wool</hw>, n. colloquial name for the inner

portion of the covering of the Stringybark-tree (q.v.).

This is a dry finely fibrous substance, easily disintegrated by

rubbing between the hands. It forms a valuable tinder for

kindling a fire in the bush, and is largely employed for that

purpose. It is not unlike the matted hair of a bull, and is

reddish in colour, hence perhaps this nickname, which is common

in the Tasmanian bush.

<hw>Bully</hw>, n. a Tasmanian fish, Blennius

tasmanianus, Richards., family Blennidae.

<hw>Bulrush</hw>, n. See Wonga and Raupo.

<hw>Bung, to go</hw>, v. to fail, to become bankrupt.

This phrase of English school-boy slang, meaning to go off with

an explosion, to go to smash (also according to Barrere and

Leland still in use among American thieves), is in very

frequent use in Australia. In Melbourne in the times that

followed the collapse of the land-boom it was a common

expression to say that Mr. So-and-so had "gone bung," sc. filed

his schedule or made a composition with creditors; or that an

institution had "gone bung," sc. closed its doors, collapsed.

In parts of Australia, in New South Wales and Queensland, the

word "bung" is an aboriginal word meaning "dead," and even

though the slang word be of English origin, its frequency of

use in Australia may be due to the existence of the aboriginal

word, which forms the last syllable in Billabong (q.v.),

and in the aboriginal word milbung blind, literally,

eye-dead.

(a) The aboriginal word.

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 430:

"A place called Umpie Bung, or the dead houses."

[It is now a suburb of Brisbane, Humpy-bong.]

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 175

[in Blacks' pigeon English]:

"Missis bail bong, ony cawbawn prighten. (Missis not dead,

only dreadfully frightened.)"

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 73:

"But just before you hands 'im [the horse] over and gets

the money, he goes bong on you" (i.e. he dies).

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p: 142:

"Their [the blacks'] ordinary creed is very simple. `Directly

me bung (die) me jump up white feller,' and this seems to be

the height of their ambition."

1895. `The Age,' Dec. 21, p. 13, col. 6:

"`Then soon go bong, mummy,' said Ning, solemnly.

`Die,' corrected Clare. You mustn't talk blacks' language.'

`Suppose you go bong,' pursued Ning reflectively, `then you go

to Heaven.'"

(b) The slang word.

1885. `Australian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 40:

"He was importuned to desist, as his musical talent had

`gone bung,' probably from over-indulgence in confectionery."

1893. `The Argus,' April 15 (by Oriel), p. 13, col. 2:

"Still change is humanity's lot. It is but the space of a day

Till cold is the damask cheek, and silent the eloquent tongue,

All flesh is grass, says the preacher, like grass it is withered

away,

And we gaze on a bank in the evening, and lo, in the morn

'tis bung."

1893. Professor Gosman, `The Argus,' April 24, p. 7, col. 4:

"Banks might fail, but the treasures of thought could never go

`bung.'"

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), April 25, p. 2, col. 4:

"Perhaps Sydney may supply us with a useful example. One

member of the mischief-making brotherhood wrote the words `gone

bung' under a notice on the Government Savings Bank, and he was

brought before the Police Court charged with damaging the

bank's property to the extent of 3d. The offender offered the

Bench his views on the bank, but the magistrates bluntly told

him his conduct was disgraceful, and fined him L 3 with costs,

or two months' imprisonment."

<hw>Bunga</hw> or <hw>Bungy</hw>, n. a New Zealand

settlers' corruption of the Maori word punga (q.v.).

<hw>Bunt</hw>, n. a Queensland fungus growing on wheat,

fetid when crushed. Tilletia caries, Tul.,

N.O. Fungi.

<hw>Bunya-Bunya</hw>, n. aboriginal word. [Bunyi

at heads of Burnett, Mary, and Brisbane rivers, Queensland;

baanya, on the Darling Downs.] An Australian tree,

Araucaria bidwillii, Hooker, with fruit somewhat like

Bertholletia excelsa, N.O. Coniferae.

Widgi-Widgi station on the Mary was the head-quarters for the

fruit of this tree, and some thousands of blacks used to

assemble there in the season to feast on it; it was at this

assembly that they used to indulge in cannibalism ; every third

year the trees were said to bear a very abundant crop. The

Bunya-Bunya mountains in Queensland derive their name from this

tree.

1843. L. Leichhardt, Letter in `Cooksland, by J. D. Lang,

p. 82:

"The bunya-bunya tree is noble and gigantic, and its

umbrella-like head overtowers all the trees of the bush."

1844. Ibid. p. 89:

"The kernel of the Bunya fruit has a very fine aroma,

and it is certainly delicious eating."

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 25:

"The Bunya-Bunya or Araucaria on the seeds of which

numerous tribes of blacks are accustomed to feed."

1879. W. R. Guilfoyle, `First Book of Australian Botany,' p. 58:

"A splendid timber tree of South Queensland, where it forms

dense forests, one of the finest of the Araucaria tribe,

attaining an approximate height of 200 feet. The Bunya-Bunya

withstands drought better than most of the genus, and

flourishes luxuriantly in and around Melbourne."

1887. J. Mathew, in Curr's `Australian Race,' vol. iii. p. 161:

[A full account.] "In laying up a store of bunyas, the blacks

exhibited an unusual foresight. When the fruit was in season,

they filled netted bags with the seeds, and buried them."

1889. Hill, quoted by J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 7:

"The cones shed their seeds, which are two to two and a half

inches long by three-quarters of an inch broad; they are sweet

before being perfectly ripe, and after that resemble roasted

chestnuts in taste. They are plentiful once in three years,

and when the ripening season arrives, which is generally in the

month of January, the aborigina&ls assemble in large numbers

from a great distance around, and feast upon them. Each tribe

has its own particular set of trees, and of these each family

has a certain number allotted, which are handed down from

generation to generation with great exactness. The bunya is

remarkable as being the only hereditary property which any of

the aborigines are known to possess, and it is therefore

protected by law. The food seems to have a fattening effect on

the aborigines, and they eat large quantities of it after

roasting it at the fire."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 377:

"The `Bunya-bunya' of the aboriginals--a name invariably

adopted by the colonists."

1892. J. Fraser, `Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 50:

"The Bunya-bunya tree, in the proper season, bears a fir cone

of great size--six to nine inches long-and this, when roasted,

yields a vegetable pulp, pleasant to eat and nutritious."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 19, p. 7, col. 1:

"There is a beautiful bunya-bunya in a garden just beyond, its

foliage fresh varnished by the rain, and toning from a rich

darkness to the very spring tint of tender green."

<hw>Bunyip</hw>, n. (1) the aboriginal name of a

fabulous animal. See quotations. For the traditions of the

natives on this subject see Brough Smyth, `Aborigines of

Victoria,' vol. i. p. 435.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 391:

"Certain large fossil bones, found in various parts of

Australia Felix, have been referred by the natives, when

consulted on the subject by the colonists, to a huge animal of

extraordinary appearance, called in some districts the Bunyup,

in others the Kianpraty, which they assert to be still alive.

It is described as of amphibious character, inhabiting deep

rivers, and permanent water-holes, having a round head, an

elongated neck, with a body and tail resembling an ox. These

reports have not been unattended to, and the bunyup is said to

have been actually seen by many parties, colonists as well as

aborigines. . . .[A skull which the natives said was that of a

`piccinini Kianpraty' was found by Professor Owen to be that of

a young calf. The Professor] considers it all but impossible

that such a large animal as the bunyup of the natives can be

now living in the country. [Mr. Westgarth suspects] it is only

a tradition of the alligator or crocodile of the north."

1849. W. S. Macleay, `Tasmanian journal,' vol. iii. p. 275:

"On the skull now exhibited at the Colonial Museum of Sydney as

that of the Bunyip."

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 214:

"Did my reader ever hear of the Bunyip (fearful name to the

aboriginal native!) a sort of `half-horse, half-alligator,'

haunting the wide rushy swamps and lagoons of the interior?"

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 258:

"The river is too deep, child, and the Bunyip lives in the

water under the stones."

1865. `Once a Week,' Dec. 31, p. 45, The Bulla Bulla Bunyip':

"Beyond a doubt, in `Lushy Luke's' belief, a Bunyip had taken

temporary lodgings outside the town. This bete noire of

the Australian bush Luke asserted he had often seen in bygone

times. He described it as being bigger than an elephant, in

shape like a `poley' bullock, with eyes like live coals, and

with tusks like a walrus's. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"What the Bunyip is, I cannot pretend to say, but I think it is

highly probable that the stories told by both old bushmen and

blackfellows, of some bush beast bigger and fiercer than any

commonly known in Australia, are founded on fact. Fear and the

love of the marvellous may have introduced a considerable

element of exaggeration into these stories, but I cannot help

suspecting that the myths have an historical basis."

1872. C. Gould, `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society

of Tasmania,' 1872, p. 33:

"The belief in the Bunyip was just as prevalent among the

natives in parts hundreds of miles distant from any stream in

which alligators occur. . . . Some other animal must be sought

for." . . . [Gould then quotes from `The Mercury' of April 26,

1872, an extract from the `Wagga Advertiser']: "There really is

a Bunyip or Waa-wee, actually existing not far from us . . . in

the Midgeon Lagoon, sixteen miles north of Naraudera . . . I

saw a creature coming through the water with tremendous

rapidity . . . . The animal was about half as long again as an

ordinary retriever dog, the hair all over its body was jet

black and shining, its coat was very long." [Gould cites other

instances, and concludes that the Bunyip is probably a seal.]

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 202:

"In the south-eastern part of Australia the evil spirit of the

natives is called Bunjup, a monster which is believed to

dwell in the lakes. It has of late been supposed that this is

a mammal of considerable size that has not yet been discovered

. . . is described as a monster with countless eyes and

ears. . . . He has sharp claws, and can run so fast that it is

difficult to escape him. He is cruel, and spares no one either

young or old."

1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. 11, col. 4:

"The hollow boom so often heard on the margin of reedy swamps

--more hollow and louder by night than day--is the mythical

bunyip, the actual bittern."

(2) In a secondary sense, a synonym for an impostor.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 214:

"One advantage arose from the aforesaid long-deferred discovery

--a new and strong word was adopted into the Australian

vocabulary: Bunyip became, and remains a Sydney synonoyme for

impostor, pretender, humbug, and the like. The black

fellows, however, unaware of the extinction, by superior

authority, of their favourite loup-garou, still continue

to cherish the fabulous bunyip in their shuddering

imagination."

1853. W. C. Wentworth--Speech in August quoted by Sir Henry

Parkes in `Fifty Years of Australian History' (1892),

vol. i. p. 41:

"They had been twitted with attempting to create a mushroom, a

Brummagem, a bunyip aristocracy; but I need scarcely observe

that where argument fails ridicule is generally resorted to for

aid."

<hw>Burnet, Native</hw>, n. The name is given in

Australia to the plant Acaena ovina, Cunn.,

N.O. Rosaceae.

<hw>Burnett Salmon</hw>, n. one of the names given to

the fish Ceratodus forsteri, Krefft. See

Burramundi.

<hw>Burnt-stuff</hw>, n. a geological term used by miners.

See quotation.

1853. Mrs. Chas. Clancy, `Lady's Visit to Gold Diggings,' p. 112:

"The top, or surface soil, for which a spade or shovel is used,

was of clay. This was succeeded by a strata almost as hard as

iron--technically called `burnt-stuff'--which robbed the pick

of its points nearly as soon as the blacksmith had steeled them

at a charge of 2s. 6d. a point."

<hw>Bur</hw>, n. In Tasmania the name is applied to

Acaena rosaceae, Vahl., N.O. Rosaceae.

<hw>Burramundi</hw>, or <hw>Barramunda</hw>, n. a

fresh-water fish, Osteoglossum leichhardtii, Guenth.,

family Osteoglossidae, found in the Dawson and Fitzroy

Rivers, Queensland. The name is also incorrectly applied by

the colonists to the large tidal perch of the Fitzroy River,

Queensland, Lates calcarifer, Guenth., a widely

distributed fish in the East Indies, and to Ceratodus

forsteri, Krefft, family Sirenidae, of the Mary and

Burnett Rivers, Queensland. Burramundi is the aboriginal name

for O. leichhardtii. The spelling barramunda is

due to the influence of barracouta (q.v.). See

Perch.

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,'

vol. i. p. 189:

"There is a fish too at Rockhampton called the burra mundi,--

I hope I spell the name rightly,--which is very commendable."

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 357:

"Ceratodus. . . . Two species, C. forsteri and

C. miolepis, are known from fresh-waters of

Queensland. . . . Locally the settlers call it `flathead,'

`Burnett or Dawson salmon,' and the aborigines `barramunda,' a

name which they apply also to other largescaled fresh-water

fishes, as the Osteoglossum leichhardtii. . . . The

discovery of Ceratodus does not date farther back than

the year 1870."

1882. W. Macleay, `Descriptive Catalogue of Australian fishes'

('Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales,'

vol. vi. p. 256):

"Osteoglossum leichhardtii, Gunth. Barramundi of the

aborigines of the Dawson River."

1892. Baldwin Spencer, `Proceedings of the Royal Society

of Victoria,' vol. iv. [Note on the habits of Ceratodus

forsterii]

"It has two common names, one of which is the `Burnett Salmon'

and the other the `Barramunda" . . . the latter name . . . is

properly applied to a very different form, a true teleostean

fish (Osteoglossum leichhardtii) which is

found . . . further north . . . in the Dawson and

Fitzroy . . . Mr. Saville Kent states that the Ceratodus is much

prized as food. This is a mistake, for, as a matter of fact,

it is only eaten by Chinese and those who can afford to get

nothing better."

<hw>Burrawang</hw>, or <hw>Burwan</hw>, n. an Australian

nut-tree, Macrozamia spiralis, Miq.

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

p. 221:

"The burwan is a nut much relished by our natives, who prepare

it by roasting and immersion in a running stream, to free it

from its poisonous qualities."

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

p. 238

"The Burrowan, which grows in a sandy soil, and produces

an inedible fruit, resembling the pine-apple in appearance."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 41:

"Burrawang nut, so called because they used to be, and are to

some extent now, very common about Burrawang, N.S.W. The nuts

are relished by the aboriginals. An arrowroot of very good

quality is obtained from them."

<hw>Bush</hw>, n. Not originally an Australian

application. "Recent, and probably a direct adoption of the

Dutch Bosch, in colonies originally Dutch" (`O.E.D.'),

[quoting (1780) Forster, in `Phil. Trans.' lxxi. 2, "The common

Bush-cat of the Cape;" and (1818) Scott, `Tapestr. Chamber,'

"When I was in the Bush, as the Virginians call it"].

"Woodland, country more or less covered with natural wood

applied to the uncleared or untitled districts in the British

Colonies which are still in a state of nature, or largely so,

even though not wooded; and by extension to the country as

opposed to the towns." (`O.E.D.')

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

"I have spent a good deal of my time in the woods, or bush, as

it is called here.'

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 85:

"With the exception of two or three little farms, comprising

about 20 or 30 acres of cultivation, all was `bush' as it is

colonially called. The undergrowth was mostly clear, being

covered only with grass or herbs, with here and there some low

shrubs."

1837. J. D. Lang, `New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 253:

"His house was well enough for the bush, as the country is

generally termed in the colony."

1855. From a letter quoted in Wathen's `The Golden Colony,'

p. 117:

"`The Bush,' when the word is used in the towns, means all the

uninclosed and uncultivated country . . . when in the country,

`the Bush' means more especially the forest. The word itself

has been borrowed from the Cape, and is of Dutch origin."

1857. `The Argus,' Dec. 14, p. 5, col. 7:

"`Give us something to do in or about Melbourne, not away in

the bush,' says the deputation of the unemployed."

1861. T. McCombie,' Australian Sketches,' p. 123:

"At first the eternal silence of the bush is oppressive, but a

short sojourn is sufficient to accustom a neophyte to the new

scene, and he speedily becomes enamoured of it."

1865. J. F. Mortlock, `Experiences of a Convict,' p. 83:

"The `bush,' a generic term synonymous with `forest' or

`jungle,' applied to all land in its primaeval condition,

whether occupied by herds or not."

1872. A. McFarland, `Illawarra and Manaro,' p. 113:

"All the advantages of civilized life have been surrendered

for the bush, its blanket and gunyah."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,'

vol. i. p. 250:

"The technical meaning of the word `bush.' The bush is the

gum-tree forest, with which so great a part of Australia is

covered, that folk who follow a country life are invariably

said to live in the bush. Squatters who look after their own

runs always live in the bush, even though their sheep are

pastured on plains. Instead of a town mouse and a country

mouse in Australia, there would be a town mouse and a bush

mouse; but mice living in the small country towns would still

be bush mice."

Ibid. c. xx. p. 299:

"Nearly every place beyond the influence of the big towns is

called `bush,' even though there should not be a tree to be

seen around."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 67, n.:

"Bush was a general term for the interior. It might be thick

bush, open bush, bush forest, or scrubby bushterms which

explain themselves."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 40:

"The first thing that strikes me is the lifeless solitude of

the bush. . . . There is a deep fascination about the freedom

of the bush."

1890. E. W. Hornung [Title]:

"A Bride from the Bush."

1896. `Otago Daily Times,' Jan. 27, p. 2, col. 5:

"Almost the whole of New South Wales is covered with bush.

It is not the bush as known in New Zealand. It is rather

a park-like expanse, where the trees stand widely apart,

and where there is grass on the soil between them."

<hw>Bush</hw>, adj. or in composition, not always

easy to distinguish, the hyphen depending on the fancy of the

writer.

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 75:

"The round trundling of our cart wheels, it is well known, does

not always improve the labours of Macadam, much less a bush

road."

1848. Letter by Mrs. Perry, given in Canon Goodman's `Church

in Victoria, during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,'p. 75:

"A hard bush sofa, without back or ends."

1849. J. Sidney, `Emigrants' Journal, and Travellers'

Magazine,' p. 40 (Letter from Caroline Chisholm):

"What I would particularly recommend to new settlers is

`Bush Partnership'--Let two friends or neighbours agree

to work together, until three acres are cropped, dividing the

work, the expense, and the produce--this partnership will grow

apace; I have made numerous bush agreements of this kind . . .

I never knew any quarrel or bad feeling result from these

partnerships, on the contrary, I believe them calculated to

promote much neighbourly good will; but in the association of a

large number of strangers, for an indefinite period, I have no

confidence."

1857. W. Westgarth, `Victoria,' c. xi. p. 250:

"The gloomy antithesis of good bushranging and bad bush-roads."

[Bush-road, however, does not usually mean a made-road through

the bush, but a road which has not been formed, and is in a

state of nature except for the wear of vehicles upon it, and

perhaps the clearing of trees and scrub.]

1864. `The Reader,' April 2, p. 40, col. 1 (`O.E.D.'):

"The roads from the nascent metropolis still partook mainly of

the random character of `bush tracks.'"

1865. W. Hewitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. p. 211:

"Dr. Wills offered to go himself in the absence of any more

youthful and, through bush seasoning, qualified person."

1880. `Blackwood's Magazine,' Feb., p. 169 [Title]:

"Bush-Life in Queensland."

1881. R. M. Praed, `Policy and Passion,' c. i. p. 59:

"The driver paused before a bush inn."

[In Australia the word "inn" is now rare. The word "hotel"

has supplanted it.]

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv.p. 3:

"Not as bush roads go. The Australian habit is here followed

of using `bush' for country, though no word could be more

ludicrously inapplicable, for there is hardly anything on the

way that can really be called a bush."

1894. `Sydney Morning Herald' (exact date lost):

"Canada, Cape Colony, and Australia have preserved the old

significance of Bush--Chaucer has it so--as a territory on

which there are trees; it is a simple but, after all, a kindly

development that when a territory is so unlucky as to have no

trees, sometimes, indeed, to be bald of any growth whatever,

it should still be spoken of as if it had them."

1896. Rolf Boldrewood, in preface to `The Man from Snowy

River':

"It is not easy to write ballads descriptive of the bushland

of Australia, as on light consideration would appear."

1896. H. Lawson, `While the Billy boils,' p. 104:

"About Byrock we met the bush liar in all his glory. He was

dressed like--like a bush larrikin. His name was Jim."

<hw>Bush-faller</hw>, n. one who cuts down timber in the

bush.

1882. `Pall Mall Gazette,' June 29, p. 2, col. 1:

"A broken-down, deserted shanty, inhabited once, perhaps, by

rail-splitters or bush-fallers." [`O.E.D.,' from which this

quotation is taken, puts (?) before the meaning; but "To fall"

is not uncommon in Australia for "to fell."]

<hw>Bush-fire</hw>, n. forests and grass on fire in hot

summers.

1868. C. Dilke, `Greater Britain,' vol. ii. part iii. c. iii.

p. 32:

"The smoke from these bush-fires extends for hundreds of miles

to sea."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xxii. p. 156:

"A reserve in case of bush-fires and bad seasons."

<hw>Bush-lawyer</hw>, n. (1) A Bramble.

See Lawyer.

(2) Name often used for a layman who fancies he knows all about

the law without consulting a solicitor. He talks a great deal,

and `lays down the law.'

1896. H. G. Turner, `Lecture on J. P. Fawkner':

"For some years he cultivated and developed his capacity for

rhetorical argument by practising in the minor courts of law in

Tasmania as a paid advocate, a position which in those days,

and under the exceptional circumstances of the Colony, was not

restricted to members of the legal profession, and the term

Bush Lawyer probably takes its origin from the practice of this

period."

<hw>Bush-magpie</hw>, n. an Australian bird, more

commonly called a Magpie (q.v.).

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 235:

". . . the omnipresent bush-magpie. Here he may warble all the

day long on the liquid, mellifluous notes of his Doric flute,

fit pipe indeed for academic groves . . . sweetest and brightest,

most cheery and sociable of all Australian birds."

<hw>Bushman</hw>, n. (1) Settler in the bush.

Used to distinguish country residents from townsfolk.

1852. `Blackwood's Magazine,' p. 522 (`O.E.D.'):

"Where the wild bushman eats his loathly fare."