The commoner forms are as follows:--_Austral English

Common Dormouse O.--

Dromicia nana, Desm.

Common Opossum--

Trichosurus vulpecula, Kerr.

Common Ring-tailed-O.--

Pseudochirus peregrinus, Bodd.

Greater Flying-O.--

Petauroides volans, Kerr.

Lesser Dormouse O.--

Dromicia lepida, Thomas.

Lesser Flying-O.--

Petaurus breviceps, Water.

Pigmy Flying-O.-

Acrobates pygmaeus.

Short-eared-O.--

Trichosurus caninus, W. Ogilby.

Squirrel Flying-O., or Flying Squirrel--

Petaurus sciureus, Shaw.

Striped O.--

Dactylopsila trivirgata, Gray.

Tasmanian, or Sooty O.--

Trichosurus vulpecula, var. fuliginosus.

Tasmanian Ring-tailed-O.--

Pseudochirus cooki, Desm.

Yellow-bellied Flying-O.--

Petaurus australis, Shaw.

Of the rare little animal called Leadbeater's Opossum,

only one specimen has been found, and that in Victoria;

it is Gymnobelideus leadbeateri, and is the only

species of this genus.

1608. John Smith, `Travels, Adventures, and Observations in

Europe, Asia, Africke, and America, beginning about 1593, and

continued to 1629;' 2 vols., Richmond, U.S., reprinted 1819;

vol. i. p. 124 [On the American animal; in the part about

Virginia, 1608]:

"An Opassom hath a head like a Swine,--a taile like a Rat, and

is of the bigness of a Cat. Under the belly she hath a bagge,

wherein she lodgeth, carrieth and suckleth her young."

[This is the American opossum. There are only two known genera

of living marsupials outside the Australian region.]

1770. `Capt. Cook's Journal' (edition Wharton, 1893), p. 294

[at Endeavour River, Aug. 4, 1770]:

"Here are Wolves, Possums, an animal like a ratt, and snakes."

1770. J. Banks, `Journal,' July 26, (edition Hooker, 1896,

p. 291):

"While botanising to-day I had the good fortune to take an

animal of the opossum (Didelphis) tribe; it was a

female, and with it I took two young ones. It was not unlike

that remarkable one which De Buffon has described by the name

of Phalanger as an American animal. It was, however,

not the same. M. de Buffon is certainly wrong in asserting

that this tribe is peculiar to America, and in all probability,

as Pallas has said in his Zoologia, the Phalanger

itself is a native of the East Indies, as my animals and that

agree in the extraordinary conformation of their feet, in which

they differ from all others."

1789. Governor Phillip, `Voyage to Botany Bay,' p. 104:

"The pouch of the female, in which the young are nursed,

is thought to connect it rather with the opossum tribe."

[p. 147]: "A small animal of the opossum kind."

[p. 293]: "Black flying-opossum. [Description given.] The fur

of it is so beautiful, and of so rare a texture, that should it

hereafter be found in plenty, it might probably be thought a

very valuable article of commerce."

1793. J. Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 68:

"The opossum is also very numerous here, but it is not exactly

like the American opossum: it partakes a good deal of the

kangaroo in the strength of its tail and make of its fore-legs,

which are very short in proportion to the hind ones; like that

animal it has the pouch, or false belly, for the safety of its

young in time of danger."

1798. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' fol. i.

p. 562:

"At an early age the females wear round the waist a small line

made of the twisted hair of the opossum, from the centre of

which depend a few small uneven lines from two to five inches

long. This they call bar-rin."

1809. G. Shaw, `Zoological Lectures,' vol. i. p. 93:

"A still more elegant kind of New Holland opossum is the

petaurine opossum . . . has the general appearance of a

flying-squirrel, being furnished with a broad furry membrane

from the fore to the hind feet, by the help of which it springs

from tree to tree. . . . Known in its native regions by the

name of hepoona roo."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 67:

"Their food consists of fish when near the coasts, but when in

the woods, of oppossums [sic], bandicoots, and almost any

animal they can catch."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 143:

"The sharp guttural noises of opossums."

Ibid. p. 174 [`The Native Woman's Lament']:

"The white man wanders in the dark,

We hear his thunder smite the bough;

The opossum's mark upon the bark

We traced, but cannot find it, now."

1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 324:

"The opossums usually abound where grass is to be found,

lodging by day in the holes and hollows of trees. The most

common species is the Phalangista vulpina (Shaw), under

which are placed both the black and grey opossums. . . . The

ringtail opossum (Phalangista or Hepoona Cookii,

Desm.) is smaller, less common, and less sought after, for

dogs will not eat the flesh of the ringtail even when roasted."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 200:

"Dogs, immediately on coming into the Australian forest, become

perfectly frantic in the pursuit of opossums."

1883. `Encyclopaedia Britannica' (ed. 9) [On the Australian

animal], vol. xv. p. 382:

"A numerous group, varying in size from that of a mouse to a

large cat, arboreal in their habits and abundantly distributed

throughout the Australian region . . . have the tail more or

less prehensile. . . . These are the typical phalangers or

`opossums,' as they are commonly called in Australia. (Genus

Phalangista.)"

Ibid. p. 380 [On the American animal]:

"The Didelphidae, or true opossums, differ from all

other marsupials in their habitat, being peculiar to the

American continent. They are mostly carnivorous or

insectivorous in their diet, and arboreal in habits."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 11:

"Among the colonists the younger generation are very zealous

opossum hunters. They hunt them for sport, going out by

moonlight and watching the animal as it goes among the trees

to seek its food."

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"We see two fine pairs of the Tasmanian sooty opossum

(Phalangista fuliginosa); this species is unapproached

by any other in regard to size and the beauty of its fur, which

is of a rich, fulvous brown colour. This opossum is becoming

scarce in Tasmania on account of the value of its fur, which

makes it much sought after. In the next compartment are a pair

of short-eared opossums (P. canina), the mountain

opossums of Southern Australia. The next is a pair of vulpine

opossums; these are the common variety, and are found all over

the greater part of Australia, the usual colour of this kind

being grey."

1893. `Melbourne Stock and Station Journal,' May 10

(advertisement):

"Kangaroo, wallaby, opossum, and rabbit skins. . . .

Opossum skins, ordinary firsts to 7s. 6d; seconds to 3s.;

thirds to 1s. 6d; silver greys up to 9s. per doz.; do.

mountain, to 18s. per doz."

<hw>Opossum-Mouse</hw>, n. the small Australian

marsupial, Acrobates pygmaeus, Shaw; more correctly

called the Pigmy Flying-Phalanger. See Flying-

Phalanger. This is the animal generally so denoted,

and it is also called the Flying-Mouse. But there

is an intermediate genus, Dromicia (q.v.), with no

parachute expansion on the flanks, not "flying," of which

the name of Dormouse-Phalanger is the more proper

appellation. The species are the--

Common Dormouse-Phalanger--

Dromicia nana, Desm.

Lesser D.-Ph.--

D. lepida, Thomas.

Long-tailed D.-Ph.--

D. caudata, M. Edw.

Western D.-Ph.--

D. concinna, Gould.

One genus, with only one species, the

Pentailed-Phalanger, Distaechurus pennatus,

Peters, is confined to New Guinea.

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

"The opossum-mouse is about the size of our largest

barn-mouse."

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 118:

"Resembling a common mouse in size, and hence known to the

colonists as the flying-mouse or opossum-mouse, this little

animal is one of the most elegant of the Australian

marsupials."

<hw>Opossum-Tree</hw>, n. a timber-tree, Quintinia

sieberi, De C., N.O. Saxifrageae.

<hw>Orange</hw>, n. i.q. Native Lime, Citrus

australis. See Lime.

<hw>Orange, Mock</hw>, n. i.q. Native Laurel.

See Laurel.

<hw>Orange, Native</hw>, n. name given to two Australian

trees. (1) Capparis mitchelli, Lindl.,

N.O. Capparideae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 12:

"`Small Native Pomegranate,' `Native Orange.' The fruit is

from one to two inches in diameter, and the pulp, which has

an agreeable perfume, is eaten by the natives."

(2) Citriobatus pauciflorus, A. Cunn.,

N.O. Pittosporeae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 16:

"`Native Orange,' `Orange Thorn.' The fruit is an orange

berry with a leathery skin, about one inch and a half in

diameter. It is eaten by the aboriginals."

<hw>Orange, Wild</hw>, n. i.q. Wild Lemon.

See under Lemon.

<hw>Orange-Gum</hw>, n. See Gum.

<hw>Orange-spotted Lizard</hw> (of New Zealand), Naultinus

elegans, Gray.

<hw>Orange-Thorn</hw>, n. See Orange, Native(2).

<hw>Orange-Tree</hw>, n. The New Zealand

Orange-Tree is a name given to the Tarata (q.v.),

from the aromatic odour of its leaves when crushed.

<hw>Organ-Bird</hw>, or <hw>Organ-Magpie</hw>, n.

other names for one of the Magpies (q.v.).

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 48:

"Gymnorrhina organicum, Gould, Tasmanian crow-shrike;

Organ-Bird and White-Magpie of the Colonists. Resembling the

sounds of a hand-organ out of tune."

1848. T. L. Mitchell, `Tropical Australia,' p. 176:

"The burita, or Gymnorrhina, the organ-magpie,

was here represented by a much smaller bird."

<hw>Ornithorhynchus</hw>, n. i.q. Platypus

(q.v.).

<hw>Orthonyx</hw>, n. a scientific name of a remarkable

Australian genus of passerine birds, the spine-tails. It long

remained of uncertain position . . . and finally it was made

the type of a family, Orthonycidae. In the type

species, O. spinacauda . . . the shafts of the

tail-feathers are prolonged beyond the legs. (`Century.')

Thename is from the Greek 'orthos, straight, and

'onux, a claw. See Log-Runner and

Pheasant's Mother.

<hw>Osprey</hw>, n. another name for the

Fish-Hawk (q.v.).

<hw>Ounce</hw>, n. used as adj. Yielding an

ounce of gold to a certain measure of dirt, as a dish-full, a

cradle-full, a tub-full, etc. Also used to signify the number

of ounces per ton that quartz will produce, as "ounce-stuff,"

"three-ounce stuff," etc.

Out-run, n. a sheep-run at a distance from the

Head-station (q.v.).

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. vi. p. 47

(1890):

"They'd come off a very far out-run, where they'd been,

as one might say, neglected."

<hw>Out-station</hw>, n. a sheep or cattle station

away from the Head-station (q.v.).

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 11, p. 1, col. 3:

"There are four out-stations with huts, hurdles . . .

and every convenience."

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

c. 8, p. 231:

"The usual fare at that time at the out-stations--fried pork

and kangaroo."

1870. Paul Wentworth, `Amos Thorne,' c. iii. p. 26:

"He . . . at last on an out-station in the Australian bush

worked for his bread."

<hw>Overland</hw>, v. to take stock across the country.

1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. xiii.

p. 232:

"Herds used to be taken from New South Wales to South Australia

across what were once considered the deserts of Riverina. That

used to be called `overlanding.'"

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. ix. p. 74:

"Several gentlemen were away from the two nearest stations,

`overlanding,' i.e. taking sheep, cattle, and flour to

Melbourne."

<hw>Overlander</hw>, n. (1) In the days before

railways, and when much of the intervening country was not

taken up, to travel between Sydney and Melbourne, or Melbourne

and Adelaide, was difficult if not dangerous. Those who made

either journey were called Overlanders. In this sense

the word is now only used historically, but it retains the

meaning in the general case of a man taking cattle a long

distance, as from one colony to another.

(2) A slang name for a Sundowner (q.v.).

1843. Rev. W. Pridden, `Australia: Its History and Present

Condition,' p. 335:

"Among the beings which, although not natives of the bush,

appear to be peculiar to the wilds of Australia, the class of

men called Overlanders must not be omitted. Their occupation

is to convey stock from market to market, and from one colony

to another."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. c.

vi. p. 237:

"The Eastern extent of the country of South Australia was

determined by the overlanders, as they call the gentlemen

who bring stock from New South Wales."

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 11:

"Overlanders from Sydney and Melbourne to Adelaide were making

great sums of money."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. ix. p. 69:

"He gave us the advice of an experienced overlander."

1880. A. J. Vogan, `Black Police,' p. 262:

"An `overlander,'--for, as you havn't any of the breed in New

Zealand, I'll explain what that is,--is Queensland-English for

a long-distance drover; and a rough, hard life it generally is.

. . . Cattle have to be taken long distances to market

sometimes from these `up-country' runs."

1890. `Melbourne Argus,' June 7, p. 4, col. 1:

"Then came overlanders of another sort--practical men who went

out to develop and not to explore."

<hw>Owl</hw>, n. an English bird-name. The species in

Australia are--

Boobook Owl--

Ninox boobook, Lath.

Chestnut-faced O.--

Strix castanops, Gould.

Grass O.--

S. candida, Tickell.

Lesser Masked O.--

S. delicatula, Lath.

Masked O.--

S. novae-hollandiae, Steph.

Powerful O.--

Ninox strenua, Gould.

Sooty O.--

Strix tenebricosa, Gould.

Spotted O.--

Ninox maculata, Vig. and Hors.

Winking O.--

N. connivens, Lath.

In New Zealand, the species are--Laughing Jackass, or L. Owl,

Sceloglaux albifacies, Kaup (Maori name, Whekau,

q.v.), and the Morepork, formerly Athene

novae-zelandiae, Gray, now Spiloglaux

novae-zelandiae, Kaup. (See Morepork.)

See also Barking Owl.

<hw>Owl-Parrot</hw>, n. a bird of New Zealand. See

Kakapo.

<hw>Oyster</hw>, n. The Australian varieties

are--Mud-Oyster, Ostrea angasi, Sow. (sometimes

considered only a variety of O. edulis, Linn., the

European species): New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South

Australia. O. rutupina, Jeffreys, "the native" of

Colchester, England, is a variety and occurs in Tasmania.

Drift-O., O. subtrigona, Sow., called so because its

beds are thought to be shifted by storms and tides: New South

Wales and Queensland. Rock-O., O. glomerata, Gould,

probably the same species as the preceding, but under different

conditions: all Eastern Australia. And other species more or

less rare. See also Stewart Islander. Australian

oysters, especially the Sydney Rock-Oyster, are very plentiful,

and of excellent body and flavour, considered by many to be

equal if not superior to the Colchester native. They cost

1s. a dozen; unopened in bags, they are 6d. a dozen--a contrast

to English prices.

<hw>Oyster-Bay Pine</hw>, n. See Pine.

1857. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van

Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 155:

"16 August, 1848 . . . A sample of the white resin of the

Oyster Bay Pine (Callitris Australis, Brown) lay on the

table. The Secretary stated that this tree has only been met

with along a comparatively limited and narrow strip of land

bordering the sea on the eastern coast of Tasmania, and upon

Flinders and Cape Barren Islands in Bass's Straits; that about

Swanport and the shores of Oyster Bay it forms a tree, always

handsome and picturesque, and sometimes 120 feet in height,

affording useful but not large timber, fit for all the ordinary

purposes of the house carpenter and joiner in a country

district."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 222:

"Those most picturesque trees, the Oyster Bay pines, which,

vividly green in foliage, tapering to a height of eighty or one

hundred feet, and by turns symmetrical or eccentric in form,

harmonise and combine with rugged mountain scenery as no other

of our trees here seem to do."

<hw>Oyster-catcher</hw>, n. common English bird-name.

The Australasian species are--Pied, Haematopus

longirostris, Vieill.; Black, H. unicolor, Wagler;

and two other species--H. picatus, Vigors, and

H. australasianus, Gould, with no vernacular name.

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

c. vii. p. 174:

"Our game-bag was thinly lined with small curlews,

oyster-catchers, and sanderlings."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 274:

"Slim oyster-catcher, avocet,

And tripping beach-birds, seldom met

Elsewhere."

<hw>Pa</hw>, or <hw>Pah</hw>, n. The former is now

considered the more correct spelling. A Maori word to signify

a native settlement, surrounded by a stockade; a fort;

a fighting village. In Maori, the verb pa means,

to touch, to block up. Pa = a collection of houses

to which access is blocked by means of stockades and ditches.

1769. `Captain Cook's Journal' (edition Wharton, 1893),

p. 147:

"I rather think they are places of retreat or stronghold,

where they defend themselves against the attack of an enemy,

as some of them seemed not ill-design'd for that purpose."

Ibid. p. 156:

"Have since learnt that they have strongholds--or hippas,

as they call them--which they retire to in time of danger."

[Hawkesworth spelt it, Heppahs; he = Maori definite

article.]

1794. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 175:

"[On the coast of New Zealand] they passed many huts and a

considerable hippah, or fortified place, on a high round

hill, from the neighbourhood of which six large canoes were

seen coming towards the ship."

1842. W. R. Wade, `Journey in New Zealand' (Hobart Town),

p. 27:

"A native pa, or enclosed village, is usually surrounded by a

high stockade, or irregular wooden fence, the posts of which

are often of great height and thickness, and sometimes headed

by the frightful carving of an uncouth or indecent image."

1858. `Appendix to Journal of House of Representatives,' E-4,

p. 4:

"They seem, generally speaking, at present inveterate in their

adherence to their dirty native habits, and to their residence

in pas."

1859. A. S. Thomson, M.D., `Story of New Zealand,' p. 132:

"The construction of the war pas . . . exhibits the inventive

faculty of the New Zealanders better than any other of their

works. . . . Their shape and size depended much on the

nature of the ground and the strength of the tribe. They had

double rows of fences on all unprotected sides; the inner

fence, twenty to thirty feet high, was formed of poles stuck in

the ground, slightly bound together with supple-jacks, withes,

and torotoro creepers. The outer fence, from six to eight feet

high, was constructed of lighter materials. Between the two

there was a dry ditch. The only openings in the outer fence

were small holes; in the inner fence there were sliding bars.

Stuck in the fences were exaggerated wooden figures of men with

gaping mouths and out-hanging tongues. At every corner were

stages for sentinels, and in the centre scaffolds, twenty feet

high, forty feet long, and six broad, from which men discharged

darts at the enemy. Suspended by cords from an elevated stage

hung a wooden gong twelve feet long, not unlike a canoe in

shape, which, when struck with a wooden mallet, emitted a sound

heard in still weather twenty miles off. Previously to a siege

the women and children were sent away to places of safety."

1863. T. Moser, `Mahoe Leaves,' p. 14:

"A pah is strictly a fortified village, but it has ceased to

be applied to a fortified one only, and a collection of huts

forming a native settlement is generally called a pah

now-a-days."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 22:

"They found the pah well fortified, and were not able to

take it."

1879. Clement Bunbury, `Fraser's Magazine, June, p. 761:

"The celebrated Gate Pah, where English soldiers in a panic ran

away from the Maoris, and left their officers to be killed."

1889. Cassell's' Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 46:

"A sally was made from the pah, but it was easily repulsed.

Within the pah the enemy were secure."

<hw>Pachycephala</hw>, n. the scientific name for the

typical genus of Pachycephalinae, founded in 1826 by

Vigors and Horsfield. It is an extensive group of thick-headed

shrikes, containing about fifty species, ranging in the Indian

and Australian region, but not in New Zealand. The type is

P. gutturalis, Lath., of Australia. (`Century.') They

are singing-birds, and are called Thickheads (q.v.),

and often Thrushes (q.v.). The name is from the Greek

pachus, thick, and kephalae, the head.

<hw>Packer</hw>, n. used for a pack-horse.

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for Mail,' p. 59:

"The boys took notice of a horse, some old packer he looked

like."

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 4, col. 1:

"The Darling drover with his saddle-horses and packers."

<hw>Paddock</hw>. (1) 1n England, a small field; in Australia,

the general word for any field, or for any block of land

enclosed by a fence. The `Home-paddock' is the paddock near

the Homestation, and usually very large.

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. vi. p. 148:

"There is one paddock of 100 acres, fenced on four sides."

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 25, p. 3, col. 6:

"A 300-acre grass paddock, enclosed by a two-rail fence."

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 42:

"The paddocks are so arranged that hills may afford shelter,

and plains or light-timbered flats an escape from the enormous

flies and other persecuting enemies."

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

"`Paddocks,' as the various fields are called (some of these

`paddocks' contain 12,000 acres)."

(2) An excavation made for procuring wash-dirt in shallow

ground. A place built near the mouth of a shaft where quartz

or wash-dirt is stored. (Brough Smyth, `Glossary of Mining

Terms,' 1869.)

1895. `Otago Witness,' Nov. 21, p. 22, col. 5:

"A paddock was opened at the top of the beach, but rock-bottom

was found."

<hw>Paddock</hw>, v. to divide into paddocks.

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

p. 302:

"When a run is paddocked shepherds are not required;

but boundary riders are required."

<hw>Paddy Lucerne</hw>, n. i.q. Queensland Hemp.

See under Hemp.

<hw>Paddymelon</hw>, n. the name of a small

Wallaby (q.v.), Macropus thetidis, Less. It is

certainly a corruption of an aboriginal name, and is spelt

variously pademelon, padmelon, and melon simply.

(See Melon-holes.) This word is perhaps the best

instance in Australia of the law of Hobson-Jobson, by which a

strange word is fitted into a language, assuming a likeness to

existing words without any regard to the sense. The Sydney

name for kangaroo was patagorang. See early quotations.

This word seems to give the first half of the modern word.

Pata, or pada, was the generic name: mella

an adjective denoting the species. Paddymalla (1827)

marks an intermediate stage, when one-half of the word had been

anglicised. At Jervis Bay, New South Wales, the word

potalemon was used for a kangaroo.

1793. J. Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 547:

"The pattagorang and baggaray frequently supplied our

colonists with fresh meals, and Governor Phillip had three

young ones, which were likely to live: he has not the least

doubt but these animals are formed in the false belly."

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

Wales,' vol. i. p. 548:

"The pat-ta-go-rang or kangooroo was (bood-yer-re) good, and

they ate it whenever they were fortunate enough to kill one."

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

p. 310:

"The wallabee and paddymalla grow to about sixty pounds each."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 212:

"Had hunted down a paddymelon (a very small species of

kangaroo, which is found in the long grass and thick brushes)."

1845. Clement Hodgkinson, `Australia, from Port Macquarie to

Moreton Bay,' p. 45:

"The brush-kangaroos or pademellas were thus gradually

enclosed."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 47:

"A small species of the kangaroo tribe, called by the sealers

paddymelon, is found on Philip Island, while none have been

seen on French Island."

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

p. 129:

"The small kind of kangaroo, however, called by the natives

`Paddy Melon,' and which inhabits the dense brushes or jungles,

forms a more frequent, and more easily obtained article of

food."

1863. M. K. Beveridge, `Gatherings,' p. 41:

"An apron made from skin of Paddie-Melon."

1863. B. A. Heywood, `Vacation Tour at the Antipodes,'

p. 107:

"In the scrub beyond, numbers of a small kind of kangaroo

called `Paddy- Mellans,' resort."

[Footnote] "I cannot guarantee the spelling."

1888. Cassell's' Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 90:

"The kangaroo and his relatives, the wallaby and the

paddymelon."

1890. A. H. S. Lucas, `Handbook of the Australasian

Association for the Advancement of Science,' p. 62:

"Onychogale fraenatus and its ally O. lunatus.

Mr. Le Souef reports that the former are fairly numerous in the

Mallee country to the north-west of the Colony, and are there

known as Pademelon." [This seems to be only a local use.]

1893. J. L. Purves, Q.C., in `The Argus,' Dec. 14, p. 9,

col. 7:

"On either side is a forest, the haunt of wombats and

tree-bears, and a few paddymelons."

<hw>Paddymelon-Stick</hw>, n. a stick used by the

aborigines for knocking paddymelons (q.v.) on the head.

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

ii. p. 129:

"These are hunted in the brushes and killed with paddy mellun

sticks with which they are knocked down. These sticks are

about 2 feet long and an inch or less in diameter."

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

p. 56:

"Nulla-mullahs, paddy-melon sticks, boomerangs, tomahawks,

and heelimen or shields lay about in every direction."

<hw>Pah</hw>, n. i.q. Pa (q.v.).

<hw>Pake</hw>, n. Maori name for a coarse mat used

against rain. A sack thrown over the shoulders is called by

the settlers a Pake.

<hw>Pakeha</hw>, n. Maori word for a white man. The

word is three syllables, with even accent on all. A Pakeha

Maori is an Englishman who lives as a Maori with the Maoris.

Mr. Tregear, in his `Maori Comparative Dictionary,'

s.v. Pakepakeha, says: "Mr. John White [author of

`Ancient History of the Maoris'] considers that pakeha,

a foreigner, an European, originally meant `fairy,' and states

that on the white men first landing sugar was called

`fairy-sand,' etc." Williams' `Maori Dictionary' (4th edit.)

gives, "a foreigner: probably from pakepakeha, imaginary

beings of evil influence, more commonly known as

patupaiarehe, said to be like men with fair skins."

Some express this idea by "fairy." Another explanation is that

the word is a corruption of the coarse English word, said to

have been described by Dr. Johnson (though not in his

dictionary), as "a term of endearment amongst sailors." The

first a in Pakeha had something of the u sound.

The sailors' word would have been introduced to New Zealand by

whalers in the early part of the nineteenth century.

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

(Church Missionary Society), p. 187:

"Pakeha, s. an European; a white man."

1832. A. Earle, `Narrative of Nine Months' Residence in New

Zealand,' p. 146:

"The white taboo'd day, when the packeahs (or white men) put on

clean clothes and leave off work" [sc. Sunday].

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

p. 73:

"We do not want the missionaries from the Bay of Islands,

they are pakeha maori, or whites who have become natives."

1854. W. Golder, `Pigeons' Parliament,' canto iii. p. 44:

"Aiding some vile pakehas

In deeds subversive of the laws."

1876. F. E. Maning [Title]:

"Old New Zealand, by a Pakeha Maori."

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of the Maori,' p. 15:

"Long ere the pale pakeha came to the shrine."

<hw>Palberry</hw>, n. a South Australian name for the

Native Currant. See Currant. The word is a

corruption of the aboriginal name Palbri, by the law

of Hobson-Jobson.

<hw>Palm, Alexandra</hw>, n. a Queensland timber-tree,

Ptychosperma alexandrae, F. v. M., N.O. Palmeae.

<hw>Palm, Black</hw>, n. a Queensland timber-tree,

Ptychosperma normanbyi, F. v. M., N.O. Palmeae.

<hw>Palm, Cabbage</hw>, n. i.q. Cabbage-tree (q.v.)

<hw>Palm Nut</hw>, n. See under Nut.

<hw>Palm, Walking-Stick</hw>, n. a Queensland plant,

Bacularia monostachya, F. v. M., N.O. Palmeae.

So called because the stem is much used for making

walking-sticks.

<hw>Panel</hw>, n. the part between two posts in a

post-and-rail fence. See also Slip-panel.

1876. A. L. Gordon, `Sea-spray,' p. 148:

"In the jar of the panel rebounding,

In the crash of the splintering wood,

In the ears to the earth-shock resounding,

In the eyes flashing fire and blood."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xviii.

p. 226:

"A panel of fencing is not quite nine feet in length."

<hw>Pan</hw>, or <hw>Pan-wash</hw>, <hw>Pan-out</hw>,

<hw>Pan-off</hw>, verbs, to wash the dirt in the pan

for gold. Some of the forms, certainly pan-out,

are used in the United States.

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

"Others to these the precious dirt convey,

Linger a moment till the panning's through."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Gold fields,' p. 4:

"On the very day of their arrival they got a lesson

in pan-washing."

Ibid. p. 36:

"All the diggers merely panned out the earth."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. vii. p. 79:

"These returned gnomes having been brought to light, at once

commenced to pan off according to the recognized rule and

practice."

<hw>Pannikin</hw>, n. a small tin cup for drinking.

The word is not Australian. Webster refers to Marryat and

Thackeray. The `Century' quotes Blackmore. This diminutive

of pan is exceedingly common in Australia, though not

confined to it.

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 200:

"He went to the spring and brought me a pannican full."

(p. 101): "Several tin pannicans."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 87:

"We caught the rain in our pannikins as it dropt from our

extended blankets."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 190:

"There is a well-known story of two bullock-drivers, who, at a

country public-house on their way to the town, called for a

dozen of champagne, which they first emptied from the bottles

into a bucket, and then deliberately drank off from their tin

pannikins."

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking About in New Zealand,' p. 6:

"He was considered sufficiently rewarded in having the

`honour' to drink his `pannikin' of tea at the boss's deal

table."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 44:

"A small pannikin full of gold dust."

<hw>Pannikin-boss</hw>, or <hw>Pannikin-overseer</hw>,

n. The term is applied colloquially to a man on a

station, whose position is above that of the ordinary

station-hand, but who has no definite position of authority, or

is only a `boss' or overseer in a small way.

<hw>Papa</hw>, n. Maori word for a bluish clay found

along the east coast of the North Island.

<hw>Paper-bark Tree</hw>, or <hw>Paper-barked Tea-tree</hw>,

n. Called also Milk-wood (q.v.). Name given to

the species Melaleuca leucodendron, Linn. Its bark is

impervious to water.

1842. `Western Australia,' p. 81:

"There is no doubt, from the partial trial which has been made

of it, that the wood of the Melaleuca, or tea-tree,

could be rendered very serviceable. It is sometimes known by

the name of the paper-bark tree from the multitudinous layers

(some hundreds) of which the bark is composed. These layers

are very thin, and are loosely attached to each other, peeling

off like the bark of the English birch. The whole mass of the

bark is readily stripped from the tree. It is used by the

natives as a covering for their huts."

[Compare the New Zealand Thousand-jacket.]

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries of Australia,' vol. i. c. v.

p. 106:

"The face of the country was well but not too closely covered

with specimens of the red and white gum, and paper-bark tree."

1847. E. W. Landor, `The Bushman; or, Life in a New

Country,' p. 212:

"Fish and other things are frequently baked in the bark of the

papertree."

1857. J. Askew, `Voyage to Australia and New Zealand,'

p. 433:

"The dead bodies are burnt or buried, though some in North

Australia place the corpse in the paper bark of the tea-tree,

and deposit it in a hollow tree."

<hw>Paper-fish</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name. See

Bastard Trumpeter and Morwong.

1883. `Royal Commission on Fisheries of Tasmania,' p. xxxvi:

"The young [of the bastard trumpeter] are always coloured, more

or less, like the red, and are known by some as `paper-fish.'

The mature form of the silver bastard is alone caught. This is

conclusive as favouring the opinion that the silver is simply

the mature form of the red."

<hw>Paradise, Bird of</hw>, n. English bird-name,

originally applied in Australia to the Lyre-bird (q.v.),

now given to Manucoda gouldii, Gray. Called also the

Manucode (q.v.).

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

p. 300:

"By him [Wilson, a convict] the first bird of paradise ever

seen in this country had been shot."

[This was the Lyre-bird.]

<hw>Paradise-Duck</hw>, n. bird-name applied to the New

Zealand duck, Casarca variegata, Gmel. See Duck

quotation, 1889, Parker.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' c. 1.

p. 57:

"These (wild ducks of different sorts) are principally the

black, the grey, the blue-winged, and the paradise-duck, or

`pu tangi tangi,' as it is called by the natives. The last

is nearly as large as a goose, and of beautiful plumage."

<hw>Paradoxus</hw>, n. a shortened form of the former

scientific name of the Platypus, Paradoxus

ornithorrhynchus. Sometimes further abbreviated to

Paradox. The word is from the Greek paradoxos,

`Contrary to opinion, strange, incredible.' (`L. & S.')

1817. O'Hara, `The History of New South Wales,' p. 452:

"In the reaches or pools of the Campbell River, the very

curious animal called the paradox, or watermole, is seen in

great numbers."

<hw>Paramatta</hw>/sic/, n. "A fabric like merino, of

worsted and cotton. So named from Paramatta, a town

near Sydney, New South Wales." (Skeat, `Etymological

Dictionary,' s.v.) According to some, the place named

Parramatta means, in the local Aboriginal dialect, "eels

abound," or "plenty of eels." Others rather put it that

para = fish, and matta= water. There is a river

in Queensland called the Paroo, which means "fish-river."

NOTE.--The town Parramatta, though formerly often spelt with

one r, is now always spelt with two.

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 367:

"A peculiar tweed, made in the colony, and chiefly at Paramatta,

hence the name."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 19:

"Paramattas, fine cloths originally made from the Paramatta

wool, with silk warps, though now woollen."

<hw>Pardalote</hw>, n. anglicised form of the scientific

bird-name Pardalotus (q.v.), generally called Diamond

birds (q.v.); a genus of small short-tailed birds like the

Flycatchers. The species are--

Black-headed Pardalote--

Pardalotus melanocephalus, Gould.

Chestnut-rumped P.--

P. uropygialis, Gould.

Forty-spotted P.--

P. quadragintus, Gould; called also Forty-Spot

(q.v.).

Orange-tipped P.--

P. assimilis, Ramsay.

Red-browed P.--

P. rubricatus, Gould.

Red-tipped P.--

P. ornatus, Temm.

Spotted P.--

P. punctatus, Temm.; the bird originally called

the Diamond Bird (q.v.).

Yellow-rumped P.--

P. xanthopygius, McCoy.

Yellow-tipped P.--

P. affinis, Gould.--

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 35:

"No species of the genus to which this bird belongs is more

widely and generally distributed than the spotted pardalote,

Pardalotus punctatus."

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

Australian birds, called Diamond birds (q.v.), and also

Pardalotes (q.v.), from Grk. pardalowtos, spotted

like the pard.

<hw>Parera</hw>, n. Maori name for the genus

Duck (q.v.).

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 407:

"Family, Anatida--Parera, turuki (Anas

superciliosa), the duck; very similar to the

wild duck of England."

<hw>Parra</hw>, n. a popular use for the fuller

scientific name Parra gallinacea. Called also

the Jacana (q.v.), and the Lotus-bird (q.v.).

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

"The egg of the comb-crested parra shines amongst its

neighbours so vividly that it at once catches the eye, and

suggests a polished agate rather than an egg. The bird itself

is something of a gem, too, when seen skipping with its long

water-walking claws over the floating leaves of pink and blue

water-lilies."

<hw>Parrakeet</hw>, n. (various spellings). From

French. Originally from Spanish periquito, dim. of

sp. perico, a little parrot. Hence used generally in

English to signify any small parrot. The Australian species

are--

Alexandra Parrakeet--

Spathopterus (Polytelis) alexandra, Gould.

Beautiful P.--

Psephotus pulcherrimus, Gould.

Black-tailed P.--

Polytelis melanura, Vig. and Hors.;

called also Rock-pebbler.

Blue-cheeked P.--

Platycercus amathusiae, Bp.

Cockatoo P.--

Calopsittacus novae-hollandiae Gmel.

Crimson-bellied P.--

Psephotus haematogaster, Gould.

Golden-shouldered P.--

Psephotus chrysopterygius, Gould.

Green P.--

Platycercus flaviventris, Temm.

Ground P.--

Pezoporus formosus, Lath.

Mallee P.--

Platycercus barnardi, Vig. and Hors.

Many-coloured P.--

Psephotus multicolor, Temm.

Night P.--

Pezoporus occidentalis, Gould.

Pale-headed P:--

Platycercus pallidiceps, Vig.

Pheasant P.--

P. adelaidensis, Gould.

Red-backed P.--

Psephotus haematonotus, Gould.

Red-capped P.--

P. spurius, Kuhl.

Rock P.--

Euphema petrophila, Gould.

Smutty P.--

Platycercus browni, Temm.

Yellow P.--

P. flaveolus, Gould.

Yellow-banded P.

P. zonarius, Shaw.

Yellow-cheeked P.

P. icterotis, Temm.

Yellow-collared P.--

P. semitorquatus, Quoy and Gaim.;

called also Twenty-eight (q.v.).

Yellow-mantled P.--

P. splendidus, Gould.

Yellow-vented P.--

Psephotus xanthorrhous, Gould.

See also Grass-Parrakeet, Musk-Parrakeet,

Rosella, and Rosehill. The New Zealand Green

Parrakeet (called also Kakariki, q.v.) has the

following species--

Antipodes Island P.-

Platycercus unicolor, Vig.

Orange-fronted P.--

P. alpinus, Buller.

Red-fronted P.--

P. novae-zelandiae, Sparrm.

Rowley's Parrakeet--

Platycercus rowleyi, Buller.

Yellow-fronted P.--

P. auriceps, Kuhl.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Journal,' p. 80:

"The cockatoo-parrakeet of the Gwyder River (Nymphicus

Novae-Hollandiae, Gould)."

1867. A. G. Middleton, `Earnest,' p. 93:

"The bright parroquet, and the crow, black jet,

For covert, wing far to the shade."

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

p. 118:

"There are three species of parrakeet, the red-fronted

(Platycercus Novae-Zelandiae), the yellow-fronted

(P. auriceps), and the orange-fronted (P. alpinus).

The genus Platycercus is found in New Zealand, New Guinea,

and Polynesia."

<hw>Parrot-bill</hw>, n. See Kaka-bill.

<hw>Parrot-fish</hw>, n. name given in Australia to

Pseudoscarus pseudolabrus; called in the Australian

tropics Parrot-perch. In Victoria and Tasmania, there

are also several species of Labricthys. In New Zealand, it is

L. psittacula, Rich.

<hw>Parrot-Perch</hw>, n. See Parrot-fish.

<hw>Parrot's-food</hw>, n. name given in Tasmania to the

plant Goodenia ovata, Sm., N.O. Goodeniaceae.

<hw>Parsley, Wild</hw>, n. Apium leptophyllum,

F. v. M., N.O. Umbelliferae. Parsley grows wild in

many parts of the world, especially on the shores of the

Mediterranean, and this species is not endemic in Australia.

<hw>Parsnip, Wild</hw>, n. a poisonous weed,

Trachymene australis, Benth., N.O. Umbelliferae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 142:

"Recently (Dec. 1887) the sudden death of numbers of cattle in

the vicinity of Dandenong, Victoria, was attributed to their

having eaten a plant known as the wild parsnip. . . . Its

action is so powerful that no remedial measures seem to be of

any avail."

<hw>Parson-bird</hw>, n. the New Zealand bird

Prosthemadera novae-zelandiae, Gmel.; Maori name,

Tui (q.v.). See also Poe.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 401:

"Cook named this beautiful and lively bird the parson and

mocking-bird. It acquired the first name from its having two

remarkable white feathers on the neck like a pair of

clergyman's bands."

[Mr. Taylor is not correct. Cook called it the Poe-bird

(q.v.). The name `Parson-bird' is later.]

1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand the Britain of the South,'

vol. i. p. 118:

"The most common, and certainly the most facetious, individual

of the ornithology is the tui (parson-bird). Joyous

Punchinello of the bush, he is perpetual fun in motion."

1858. C. W., `Song of the Squatters,' `Canterbury Rhymes'

(2nd edit.), p. 47:

"So the parson-bird, the tui,

The white-banded songster tui,

In the morning wakes the woodlands

With his customary music.

Then the other tuis round him

Clear their throats and sing in concert,

All the parson-birds together."

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

"The tui, or parson-bird, most respectable and clerical-looking

in its glossy black suit, with a singularly trim and dapper

air, and white wattles of very slender feathers--indeed they are

as fine as hair--curled coquettishly at each side of his throat,

exactly like bands."

1888. Dr. Thomson, apud Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol.

i. p. 95:

"Sitting on the branch of a tree, as a pro tempore

pulpit, he shakes his head, bending to one side and then to

another, as if he remarked to this one and to that one; and

once and again, with pent-up vehemence, contracting his muscles

and drawing himself together, his voice waxes loud, in a manner

to awaken sleepers to their senses."

1890. W. Colenso, `Bush Notes,' `Transactions of the New

Zealand Institute,' vol. xxxiii. art. lvii. p. 482:

"It is very pleasing to hear the deep rich notes of the

parson-bird--to see a pair of them together diligently occupied

in extracting honey from the tree-flowers, the sun shining on

their glossy sub-metallic dark plumage."

<hw>Partridge-Pigeon</hw>, n. an Australian pigeon.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 8:

"The partridge-pigeon (Geophaps scripta) abounded in the

Acacia groves."

<hw>Partridge-wood</hw>, n. another name for the

Cabbage-Palm (q.v.).

<hw>Passion-flower, Native</hw>, n. Several species

of the genus Passiflora are so called in Australia;

some are indigenous, some naturalised.

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 398:

"The native passion-flower, scarlet and orange, was tangled up

with the common purple sarsaparilla and the English honeysuckle

and jessamine."

<hw>Pastoralist</hw>, n. The squatters are dropping

their old name for this new one. A Pastoralist is a sheep or

cattle-farmer, the distinction between him and an Agriculturist

being, that cultivation, if he undertakes it at all, is a minor

consideration with him.

1891. March 15 [Title]:

"The Pastoralists' Review," No. 1.

1892. `Scribner's Magazine,' Feb., p. 147:

"A combination has been formed by the squatters under the name

of the Pastoralists' Union."

<hw>Patagorang</hw>, n. one of the aboriginal names for

the Kangaroo (q.v.), and see Paddy-melon.

<hw>Pataka</hw>, n. Maori word for storehouse,

supported on a post to keep off rats. See Whata.

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

p. 283:

"We landed at the pataka, or stage."

<hw>Patiki</hw>, n. the Maori name for the

Flounder (q.v.). The accent is on the first

syllable of the word.

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

(Church Missionary Society), p. 190:

"Patiki, s. a fish so called."

1844. F. Tuckett, `Diary,' May 31:

"A fine place for spearing soles or patike

(the best of fish)."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 412:

"Patiki, common name for the sole and flat-fish; the latter

is found in rivers, but decreases in size as it retires from

the sea."

1879. Captain Mair, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,'

vol. xii. art. xlvi. p. 316:

"Large patiki, flat-fish, are occasionally speared up the

river."

<hw>Patriot</hw>, n. Humorously applied to convicts.

1796. In `History of Australia,' by G. W. Rusden (1894),

p. 49 [Footnote]:

"In 1796 the Prologue (erroneously imputed to a convict

Barrington, but believed to have been written by an officer)

declared:

`True patriots we, for be it understood

We left our country for our country's good.'"

<hw>Patter</hw>, v. to eat. Aboriginal word, and used

in pigeon- English, given by Collins in his vocabulary of the

Port Jackson dialect. Threlkeld says, ta is the root of

the verb, meaning "to eat."

1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. ii. c. vii. p. 223:

"He himself did not patter (eat) any of it."

<hw>Patu</hw>, n. Maori generic term for all

hand-striking weapons. The mere (q.v.) is one kind.

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 82:

"It (fern-root) was soaked, roasted, and repeatedly beaten

with a small club (patu) on a large smooth stone till it was

supple."

<hw>Paua</hw>, n. the Maori name for the Mutton-

fish (q.v.). Also used as the name for Maori fishhooks,

made of the paua shell; the same word being adopted

for fish, shell, and hook.

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

(Church Missionary Society), p. 191:

"Paua, s. a shell-fish so called."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 416:

"Pawa (Haliotis iris), or mutton-fish. This beautiful

shell is found of considerable size; it is used for the

manufacture of fish-hooks."

1855. Ibid. p.397:

"The natives always tie a feather or two to their paua, or

fish-hooks."

1877. W. L. Buller, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,'

vol. x. art. xix. p. 192:

"Elaborately carved, and illuminated with paua shell."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 162:

"Immense piles of paua shells (Haliotis iris), heaped

up just above the shore, show how largely these substantial

molluscs were consumed."

<hw>Payable</hw>, adj. In Australia, able to be worked

at a profit: that which is likely to pay; not only, as in

England, due for payment.

1884. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 38:

"We . . . expect to strike a payable lead on a hill near . . .

A shaft is bottomed there, and driving is commenced to find the

bottom of the dip."

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 15:

"Good payable stone has been struck."

1894. `The Argus,' March 28, p. 5, col. 5:

"Good payable reefs have been found and abandoned through

ignorance of the methods necessary to obtain proper results."

<hw>Pea, Coral</hw>, n. See Coral Pea.

<hw>Pea, Darling</hw>, n. See Darling Pea.

<hw>Pea, Desert</hw>, n. See Sturt's Desert Pea.

<hw>Pea, Flat</hw>, n. See Flat Pea.

<hw>Pea, Glory</hw>, n. another name

for the Clianthus (q.v.).

<hw>Pea, Heart</hw>, n. i.q. Balloon-Vine (q.v.).

<hw>Pea-plant</hw>, n. The term is applied sometimes to

any one of various Australian plants of the

N.O. Leguminosae.

<hw>Peach-berry</hw>, n. a Tasmanian berry, Lissanthe

strigosa, Smith, N.O. Epacrideae.

<hw>Peach, Native</hw>, n. another name for the

Quandong (q.v.), and for Emu-Apple (q.v.).

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings, p. 42:

"The so-called native Peach-tree of our desert tracts is a true

Santalum, S. acuminatum."

<hw>Peacocking</hw>, vb. n. Australian slang. To

peacock apiece of country means to pick out the

eyes of the land by selecting or buying up the choice

pieces and water-frontages, so that the adjoining territory is

practically useless to any one else.

1894. W. Epps, `Land Systems of Australasia,' p. 28:

"When the immediate advent of selectors to a run became

probable, the lessees endeavoured to circumvent them by

dummying all the positions which offered the best means of

blocking the selectors from getting to water. This system,

commonly known as `peacocking' . . ."

<hw>Pear, Native</hw>, name given to a timber-tree,

Xylomelum pyriforme, Sm., N.O. Proteaceae

(called also Wooden Pear), and to Hakea acicularis.

See Hakea.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 219:

"The pear-tree is, I believe, an eucalyptus, and bears a pear

of solid wood, hard as heart of oak."

[It is not a eucalypt.]

<hw>Pear, Wooden</hw>, i.q. Native Pear. See above.

<hw>Pearl-Perch</hw>, n. a rare marine fish of New South

Wales, excellent for food, Glaucosoma scapulare, Ramsay,

family Percidae.

<hw>Pedgery</hw>, n. i.q. Pituri (q.v.).

<hw>Pee-wee</hw>, n. a New South Wales name for the

Magpie-Lark (q.v.).

<hw>Peg-out</hw>, v. tr. to mark out a gold-claim under

the Mining Act, or a Free-Selection (q.v.) under the

Land Act, by placing pegs at the corners of the land selected.

Used also metaphorically.

1858. W. H. Hall, `Practical Experiences at the Diggings in

Victoria,' p. 23:

"I selected an unoccupied spot between two holes . . . pegged

out eight square feet, paid the licence fee."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 58:

"He was in high hopes that he might be one of the first to peg

out ground on the goldfield."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Miner's Right,' c. iii. p. 32:

"The pegging out, that is, the placing of four stout sticks,

one at each corner, was easy enough."

1891. W. Tilley, `Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 8:

"Making their way to Heemskirk, where they were the first to

peg out land for ten."

Ibid. Preface:

"The writer . . . should be called on to defend his conduct

in pegging out an additional section on the outskirts of the

field of literature."

<hw>Pelican</hw>, n. English bird-name. The pelicans

occur in nearly all temperate or tropical regions. The

Australian species is Pelecanus conspicillatus, Temm.

1885. R. M. Praed, `Head Station,' p. 256 [Title of

chapter 39]:

"Where the pelican builds her nest."

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

The species in Australia are--

Crested Penguin--

Catarractes chrysocome, Lath.

Fairy P.--

Eudyptula undina, Gould.

Little P.--

E. minor, Forst.

For the New Zealand species, see the quotation,

and also Korora.

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

p. 119:

"The Penguins are characteristic Southern Hemisphere sea-birds,

being represented in the Northern by the Puffins. They are

flightless, but their wings are modified into powerful fins or

flappers. Among the most interesting forms are the following--

the King Penguin, Aptenodytes longirostris; Rock Hopper

P., Pygoscelis taeniatus; Yellow-Crowned P., Eudyptes

antipodum; Crested P., E. pachyrhynchus; Little Blue

P., E. minor and undina."

<hw>Pennyroyal, Native</hw>, n. Mentha gracilis,

R. Br., N.O. Labiatae. Much more acrid than the

European species of Mentha; but used widely as a herbal

medicine. Very common in all the colonies. See also

Mint.

<hw>Pepper, Climbing</hw>, n. Piper

novae-hollandiae, Miq., N.O. Piperaceae. Called

also Native Pepper, and Native Pepper-vine. A tall

plant climbing against trees in dense forests.

<hw>Peppermint</hw>, or <hw>Peppermint-tree</hw>, n.

a name given to various Eucalypts, from the aromatic nature

of their leaves or extracted essence. See quotation below

from White, 1790. There are many species, and various

vernacular names, such as Brown Peppermint,

Dandenong P., Narrow-leaved P., White P.,

etc. are given in various parts to the same species.

See Maiden's note on Eucalyptus amygdalina,

under Gum. Other vernacular names of different

species are Bastard-Peppermint, Peppermint-Box,

Peppermint-Gum.

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales' (Appendix by Dr.

Smith or John Hunter), pp. 226-27:

"The Peppermint Tree, Eucalyptus piperita. . . .

The name of peppermint-tree has been given to this plant by

Mr. White on account of the very great resemblance between the

essential oil drawn from its leaves and that obtained from the

Peppermint (Mentha piperita) which grows in England.

This oil was found by Mr. White to be much more efficacious in

removing all cholicky complaints than that of the English

Peppermint, which he attributes to its being less pungent and

more aromatic."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. ii. p. 23:

"The peppermint, so called from the leaves imparting to the

taste that flavour, grows everywhere throughout the island."

1874. Garnet Walch, I Head over Heels,' p. 75:

"Well, mate, it's snug here by the logs

That's peppermint--burns like a match."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 30:

"A woody gully filled with peppermint and stringy-bark trees."

1884. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,'

p. 231:

"The peppermints rose like pillars, with funereal branches

hung,

Where the dirge for the dead is chanted,

And the mourning hymn is sung."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 116:

"Down among the roots of a peppermint bush."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' 439:

"It [Eucalyptus capitella, Smith] is one of the

numerous `peppermints' of New South Wales and Victoria,

and is noteworthy as being the first eucalypt so called,

at any rate in print."

<hw>Pepper, Native</hw>, i.q. Climbing Pepper

(see above), Piper Novae-Hollandiae, Miq.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 198:

"`Native Pepper.' An excellent tonic to the mucous

membrane. . . . One of the largest native creepers,

the root being at times from six inches to a foot in diameter.

The plant climbs like ivy to the tops of the tallest trees,

and when full-grown weighs many tons, so that a good supply

of the drug is readily obtainable."

<hw>Pepper-tree</hw>, n. The name is given to two

trees, neither of which are the true pepper of commerce

(Piper). They are--

(1) Schinus molle, which is a native of South America,

of the Cashew family, and is largely cultivated for ornament

and shade in California, and in the suburbs and public parks

and gardens of all Australian towns where it has been

naturalised. It is a very fast growing evergreen, with

feathery leaves like a small palm or fern, drooping like a

weeping willow. It flowers continuously, irrespective of

season, and bears a cluster of red-berries or drupes, strongly

pungent,-whence its name.

(2) The other tree is indigenous in Australia and Tasmania; it

is Drimys aromatica, F. v. M., formerly called

Tasmania aromatica, R. Br., N.O. Magnoliaceae.

In New Zealand the name is applied to Drimys /corr./

axillaris, Forst. (Maori, Horopito; q.v.).

1830. `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 65:

"A thick grove of the pepper-shrub, Tasmania fragrans of

Smith. It grows in a close thicket to the height of from six

to ten feet. When in blossom, in the spring months of November

or December, the farina of the flower is so pungent, especially

if shaken about by the feet of horses or cattle, that it is

necessary to hold a handkerchief to the nose in order to avoid

continual sneezing."

1839. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions into the Interior

of Eastern Australia,' vol. ii. p. 280:

"We also found the aromatic tree, Tasmania aromatica.

. . . The leaves and bark of this tree have a hot, biting,

cinnamon-like taste, on which account it is vulgarly called

the pepper-tree."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 231:

"The handsome red-stemmed shrub known as native pepper. . . .

Something like cayenne and allspice mixed, . . . the aromatic

flavour is very pleasant. I have known people who, having

first adopted its use for want of other condiments, continue

it from preference."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii.

p. 138:

"Bright green pepper-trees with their coral berries."

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

of Australian marsupial animals called Rabbit-

Bandicoots. See Bandicoot. (Grk. paera,

a bag or wallet, and galae, a weasel.)

<hw>Perameles</hw>, n. scientific name for the typical

genus of the family of Australian marsupial animals called

Bandicoots (q.v.), or Bandicoot-Rats. The word

is from Latin pera (word borrowed from the Greek), a bag

or wallet, and meles (a word used by Varro and Pliny),

a badger.

<hw>Perch</hw>, n. This English fish-name is applied

with various epithets to many fishes in Australia, some of the

true family Percidae, others of quite different

families. These fishes have, moreover, other names attached to

them in different localities. See Black Perch,

Fresh-water P., Golden P., Magpie P.,

Murray P., Pearl P., Red P., Red Gurnet

P., Rock P., Sea P., Parrot Fish,

Poddly, Burramundi, Mado, and Bidyan

Ruffe.

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

p. 31:

"Lates colonorum, the perch of the colonists . . ,

really a fresh-water fish, but . . . often brought to the

Sydney market from Broken Bay and other salt-water

estuaries. . . . The perch of the Ganges and other East Indian

rivers (L. calcarifer) enters freely into brackish

water, and extends to the rivers of Queensland."

[See Burramundi. L. colonorum is called the

Gippsland Perch, in Victoria.]

1882. Ibid. p. 45: