185. E. Stone Parker, `Aborigines of Australia,' p. 21:_Austral English

"It is a very great mistake to suppose . . . that there is any

kind of religious ceremony connected with the ordinary

corrobory. . . . I may also remark that the term corrobory is

not a native word."

[It is quite certain that it is native, though not known to

Mr. E. Stone Parker.]

1862. G. T. Lloyd, `Thirty-three Years in Tasmania and

Victoria,' p. 49:

[In Tasmania] "the assembling of the tribes was always

celebrated by a grand corroboree, a species of bestial

bal masque. On such occasions they presented a most

grotesque and demon-like appearance, their heads, faces, and

bodies, liberally greased were besmeared alternately with clay

and red ochre; large tufts of bushy twigs were entwined around

their ankles, wrists, and waists; and these completed their

toilet."

1879. J. D. Woods, `Native Tribes of South Australia,'

Introduction, pp. xxxii. and xxxiii.:

"The principal dance is common all over the continent, and

`corrobboree' is the name by which it is commonly known. It is

not quite clear what a corrobboree is intended to signify.

Some think it a war-dance--others that it is a representation

of their hunting expeditions--others again, that it is a

religious, or pagan, observance; but on this even the blacks

themselves give no information."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 41:

"The good fortune to witness a korroboree, that is a

festive dance by the natives in the neighbourhood."

1892. J. Fraser, `The Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 21:

"`Karabari' is an aboriginal name for those dances which our

natives often have in the forests at night. Hitherto the name

has been written corrobboree, but etymologically it should be

karabari, for it comes from the same root as `karaji,' a wizard

or medicine-man, and `bari' is a common formative in the native

languages. The karabari has been usually regarded as a form of

amusement . . . these dances partake of a semi-religious

character."

[Mr. Fraser's etymology is regarded as far-fetched.]

(2) The song that accompanied the dance.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 323:

"I feared he might imagine we were afraid of his incantations,

for he sang most lamentable corroborris."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 68:

". . . listen to the new corroborree. Great numbers arrive;

the corroborree is danced night after night with the utmost

enthusiasm. . . .These corroborrees travel for many hundreds of

miles from the place where they originated. . . .These

composers [of song and dance] pretend that the Spirit of Evil

originally manufactured their corroborree."

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillman, `Australian Life,' p. 132:

"The story was a grand joke among the blacks for many a day.

It became, no doubt, the theme for a `corroberee,' and Tommy

was always after a hero amongst his countrymen."

(3) By transference, any large social gathering or public

meeting.

1892. `Saturday Review,' Feb.' 13, p. 168, col. 2:

"A corrobory of gigantic dimensions is being prepared for

[General Booth's] reception [in Australia]." (`O.E.D.')

1895. Modern:

"There's a big corrobbery on to-night at Government House,

and you can't get a cab for love or money."

(4) By natural transference, a noise, disturbance, fuss

or trouble.

1874. Garnet Walch, `Adamanta,' Act II. sc. ii. p. 27:

"How can I calm this infantile corroboree?"

1885. H. O. Forbes, `Naturalist's Wanderings,' p. 295:

"Kingfishers . . . in large chattering corrobories in the tops

of high trees."

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 242:

"The boy raises the most awful corroboree of screams and howls,

enough for a whole gang of bushrangers, if they went in for

that sort of thing."

1897. `The Herald,' Feb. 15, p. i, col. 1:

"Latest about the Cretan corroboree in our cable messages this

evening. The situation at the capital is decidedly

disagreeable. A little while ago the Moslems threw the

Christians out and took charge. Now the last report is that

there is a large force of Christians attacking the city and

quite ready, we doubt not, to cut every Moslem throat that

comes in the way."

<hw>Corrobbery</hw>, v. (1) To hold a corrobbery.

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 61:

"They began to corrobery or dance.

(p. 206): They `corroberried,' sang, laughed, and screamed."

1885. R. M. Pried, `Australian Life,' p. 22:

"For some time the district where the nut [bunya] abounds

is a scene of feasting and corroboreeing."

(2) By transference to animals, birds, insects, etc.

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 257:

"The mosquitoes from the swamps corroboreed with unmitigated

ardour."

1871. C. Darwin, `Descent of Man' (2nd ed. 1885), p. 406:

"The Menura Alberti [see Lyrebird] scratches for

itself shallow holes, or, as they are called by the natives,

corroborying places, where it is believed both sexes assemble."

(3) To boil; to dance as boiling water does.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 43:

"`Look out there! `he continued; `quart-pot corroborree,'

springing up and removing with one hand from the fire one of

the quart-pots, which was boiling madly, while with the other

he dropped in about as much tea as he could hold between his

fingers and thumb."

Ibid. p. 49:

"They had almost finished their meal before the new quart

corroborreed, as the stockman phrased it."

<hw>Corypha-palm</hw>, n. an obsolete name for

Livistona inermis, now called Cabbage-tree

(q.v.).

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 49:

"The bottle-tree and the corypha-palm were frequent."

<hw>Cottage</hw>, n. a house in which all the rooms are

on the ground-floor. An auctioneer's advertisement often

runs--"large weatherboard cottage, twelve rooms, etc.," or

"double-fronted brick cottage." The cheapness of land caused

nearly all suburban houses in Australia to be built without

upper storeys and detached.

<hw>Cotton-bush</hw>, n. name applied to two trees

called Salt-bush (q.v.). (1) Bassia bicornis,

Lindl. (2) Kochia aphylla, R. Br.,

N.O. Salsolaceae. S. Dixon (apud Maiden, p. 132)

thus describes it--

"All kinds of stock are often largely dependent on it during

protracted droughts, and when neither grass nor hay are

obtainable I have known the whole bush chopped up and mixed

with a little corn, when it proved an excellent fodder for

horses."

1876. W. Harcus, `South Australia,' p. 126:

"This is a fine open, hilly district, watered, well grassed,

and with plenty of herbage and cotton-bush."

<hw>Cotton-shrub</hw>, n. a name given in Tasmania to the

shrub Pimelea nivea, Lab., N.O. Thymeleae.

<hw>Cotton-tree</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Hibiscus

teliaceus, Linn., N.O. Malvaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 624:

"The fibre of the bark [cotton-tree] is used for nets and

fishing-lines by the aborigines."

<hw>Cotton-wood</hw>, n. the timber of an Australian

tree, Bedfordia salicina, De C., N.O. Compositae.

Called Dog-wood (q.v.) in Tasmania.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p.386:

"The `dog-wood' of Tasmania, and the `cotton-wood' of Southern

New South Wales, on account of the abundant down on the leaves.

A hard, pale-brown, well-mottled wood, said by some to be good

for furniture. It emits a foetid smell when cut."

<hw>Coucal</hw>, n. a bird-name, "mentioned probably for

the first time in Le Vaillant's `Oiseaux d'Afrique,' beginning

about 1796; perhaps native African. An African or Indian

spear-headed cuckoo: a name first definitely applied by Cuvier

in 1817 to the birds of the genus Centropus."

(`Century.') The Australian species is Centropus

phasianellus, Gould, or Centropus phasianus, Lath.

It is called also Swamp-pheasant (q.v.), and

Pheasant-cuckoo.

<hw>Count-fish</hw>, n. a large Schnapper

(q.v.). See Cock-Schnapper.

1874. `Sydney Mail,' `Fishes and Fishing in New South Wales':

"The ordinary schnapper or count fish implies that all of a

certain size are to count as twelve to the dozen, the shoal or

school-fish eighteen or twenty-four to the dozen, and the

squire, thirty or thirty-six to the dozen--the latter just

according to their size, the redbream at per bushel."

<hw>Count-muster</hw>, n. a gathering, especially of

sheep or cattle in order to count them.

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 1:

"The old man's having a regular count-muster of his sons and

daughters, and their children and off side relatives-that is,

by marriage."

<hw>Cowdie</hw>, n. an early variant of Kauri

(q.v.), with other spellings.

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 143:

"The native name `Kauri' is the only common name in general

use. When the timber was first introduced into Britain it was

termed `cowrie' or `kowdie-pine'; but the name speedily fell

into disuse, although it still appears as the common name in

some horticultural works."

<hw>Cowshorns</hw>, n. a Tasmanian orchid,

Pterostylis nutans, R. Br.

<hw>Cow-tree</hw>, n. a native tree of New Zealand.

Maori name, Karaka (q.v.).

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 346:

"The karaka-tree of New Zealand (Corynocarpus

laevigata), also called kopi by the natives, and cow-tree

by Europeans (from that animal being partial to its leaves),

grows luxuriantly in Sydney."

<hw>Crab</hw>, n. Of the various Australian species of

this marine crustacean, Scylla serrata alone is large

enough to be much used as food, and it is seldom caught. In

Tasmania and Victoria, Pseudocarcinus gigas, called the

King-Crab, which reaches a weight of 20 lbs., is occasionally

brought to market. There is only one fresh-water crab known in

Australia--Telphusa transversa.

1896. Spencer and Hall, `Horne Expedition in Central

Australia,' Zoology, p. 228:

"In the case of Telphusa transversa, the fresh-water

crab, the banks of certain water holes are riddled with its

burrows."

<hw>Crab-hole</hw>, n. a hole leading into a pit-like

burrow, made originally by a burrowing crayfish, and often

afterwards increased in size by the draining into it of water.

The burrows are made by crayfish belonging to the genera

Engaeus and Astacopsis, which are popularly known

as land-crabs.

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

in Victoria, during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 72:

"Full of crab holes, which are exceedingly dangerous for the

horses. There are holes varying in depth from one to three

feet, and the smallest of them wide enough to admit the foot of

a horse: nothing more likely than that a horse should break its

leg in one. . . . These holes are formed by a small land-crab

and then gradually enlarged by the water draining into them."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 368:

"This brute put his foot in a crabhole, and came down, rolling

on my leg.''

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 49:

"Across the creek we went . . . now tripping over tussocks,

now falling into crab holes."

<hw>Crab-tree</hw>, n. i.q. Bitter-bark (q.v.).

<hw>Cradle</hw>, n. common in Australia, but of

Californian origin. "A trough on rockers in which auriferous

earth or sand is shaken in water, in order to separate and

collect the gold." (`O.E.D.')

1849. `Illustrated London News,' Nov. 17, p. 325, col. 1

(`O.E.D.'): [This applies to California, and is before the

Australian diggings began]:

"Two men can keep each other steadily at work, the one digging

and carrying the earth in a bucket, and the other washing and

rocking the cradle."

1851. Letter by Mrs. Perry, quoted in Canon Goodman's `Church

in Victoria during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 171:

"The streets are full of cradles and drays packed for the

journey."

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. xv. p. 215:

"Cradles and tin dishes to supply the digging parties."

1865. F. H. Nixon, `Peter Perfume,' p. 56:

"They had cradles by dozens and picks by the score."

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 154:

"The music of the puddling mill, the cradle, and the tub."

<hw>Cradle</hw>, v. tr. to wash auriferous gravel in a

miner's cradle.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. 21, p. 197:

"The laborious process of washing and `cradling' the ore."

<hw>Crake</hw>, n. common English bird-name. The

Australian varieties are--

Little Crake--

Porzana palustris, Gould.

Spotless C.--

P. tabuensis, Gmel.

Spotted C.--

P. fluminea, Gould.

White-browed C.--

P. cinereus, Vieill.

See also Native Plum.

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

p. 220:

"Our native currants are strongly acidulous, like the

cranberry, and make an excellent preserve when mixed with

the raspberry."

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 133:

"Leucopogon lanceolatum. A large bush with numerous

harsh leaves, growing along the sea shore, with some other

smaller inland shrubs of the same tribe, produces very small

white berries of a sweetish and rather herby flavour. These

are promiscuously called white or native currants in the

colony."

["The insignificant and barely edible berries of this shrub are

said to have saved the life of the French botanist Riche, who

was lost in the bush on the South Australian coast for three

days, at the close of the last century." (Maiden.) The plant

is now called L. Richei.]

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 19:

"Native Currant. . . . This plant bears a small round drupe,

about the size of a small pea. Mr. Backhouse states that (over

half a century ago) when British fruits were scarce, it was

made into puddings by some of the settlers of Tasmania, but the

size and number of the seeds were objectionable."

<hw>Currant, Plain</hw>, n. See Plain Currant.

<hw>Currency</hw>, n. (1) Name given especially to early

paper-money in the Colonies, issued by private traders and of

various values, and in general to the various coins of foreign

countries, which were current and in circulation. Barrington,

in his `History of New South Wales `(1802), gives a table of

such specie.

1824. Edward Curr, `Account of the Colony of Van Diemen's Land,'

p.5:

"Much of this paper-money is of the most trifling description.

To this is often added `payable in dollars at 5s. each.' Some

. . . make them payable in Colonial currency."

[p. 69, note]: "25s. currency is about equal to a sovereign."

1826. Act of Geo. IV., No. 3 (Van Diemen's Land):

"All Bills of Exchange, Promissory Notes . . . as also all

Contracts and Agreements whatsoever which shall be drawn and

circulated or issued, or made and entered into, and shall be

therein expressed . . . to be payable in Currency, Current

Money, Spanish Dollars . . . shall be . . . Null and Void."

1862. Geo. Thos. Lloyd, `Thirty-three years in Tasmania and

Victoria,' p. 9:

"Every man in business . . . issued promissory notes, varying

in value from the sum of fourpence to twenty shillings, payable

on demand. These notes received the appellation of paper

currency. . . . The pound sterling represented twenty-five

shillings of the paper-money."

(2) Obsolete name for those colonially-born.

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

(Table of Contents):

"Letter XXI.--Currency or Colonial-born

population."

Ibid. p. 33:

"Our colonial-born brethren are best known here by the name of

Currency, in contradistinction to Sterling, or

those born in the mother-country. The name was originally

given by a facetious paymaster of the 73rd Regiment quartered

here--the pound currency being at that time inferior to the

pound sterling."

1833. H. W. Parker, `Rise, Progress, and Present State of Van

Diemen's Land,' p. 18:

"The Currency lads, as the country born colonists in the

facetious nomenclature of the colony are called, in

contradistinction to those born in the mother country."

1840. Martin's `Colonial Magazine,' vol. iii. p. 35:

"Currency lady."

1849. J. P. Townsend, `Rambles in New South Wales,' p. 68:

"Whites born in the colony, who are also called `the currency';

and thus the `Currency Lass' is a favourite name for colonial

vessels." [And, it may be added, also of Hotels.]

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 6:

"A singular disinclination to finish any work completely, is a

striking characteristic of colonial craftsmen, at least of the

`currency' or native-born portion. Many of them who are

clever, ingenious and industrious, will begin a new work,

be it ship, house, or other erection, and labour at it most

assiduously until it be about two-thirds completed, and then

their energy seems spent, or they grow weary of the old

occupation, and some new affair is set about as busily as the

former one."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 35:

"English girls have such lovely complexions and cut out us poor

currency lasses altogether."

Ibid. p. 342:

"You're a regular Currency lass . . . always thinking about

horses."

<hw>Cushion-flower</hw>, n. i.q. Hakea laurina,

R. Br. See Hakea.

<hw>Cut out</hw>, v. (1) To separate cattle from the

rest of the herd in the open.

1873. Marcus Clarke, `Holiday Peak, &c.,' p. 70:

"The other two . . . could cut out a refractory bullock with

the best stockman on the plains."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. x. p. 72:

"We . . . camped for the purpose of separating our cattle,

either by drafting through the yard, or by `cutting out' on

horse-back."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 70:

"Drafting on the camp, or `cutting out' as it is generally

called, is a very pretty performance to watch, if it is well

done."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. ii. p. 13:

"Tell him to get `Mustang,' he's the best cutting-out horse."

1893. `The Argus,' April 29, p. 4. col. 4:

"A Queenslander would have thought it was as simple as going on

to a cutting-out camp up North and running out the fats."

(2) To finish shearing.

1890. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 6:

"When the stations `cut out,' as the term for finishing is,

and the shearers and rouseabout men leave."

<hw>Cutting-grass</hw>, n. Cladium psittacorum,

Labill., N.O. Cyperaceae. It grows very long narrow

blades whose thin rigid edge will readily cut flesh if

incautiously handled; it is often called Sword-grass.

1858. T. McCombie `History of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 8:

"Long grass, known as cutting-grass between four and five feet

high, the blade an inch and a half broad, the edges exquisitely

sharp."

1891. W. Tilley, `Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 42:

"Travelling would be almost impossible but for the button

rush and cutting grass, which grow in big tussocks out of

the surrounding bog."

1894. `The Age,' Oct. 19, p. 5, col. 8:

"`Cutting grass' is the technical term for a hard, tough grass

about eight or ten inches high, three-edged like a bayonet,

which stock cannot eat because in their efforts to bite it off

it cuts their mouths."

<hw>Dabchick</hw>, n. common English bird-name. The New

Zealand species is Podiceps rufipectus. There is no

species in Australia.

<hw>Dacelo</hw>, n. Name given by "W. E. Leach, 1816.

An anagram or transposition of Lat. Alcedo, a

Kingfisher." (`Century.') Scientific name for the

Jackass (q.v.).

<hw>Dactylopsila</hw>, n. the scientific name of the

Australian genus of the Striped Phalanger, called locally the

Striped Opossum; see Opossum. It has a long bare

toe. (Grk. daktulos, a finger, and psilos, bare.)

<hw>Daisy, Brisbane</hw>, n. a Queensland and New South

Wales plant, Brachycome microcarpa, F. v. M.,

N.O. Compositae.

<hw>Daisy, Native</hw>, n. a Tasmanian flower,

Brachycome decipiens, Hook., N.O. Compositae.

<hw>Daisy Tree</hw>, n. two Tasmanian trees, Astur

stellulatus, Lab., and A. glandulosus, Lab.,

N.O. Compositae. The latter is called the

Swamp-Daisy-Tree.

<hw>Dam</hw>, n. In England, the word means a barrier

to stop water in Australia, it also means the water so stopped,

as `O.E.D.' shows it does in Yorkshire.

1873. Marcus Clarke, `Holiday Peak, &c.,' p. 76:

"The dams were brimming at Quartz-borough, St. Roy reservoir

was running over."

1892. `Scribner's Magazine,' Feb., p. 141:

"Dams as he calls his reservoirs scooped out in the hard soil."

1893. `The Leader,' Jan. 14:

"A boundary rider has been drowned in a dam."

1893. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 68:

"At present few stations are subdivided into paddocks smaller

than 20,000 acres apiece. If in each of these there is but one

waterhole or dam that can be relied upon to hold out in

drought, sheep and cattle will destroy as much grass in

tramping from the far corners of the grazing to the drinking

spot as they will eat. Four paddocks of 5,000 acres each, well

supplied with water, ought to carry almost double the number of

sheep."

1896. `The Argus,' March 30, p. 6, col. 9:

"[The murderer] has not since been heard of. Dams and

waterholes have been dragged . . . but without result."

<hw>Dammara</hw>, n. an old scientific name of the

genus, including the Kauri Pine (q.v.). It is from the

Hindustani, damar, `resin.' The name was applied to the

Kauri Pine by Lambert in 1832, but it was afterwards

found that Salisbury, in 1805, had previously constituted the

genus Agathis for the reception of the Kauri Pine

and the Dammar Pine of Amboyna. This priority of claim

necessitated the modern restoration of Agathis as the

name of the genus.

<hw>Damper</hw>, n. a large scone of flour and water

baked in hot ashes; the bread of the bush, which is always

unleavened. [The addition of water to the flour suggests a

more likely origin than that given by Dr. Lang. See quotation,

1847.]

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

p. 190

"The farm-men usually make their flour into flat cakes, which

they call damper, and cook these in the ashes . . ."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,'

vol. ii. c. viii. p. 203:

"I watched the distorted countenances of my humble companions

while drinking their tea and eating their damper."

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketches of New South Wales,' p. 103:

"Damper (a coarse dark bread)."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 122:

"I must here enlighten my readers as to what `damper' is. It

is the bread of the bush, made with flour and water kneaded

together and formed into dough, which is baked in the ashes,

and after a few months keeping is a good substitute for bread."

[The last clause contains a most extraordinary statement--

perhaps a joke. Damper is not kept for months, but is

generally made fresh for each meal. See quotation, 1890,

Lumholtz.]

1847. J. D. Lang, `Cooksland,' p. 122:

"A cake baked in the ashes, which in Australia is usually

styled a damper." [Footnote]: "This appellation is said to

have originated somehow with Dampier, the celebrated

navigator."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 284:

"`Damper' is a dough made from wheat-flour and water without

yeast, which is simply pressed flat, and baked in the ashes;

according to civilized notions, rather hard of digestion, but

quite agreeable to hungry woodmen's stomachs."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 20:

"At first we had rather a horror of eating damper, imagining it

to be somewhat like an uncooked crumpet. Experience, however,

showed it to be really very good. Its construction is simple,

and is as follows. Plain flour and water is mixed on a sheet

of bark, and then kneaded into a disc some two or three inches

thick to about one or two feet in diameter, great care to avoid

cracks being taken in the kneading. This is placed in a hole

scraped to its size in the hot ashes, covered over, and there

left till small cracks caused by the steam appear on the

surface of its covering. This is a sign that it is nearly

done, and in a few minutes the skilful chef will sound it over

with his "Wedges of damper (or bread baked in hot ashes) were

cut from time to time from great circular flat loaves of that

palatable and wholesome but somewhat compressed-looking bread."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 32:

"Damper is the name of a kind of bread made of wheat flour and

water. The dough is shaped into a flat round cake, which is

baked in red-hot ashes. This bread looks very inviting, and

tastes very good as long as it is fresh, but it soon becomes

hard and dry."

<hw>Damson, Native</hw>, n. called also Native Plum,

an Australian shrub, Nageia spinulosa, F. v. M.,

N.O. Coniferae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 53:

"Native Damson or Native Plum. This shrub possesses edible

fruit, something like a plum, hence its vernacular names. The

Rev. Dr. Woolis tells me that, mixed with jam of the Native

Currant (Leptomeria acida), it makes a very good

pudding."

<hw>Dandelion, Native</hw>, n. a flowering plant,

Podolepis acuminata, R. Br., N.O. Compositae.

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

Myoporum viscorum, R. Br., N.O. Myoporineae;

called also Dogwood and Waterbush.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 575:

"Native Daphne. . . . Timber soft and moderately light, yet

tough. It is used for building purposes. It dresses well, and

is straight in the grain."

<HW>Darling Pea</HW>, n. an Australian plant,

Swainsonia galegifolia, R. Br., N.O. Leguminosae;

i.q. Indigo Plant (q.v.). See also Poison-bush.

The Darling Downs and River were named after General (later Sir

Ralph) Darling, who was Governor of New South Wales from

Dec. 19, 1825 to Oct. 21, 1831. The "pea" is named from one of

these.

<hw>Darling Shower</hw>, n. a local name in the interior

of Australia, and especially on the River Darling, for a dust

storm, caused by cyclonic winds.

<hw>Dart</hw>, n. (1) Plan, scheme, idea [slang].

It is an extension of the meaning--"sudden motion."

1887. J. Farrell, `How: he died,' p. 20:

"Whose `dart' for the Looard

Was to appear the justest steward

That ever hiked a plate round."

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 9, p. 4, col. 2:

"When I told them of my `dart,' some were contemptuous,

others incredulous."

1892. Rolf Boldrewood, `Nevermore,' p. 22:

"Your only dart is to buy a staunch horse with a tip-cart."

(2) Particular fancy or personal taste.

1895. Modern:

"`Fresh strawberries eh!--that's my dart,' says the bushman

when he sees the fruit lunch in Collins-street."

<hw>Darter</hw>, n. common English name for birds of the

genus Plotus. So called from the way it "darts" upon

its prey. The Australian species is Plotus novae-

hollandiae, Gould.

<hw>Dasyure</hw>, and <hw>Dasyurus</hw>, n. the

scientific name of the genus of Australian animals called

Native Cats. See under Cat. The first form is

the Anglicized spelling and is scientifically used in

preference to the misleading vernacular name. From the Greek

dasus, thick with hair, hairy, shaggy, and 'oura,

tail. They range over Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and the

adjacent islands. Unlike the Thylacine and Tasmanian

Devil (q.v.), which are purely terrestrial, the

Dasyurus are arboreal in their habits, while they are

both carnivorous and insectivorous.

The Thylacine, Tasmanian Devil, Pouched Mice, and Banded

Ant-eater have sometimes been incorrectly classed as

Dasyures, but the name is now strictly allotted to the

genus Dasyurus, or Native Cat.

<hw>Date, Native</hw>, n. a Queensland fruit,

Capparis canescens, Banks, N.O. Capparideae.

The fruit is shaped like a pear, and about half an inch

in its largest diameter. It is eaten raw by the aborigines.

<hw>Deadbeat</hw>, n. In Australia, it means a man "down

on his luck," "stone-broke," beaten by fortune. In America,

the word means an impostor, a sponge. Between the two uses the

connection is clear, but the Australian usage is logically the

earlier.

<hw>Dead-bird</hw>, n. In Australia, a recent slang

term, meaning "a certainty." The metaphor is from

pigeon-shooting, where the bird being let loose in front of a

good shot is as good as dead.

<hw>Dead-finish</hw>, n. a rough scrubtree.

(1)Albizzia basaltica, Benth., N.O. Leguminosae.

(2) Acacia farnesiana, Willd.,

N.O. Leguminosae. See quotation, 1889.

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia', p. 272:

"On the eastern face of the coast range are pine, red cedar,

and beech, and on the western slopes, rose-wood, myall,

dead-finish, plum-tree, iron-wood and sandal-wood, all woods

with a fine grain suitable for cabinet-making and fancy work."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 355:

"Sometimes called by the absurd name of `Dead Finish.' This

name given to some species of Acacia and Albizzia, is on

account of the trees or shrubs shooting thickly from the

bottom, and forming an impenetrable barrier to the traveller,

who is thus brought to a `dead finish' (stop)"

1893. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 60:

"The hawthorn is admirably represented by a brush commonly

called `dead finish.'" [p. 61]: "Little knolls are crowned

with `dead finish' that sheep are always glad to nibble."

<hw>Dead-wood Fence</hw>, n. The Australian fence, so

called, is very different from the fence of the same name in

England. It is high and big, built of fallen timber, logs

and branches. Though still used in Australia for fencing runs,

it is now usually superseded by wire fences.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 157:

"A `dead-wood fence,' that is, a mass of timber four or five

feet thick, and five or six high, the lower part being formed

of the enormous trunks of trees, cut into logs six or eight

feet long, laid side by side, and the upper portion consisting

of the smaller branches skilfully laid over, or stuck down and

twisted."

1872. G. Baden-Powell, `New Homes for the Old Country,' p. 207:

"A very common fence is built by felling trees round the space

to be enclosed, and then with their stems as a foundation,

working up with the branches, a fence of a desirable height."

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

Nageia elata, F. v. M., N.O. Coniferae.

For other vernacular names see quotation.

1869. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 589:

"Pine, white pine, called she-pine in Queensland; native deal,

pencil cedar. This tree has an elongated trunk, rarely

cylindrical; wood free from knots, soft, close, easily worked,

good for joiners' and cabinet-work; some trees afford planks of

great beauty. (Macarthur.) Fine specimens of this timber have

a peculiar mottled appearance not easily described, and often

of surpassing beauty."

[See also Pine.]

<hw>December</hw>, n. a summer month in Australia.

See Christmas.

1885. J. Hood, `Land of the Fern,' p. 34:

"Warm December sweeps with burning breath

Across the bosom of the shrinking earth."

<hw>Deepsinker</hw>, n. (1) The largest sized tumbler;

(2) the long drink served in it. The idea is taken from

deep-sinking in a mining shaft.

1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 15, p. 6, Col 5:

"As athletes the cocoons can run rings round the beans; they

can jump out of a tumbler--whether medium, small, or deepsinker

is not recorded."

<hw>Deep Yellow-Wood</hw>, n. Rhus rhodanthema,

F. v. M., N.O. Anacardiaceae. A tree with spreading head;

timber valuable. See Yellow-Wood.

<hw>Deferred Payment</hw>, n. a legal phrase. "Land on

deferred payment"; "Deferred payment settler"; "Pastoral

deferred payment." These expressions in New Zealand have

reference to the mode of statutory alienation of Crown lands,

known in other colonies as conditional sale, etc., i.e. sale

on time payment, with conditions binding the settler to erect

improvements, ending in his acquiring the fee-simple. The

system is obsolete, but many titles are still incomplete.

<hw>Dell-bird</hw>, n. another name for the

Bell-bird (q.v.).

<hw>Dendrolagus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the

genus of Australian marsupials called Tree-Kangaroos

(q.v.). (Grk. dendron, a tree, and lagows, a

hare.) Unlike the other kangaroos, their fore limbs are nearly

as long as the hinder pair, and thus adapted for arboreal life.

There are five species, three belong to New Guinea and two to

Queensland; they are the Queensland Tree-Kangaroo,

Dendrolagus lumholtzi; Bennett's T.-k.,

D. bennettianus; Black T.-k., D. ursinus : Brown

T.-k., D. inustus; Doria's T.-k., D. dorianus.

See Kangaroo.

<hw>Derry</hw>, n. slang. The phrase "to have a down

on" (see Down) is often varied to "have a derry on."

The connection is probably the comic-song refrain, "Hey derry

down derry."

1896. `The Argus,' March 19, p. 5, col. 9:

"Mr. Croker: Certainly. We will tender it as evidence.

(To the witness.) Have you any particular `derry' upon this

Wendouree?--No; not at all. There are worse vessels knocking

about than the Wendouree."

<hw>Dervener</hw>, n. See quotation,

and Derwenter.

1896. `The Argus,' Jan. 2, p. 3, col. 4, Letters to the

Editor:

"`Dervener.'--An expression used in continental Australia for a

man from the Derwent in Tasmania. Common up till 1850 at

least.--David Blair."

Ibid. Jan. 3, p. 6, col. 6:

"With respect to `dervener,' the word was in use while the blue

shirt race existed [sc. convicts], and these people did not

become extinct until after 1860.--Cymro-Victoria."

<hw>Derwenter</hw>, n. a released convict from Hobart

Town, Tasmania, which is on the River Derwent.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xx. p. 140:

"An odd pair of sawyers, generally `Derwenters,' as the

Tasmanian expirees were called."

<hw>Desert Lemon</hw>, n. called also Native

Kumquat, Atalantia glauca, Hook.,

N.O. Rutacea.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 8:

"The native kumquat or desert lemon. The fruit is globular,

and about half an inch in diameter. It produces an agreeable

beverage from its acid juice."

<hw>Desert-Oak</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Casuarina

decaisneana, F. v. M. See Casuarina and Oak.

1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Horne Expedition in Central

Australia,' Narrative, p. 49:

"We had now amongst these sandhills come into the region of the

`Desert Oak' (Casuarina Decaisneana). Some of the trees

reach a height of forty or fifty feet, and growing either

singly or in clumps form a striking feature amongst the thin

sparse scrub. . . . The younger ones resemble nothing so much

as large funeral plumes. Their outlines seen under a blazing

sun are indistinct, and they give to the whole scene a curious

effect of being `out of focus.'"

<hw>Devil, Tasmanian</hw>, n. an animal, Sarcophilus

ursinus, Harris. Formerly, but erroneously, referred to

the genus Dasyurus (q.v.), which includes the Native

Cat (see under Cat): described in the quotations.

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 29:

"The devil, or as naturalists term it, Dasyurus ursinus,

is very properly named."

1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 323:

"The devil (Dasyurus ursinus, Geoff.), about the size of

a bull terrier, is an exceedingly fierce and disgusting-looking

animal, of a black colour, usually having one white band across

the chest, and another across the back, near the tail. It is a

perfect glutton, and most indiscriminate in its feeding."

1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. vii. p. 186:

"Dasyurus ursinus--a carnivorous marsupial. Colonists

in Tasmania, where only it exists . . . called it the `devil,'

from the havoc it made among their sheep and poultry."

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"In the next division is a pair of Tasmanian devils

(Dasyurus ursinus); these unprepossessing-looking brutes

are hated by every one in Tasmania, their habitat, owing to

their destructiveness amongst poultry, and even sheep. They

are black in colour, having only a white band across the chest,

and possess great strength in proportion to their size."

<hw>Devil's Guts</hw>, n. The name is given in Australia

to the Dodder-Laurel (see Laurel), Cassytha

filiformis, Linn., N.O. Lauraceae. In Tasmania the

name is applied to Lyonsia straminea, R. Br., N.O.

Apocyneae.

1862. W. Archer, `Products of Tasmania,' p. 41:

"Lyonsia (Lyonsia straminea, Br.). Fibres of the bark

fine and strong. The lyonsia is met with, rather sparingly, in

dense thickets, with its stems hanging like ropes among the

trees."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `useful Native Plants,' p. 14:

"This and other species of Cassythia are called

`dodder-laurel.' The emphatic name of `devil's guts' is

largely used. It frequently connects bushes and trees by

cords, and becomes a nuisance to the traveller." [This plant

is used by the Brahmins of Southern India for seasoning their

buttermilk. (`Treasury of Botany.')]

Ibid. p. 162:

"It is also used medicinally."

<hw>Devil-on-the-Coals</hw>, n. a Bushman's name for

a small and quickly-baked damper.

1862. Rev. A. Polehampton, `Kangaroo Land,' p. 77:

"Instead of damper we occasionally made what is colonially

known as `devils on the coals.' . . . They are convenient when

there is not time to make damper, as only a minute or so is

required to bake them. They are made about the size of a

captain's biscuit, and as thin as possible, thrown on the

embers and turned quickly with the hand."

<hw>Diamond Bird</hw>, n. a bird-name. In the time of

Gould this name was only applied to Pardalotus

punctatus, Temm. Since that time it has been extended to

all the species of the genus Pardalotus (q.v.). The

broken colour of the plumage suggested a sparkling jewel.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,'

vol. xv. p. 238:

"We are informed by Mr. Caley that this species is called

diamond bird by the settlers, from the spots on its body.

By them it is reckoned as valuable on account of its skin."

<hw>Diamond Snake</hw>, n. In Queensland and New South

Wales, Pythonon spilotes, Lacep.; in Tasmania,

Hoplocephalus superhus, Gray, venomous. See under

Snake.

<hw>Digger</hw>, n. a gold-miner. The earliest mines

were alluvial. Of course the word is used elsewhere, but in

Australia it has this special meaning.

1852. Title:

"Murray's Guide to the Gold Diggings.--The Australian Gold

Diggings; where they are, and how to get at them; with letters

from Settlers and Diggers telling how to work them. London:

Stewart & Murray) 1852."

1853. Valiant, `Letter to Council,' given in McCombie's

`History of Victoria' (1853), c. xvi. p. 248:

"It caused the diggers, as a body, to pause in their headlong

career."

1855. W. Howitt, `Land, Labour, and Gold,'

vol. ii. p. 148, Letter xxx:

"Buckland River, January 29th, 1854. The diggers here are a

very quiet and civil race, at the same time that they are a

most active and laborious one. . . . The principal part of

the diggers here are from the Ovens."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 31:

"Drink success to the digger's trade,

And break up to the squatter's."

1896. H. Lawson, `While the Billy boils,' p. 148:

"His Father's Mate had always been a general favourite with the

diggers and fossickers, from the days when he used to slip out

first thing in the morning and take a run across the frosty

flat in his shirt."

<hw>Digger's Delight</hw>, n. a flower, Veronica

perfoliata, R. Br., N.O. Scrophularaneae, described

in quotations.

1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `First Book of Australian Botany,' p. 64:

"Digger's Delight, Veronica perfoliata,

N.O. Scrophularineae. A pretty, blue-flowering shrub,

with smooth stem-clasping leaves; found in the mountainous

districts of Victoria and New South Wales, and deriving its

common name from a supposition that its presence indicated

auriferous country. It is plentiful in the elevated cold

regions of Australia."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 147:

"Such native flowers as the wild violet, the shepherd's purse,

or the blue-flowered `digger's delight.' This latter has come,

perhaps, with the seeds from some miner's holding amongst the

iron-barks in the gold country, and was once supposed to grow

only on auriferous soils. When no one would think of digging

for gold in this field, the presence of the flower is, perhaps,

as reliable an indication of a golconda underneath as the

reports and information on the strength of which many mining

companies are floated."

<hw>Diggerdom</hw>, n. collective noun, the diggers.

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

"Diggerdom is gloriously in the ascendant here."

<hw>Diggeress</hw>, n. a digger's wife.

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

"The digger marching off, followed by his diggeress, a tall,

slim young woman, who strode on like a trooper. . . . Open

carriages driving about, crowded with diggers and their

diggeresses."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 36:

"I'm tir'd of being a diggeress,

And yearn a farmer's home to grace."

<hw>Diggings</hw>, n. a place where gold-mining is

carried on. The word is generally regarded as singular.

Though common in Australia, it is very old, even in the sense

of a place where digging for gold is carried on.

1769. De Foe's `Tour of Great Britain,' i. 39 (`O.E.D.'):

"King Henry VIII. was induced to dig for Gold. He was

disappointed, but the Diggings are visible at this Day."

1852. J. Morgan, `Life and Adventures of William Buckley'

(published at Hobart), p. 183 [quoting from the `Victoria

Commercial Review,' published at Melbourne, by

Messrs. Westgarth, Ross, & Co., under date September 1, 1851]:

"The existence of a `goldfield' was not ascertained until May

last. . . . Numbers of persons are daily `prospecting'

throughout this Colony and New South Wales in search of

gold. . . .In Victoria, as well as in New South Wales, regular

`diggings' are now established."

1852. Murray, `The Australian Gold Diggings: where they are

and how to get at them,' p. 1;

"It cannot but be acceptable to the crowds of intending

colonists and gold seekers, to present them with a picture of

the `Progress of the Diggins,' [sic] drawn by the diggers."

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. xv. p. 234:

"Immigrants who had not means to start to the diggings."

1870. J. O. Tucker, `The Mute,' p. 48:

"Ye glorious diggings `neath a southern clime!

I saw thy dawn."

[`Ye,' `thy.' Is this singular or plural?]

1887. H. H. Hayter, `Christmas Adventure,' p. i:

"Fryer's creek, a diggings more than 90 miles from Melbourne."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. vii. p. 71:

"It was a goldfield and a diggings in far-away Australia."

<hw>Dilli</hw>, later <hw>Dilly-bag</hw>, n. an

aboriginal word, coming from Queensland, for a bag made either

of grasses or of fur twisted into cord. Dhilla is the

term for hair in Kabi dialect, Mary River, Queensland.

Dirrang and jirra are corresponding words in the

east of New South Wales. The aboriginal word dilli has

been tautologically increased to dilly-bag, and the word

is used by bushmen for a little bag for odds-and-ends, even

though made of calico or holland.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 90:

"In their `dillis' (small baskets) were several roots or

tubers."

Ibid. p. 195:

"A basket (dilli) which I examined was made of a species of

grass."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 34:

"I learned too at the camp to plait dilly-bags."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 210:

"Mayboy came forward dangling a small dilly-bag."

1896. A.J. North, `Report of Australian Museum,' p. 26:

"Dilly-bag (partly wool and partly grass)."

<hw>Dingle-bird</hw>, n. a poetical name for the

Australian Bell-bird (q.v.).

1870. F. S. Wilson, `Australian Songs,' p. 30:

"The bell-like chimings of the distant dingle-bird."

1883. C. Harpur, `Poems,' p. 78:

"I . . . list the tinkling of the dinglebird."

<hw>Dingo</hw>, n. the native dog of Australia, Canis

dingo. "The aborigines, before they obtained dogs from

Europeans, kept the dingo for hunting, as is still done by

coast tribes in Queensland. Name probably not used further

south than Shoalhaven, where the wild dog is called Mirigang."

(A. W. Howitt.)

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 280:

[A dingo or dog of New South Wales. Plate. Description by J.

Hunter.] "It is capable of barking, although not so readily as

the European dogs; is very ill-natured and vicious, and snarls,

howls, and moans, like dogs in common. Whether this is the

only dog in New South Wales, and whether they have it in a wild

state, is not mentioned; but I should be inclined to believe

they had no other; in which case it will constitute the wolf of

that country; and that which is domesticated is only the wild

dog tamed, without having yet produced a variety, as in some

parts of America."

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South

Wales,' p. 614 [Vocab.]:

"Jungo---Beasts, common name.

Tein-go---Din-go.

Wor-re-gal---Dog."

1820. W. C. Wentworth, `Description of New South Wales,' p. 62:

"The native dog also, which is a species of the wolf, was

proved to be fully equal in this respect [sport] to the fox;

but as the pack was not sufficiently numerous to kill these

animals at once, they always suffered so severely from their

bite that at last the members of the hunt were shy in allowing

the dogs to follow them."

1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. 55:

"Tigko---a bitch."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes `(1855), p. 153:

"I have heard that the dingo, warragal or native dog, does not

hunt in packs like the wolf and jackal."

1860. William Story, `Victorian Government Prize Essays,' p. 101:

"The English hart is so greatly superior, as an animal of

chase, to that cunning poultry thief the fox, that I trust

Mister Reynard will never be allowed to become an Australian

immigrant, and that when the last of the dingoes shall have

shared the fate of the last English wolf, Australian Nimrods

will resuscitate, at the antipodes of England, the sterling old

national sport of hart hunting, conjointly with that of African

boks, gazelles, and antelopes, and leave the fox to their

English cousins, who cannot have Australian choice."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 103:

"In the neighbourhood of Brisbane and other large towns where

they have packs, they run the dingoes as you do foxes at home."

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 113:

"The arms of the Wimmera should be rabbit and dingo, `rampant,'

supporting a sun, `or, inflamed.'"

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 71:

"Dingoes, the Australian name for the wild dogs so destructive

to sheep. They were . . . neither more nor less than wolves,

but more cowardly and not so ferocious, seldom going in large

packs. They hunted kangaroos when in numbers, or driven to it

by hunger; but usually preferred smaller and more easily

obtained prey, as rats, bandicoots, and 'possums."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 38:

"On the large stations a man is kept whose sole work it is to

lay out poison for the dingo. The black variety with white

breast generally appears in Western Queensland along with the

red."

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"The dingo of northern Australia can be distinguished from his

brother of the south by his somewhat smaller size and

courageous bearing. He always carries his tail curled over his

back, and is ever ready to attack any one or anything; whilst

the southern dingo carries his tail low, slinks along like a

fox, and is easily frightened. The pure dingo, which is now

exceedingly rare in a wild state, partly through the agency of

poison, but still more from the admixture of foreign breeds, is

unable to bark, and can only express its feelings in long-drawn

weird howls."

1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. l1, col. 4:

"Why is the first call of a dingo always apparently miles away,

and the answer to it--another quavering note slightly more

shrill--so close at hand? Is it delusion or distance?"

<hw>Dinornis</hw>, n. the scientific name given by

Professor Owen to the genus of huge struthious birds of the

post-Pliocene period, in New Zealand, which survive in the

traditions of the Maoris under the name of Moa (q.v.).

From the Greek deinos, terrible, and 'ornis,

bird.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. Intro.

p. xviii:

"The specimens [fossil-bones] transmitted . . . were confided

to the learned Professor [Owen] for determination; and these

materials, scanty as they were, enabled him to define the

generic characters of Dinornis, as afforded by the bones

of the hind extremity."

Ibid. p. xxiv:

"Professor Owen had well-nigh exhausted the vocabulary of terms

expressive of largeness by naming his successive discoveries

ingens, giganteus, crassus, robustus, and

elephantopus, when he had to employ the superlative

Dinornis maximus to distinguish a species far exceeding

in stature even the stately Dinornis giganteus. In this

colossal bird . . . some of the cervical vertebrae almost equal

in size the neck-bones of a horse! The skeleton in the British

Museum . . . measures 11 feet in height, and . . . some of these

feathered giants attained to a still greater stature."

<hw>Dipper</hw>, n. a vessel with a handle at the top of

the side like a big tin mug. That with which one dips. The

word is not Australian, but is of long standing in the United

States, where it is used as a name for the constellation of the

Great Bear.

1893. `Australasian Schoolmaster,' Feb.:

"These answers have not the true colonial ring of the

following, which purports to be the remark of the woman of

Samaria: `Sir, the well is very deep, and you haven't got

a dipper.'"

<hw>Dips</hw>, n. Explained in quotation.

1859. G. Bunce, `Travels with Leichhardt,' p. 161:

". . . Dr. Leichhardt gave the party a quantity of dough boys,

or as we called them, dips. . ."

[p. 171]: "In this dilemma, Dr. Leichhardt ordered the cook to

mix up a lot of flour, and treated us all to a feed of dips.

These were made as follows:--a quantity of flour was mixed up

with water, and stirred with a spoon to a certain consistency,

and dropped into a pot of boiling water, a spoonful at a time.

Five minutes boiling was sufficient, when they were eaten with

the water in which they were boiled."

<hw>Dirt</hw>, n. In Australia, any alluvial deposit in

which gold is found; properly Wash-dirt. The word is

used in the United States. See quotation, 187.

1853. Mrs. Chas. Clancy, `Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings,'

p. 109:

"And after doing this several times, the `dirt,' of course,

gradually diminishing, I was overjoyed to see a few bright

specks."

1857. Borthwick, `California,' [Bartlett, quoted in `O.E.D.']

p. 120:

"In California, `dirt' is the universal word to signify the

substance dug; earth, clay, gravel, or loose slate. The miners

talk of rich dirt and poor dirt, and of stripping off so many

feet of `top dirt' before getting to `pay-dirt,' the latter

meaning dirt with so much gold in it that it will pay to dig it

up and wash it."

1870. J. O. Tucker, `The Mute,'p. 40:

"Others to these the precious dirt convey,

Linger a moment till the panning's through."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xiv. p. 142:

"We were clean worked out . . . before many of our neighbours

at Greenstone Gully, were half done with their dirt."

Ibid. c. xviii. p. 177:

"We must trust in the Oxley `dirt' and a kind Providence."

<hw>Dish</hw>, n. and adj. a small and rough

vessel in which gold is washed. The word is used in the United

States.

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 17:

"I have obtained good dish prospects after crudely crushing up

the quartz."

<hw>Dishwasher</hw>, n. an old English bird-name for the

Water-Wagtail; applied in Australia to Seisura inquieta,

Lath., the Restless Fly-catcher (q.v.). Seisura

is from Grk. seiein (to shake), and 'oura (a

tail), being thus equal in meaning to Wagtail. Also called

Dishlick, Grinder, and Razor-grinder (q.v.).

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of the Linnaean

Society,' vol. xv. p. 250:

"This bird is called by the colonists Dishwasher. It is very

curious in its actions. In alighting on the stump of a tree it

makes several semi-circular motions, spreading out its tail,

and making a loud noise somewhat like that caused by a

razor-grinder when at work."

<hw>Distoechurus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the

genus of the New Guinea Pentailed-Phalanger, or so-called

Opossum-mouse (q.v.). It has a tail with the long hairs

arranged in two opposite rows, like the vanes of a

feather.(Grk. distoichos, with two rows, and

'oura, a tail.)

<hw>Diver</hw>, n. common bird-name used in Australia

for a species of Grebe.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vii. pl. 80:

"Podiceps australis, Gould; Australian Tippet Grebe;

Diver of the Colonists."

<hw>Doctor</hw>, n. word used in the South Australian

bush for "the cook."

1896. `The Australasian,' June 13, p. 1133, col. 1:

"`The doctor's in the kitchen, and the boss is in the shed;

The overseer's out mustering on the plain;

Sling your bluey down, old boy, for the clouds are overhead,

You are welcome to a shelter from the rain.'"

<hw>Dodder Laurel</hw>, n. i.q. Devil's Guts

(q.v.).

<hw>Dog-fish</hw>, n. The name belongs to various

fishes of distinct families, chiefly sharks. In Australia,

it is used for the fish Scyllium lima, family

Scylliidae. In New South Wales it is Scyllium

maculatum, Bl. The Sprite Dog-fish of New Zealand

is Acanthias maculatus, family Spinacidae. The

Spotted Dog-fish of New South Wales is Scyllium

anale. The Dusky Dogfish of New South Wales is

Chiloscyllium modestum, Gunth., and there are others

in Tasmania and Australia.

<hw>Dogleg</hw>, adj. applied to a primitive kind of

fence made of rough timber. Crossed spars, which are the

doglegs, placed at intervals, keep in place a low rail resting

on short posts, and are themselves fixed by heavy saplings

resting in the forks above.

1875. R. and F. Hill, `What we saw in Australia,' p. 61:

". . . we made acquaintance with the `dog's leg' fence.

This is formed of bare branches of the gum-tree laid obliquely,

several side by side, and the ends overlapping, so that they

have somewhat the appearance that might be presented by the

stretched-out legs of a crowd of dogs running at full speed.

An upright stick at intervals, with a fork at the top, on which

some of the cross-branches rest, adds strength to the

structure."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 13:

"While the primaeval `dog-leg' fence of the Victorian bush,

or the latter-day `chock and log' are no impediments in the path

of our foresters." [sc. kangaroos; see Forester.]

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 71:

"As we rode up we could see a gunyah made out of boughs, and a

longish wing of dog leg fence, made light but well put

together."

<hw>Dog's Tongue</hw>, n. name given to the plant

Cynoglossum suaveolens, R. Br., N.O. Asperifoliae.

<hw>Dogwood</hw>, n. various trees and their wood; none

of them the same as those called dogwood in the Northern

Hemisphere, but their woods are used for similar purposes, e.g.

butchers' skewers, fine pegs, and small pointed wooden

instruments. In Australia generally, Jacksonia

scoparia, R. Br., also Myoporum platycarpum, R. Br.

In Tasmania, Bedfordia salicina, De C.,

N.O. Compositae, which is also called Honeywood,

and in New South Wales, Cottonwood (q.v.), and the two

trees Pomaderris elliptica, Lab., and P. apetala,

Lab., N.O. Rhamnaceae, which are called respectively

Yellow and Bastard Dogwood. See also

Coranderrk. In parts of Tasmania, Pomaderris

apetala, Lab., N.O. Rhamn/ac?/eae, is also called

Dogwood, or Bastard Dogwood.

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 16:

"There is a secluded hollow of this kind near Kangaroo Bottom,

near Hobart Town, where the common dogwood of the colony

(pomaderris apetala) has sprung up so thick and tall, that Mr.

Babington and myself having got into it unawares one day, had

the greatest difficulty imaginable to get out after three or

four hours' labour. Not one of the plants was more than six

inches apart from the others, while they rose from 6 to 12

yards in height, with leaves at the top which almost wholly

excluded the light of the sun."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 11:

"Iron-bark ridges here and there, with spotted gum, with

dogwood (Jacksonia) on a sandy soil." (p. 20): "A

second creek, with running water, which from the number of

dogwood shrubs (Jacksonia), in the full glory of their

golden blossoms, I called `Dogwood Creek.'"

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue--Economic Woods,' p. 46:

"Native dogwood, a hard, pale-brown, well-mottled wood; good

for turnery."

<hw>Dogwood Poison-bush</hw>, n. a New South Wales name;

the same as Ellangowan Poison-bush (q.v.).

<hw>Dollar</hw>, n. See Holy Dollar.

<hw>Dollar-bird</hw>, n. name given to the Roller

(q.v.). See quotations.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,'

vol. xv. p. 202:

"The settlers call it dollar-bird, from the silver-like spot on

the wing."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia;' vol. ii. pl. 17:

"Eurystomus Australis, Swains., Australian Roller.

Dollar Bird of the Colonists. During flight the white spot in

the centre of each wing, then widely expanded, shows very

distinctly, and hence the name of Dollar Bird.'"

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

p. 183:

"The Dollar-bird derives its name from a round white spot the

size of a dollar, on its wing. It is very handsome, and flies

in rather a peculiar manner. It is the only bird which I have

observed to perform regular migrations; and it is strange that

in such a climate any one should do so. But it appears that

the dollar-bird does not relish even an Australian winter.

It is the harbinger of spring and genial weather."

<hw>Dollar-fish</hw> n. a name often given formerly to

the John Dory (q.v.), from the mark on its side. See

quotation, 1880. The name Dollar-fish is given on the

American coasts to a different fish.

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 451:

"The fishermen of Roman Catholic countries hold this fish in

special respect, as they recognize in a black round spot on its

side the mark left by the thumb of St. Peter, when he took the

piece of money from its mouth."

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

p. 62:

"The dory has been long known, and when the currency of the

colony was in Mexican coin it was called a `dollar-fish.'"

<hw>Dorca-Kangaroo</hw>, n. See Dorcopsis and

Kangaroo.

<hw>Dorcopsis</hw>, n. the scientific name of a genus of

little Kangaroos with pretty gazelle-like faces.

(Grk. dorkas, a gazelle, and 'opsis, appearance.)

They are called Dorca-Kangaroos, and are confined to New

Guinea, and form in some respects a connecting link between

Macropus and the Tree-Kangaroo (q.v.). There are

three species--the Brown Dorca Kangaroo, Dorcopsis

muelleri; Grey D., D. luctuosa, Macleay's D.,

D. macleayi. See Kangaroo (e).

<hw>Dottrel</hw>, n. formerly Dotterel, common

English bird-name, applied in Australia to Charadrius

australis, Gould.

Black-fronted Dottrel--

Charadrius nigrifrons, Temm.

Double-banded D.--

C. bicincta, Jord. and Selb.

Hooded D.--

C. monacha, Geoff.

Large Sand D.--

C. (AEgialitis) geoffroyi, Wag.

Mongolian Sand D.--

C. (AEgialitis) mongolica, Pallas.

Oriental D.--

C. veredus, Gould.

Red-capped Dottrel--

Charadrius ruficapilla, Temm.; called also

Sand-lark.

Red-necked D.--

C. (AEgialitis) mastersi, Ramsay.

Ringed D.--

C. hiaticula, Linn. [See also Red-knee.]

<hw>Dove</hw>, n. a well-known English bird-name,

applied in Australia to the--

Barred-shouldered Dove--

Geopelia humeralis, Temm.

Ground D.--

G. tranquilla, Gould.

Little D.--

G. cuneata, Lath. [See also Ground-dove.]

<hw>Dove-Petrel</hw>, n. a well-known English bird-name.

The species in the-Southern Seas are--

Prion turtur, Smith.

Banks D.-P.--

P. banksii, Smith.

Broad-billed D.-P.--

P. vittata, Forst.

Fairy D.-P.--

P. ariel, Gould.

<hw>Dover</hw>, n. a clasp knife, by a maker of that

name, once much used in the colonies.

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 418:

"In plates and knives scant is the shepherd's store,

`Dover' and pan are all, he wants no more."

1893. April 15, `A Traveller's Note':

"`So much a week and the use of my Dover' men used to say in

making a contract of labour."

1894. `Bush Song' [Extract]:

"Tie up the dog beside the log,

And come and flash your Dover."

<hw>Down</hw>, n. a prejudice against, hostility to;

a peculiarly Australian noun made out of the adverb.

1856. W. W. Dobie, `Recollections of a Visit to Port Philip,'

p. 84:

". . . the bushranger had been in search of another squatter,

on whom `he said he had a down'. . ."

1884. J. W. Bull, `Early Life in South Australia,' p. 179:

"It was explained that Foley had a private `down' on them,

as having stolen from him a favourite kangaroo dog."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia, vol. iv. p. 180:

"They [diggers] had a `dead down' on all made dishes."

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

"That old prejudice in the minds of many men to the effect that

those who represented the churches or religious people had a

regular down upon freedom of thought."

1893. `The Age,' June 24, p. 5, col. 1:

"Mr. M. said it was notorious in the department that one of the

commissioners had had `a down' on him."

1893. R. L. Stevenson, `Island Nights' Entertainments,' p. 46:

"`They have a down on you,' says Case. `Taboo a man because

they have a down on him'' I cried. `I never heard the like.'"

<hw>Down</hw>, adv. "To come, or be down," is the phrase

used in Australian Universities for to be "plucked," or

"ploughed," or "spun," i.e., to fail in an examination. It has

been in use for a few years, certainly not earlier than 1886.

The metaphor is either taken from a fall from a horse, or

perhaps from the prize-ring. The use has no connection with

being "sent down," or "going down," at Oxford or Cambridge.

<hw>Draft</hw>, v. to separate and sort cattle. An

adaptation of the meaning "to select and draw off for

particular service," especially used of soldiers.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. vi. p. 46:

"I should like to be drafting there again."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Squatter's Dream,' p. 2:

"There were those cattle to be drafted that had been brought

from the Lost Waterhole."

<hw>Draft</hw>, n. a body of cattle separated from the

rest of the herd.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. ii. p. 22:

"A draft of out-lying cattle rose and galloped off."

<hw>Drafter</hw>, n. a man engaged in drafting cattle.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xviii. p. 227:

"They behave better, though all the while keeping the drafters

incessantly popping at the fence by truculent charges."

<hw>Drafting-gate</hw>, n. gate used in separating

cattle and sheep into different classes or herds.

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 4, col. 7:

"But the tent-flap seemed to go up and down quick as a

drafting-gate."

<hw>Drafting-stick</hw>, n. a stick used in drafting

cattle.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. x. p. 72:

"We . . . armed ourselves with drafting-sticks and resolutely

faced it."

<hw>Drafting-yard</hw>, n. a yard for drafting cattle.

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 13, col. 1:

"There were drafting-yards and a tank a hundred yards off,

but no garden."

<hw>Dray</hw>, n. an ordinary cart for goods. See

quotation, 1872.

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. i. Intro. p. xlix:

"They send their produce to the market . . . receiving supplies

for home consumption on the return of their drays or carts from

thence."

1872. C. H. Eden, "My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 31:

"A horse dray, as known in Australia, is by no means the

enormous thing its name would signify, but simply an ordinary

cart on two wheels without springs." [There are also

spring-drays.]

1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 41:

"One told by camp fires when the station drays

Were housed and hidden, forty years ago."

<hw>Dromicia</hw>, n. the scientific name of the

Australian Dormouse Phalangers, or little

Opossum- or Flying-Mice, as they are locally

called. See Opossum, Opossum-mouse, and

Phalanger. They are not really the "Flying"-Mice or

Flying-phalanger, as they have only an incipient parachute, but

they are nearly related to the Pigmy Petaurists (q.v.)

or small Flying-Phalangers. (Grk. dromikos, good

at running, or swift.)

<hw>Drongo</hw>, n. This bird-name was "given by Le

Vaillant in the form drongeur to a South African bird

afterwards known as the Musical Drongo, Dicrurus

musicus, then extended to numerous . . . fly-catching,

crow-like birds." (`Century.') The name is applied in

Australia to Chibia bracteata, Gould, which is called

the Spangled Drongo.

1895. W. 0. Legge, `Australasian Association for the

Advancement of Science' (Brisbane), p. 448:

"There being but one member of the interesting Asiatic genus

Drongo in Australia, it was thought best to characterize

it simply as the Drongo without any qualifying term."

<hw>Drop</hw>, n. (Slang.) To "have the drop on" is to

forestall, gain advantage over, especially by covering with a

revolver.

It is curious that while an American magazine calls this phrase

Australian (see quotation), the `Dictionary of Slang'--one

editor of which is the distinguished American, Godfrey

C. Leland--says it is American. It is in common use in

Australia.

1894. `Atlantic Monthly,' Aug., p. 179.

"His terrible wife, if we may borrow a phrase from Australia,

`had the drop on him' in every particular."

<hw>Drooping Acacia</hw>, n. See Acacia.

<hw>Drove</hw>, v. to drive travelling cattle or sheep.

1890. A. J. Vogan, `Black Police,' p. 334:

"I don't know how you'd be able to get on without the `boys' to

muster, track, and drove."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River' [Poem `In the

Droving Days'], p. 95:

"For though lie scarcely a trot can raise,

He can take me back to the droving days."

<hw>Drum</hw>, n. a bundle; more usually called

a swag (q.v.).

1866. Wm. Starner, `Recollections of a Life of Adventure,'

vol. i. p. 304

". . . and `humping his drum' start off for the diggings to

seek more gold."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 17:

"They all chaffed us about our swags, or donkeys, or drums,

as a bundle of things wrapped in a blanket is indifferently

called."

1886. Frank Cowan, `Australia, Charcoal Sketch,' p. 31:

"The Swagman: bed and board upon his back--or, having humped

his drum and set out on the wallaby . . ."

<hw>Drummer</hw>, n. a New South Wales name for the fish

Girella elevata, Macl., of the same family as the

Black-fish (q.v.).

<hw>Dry-blowing</hw>, n. a Western Australian term in

gold-mining.

1894. `The Argus,' March 28, p. 5, col. 5:

"When water is not available, as unfortunately is the case at

Coolgardie, `dry blowing' is resorted to. This is done by

placing the pounded stuff in one dish, and pouring it slowly at

a certain height into the other. If there is any wind blowing

it will carry away the powdered stuff; if there is no wind the

breath will have to be used. It is not a pleasant way of

saving gold, but it is a case of Hobson's choice. The

unhealthiness of the method is apparent."

<hw>Duboisine</hw>, n. an alkaloid derived from the

plant Duboisia myoposides, N.O. Sofanaceae, a

native of Queensland and New South Wales. It is used in

medicine as an application to the eye for the purpose of

causing the pupil to dilate, in the same way as atropine, an

alkaloid obtained from the belladonna plant in Europe, has long

been employed. Duboisine was discovered and introduced into

therapeutics by a Brisbane physician.

<hw>Duck</hw>, n. the well-known English name of the

birds of the Anatinae, Fuligulinae, and other series,

of which there are about 125 species comprised in about 40 genera.

The Australian genera and species are---

Blue-billed Duck--

Erismatura australis, Gould.

Freckled D.--

Stictonetta naevosa, Gould.

Mountain D. (the Shel-drake, q.v.).

Musk D. (q.v.)--

Biziura lobata, Shaw.

Pink-eared D., or Widgeon (q.v.)--

Malacorhynchus membranaceus, Lath.

Plumed Whistling D.--

Dendrocygna eytoni, Gould.

Whistling D.--

D. vagans, Eyton. [Each species of the

Dendrocygna called also by sportsmen Tree-duck.]

White-eyed D., or Hard-head (q.v.)--

Nyroca australis, Gould.

Wild D.--

Anas superciliosa, Gmel.

Wood D. (the Maned Goose; see Goose).

The following is a table of the ducks as compiled by Gould nearly

fifty years ago.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vii: