1865. S. Sidney, `Three Colonies of Australia,' p. 380_Austral English

"At this, as well as at every other station I have called at,

a woman `hutkeeps,' while the husband is minding the sheep."

1890. `Melbourne Argus,' June 14th, p. 4, col. 2:

"`Did you go hut-keeping then?' `Wrong again. Did I go

hut-keeping? Did you ever know a hut-keeper cook for sixty

shearers?'"

<hw>Hut-keeper</hw>, n. Explained in quotations.

1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 285:

"Old men, unfit for anything but to be hut-keepers who were to

remain at home to prevent robbery, while the other inhabitants

of the hut were at labour."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. II. c.

iii. p. 458

"My object was to obtain these heads, which the

. . . hut-keeper instantly gave."

1853. G. Butler Earp, `What we Did in Australia,' p. 17:

"The lowest industrial occupation in Australia, viz. a

hut-keeper in the bush . . . a station from which many of

the wealthiest flockmasters in Australia have risen."

1883. E. M. Curr, `Recollections of Squatting in Victoria'

(1841-1851), p. 21:

"A bush hut-keeper, who baked our damper, fried our chops."

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

Thelymitra longifolia, R. and G. Forst.,

N.O. Orchideae.

<hw>Hyaena</hw>, n. See Thylacine,

and Tasmanian Tiger.

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

genus of the Australian animal called Musk Kangaroo.

(Grk. hupsiprumnos, with a high stern.) A very small,

rat-like, arboreal kangaroo, about ten inches long. The strong

musky odour from which it takes its vernacular name is

perceptible in both sexes.

1874. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 73:

"The third and last subfamily (Hypsiprymnodontidae) of the

Macropodidae is represented solely by the remarkable creature

known, from its strong scent, as the Musk-kangaroo."

<hw>Ibis</hw>, n. There are twenty-four species of this

bird distributed over all the warmer parts of the globe. Those

present in Australasia are--

Glossy (Black, or Bay) Ibis--

Ibis falcinellus, Linn.

Straw-necked I.--

Geronticus spinnicollis, Jameson.

White I.--

Threskiornis strictipennis, Gould.

Of these the last two are confined to Australia, the first is

cosmopolitan.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 155:

"All they had for supper and breakfast were a straw-coloured

ibis, a duck and a crow."

Ibid. p. 300:

"Crows were feasting on the remains of a black Ibis."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi.:

"Geronticus spinicollis, straw-necked ibis (pl. 45).

This beautiful ibis has never yet been discovered out of

Australia, over the whole of which immense country it is

probably distributed."

"Threskiornis strictipennis, white ibis" (pl. 46).

"Ibis falcinellus, Linn., glossy ibis" (pl. 47).

1892. `The Australasian,' April 9, p. 707, col. 4:

"When the hoarse-voiced jackass mocked us, and the white-winged

ibis flew

Past lagoons and through the rushes, far away into the blue."

<hw>Ice-Plant</hw>, n. Tasmanian name for Tetragonia

implexicoma, Hook., N.O. Ficoideae, B. Fl. Various

species of Tetragonia are cultivated as Spinach

(q.v.).

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 63:

"Called `ice-plant' in Tasmania. Baron Mueller suggests that

this plant be cultivated for spinach. [Found in] all the

colonies except Queensland."

<hw>Identity, Old</hw>, n. phrase denoting a person well

known in a place. a term invented in Dunedin, New Zealand, in

1862, in a popular topical song, by Mr. R. Thatcher, an

improvisator. In the song the "Old Identity," the former

resident of Dunedin, was distinguished from the "New Iniquity,"

as the people were termed who came from Australia.

1879. W. J. Barry, `Up and Down,' p. 197:

"The old identities were beginning to be alive to the

situation."

1894. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Oct.:

"It is permissible to wonder about the origin of the phrase `an

old identity.' Surely no man, however old, can be an identity?

An entity he is, or a nonentity; an individual, a centenarian,

or an oldest inhabitant; but identity is a condition of

sameness, of being identical with something. One can establish

one's identity with that of some one who is being sought or

sued, but once established it escapes us."

<hw>Inaka</hw>, n. a fish. See Inanga.

<hw>Inanga</hw> or <hw>Inaka</hw>, n. (the ng

as in the word singer, not as in finger),

a New Zealand fish, Galaxias attenuatus, or

Retropinna richardsoni. It is often called the

Whitebait and Minnow, and in Tasmania the

larger variety is called Jolly-tail. The change

from Inanga to Inaka is a dialectal Maori

variation, answering exactly to the change from North

Island Kainga to South Island Kaik (q.v.).

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol.

ii. p. 100:

"This fish is called hinanga [sic.], and resembles Blackwall

white-bait in size and flavour. Its colour is a pinkish white,

spotted with black."

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 3:

"About the same size as this fish [the cockabully] is the

`inaka' much used for bait. Indeed, it is called the New

Zealand whitebait. A friend from Victoria having used this

bait, I asked him to spell the name of the fish, and he wanted

to make it like the patriarch who `walked with God'

--Enoch-a. The more correct shape of the Maori word is inanga;

but in the South Island `k' often takes the place of that

distinctive Maori letter `ng,' as `kainga' becomes kaik;

ngaio, kaio."

<hw>Inchman</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for the

Bull-dog Ant (q.v.), from its length, which is

sometimes nearly an inch.

<hw>Indians</hw>, pl. n. early and now obsolete name

for the Aboriginals in Australia and even for the Maoris.

1769. J. Banks, `Journal,' Oct. 21 (Sir J. D. Hooker

edition), p. 191:

"We applied to our friends the Indians for a passage

in one of their canoes."

[These were Maoris.]

1770. Ibid. April 28:

"During this time, a few of the Indians who had not followed

the boat remained on the rock opposite the ship, threatening

and menacing with their pikes and swords."

[These were Australian Aboriginals.]

1825. Barron Field, `Geographical Memoirs of New South Wales,'

p. 437:

"Some of the Indians have also seriously applied to be allowed

convict labourers, as the settlers are, although they have not

patience to remain in the huts which our Government has built

for them, till the maize and cabbage that have been planted to

their hands are fit to gather."

1830. `The Friend of Australia,' p. 244:

"It is the observation of some writers, that the system pursued

in Australia for educating the children of the Indians is not

attended with success. The black children will never do any

good there, until some other plan is commenced . . ."

<hw>Indigo, Native</hw>, n. all the species of

Swainsonia, N.O. Leguminosae, are called "Native

Indigos." See Indigo-plant. In Tasmania, the Native

Indigo is Indigofera australis, Willd., N.O.

Leguminosae. The plants are also called

Indigo-plant and Darling-pea (q.v.).

Swainsonia belongs to the same N.O. as Indigofera

tinctoria, which furnishes the Indigo of commerce.

1826. J. Atkinson, `Agriculture and Grazing in New South

Wales,' p. 24:

"Indigo brushes are not very common; the timber in these is

generally white or blackbutted gum; the ground beneath is

covered with the native indigo, a very beautiful plant,

with a light purple flower."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 140:

"The `darling-pea' or `indigo-plant' is a dreaded plant from

the great amount of loss it has inflicted on stockowners. Its

effect on sheep is well known; they separate from the flock,

wander about listlessly, and are known to the shepherds as `

pea-eaters,' or `indigo-eaters.' When once a sheep takes to

eating this plant it seldom or never fattens, and may be said

to be lost to its owner. The late Mr. Charles Thorn, of

Queensland, placed a lamb which had become an `indigo-eater' in

a small paddock, where it refused to eat grass. It, however,

ate the indigo plant greedily, and followed Mr. Thorn all over

the paddock for some indigo he held in his hand."

<hw>Indented Servants</hw>, n. same as Assigned

(q.v.) Servants.

1810. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 352:

"Public Notice. Secretary's Office, Sydney, July 21, 1810.

A ship being daily expected to arrive here from England with

female convicts, whom it is His Excellency the Governor's

intention to distribute among the settlers, as indented

servants. . . ."

<hw>Ink-plant</hw>, n. another name for the "toot,"

a New Zealand shrub, Coriaria thymifolia, N.O.

Coriarieae. Called Ink-plant on account of its juice,

which soon turns to black. There is also an European

Ink-plant, Coriaria myrtifolia, so that this is

only a different species.

<hw>Ironbark</hw>, n. Early settlers gave this name

to several large Eucalypts, from the hardness of their bark,

especially to E. leucoxylon, F. v. M., and

E. resinifera, Smith. In Queensland it is applied to

E. siderophloia, Benth. See also Leguminous Ironbark,

and Lemon-scented Ironbark.

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

p. 263:

"A species of gum-tree, the bark of which on the trunk is that

of the ironbark of Port Jackson."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 183:

"It was made out of a piece of bark from a tree called

ironbark (nearly as hard when dry as an English elm-board)."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery

and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 45:

"But this gradually changed to an ironbark (Eucalyptus

resinifera) and cypress-pine forest."