1883. /J./ Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 129_Austral English

"Kaiwhiria, a small evergreen tree, twenty to thirty feet high;

the wood is finely marked and suitable for veneering."

<hw>Kaka</hw>, n. the Maori name for a parrot. The word

is imitative of a parrot's cry. It is now always used to

denote the Brown Parrot of New Zealand, Nestor

meridionalis, Gmel.

1835. W. Yate, `Account of New Zealand,' p. 54:

"Kaka--a bird of the parrot kind; much larger than any other

New Zealand parrot."

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

p. 259:

"The kaka, a large russet parrot, of excellent flavour, and

very abundant in many places."

1851. Mrs. Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 40:

"The bright red feathers from under the wing of the kaka or

large parrot."

1854. W. Golder, `Pigeons' Parliament,' [Notes] p. 79:

"The kaka is a kind of parrot of a reddish grey colour,

and is easily tamed when taken young."

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 93:

"The hoarse croak of the ka-ka, as it alighted almost at our

feet, and prepared, quite careless of our vicinity, to tear up

the loose soil at the root of a tall tree, in search of grubs."

1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' (Supplement):

"Nestor hypopolius, ka-ka parrot."

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 38:

"I heard mocking kakas wail and cry above thy corse."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 150:

"Nestor meridionalis, kaka parrot."

Ibid. p. 158:

"Sprightly in its actions, eminently social, and more noisy

than any other inhabitant of the woods, the kaka holds a

prominent place among our native birds."

<hw> Kaka-bill</hw>, n. a New Zealand plant, the

Clianthus (q.v.), so called from the supposed

resemblance of the flower to the bill of the Kaka

(q.v.). Called also Parrot-bill, Glory-Pea, and

Kowhai (q.v.).

1842. W. R. Wade, `Journey in New Zealand,' [Hobart Town].

p. 196:

"Kowai ngutukaka [parrot-bill kowai]; the most elegant

flowering shrub of the country."

1892. `Otago Witness,' Nov. 24, `Native Trees':

"A plantation of a shrub which is in great demand in England

and on the Continent, and is greatly neglected here--the

Clianthus puniceus, or scarlet glory pea of New Zealand,

locally known as kaka beak."

<hw>Kakapo</hw>, n. Maori name for the Night-parrot,

Stringops habroptilus, Gray. Called also

Owl-parrot. See Kaka. The syllable po

is Maori for night. Compare Katipo (q.v.).

1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia' (Supplement):

"Strigops habroptilus, G. R. Gray, Kakapo, native name."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 149:

"Stringops, owl-parrot--ground-parrot of the colonists."

1889. Prof. Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,'

p. 117:

"Although possessing large wings, it is flightless, its

breast-muscles being so small as to be practically useless.

Its habits are nocturnal, and it has a ring of feathers

arranged round the eye, giving it a curious resemblance to

an owl, whence the name owl-parrot is often applied to it."

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 445:

"Another remarkable bird is the owl parrot (Stringops

habroptilus) of a greenish colour, and with a circle of

feathers round the eye as in the owl. It is nocturnal in its

habits, lives in holes in the ground under tree-roots or

rocks."

1896. `Otago Witness,' June 11, p. 53:

"The Kakapo is one of our most unique birds."

<hw>Kakariki</hw>, n. Maori name for a green Parrakeet.

There are two species, Platycercus novae zelandiae,

Sparrm., and P. auriceps, Kuhl. See Parrakeet.

The word kakariki means literally little parrot,

kaka (q.v.) and iki (little), the r is

intrusive. It is applied also to a green lizard. In Maori it

becomes later an adjective, meaning `green.'

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 404:

"The Kakariki . . . (platycercus novae zeal.) is a

pretty light green parrot with a band of red or yellow over the

upper beak and under the throat. This elegant little bird is

about the size of a small thrush."

1894. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxvii.

p. 95 [Note]:

"The name Kakarika (indicative of colour) is applied

alike to the green lizard and to the green Parrakeet of our

woods."

<hw>Kamin</hw>, n. aboriginal word, explained in

quotation. It is probably local.

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 89:

"If he [the Australian black] has to climb a high tree, he

first goes into the scrub to fetch a piece of the Australian

calamus (Calamus australis), which he partly bites,

partly breaks off; he first bites on one side and breaks it

down, then on the other side and breaks it upwards--one, two,

three, and this tough whip is severed. At one end of it he

makes a knot, the other he leaves it as it is. This implement,

which is usually from sixteen to eighteen feet long, is called

a kamin."

<hw>Kanae</hw>, n. (trisyll.) Maori name for a fish

of New Zealand, the Silver-Mullet, Mugil perusii or

argenteus.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand'

(C.M.S.), p. 158:

"Kanae, s. The mullet fish."

1888. Order in Council, New Zealand, Jan. 10, `Regulations

under the Fisheries Conservation Act':

"The months of December, January, and February in each year

are here prescribed a close season for the fish of the species

of the mugil known as mullet or kanae."

<hw>Kanaka</hw>, n. and adj. a labourer from the

South Sea Islands, working in Queensland sugar-plantations.

The word is Hawaiian (Sandwich Islands). The kindred words are

given in the following extract from

Fornander's Polynesian Race' (1885), vol. iii. p. 154:

"Kanaka, s. Hawaiian, man, human, mankind, a

common man in distinction from chiefs. Samoan, New Zealand

[sc. Maori], Tongan, tangata, man. Tahitian,

taata, man."

In the original word the accent is on the first syllable, which

accent Mr. Rudyard Kipling preserves (see quotation, 1893),

though he has changed the word in his reprint of the poem in

`The Seven Seas'; but the usual pronunciation in Australia is

to accent the second syllable.

1794. J. J. Jarves, `History of Hawaiian Islands,' printed at

Honolulu (1872), p. 82:

"[On 21st Feb. 1794.] A salute was then fired, and the natives

shouted, `Kanaka no Beritane'--we are men of Britain."

1852. A. Miller, `Narrative of United States Exploring

Expedition,' c. ii. p. 142:

"On Monday (Nov. 16, 1840) our gentlemen formed themselves into

two parties, and started on horseback for their journey. One

party consisted of Messrs. Reade, Rich, and Wall, with eight

kanakas and two guides."

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

p. 133:

"Queensland at present is supplying itself with labour from

the South Sea Islands, and the men employed are called

Polynesians, or canakers, or islanders."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia, p. 162:

"The word `kanaka' is really a Maori word, signifying a man,

but in Australia it has come to be applied exclusively to the

inhabitants of the South Sea Islands."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Head Station,' p. 9:

"The kanaka reverences women and adores children. He is loyal

in heart, affectionate of disposition, and domestic in his

habits."

1888. H. S. Cooper, `The Islands of the Pacific,' p. 5:

"The kanakas, who at present populate Hawaii, are, as a rule,

well made and intelligent. That there is a cross of the Malay

and Indian blood in them few can doubt."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 64:

"Natives of the South Sea Islands, who in Australia are called

kanakas--a capable and intelligent race, especially to this

kind of work [on plantations], for they are strong, and endure

the tropical heat far better than the whites."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,'

p. 298:

"Thus, it is maintained by the planters, the kanaka, necessary

as he is to the conditions of North Queensland, opens up

avenues of skilled labour for the European, and makes

population and commerce possible where otherwise there would

be complete stagnation."

2892. `The Times,' Dec. 28:

"The principal open-air labour of the sugar plantations is

furnished by kanakas, who are the native inhabitants of certain

groups of South Sea Islands not at present under the protection

of any European flag."

1893. R. L. Stevenson, `Island Night's Entertainments,'

p. 41:

"What we want is a man-of-war--a German, if we could--they know

how to manage kanakas."

1893. Rudyard Kipling, `Banjo Song':

"We've shouted on seven-ounce nuggets,

We've starved on a kanaka's pay."

1893. C. H. Pearson, `National Life and Character,' p.32:

"In Australasia . . . the Maori, the Kanaka, and the Papuan

are dying out. We cannot close our eyes to the fact that

certain weak races--even when, like the kanaka, they possess

some very high qualities--seem to wither away at mere contact

with the European. . . . The kanakas (among whom we may include

the Maories)."

<hw>Kangaroo</hw>, n. (1) an aboriginal word.

See Marsupial.

(a) The Origin of the Name. The name was first obtained in

1770, while H.M.S. Endeavour lay beached at the

Endeavour River, where Cooktown, Queensland, now is. The name

first appears in print in 1773, in the book brought out by the

relatives of Mr. Parkinson, who was draughtsman to Banks the

naturalist, and who had died on the voyage. The object of this

book was to anticipate the official account of Cook's Voyage by

Hawkesworth, which appeared later in the same year. It is now

known that Hawkesworth's book was like a rope twisted of four

strands, viz. Cook's journal, the diaries of the two

naturalists, Banks and Solander, and quartum quid, the

Johnsonian pomposity of Dr. Hawkesworth. Cook's journal was

published in 1893, edited by Captain Wharton, hydrographer to

the Admiralty; Banks's journal, in 1896, edited by Sir J. D.

Hooker. Solander's journal has never been printed.

When Englishmen next came to Australia in 1788, it was found

that the word Kangaroo was not known to the natives

round Port Jackson, distant 1500 miles to the South of

Cooktown. In fact, it was thought by them to be an English

word. (See quotation, Tench, 1789.) It is a question whether

the word has belonged to any aboriginal vocabulary since.

"Capt. Philip P. King, the explorer, who visited that locality

[sc. Endeavour River] forty-nine years after Cook, relates in

his `Narrative of the Survey of the Intertropical and Western

Coasts of Australia,' that he found the word kangaroo unknown

to the tribe he met there, though in other particulars the

vocabulary he compiled agrees very well with Captain Cook's."

(Curr's `Australian Race,' vol. i. p. 27.) In the fourth

volume of Curr's book a conspectus is given of the words used

in different parts of Australia for various objects. In the

list of names for this animal there are a few that are not far

from Kangaroo, but some inquirers suspect the accuracy

of the list, or fancy that the natives obtained the words

sounding like Kangaroo from English. It may be assumed

that the word is not now in use as an aboriginal word. Has it,

then, disappeared? or was it an original mistake on the part of

Banks or Cook ?

The theory of a mistake has obtained widely. It has figured in

print, and finds a place in at least one dictionary. Several

correspondents have written that the word Kangaroo meant

"I don't understand," and that Banks mistook this for a name.

This is quite possible, but at least some proof is needed, as

for instance the actual words in the aboriginal language that

could be twisted into this meaning. To find these words, and

to hear their true sound, would test how near the explanation

hits the mark. Banks was a very careful observer, and he

specially notes the precautions he took to avoid any mistake in

accepting native words. Moreover, according to Surgeon

Anderson, the aborigines of Van Diemen's Land described the

animal by the name of Kangaroo. (See quotation, 1787.)

On the other hand, it must be remembered that it is an

ascertained fact that the aborigines taboo a word on the death

of any one bearing that word as a proper name. (See quotation

under Nobbler, 1880.) If, therefore, after Cook's visit,

some man called Kangaroo died, the whole tribe would

expunge Kangaroo from its vocabulary. There is,

however, some evidence that the word was much later in use

in Western Australia. (See quotation, 1835.)

It is now asserted that the word is in use again at the very

part of Queensland where the Endeavour was beached.

Lumholtz, in his `Amongst Cannibals' (p. 311), gives it in his

aboriginal vocabulary. Mr. De Vis, of the Brisbane Museum, in

his paper before the Geographical Society at Brisbane (1894),

says that "in point of fact the word `kangaroo' is the normal

equivalent for kangaroo at the Endeavour River; and not only

so, it is almost the type-form of a group of variations in use

over a large part of Australia." It is curiously hard to

procure satisfactory evidence as to the fact. Mr. De Vis says

that his first statement was "made on the authority of a

private correspondent; "but another correspondent writes from

Cooktown, that the blacks there have taken Kangaroo from

English. Inquiries inserted in each of the Cooktown newspapers

have produced no result. Mr. De Vis' second argument as to the

type-form seems much stronger. A spoken language, unwritten,

unprinted, must inevitably change, and change rapidly. A word

current in 1770 would change rather than disappear, and the

root consonants would remain. The letters ng together,

followed by r, occur in the proportion of one in

thirteen, of the names for the animal tabulated by Curr.

It is a difficult matter on which to speak decidedly, but

probably no great mistake was made, and the word received was

a genuine name of the animal.

See further the quotations, 1896.

(b) The Plural of the Word.

There seems to be considerable doubt as to the plural of the

word, whether it should take s like most English words,

or remain unchanged like sheep, deer. In two

consecutive pages of one book the two plurals are used. The

general use is the plural in s. See 1793 Hunter, 1845

Balfour, and 1880 Senior; sportsmen frequently use the form

Kangaroo.

[Since 1888 a kangaroo has been the design on the one-shilling

postage stamp of New South Wales.]

1815. `History of New South Wales,' (1818) PP. 460-461:

"Throughout the general course of the journey, kangaroos, emus,

ducks, etc. were seen in numbers." "Mr. Evans saw the

kangaroo in immense flocks."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 49:

"The kangaroos are too subtle and shy for us to get near."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 125:

"In the afternoon we saw some kangaroos and wallaby, but did

not succeed in killing any."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. iii. p. 23:

"Though kangaroo were plentiful, they were not overwhelming to

number."

1777. Buffon, `Supplement a l'Histoire Naturelle,' tom. iv.

`Table des Matieres':

"Kanguros, espece de grosse Gerboise qui se trouve dans les

terres australes de la Nouvelle Hollande."

1800. J. J. Labillardiere, `Voyage a la recherche de La

Perouse,' tom. i. p. 134: [Under date April 24, 1792.]

"Un de nos chasseurs trouva un jeune kangourou sur les bords de

la mer."

1880. H. de Charency, `Recherches sur les Dialectes

Tasmaniens,' p. 21:

"Kangourou. Ce mot semble d'origine non Australienne, comme on

l'a soutenu, mais bien Tasmanienne."

1882. Littre, `Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise' (s.v.):

"Kanguroo ou kangarou. On ecrit aussi kangarou et kangourou."

1882. A. Daudet, `Jack,' p. 131:

Il regardait les kangaroos dresses sur leurs pattes, si

longues qu'elles ont l'agilite et l'elan d'une paire d'ailes."

1890. Oscar Comettant [Title]:

"Au Pays des Kangourous."

(d) Kangaroo in German--Kaenguruh:

1892. R. V. Lendenfeld, `Australische Reise,' p. 46:

"Die Kaenguruh hoben in dem Augenblick, als sie das Geheul

hoerten, die Koepfe hoch and witterten, blickten and loosten

in alle Richtungen."

Notice that both in French and German the u sound of the

middle syllable is preserved and not changed as in English to

a.

(e) The species.

The name Kangaroo is applied to the following larger

species of the genus Macropus, the remaining species

being called Wallabies--

Antilopine Kangaroo--

Macropus antilopinus, Gould.

Great Grey K., or Forester--

M. giganteus, Zimm.

Great Red K.--

M. rufus, Desm.

Isabelline K.--

M. isabellinus, Gould.

Owen's K.--

M. magnus, Owen.

Wallaroo, or Euro--

M. robustus, Gould.

The name Kangaroo is also applied to certain other

species of Marsupials belonging to the genus Macropus,

but with a qualifying adjective, such as Dorca-,

Tree-, Rat-, Musk-, etc.; and it is

applied to species of the genera Dorcopsis,

Dendrolagus, Bettongia, and Hypsiprymnodon. The

Brush-Kangaroo (q.v.) is another name for the

Wallaby (q.v.), and the Rat-Kangaroo is the

stricter scientific appellation of Kangaroo-Rat (q.v.).

The Banded-Kangaroo is a Banded-Wallaby (see

Lagostrophus). See also Dorca-Kangaroo,

Tree-Kangaroo, Musk-Kangaroo, Dorcopsis,

Dendrolagus, Bettongia, Hypsiprymnodon,

Rock-Wallaby, Paddy-melon, Forester,

Old Man,, Joey, and Boomah.

(f) The Use of the Word.

1770. `Capt. Cook's Journal' (edition Wharton, 1893), p. 244:

May 1st. An animal which must feed upon grass, and which,

we judge, could not be less than a deer."

[p. 280]: "June 23rd. One of the men saw an animal something

less than a greyhound; it was of a mouse colour, very slender

made, and swift of foot."

[p. 294]: August 4th. "The animals which I have before

mentioned, called by the Natives Kangooroo or Kanguru."

[At Endeavour River, Queensland.]

1770. Joseph Banks, `Journal' (edition Hooker, 1896), p. 287:

"July 14.--Our second Lieutenant had the good fortune to

kill the animal that had so long been the subject of our

speculations. To compare it to any European animal would be

impossible, as it has not the least resemblance to any one that

I have seen. Its forelegs are extremely short, and of no use

to 1t in walking; its hind again as disproportionally long;

with these it hops seven or eight feet at a time, in the same

manner as the jerboa, to which animal indeed it bears much

resemblance, except in size, this being in weight 38 lbs., and

the jerboa no larger than a common rat."

Ibid. p. 301:

"August 26.--Quadrupeds we saw but few, and were able to

catch but few of those we did see. The largest was called by

the natives kangooroo; it is different from any

European, and, indeed, any animal I have heard or read of,

except the jerboa of Egypt, which is not larger than a rat,

while this is as large as a middling lamb. The largest we shot

weighed 84 lbs. It may, however, be easily known from all

other animals by the singular property of running, or rather

hopping, upon only its hinder legs, carrying its fore-feet

close to its breast. In this manner it hops so fast that in

the rocky bad ground where it is commonly found, it easily beat

my greyhound, who though he was fairly started at several,

killed only one, and that quite a young one."

1773. Sydney Parkinson, `Journal of a Voyage,' p. 149:

"Kangooroo, the leaping quadruped."

[A description given at p. 145.]

1773. J. Hawkesworth, `Voyages,' vol. iii. p. 577:

"July 14, 1770. Mr. Gore, who went out this day with his gun,

had the good fortune to kill one of the animals which had been

so much the subject of our speculation. An idea of it will

best be conceived by the cut, plate xx., without which the most

accurate verbal description would answer very little purpose,

as it has not similitude enough to any animal already known to

admit of illustration by reference. In form it is most like

the gerbua, which it also resembles in its motion, as has been

observed already, for it greatly differs in size, the gerbua

not being larger than a common rat, and this animal, when full

grown, being as big as a sheep: this individual was a young

one, much under its full growth, weighing only thirty-eight

pounds. The head, neck, and shoulders are very small in

proportion to the other parts of the body; the tail is nearly

as long as the body, thick near the rump, and tapering towards

the end: the fore-legs of this individual were only eight

inches long, and the hind-legs two-and-twenty: its progress is

by successive leaps or hops, of a great length, in an erect

posture; the fore-legs are kept bent close to the breast, and

seemed to be of use only for digging: the skin is covered with

a short fur, of a dark mouse or grey colour, excepting the head

and ears, which bear a slight resemblance to those of a hare.

In form it is most like the gerbua. This animal is called by the

natives `kangaroo.'" [This account, it will be seen, is based

on the notes of Banks.]

1774. Oliver Goldsmith, `Animated Nature,' Book VII. c. xvi.,

The Gerbua,' [in four-vol. ed., vol. iii. p. 30]:

"But of all animals of this kind, that which was first

discovered and described by Mr. Banks is the most

extraordinary. He calls it the kanguroo; and though from its

general outline and the most striking peculiarities of its

figure it greatly resembles the gerbua, yet it entirely

differs, if we consider its size, or those minute distinctions

which direct the makers of systems in assorting the general

ranks of nature. The largest of the gerbua kind which are to

be found in the ancient continent do not exceed the size of a

rabbit. The kanguroo of New Holland, where it is only to be

found, is often known to weigh above sixty pounds, and must

consequently be as large as a sheep. Although the skin of that

which was stuffed and brought home by Mr. Banks was not much

above the size of a hare, yet it was greatly superior to any of

the gerbua kind that have been hitherto known, and very

different in many particulars. The snout of the gerbua, as has

been said, is short and round, that of the discovered animal

long and slender; the teeth also entirely differ, for as the

gerbua has but two cutting teeth in each jaw, making four in

all, this animal, besides its cutting teeth, has four canial

teeth also; but what makes a more striking peculiarity, is the

formation of its lower jaw, which, as the ingenious discoverer

supposes, is divided into two parts which open and shut like a

pair of scissors, and cut grass, probably this animal's

principal food. The head, neck, and shoulders are very small

in proportion to the other parts of the body; the tail is

nearly as long as the body; thick near the rump and tapering

towards the head and ears, which bear a slight resemblance to

those of the hare. We are not told, however, from the

formation of its stomach to what class of quadrupeds it

belongs: from its eating grass, which it has been seen to do,

one would be apt to rank it among the ruminating animals; but

from the canial teeth which it is found to have, we may on the

other hand suppose it to bear some relation to the carnivorous.

Upon the whole, however, it can be classed with none more

properly than with the animals of the gerbua kind, as its

hind-legs are so much longer than the fore; it moves also

precisely in the same manner, taking great bounds of ten or

twelve feet at a time, and thus sometimes escaping the fleetest

greyhound, with which Mr. Banks pursued it. One of them that

was killed proved to be good food; but a second, which weighed

eighty-four pounds, and was not yet come to its full growth,

was found to be much inferior."

1787, Surgeon Anderson, quoted by W. Eden, in `History of New

Holland' (second edition), p. 71:

"However, we must have a far more intimate acquaintance with

the languages spoken here [Van Diemen's Land] and in the more

northern parts of New Holland, before we can pronounce that

they are totally different; nay, we have good grounds for the

opposite opinion; for we found that the animal called kangaroo

at Endeavour River was known under the same name here."

1781. T. Pennant, `History of Quadrupeds,' vol. i. p. 306: