2) Olea of various species (formerly Fusanus);_Austral English

(3) Eugenia maire, A. Cunn., native box-wood, but now

usually confined to N.O. Santalaceae.

1835. W. Yate, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 41:

"Mairi--a tree of the Podocarpus species."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, pp. 132-33:

"Maire--a small tree ten to fifteen feet high, six to eight

inches in diameter; wood hard, close-grained, heavy, used by

Maoris in the manufacture of war implements. Has been used as

a substitute for box by wood-engravers. Black maire,

N.O. Jasmineae;also Maire-rau-nui, Olea

Cunninghamii. Hook., fil., Black M., forty to fifty feet

high, three to four feet in diameter, timber close-grained,

heavy, and very durable."

<hw>Major Buller</hw>, n. name given to one of the

fruits of the Geebong tribe. See Geebong.

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

p. 82:

"The Sergeant Baker in all probability got its local

appellation to the early history of the colony (New South

Wales), as it was called after a sergeant of that name in one

of the first detachments of a regiment; so were also two fruits

of the Geebong tribe (Persoonia); one was called Major

Buller, and the other Major Groce, and this latter again

further corrupted into Major Grocer."

<hw>Major Groce</hw>, or <hw>Major Grocer</hw>, name given to

one of the fruits of the Geebung tribe. See Geebung,

/or Geebong/ and quotation under Major Buller.

<hw>Major Mitchell</hw>, n. vernacular name of a species

of Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri, Vig. It was called

after the explorer, Major (afterwards Sir Thomas) Mitchell, who

was Surveyor- General of New South Wales. The cry of the bird

was fancifully supposed to resemble his name.

See Leadbeater.

<hw>Make a light</hw>, expressive pigeon-English. An aboriginal's

phrase for to look for, to find. "You been make a light

yarraman this morning?" i.e. Have you found or seen the

horses this morning?

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' vol. ii. p. 185

[Footnote]:

"`Make a light,' in blackfellow's gibberish, means simply

`See.'"

<hw>Mako</hw>, n. originally Makomako. Maori

name for a New Zealand tree, Aristotelia racemosa,

Hook., N.O. Tiliaceae, often but incorrectly called

Mokomoko.

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 130:

"Mako, a small handsome tree, six to twenty feet high,

quick-growing, with large racemes of reddish nodding flowers.

Wood very light and white in colour."

<hw>Mako/2/</hw>, n. Maori name for the Tiger-

Shark. See Shark. The teeth of the Mako are used

for ornaments by the Maoris.

<hw>Mallee</hw>, n. and adj. an aboriginal word.

Any one of several scrubby species of Eucalyptus in the desert

parts of South Australia and Victoria, especially Eucalyptus

dumosa, Cunn., and E. oleosa, F. v. M., N.O.

Myrtaceae. They are also called Mallee Gums.

Accent on the first syllable. The word is much used as an

adjective to denote the district in which the shrub grows, the

"Mallee District," and this in late times is generally

shortened into The Mallee. Compare "The Lakes" for the

Lake-district of Cumberland. It then becomes used as an

epithet of Railways, Boards, Farmers, or any matters connected

with that district.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 73:

"The natives of the Wimmera prepare a luscious drink from the

laap, a sweet exudation from the leaf of the mallee

(Eucalyptus dumosa"

1854. E. Stone Parker, `Aborigines of Australia,' p. 25:

"The immense thickets of Eucalyptus dumosa, commonly

designated the `Malle' scrub."

1857. W. Howitt,' Tallangetta,' vol. ii. p. 2:

"This mallee scrub, as it is called, consists of a dense wood

of a dwarf species of gum-tree, Eucalyptus dumosa.

This tree, not more than a dozen feet in height, stretches its

horizontal and rigid branches around it so as to form with its

congeners a close, compact mass."

186. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia, vol. i. p. 214

(Oxley's Expedition in 1817):

"The country, in dead flats, was overspread with what is now

called mallee scrub, that is, the dwarf spreading eucalyptus,

to which Mr. Cunningham gave the specific name of

dumosa, a most pestilent scrub to travel through,

the openings betwixt the trees being equally infested with

the detestable malle-grass."

1883. `The Mallee Pastoral Leases Act, 1883,' 47 Vict.

No. 766, p. 3:

"The lands not alienated from the Crown and situated in the

North-Western district of Victoria within the boundaries set

forth in the First Schedule hereto, comprising in all some ten

millions of acres wholly or partially covered with the mallee

plant, and known as the Mallee Country, shall be divided into

blocks as hereinafter provided."

1890. `The Argus,' June 13, p. 6, col. 2:

"Mallee Selections at Horsham. A special Mallee Board,

consisting of Mr. Hayes, head of the Mallee branch of

the Lands Department, and Mr. Porter."

1893. `The Argus,' April 24, p. 7, col. 5:

"In the Mallee country there is abundance of work, cutting down

mallee, picking up dead wood, rabbit destruction, etc.

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 46:

"One of the most common terms used by explorers is `Mallee'

scrub, so called from its being composed of dwarf species of

Eucalyptus, called `Mallee' by the natives. The species that

forms the `mallee' scrub of South Australia is the

Eucalyptus dumosa, and it is probable that allied

species receive the same name in other parts of the country."

1897. `The Argus,' March 2, p. 7, col. 1:

"The late Baron von Mueller was firmly convinced that it would

pay well in this colony, and especially in the mallee, to

manufacture potash."

<hw>Mallee-bird</hw>, n. an Australian bird, Leipoa

ocellata, Gould. Aboriginal name, the Lowan (q.v.);

see Turkey.

<hw>Mallee-fowl</hw>, n. Same as Mallee-bird

(q.v.).

<hw>Mallee-hen</hw>, n. Same as Mallee-bird

(q.v.).

1890. `Victorian Statutes-Game Act, Third Schedule':

[Close Season.] "Mallee-hen, from 1st day of August

to the 20th day of December next following in each year."

1895. `The Australasian,' Oct.5, p. 652, col. 1:

". . . the economy of the lowan or mallee-hen. . . . It

does not incubate its eggs after the manner of other birds, but

deposits them in a large mound of sand . . . Shy and timid.

Inhabits dry and scrubs. In shape and size resembles a greyish

mottled domestic turkey, but is smaller, more compact and

stouter in the legs."

<hw>Mallee-scrub</hw>, n. the "scrub," or thicket,

formed by the Mallee (q.v.).

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 22:

"The flat and, rarely, hilly plains . . . are covered

chiefly with thickets and `scrub' of social plants, generally

with hard and prickly leaves. This `scrub,' which is quite a

feature of the Australian interior, is chiefly formed of a

bushy Eucalyptus, which grows somewhat like our osiers to a

height of 8 or 10 feet, and often so densely covers the ground

as to be quite impenetrable. This is the `Mallee scrub' of

the explorers; while the still more dreaded `Mulga scrub'

consists of species of prickly acacia, which tear the clothes

and wound the flesh of the traveller."

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

Australian warblers. Name reduced from Malacurus, from

the Grk. malakos, soft, and 'oura, a tail. The

type-species is Malurus cyaneus of Australia, the

Superb Warbler or Blue-Wren. See Superb

Warbler, Wren, and Emu-Wren. All the

Maluri, of which there are fifteen or sixteen species,

are popularly known as Superb Warblers, but are more correctly

called Wrens.

1896. F. G. Aflalo, `Natural History of Australia,' p. 136:

"The Wrens and Warblers--chiefly Maluri,

with the allied Amytis and Stipiturus--are purely

Australian. They are feeble on the wing but swift of foot."

<hw>Mana</hw>, n. a Maori word for power, influence,

right, authority, prestige. See chapter on Mana,

in `Old New Zealand' (1863), by Judge Maning.

1843. E. Dieffenbach, `Travels in New Zealand,' vol. i.

p. 371:

"Mana--command, authority, power."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 279:

"The natives feel that with the land their `mana,' or power,

has gone likewise; few therefore can now be induced to part

with land."

1863. F. E. Maning (Pakeha Maori), `Old New Zealand,' Intro.

p. iii:

"The Maoris of my tribe used to come and ask me which had the

greatest `mana' (i.e. fortune, prestige, power, strength),

the Protestant God or the Romanist one."

1873. `Appendix to Journal of House of Representatives,'

G. i, B. p. 8:

"The Government should be asked to recognize his mana

over that territory."

1881. J. L.Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 166:

"We should be glad to shelter ourselves under the mana--

the protection--of good old Kanini."

1892. `Otago Witness,' Dec 22, p. 7, col. 1:

"A man of great lineage whose personal mana was undisputed."

1896. `New Zealand Herald,' Feb. 14 [Leading Article]:

"The word `mana,' power, or influence, may be said to be

classical, as there were learned discussions about its precise

meaning in the early dispatches and State papers. It may be

said that misunderstanding about what mana meant caused

the war at Taranaki."

<hw>Mangaroo</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a small flying

phalanger with exquisitely fine fur.

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

p. 217:

"Descending from the branches of an ironbark tree beside him,

a beautiful little mangaroo floated downwards on out-stretched

wings to the foot of a sapling at a little distance away, and

nimbly ascending it was followed by his mate."

<hw>Mangi</hw>, or <hw>Mangeao</hw>, n. Maori name for

a New Zealand tree, Litsea calicaris, Benth. and Hook. f.

1873. `Catalogue of Vienna Exhibition':

"Mangi--remarkably tough and compact, used for ship-blocks

and similar purposes."

<hw>Mango</hw>, n. Maori name for the Dog-fish

(q.v.), a species of shark.

<hw>Mangrove</hw>, n. The name is applied to trees

belonging to different natural orders, common in all tropical

regions and chiefly littoral. Species of these, Rhizophorea

mucronata, Lamb, and Avicennia officinalis, Linn.,

are common in Australia; the latter is also found in New

Zealand.

Bruguiera rheedii, of the N.O. Rhizophoreae,

is called in Australia Red Mangrove, and the same

vernacular name is applied to Heritiera littoralis,

Dryand., N.O. Sterculiaceae, the Sundri of India

and the Looking-glass Tree of English gardeners.

The name Milky Mangrove is given, in Australia, to

Excaecaria agallocha, Linn., N.O. Euphorbiaceae,

which further goes by the names of River Poisonous Tree

and Blind-your-Eyes--names alluding to the poisonous

juice of the stem.

The name River Mangrove is applied to AEgiceras

majus, Gaertn., N.O. Myrsineae, which is not endemic

in Australia.

In Tasmania, Native Mangrove is another name for the

Boobialla (q.v.)

<hw>Mangrove-Myrtle</hw>, n. name applied by Leichhardt

to the Indian tree Barringtonia acutangula, Gaertn.

(Stravadium rubrum De C.), N.O. Myrtaceae.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 289:

"As its foliage and the manner of the growth resemble

the mangrove, we called it the mangrove-myrtle."

<hw>Manna</hw>, n. the dried juice, of sweet taste,

obtained from incisions in the bark of various trees. The

Australian manna is obtained from certain Eucalypts, especially

E. viminalis, Labill. It differs chemically from the

better known product of the Manna-Ash (Fraxinus ornus).

See Lerp.

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 99:

"Several of the species yield an exudation in the spring and

summer months, which coagulates and drops from the leaves to

the ground in small irregular shaped snow white particles,

often as large as an almond [?]. They are sweet and very

pleasant to the taste, and are greedily devoured by the birds,

ants, and other animals, and used to be carefully picked up and

eaten by the aborigines. This is a sort of Manna."

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

p. 211:

"Two varieties of a substance called manna are among the

natural products . . . one kind . . . being secreted by the

leaves and slender twigs of the E. viminalis from

punctures or injuries done to these parts of the tree. . . .

It consists principally of a kind of grape sugar and about 5 %.

of the substance called mannite. Another variety of manna is

the secretion of the pupa of an insect of the Psylla

family and obtains the name of lerp among the

aborigines. At certain seasons of the year it is very abundant

on the leaves of E. dumosa, or mallee scrub . . ."

1878. W. W. Spicer, `Handbook of Plants of Tasmania, p. viii:

"The Hemipters, of which the aphids, or plant-lice, are a

familiar example, are furnished with stiff beaks, with which

they pierce the bark and leaves of various plants for the

purpose of extracting the juices. It is to the punctures of

this and some other insects of the same Order, that the sweet

white manna is due, which occurs in large quantities during the

summer months on many of the gum-trees."

<hw>Manna-Grass</hw>. See Grass.

<hw>Manna-Gum</hw>. See Manna and Gum.

<hw>Manoao</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree,

Yellow-pine, Dacrydium colensoi, Hook.,

N.O. Coniferae.

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 192:

"The wood of the manoao is of a light-brown colour."

<hw>Manucode</hw>, n. The word is in English use for

the bird-of- paradise. It is Malay (manuk-dewata = bird

of the gods). The species in Australia is Manucodia

gouldii, Grey. See also Rifle-bird.

<hw>Manuka</hw>, n. the Maori name for Tea-tree

(q.v.). Properly, the accent is on the first syllable with

broad a. Vulgarly, the accent is placed on the second

syllable. There are two species in New Zealand, white

and red; the first, a low bush called Scrub-Manuka,

L. scoparium, R. and G. Forst., the Tea-tree used

by Captain Cook's sailors; the second, a tree Leptospermum

ericoides, A. Richard.

1840. J. S. Polack, `Manners and Customs of the New

Zealanders,' p. 258:

"This wood, called by the southern tribes manuka, is

remarkably hard and durable, and throughout the country is an

especial favourite with the natives, who make their spears,

paddles, fishing rods, etc., of this useful timber."

1842. W. R. Wade, `Journey in Northern Island of New

Zealand,' p. 75:

"The Manuka, or, as it is called in the northern part of the

island, Kahikatoa (leptospermum scoparium), is a

mysterious plant, known in Van Diemen's Land as the tea tree."

1843. E. Dieffenbach, `Travels in New Zealand,' vol. i.

p. 28:

"The manuka supplies the place of the tea-shrub."

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

p. 270:

"[The house] was protected from the weather by a wooden railing

filled in with branches of the manuka. This is a shrub very

abundant in some parts. The plant resembles the teaplant in

leaves and flower, and is often used green by the whalers and

traders for the same purpose."

1851. Mrs.Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 46:

"It is generally made of manuka a very hard, dark,

close-grained and heavy wood."

1867. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 121:

"The manuka, a sort of scrub, has a pretty blossom like a

diminutive Michaelmas daisy, white petals and a brown centre,

with a very aromatic odour; and this little flower is

succeeded by a berry with the same strong smell and taste of

spice. The shepherds sometimes make an infusion of these when

they are very hard up for tea; but it must be like drinking a

decoction of cloves."

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking about in New Zealand,' p. 70:

"Chiefly covered with fern and tea-tree (manuka) scrub."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 149:

"Then to a copse of manuka retreat,

Where they could safely, secretly commune."

[Domett has the following note--"`A large shrub or small tree;

leaves used as tea in Tasmania and Australia, where the plant

is equally abundant' (Hooker). In the poem it is called

indiscriminately manuka, broom, broom-like myrtle, or

leptosperm. The settlers often call it `tea-broom.'"]

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 23:

"A tremendous fire of broadleaf and manuka roared in the

chimney."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 123:

"Manuka is a shrub which is rampant throughout New Zealand.

If it were less common it would be thought more beautiful.

In summer it is covered with white blossom: and there are

few more charming sights than a plain of flourishing manuka."

<hw>Maomao</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand

sea-fish, Ditrema violacea.

1886. R. A. Sherrin, `Fishes of New Zealand,' p. 67:

"The delicious little maomao may be caught at the Riverina

Rocks in immense quantities."

<hw>Maori</hw>, n. (pronounced so as to rhyme with

Dowry). (1) The name used to designate themselves by

the Polynesian race occupying New Zealand when it was

discovered by the white man, and which still survives. They

are not aboriginal as is commonly supposed, but migrated into

New Zealand about 500 years ago from Hawaii, the tradition

still surviving of the two great canoes (Arawa and

Tainui) in which the pioneers arrived. They are

commonly spoken of as the Natives of New Zealand.

(2) The language of the Maori race.

(3) adj. applied to anything pertaining to the Maoris or

their language. See Pakeha.

There is a discussion on the word in the `Journal of Polynesian

Society,' vol. i. no. 3, vol. ii. no. 1, and vol. iii. no. i.

Bishop Williams (4th ed.) says that the word means, "of the

normal or usual kind." The Pakehas were not men to whom the

natives were accustomed. So Maori was used as opposed to the

Europeans, the white-skins. Kuri Maori was a name used

for a dog after the arrival of other quadrupeds called also

kuri. Wai maori was freshwater, ordinary as

opposed to sea-water. Another explanation is that the word

meant "indigenous," and that there are kindred words with that

meaning in other Polynesian languages. First, "indigenous," or

"of the native race," and then with a secondary meaning,

"ours." (See Tregear's Maori Comparative Dictionary,' s.v.)

The form of the plural varies. The form Maoris

is considered the more correct, but the form Maories

is frequently used by good writers.

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

p. 194:

"The Maori language is essentially a poor one, and possesses

in particular but few words which express abstract ideas."

1859. A. S. Thomson, `Story of New Zealand,' vol. i. c. iii.

p. 51:

"No light is thrown on the origin of the New Zealanders from

the name Maori which they call themselves. This word, rendered

by linguists `native,' is used in contradistinction to pakeha,

or stranger."

1864. Crosbie Ward, `Canterbury Rhymes,' `The Runaways' (2nd

edition), p. 79:

"One morn they fought, the fight was hot,

Although the day was show'ry;

And many a gallant soldier then

Was bid Memento Maori."

1891. Jessie Mackay, `The Sitter on the Rail, and other

Poems,' p. 61:

"Like the night, the fated Maori

Fights the coming day;

Fights and falls as doth the kauri

Hewn by axe away."

(4) Name given in New South Wales to the fish, Cosis

lineolatus, one of the Labridae, or Wrasses.

<hw>Maori-Cabbage</hw>, n. the wild cabbage of New

Zealand, Brassica spp., N.O. Cruciferae, said to

be descended from the cabbages planted by Captain Cook.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 206.:

"Every recollection of Cook is interesting. . . . But the chief

record of his having been on the island is the cabbage and

turnip which he sowed in various places: these have spread and

become quite naturalized, growing everywhere in the greatest

abundance, and affording an inexhaustible supply of excellent

vegetables."

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,'

p. 131:

"The only plant good to eat is Maori cabbage, and that is swede

turnip gone wild, from seed left by Captain Cook."

1880. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,'

vol. xiii. art. i. p. 31 [`On the Vegetable Food of the

Ancient New Zealanders']:

"The leaves of several smaller plants were also used as

vegetables; but the use of these in modern times, or during the

last forty or fifty years, was commonly superseded by that of

the extremely useful and favourite plant--the Maori cabbage,

Brassica oleracea, introduced by Cook (nani of the

Maoris at the north, and rearea at the south), of which they

carefully sowed the seeds."

<hw>Maori-chief</hw>, n. name given to a New Zealand

Flathead-fish, Notothenia maoriensis, or

coriiceps. The name arises from marks on the fish

like tattooing. It is a very dark, almost black fish.

1877. P. Thomson, `Transactions of the New Zealand

Institute,' vol. x. art. xliv. p. 330:

"Some odd fishes now and then turn up in the market, such as

the Maori-chief, cat-fish, etc."

1878. Ibid. vol. xi. art. lii. p. 381:

"That very dark-skinned fish, the Maori-chief, Notothenia

Maoriensis of Dr. Haast, is not uncommon, but is rarely

seen more than one at a time."

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 5:

"Resemblances are strange things. At first it would seem

improbable that a fish could be like a man, but in Dunedin a

fish was shown to me called Maori Chief, and with the exercise

of a little imagination it was not difficult to perceive the

likeness. Nay, some years ago, at a fishmonger's in Melbourne,

a fish used to be labelled with the name of a prominent

Victorian politician now no more. There is reason, however,

to believe that art was called in to complete the likeness."

<hw>Maori-head</hw>, n. a swamp tussock, so called from

a fancied resemblance to the head of a Maori. (Compare

Black-boy.) It is not a grass, but a sedge

(carex).

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 169:

"A boggy creek that oozed sluggishly through rich black soil,

amongst tall raupo, maori-heads, and huge flax-bushes."

1892. W. McHutcheson, `Camp Life in Fiordland,' p. 34:

"Amid the ooze and slime rose a rank growth of `Maori heads.'"

<hw>Maori-hen</hw>, n. Same as Weka (q.v.).

<hw>Maoriland</hw>, n. a modern name for New Zealand.

It is hardly earlier than 1884. If the word, or anything like

it, such as Maoria, was used earlier, it meant "the

Maori parts of New Zealand." It is now used for the whole.

1873. J. H. St. John [Title]:

"Pakeha Rambles through Maori Lands."

1874. J. C. Johnstone [Title]:

"Maoria: a sketch of the Manners and Customs of the

Aboriginal Inhabitants of New Zealand."

1884. Kerry Nicholls [Title]:

"The King Country, or Explorations in New Zealand.

A Narrative of 600 Miles of Travel through Maoriland."

1884. [Title]:

"Maoriland: an Illustrated Handbook to New Zealand."

2) <i>Olea</i> of various species (formerly <i>Fusanus</i>);