The New Zealand species are--_Austral English

Chatham Island Robin--

Miro traversi, Buller.

North Island R.--

M. australis, Sparrm.

South Island R.--

M. albifrons, Gmel.

Gould's enumeration of the species is given below. [See

quotations, 1848, 1869.]

See also Shrike-Robin, Scrub-Robin,

and Satin-Robin.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of the Linnaean

Society,' vol. xv. p. 242:

"`This bird,' Mr. Caley says, `is called yellow-robin by the

colonists. It is an inhabitant of bushes'"

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

Plate

Petroica superciliosa, Gould, White-eyebrowed

Robin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Drymodes brunneopygia, Gould, Scrub Robin. . 10

Eopsaltria leucogaster, Gould,

White-bellied Robin . . . . . . . 13

1864. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 263:

"Very soon comes a robin. . . . In the bush no matter

where you pitch, the robin always comes about, and when any

other of his tribe comes about, he bristles up his feathers,

and fights for his crumbs. . . . He is not at all pretty,

like the Australian or European robin, but a little sober black

and grey bird, with long legs, and a heavy paunch and big head;

like a Quaker, grave, but cheerful and spry withal." [This is

the Robin of New Zealand.]

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

"The New Zealand robin was announced, and I could see only a

fat little ball of a bird, with a yellowish-white breast."

1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia' [Supplement]:

Drymodes superciliaris, Gould, Eastern Scrub Robin.

Petroica cerviniventris, Gould, Buff-sided Robin.

Eopsaltria capito, Gould, Large-headed Robin.

E. leucura, Gould, White-tailed Robin.

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 239:

"The large red-breasted robin, kinsman true

Of England's delicate high-bred bird of home."

1880. Mrs.Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 123:

"The Robin is certainly more brilliantly beautiful than his

English namesake. . . . Black, red and white are the

colours of his dress, worn with perfect taste. The black is

shining jet, the red, fire, and the white, snow. There is a

little white spot on his tiny black-velvet cap, a white bar

across his pretty white wings, and his breast is, a living

flame of rosy, vivid scarlet."

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 235:

"Here, too, the `careful robin eyes the delver's toil,' and as

he snatches the worm from the gardener's furrow, he turns to us

a crimson-scarlet breast that gleams in the sun beside the

golden buttercups like a living coal. The hues of his English

cousin would pale beside him ineffectual."

1896. `The Melburnian,' Aug. 28, p. 54:

"The flame-breasted robin no longer lingers showing us his

brilliant breast while he sings out the cold grey afternoons

in his tiny treble. He has gone with departing winter."

<hw>Rock-Cod</hw>, n. called also Red-Cod in New

Zealand, Pseudophycis barbatus, Gunth., family

Gadidae. In New Zealand the Blue-Cod(q.v.) is

also called Rock-Cod. Species of the allied genus

Lotella are also called Rock-Cod in New South

Wales. See Beardy and Ling.

1883. `Royal Commission on the Fisheries of Tasmania,' p. 40:

"A variety known to fishermen as the deep-water, or Cape-cod.

. . . It would appear that the latter is simply the mature form

of the `rock-cod,' which enters the upper waters of estuaries

in vast numbers during the month of May. . . The rock-cod

rarely exceeds 2 1/2 lbs. weight."

<hw>Rocket, Native</hw>, a Tasmanian name for Epacris

lanuginosa, Lab., N.O. Epacrideae. See

Epacris.

<hw>Rock Lily</hw>, n. See under Lily.

<hw>Rock-Ling</hw>, n. a marine fish. The Australian

R. is Genypterus australis, Castln., family

Ophidiidae. The European R. belongs to the genera

Onos and Rhinonemus, formerly Motella.

Of the genus Genypterus, Guenther says they have an

excellent flesh, like cod, well adapted for curing. At the

Cape they are known by the name of "Klipvisch," and in New

Zealand as Ling, or Cloudy-Bay Cod.

<hw>Rock-Native</hw>, or <hw>Native</hw>, n. a name

given to the fish called a Schnapper when it has

ceased to "school." See Schnapper.

<hw>Rock-Parrakeet</hw>, n. an Australian

Grass-Parrakeet(q.v.), Euphema petrophila, Gould.

It gets its name from its habitat, the rocks and crags.

<hw>Rock-Pebbler</hw>, n. another name for the

Black-tailed Parrakeet. See Parrakeet.

<hw>Rock-Perch</hw>, n. the name given in Melbourne

to the fish Glyphidodon victoriae, Gunth., family

Pomacentridae, or Coral-fishes. It is not

a true Perch.

<hw>Rock-shelter</hw>, n. a natural cave-dwelling

of the aborigines. See Gibber-Gunyah.

1891. R. Etheridge, jun., in `Records of the Australian

Museum,' vol. i. No. viii. p. 171 (`Notes on Rock

Shelters or Gibba-gunyahs at Deewhy Lagoon'):

". . . The Shelters are of the usual type seen throughout the

Port Jackson district, recesses in the escarpment, overhung by

thick, more or less tabular masses of rock, in some cases dry

and habitable, in others wet and apparently never used by the

Aborigines."

<hw>Rock-Wallaby</hw>, n. the popular name for any

animal of the genus Petrogale (q.v.). There are six

species--

Brush-tailed Rock-Wallaby--

Petrogale penicillata, Gray.

Little R.-W.--

P. concinna, Gould.

Plain-coloured R.-W.--

P. inornata, Gould.

Rock-W., or West-Australian R.-W.--

P. lateralis, Gould.

Short-eared R.-W.--

P. brachyotis, Gould.

Yellow-footed R.-W.--

P. xanthopus, Gray.

See Wallaby.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. viii. p. 58:

"A light, active chap, spinning over the stones like a rock

wallaby."

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 119:

"They rode and rode, but Warrigal was gone like a rock

wallaby."

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 43:

"The Rock-Wallabies are confined to the mainland of Australia,

on which they are generally distributed, but are unknown in

Tasmania. Although closely allied to the true Wallabies, their

habits are markedly distinct, the Rock-Wallabies frequenting

rugged, rocky districts, instead of the open plains."

<hw>Roger Gough</hw>, n. an absurd name given to the

tree Baloghia lucida, Endl., N.O. Euphorbiaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 382:

"Scrub, or brush bloodwood, called also `Roger Gough.'"

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

"Who were Messrs. James Donnelly, James Low, and Roger Gough

that their names should have been bestowed on trees? Were they

growers or buyers of timber? Was the first of the list any

relative of the Minnesota lawyer who holds strange views about

a great cryptogram in Shakespeare's plays? Was the last of the

three any relative of the eminent soldier who won the battles

of Sobraon and Ferozeshah? Or, as is more probable, were the

names mere corruptions of aboriginal words now lost?"

<hw>Roll up</hw>, v. intr. to gather, to assemble.

1887. J. Farrell, `How he died,' p. 26:

"The miners all rolled up to see the fun."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xx. p. 185:

"At the Warraluen and other gold towns, time after time the

ominous words `roll up' had sounded forth, generally followed

by the gathering of a mighty crowd."

<hw>Roll-up</hw>, n. a meeting. See preceding verb.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xxxv. p. 308:

"Making as much noise as if you'd hired the bell-man for a

roll-up?"

<hw>Roly-poly Grass</hw>, or Roley-poley, n.

name given to Panicum macractinium, Benth.,

N.O. Gramineae; and also to Salsola Kali,

Linn., N.O. Salsolaceae. See Grass.

1859. D. Bunce, `Travels with Dr. Leichhardt in Australia,'

pp. 167-8:

"Very common to these plains, was a large-growing

salsolaceous plant, belonging to the

Chenopodeaceae, of Jussieu. These weeds grow in the

form of a large ball. . . . No sooner were a few of these

balls (or, as we were in the habit of calling them,

`rolly-poleys') taken up with the current of air, than the

mules began to kick and buck. . . ."

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

and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 468:

"A salsolaceous plant growing in the form of a ball several

feet high. In the dry season it withers, and is easily broken

off and rolled about by the winds, whence it is called

roley-poly by the settlers."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 100:

"Roly-Poly Grass. This species produces immense dry and

spreading panicles; it is perennial, and seeds in November and

December. It is a somewhat straggling species, growing in

detached tufts, on sand-hills and sandy soil, and much relished

by stock."

1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Horne Expedition in Central

Australia,' Narrative, p. 13:

"On the loamy flats, and even gibber plains, the most

noticeable plant is Salsola kali, popularly known as the

Rolly-polly. It is, when mature, one of the characteristically

prickly plants of the Lower Steppes, and forms great spherical

masses perhaps a yard or more in diameter."

<hw>Roman-Lamp Shell</hw>, name given in Tasmania to a

brachiopod mollusc, Waldheimia flavescens, Lamarck.

<hw>Roo</HW>, a termination, treated earlier as the name of an

animal. It is the termination of potoroo, wallaroo,

kangaroo. See especially the last. It may be added

that it is very rare for aboriginal words to begin with the

letter `r.'

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales' [Observations at

the end, by Mr. John Hunter, the celebrated surgeon]:

Plate p. 272--A kangaroo. Description of teeth.

Plate p. 278--Wha Tapoua Roo, about the size of a Racoon

[probably an opossum].

Plate p. 286--A Poto Roo or Kangaroo-Rat.

Plate p. 288--Hepoona Roo.

<hw>Rope</hw>, v. tr. to catch a horse or bullock with a noosed

rope. It comes from the Western United States, where it has

superseded the original Spanish word lasso, still used

in California.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xxi. p. 150:

"You could `rope' . . . any Clifton colt or filly, back them

in three days, and within a week ride a journey."

<hw>Ropeable</hw>, adj. (1) Of cattle; so wild and

intractable as to be capable of subjection only by being roped.

See preceding word.

(2) By transference: intractable, angry, out of temper.

1891. `The Argus,' Oct. 10, p. 13, col. 4:

"The service has shown itself so `ropeable' heretofore that

one experiences now a kind of chastened satisfaction in seeing

it roped and dragged captive at Sir Frederick's saddle-bow."

1896. Modern. In school-boy slang: "You must not chaff him,

he gets so ropeable."

<hw>Roping-pole</hw>, n. a long pole used for casting

a rope over an animal's head in the stockyard.

1880. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. iv. p. 44:

"I happened to knock down the superintendent with a

roping-pole."

1895. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 125:

"I'm travelling down the Castlereagh and I'm a station-hand,

I'm handy with the ropin'-pole, I'm handy with the brand,

And I can ride a rowdy colt, or swing the axe all day,

But there's no demand for a station-hand along the Castlereagh."

<hw>Rosary-shell</hw>, n. In Europe, the name is

applied to any marine gastropod shell of the genus

Monodonta. In Australia, it is applied to the shell

of Nerita atrata, Lamarck, a marine mollusc of small

size and black colour used for necklaces, bracelets, and

in place of the "beads" of a rosary.

<hw>Rose</hw>, n. name given to the Australian shrub,

Boronia serrulata, Sm., N.O. Rutaceae. It has

bright green leaves and very fragrant rose-coloured flowers.

<hw>Rose-Apple</hw>, n. another name for the Sweet

Plum. See under Plum.

<hw>Rose-bush</hw>, a timber-tree, Eupomatia laurina,

R. Br., N.O. Anonaceae.

<hw>Rose-hill</hw>, n. The name is given by Gould as

applied to two Parrakeets--

(1) Platycercus eximius, Vig. and Hors., called by the

Colonists of New South Wales, and by Gould, the Rose-hill

Parrakeet.

(2) Platycercus icterotis, Wagl., called by the

Colonists of Swan River, Western Australia, the

Rose-hill, and by Gould the Earl of Derby's

Parrakeet.

The modern name for both these birds is Rosella (q.v.),

though it is more specifically confined to the first.

`Rose-hill' was the name of the Governor's residence

at Parramatta, near Sydney, in the early days of the settlement

of New South Wales, and the name Rosella is a settler's

corruption of Rose-hiller, though the erroneous

etymology from the Latin rosella (sc. `a little rose')

is that generally given. The word Rosella, however,

is not a scientific name, and does not appear as the name

of any genus or species; it is vernacular only, and no settler

or bushman is likely to have gone to the Latin to form it.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pl. 27:

"Platycercus eximius, Vig. & Hors. Rose-hill

Parrakeet; Colonists of New South Wales."

Ibid. vol. v. pl. 29:

"Platycercus icterotis, Wagl. The Earl of Derby's

Parrakeet; Rose-hill of the Colonists [of Swan River]."

<hw>Rosella</hw>, n. (1) A bird, Platycercus

eximius, the Rosehill (q.v.).

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 80:

"The common white cockatoo, and the Moreton Bay Rosella parrot,

were very numerous."

1884. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 99:

"Saw the bright rosellas fly,

With breasts that glowed like sunsets

In the fiery western sky."

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 13, col. 5:

"The solitudes where the lorikeets and rosellas chatter."

1896. `The Melburnian,' Aug. 28, p. 60:

"As [the race] sweeps past the Stand every year in a close

bright mass the colours, of the different clubs, are as

dazzling and gay in the sun as a brilliant flight of galahs

and rosellas."

(2) In Northern Australia, it is a slang name for a European

who works bared to the waist, which some, by a gradual process

of discarding clothing, acquire the power of doing. The

scorching of the skin by the sun produces a colour which

probably suggested a comparison with the bright scarlet of the

parrakeet so named.

<hw>Rosemary</hw>, n. name given to the shrub

Westringia dampieri, R. Br., N.0. Labiatae.

1703. W. Dampier, `Voyage to New Holland,' vol. iii. p. 138:

"There grow here 2 or 3 sorts of Shrubs, one just like

Rosemary; and therefore I call'd this Rosemary Island.

It grew in great plenty here, but had no smell."

[This island is in or near Shark's Bay]

<hw>Rosemary, Golden</hw>, n. name given in Tasmania

to the plant Oxylobium ellipticum, R. Br.,

N.O. Leguminosae.

<hw>Rosemary, Wild</hw>, a slender Australian timber-tree,

Cassinia laevis, R. Br., N.O. Compositae.

<hw>Rose, Native</hw>, n. i.q. Bauera (q.v.).

<hw>Rosewood</hw>, name given to the timber of three trees.

(1) Acacia glaucescens, Willd., N.O. Leguminosae;

called also Brigalow, Mountain Brigalow, and

Myall.

(2) Dysoxylon fraserianum, Benth.,

N.O. Meliaceae; called also Pencil Cedar.

(3) Eremophila mitchelli, Benth. N.O. Myoporinae;

called also Sandalwood.

1838. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' vol. i. p. 203:

"One or two trees of a warmer green, of what they call

`rosewood,' I believe gave a fine effect, relieving the sober

greyish green of the pendent acacia."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition' p. 4:

"The Rosewood Acacia of Moreton Bay."

<hw>Rough</hw>, or <hw>Roughy</hw>, or <hw>Ruffy</hw>,

or <hw>Ruffie</hw>, n. a Victorian fish, Arripis

georgianus, Cuv. and Val., family Percidae.

Arripis is the genus of the Australian fish called

Salmon, or Salmon-trout, A. salar, Gunth.

See Salmon.

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, 1881:

"Common fish, such as trout, ruffies mullet . . . and others."

1890. `Victorian Statutes--Fisheries, Second Schedule'

[Close Season]:

"Rough, or Roughy."

<hw>Rough Fig</hw>, n. See under Fig-tree.

<hw>Rough-leaved Fig</hw>, n. See under Fig-tree.

<hw>Round</hw>, v. trans., contraction of the verb to

round-up, to bring a scattered herd together; used in

all grazing districts, and common in the Western United States.

1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. 11, col. 4:

"A friend of mine who has spent many a night rounding the mob

on lonely Queensland cattle camps where hostile blacks were as

thick as dingoes has a peculiar aversion to one plain covered

with dead gums, because the curlews always made him feel

miserable when crossing it at night."

<hw>Round Yam</hw>, n. i.q. Burdekin Vine.

See under Vine.

<hw>Rouseabout</hw>, n. a station-hand put on to any

work, a Jack of all work, an `odd man.' The form `roustabout'

is sometimes used, but the latter is rather an American word

(Western States), in the sense of a labourer on a river boat, a

deck-hand who assists in loading and unloading.

1887. J. Farrell, `How he died,' p. 19:

"It may be the rouseabout swiper who rode for the doctor that

night,

Is in Heaven with the hosts of the Blest, robed and sceptred,

and splendid with light."

18W. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 6:

"The `rouseabouts' are another class of men engaged in shearing

time, whose work is to draft the sheep, fill the pens for the

shearers, and do the branding. . . . The shearers hold themselves

as the aristocrats of the shed; and never associate with the

rouseabouts."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 58:

"While we sat there, a rouseabout came to the door. `Mountain

Jim's back,' he said. There was no `sir' in the remark of

this lowest of stationhands to his master."

1894. `Sydney Morning Herald' (date lost):

"A rougher person--perhaps a happier--is the rouseabout, who

makes himself useful in the shearing shed. He is clearly a man

of action. He is sometimes with less elegance, and one would

say less correctly, spoken of as a roustabout."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 98 [Title of

poem, `Middleton's Rouseabout']:

"Flourishing beard and sandy,

Tall and robust and stout;

This is the picture of Andy,

Middleton's Rouseabout."

<hw>Rowdy</hw>, adj. troublesome. Common slang,

but unusual as applied to a bullock or a horse.

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 69:

"Branding or securing a troublesome or, colonially, a `rowdy'

bullock."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River, p. 125:

"And I can ride a rowdy colt, or swing the axe all day."

<hw>Rua</hw>, n. Maori word (used in North Island)

for a pit, cave or hole. A place for storing roots,

such as potatoes, etc. Formerly some of these rua

had carved entrances.

<hw>Ruffy</hw> or <hw>Ruffie</hw>, n. a fish.

See Rough or Roughy.

<hw>Run</hw>, n. (1) Tract of land over which sheep or

cattle may graze. It is curious that what in England is called

a sheep-walk, in Australia is a sheep-run. In the Western

United States it is a sheep-ranch. Originally the squatter, or

sheep-farmer, did not own the land. It was unfenced, and he

simply had the right of grazing or "running" his sheep or

cattle on it. Subsequently, in many cases, he purchased the

freehold, and the word is now applied to a large station

property, fenced or unfenced. (See quotation, 1883.)

1826. Goldie, in Bischoff's `Van Diemen's Land' (1832),

p. 157:

"It is generally speaking a good sheep-run."

1828. Report of Van Diemen's band Company, in Bischoff's

`Van Diemen's Land' (1832), p. 117:

"A narrow slip of good sheep-run down the west coast."

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 8, p. 4, col. 3:

"The thousand runs stated as the number in Port Phillip under

the new regulations will cost L12,800,000."

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

"`Runs,' land claimed by the squatter as sheep-walks, open, as

nature left them, without any improvement from the squatter."

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 78:

"The runs of the Narran wide-dotted with sheep,

And loud with the lowing of cattle."

1864. W. Westgarth, `Colony of Victoria,' p. 273:

"Here then is a squatting domain of the old unhedged stamp.

The station or the `run,' as these squatting areas are called,

borders upon the Darling, along which river it possesses a

frontage of thirty-five lineal miles, with a back area of 800

square miles."

1868. J. Bonwick, `John Batman, Founder of Victoria,' p. 34:

"The desire of some to turn Van Diemen's Land into a large

squatter's run, by the passing of the Impounding Act, was the

immediate cause, he told us, of his taking up the project of a

poor man's country elsewhere."

1870. `/Delta/,' `Studies in Rhyme,' p. 26:

"Of squatters' runs we've oft been told,

The People's Lands impairing."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 73

[Note]:

"A run is the general term for the tract of country on which

Australians keep their stock, or allow them to `run.'"

(2) The bower of the Bowerbird (q.v.).

1840. `Proceedings of the Zoological Society,' p. 94:

"They are used by the birds as a playing-house, or `run,'

as it is termed, and are used by the males to attract

the females."

<hw>Run-about</hw>, n. and adj.

Run-abouts are cattle left to graze at will,

and the runabout-yard is the enclosure for homing them.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xviii. p. 218:

"`Open that gate, Piambook,' said Ernest gravely, pointing to

the one which led into the `run-about' yard."

<hw>Run-hunting</hw>, exploring for a new run. See Run.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. xix. p. 238:

"What do you say if I go run-hunting with you?"

<hw>Running-Postman</hw>, n. a Tasmanian plant,

i.q. Coral-Pea. See Kennedya.

<hw>Ruru</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand bird,

the More-pork, Athene novae-zelandiae,

Gmel. (q.v.).

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 45:

"The ruru's voice re-echoes, desolate."

<hw>Rush</hw>, v. (1) Of cattle: to charge a man.

Contraction for to rush-at.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 122:

"When not instigated by terror, wild cattle will seldom attack

the traveller; even of those which run at him, or `rush,' as it

is termed, few will really toss or gore, or even knock him

down."

(2) To attack sheep; i.e. to cause them to rush about

or away.

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 153:

"Sometimes at night this animal [the dingo] will leap into the

fold amongst the timid animals [sheep] and so `rush' them--that

is, cause them to break out and disperse through the bush."

(3) To break through a barrier (of men or materials).

Contraction for to rush past or through;

e.g. to rush a cordon of policemen; to rush a fence

(i.e. to break-down or climb-over it).

(4) To take possession of, or seize upon, either by force or

before the appointed time. Compare Jump.

1896. Modern:

"Those who had no tickets broke through and rushed all the

seats."

"The dancers becoming very hungry did not stand on ceremony,

but rushed the supper."

(5) To flood with gold-seekers.

1887. H. H. Hayter, `Christmas Adventure,' p. 3:

"The Bald Hill had just been rushed, and therefore

I decided to take up a claim."

<hw>Rush</hw>, n. (1) The hurrying off of diggers

to a new field.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 86:

"We had a long conversation on the `rush,' as it was termed."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. i., p. 19:

"Arouse you, my comrades, for rush is the word,

Advance to the strife with a pick for a sword."

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

"Fell Timber Creek, where a new rush had set in."

(2) A place where gold is found, and to which consequently

a crowd of diggers "rush."

1855. William Howitt, `Land, Labour and Gold; or Two Years

in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 172:

"It is a common practice for them to mark out one or more

claims in each new rush, so as to make sure if it turn out

well. But only one claim at a time is legal and tenable.

This practice is called shepherding."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 22, p. 34, col. 1:

"The Palmer River rush is a perfect swindle."

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for Mail,' p. 34:

"Off we set to the Dunstan rush, just broken out."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 92:

"Morinish, was a worked-out rush close to Rockhampton, where

the first attempt at gold-digging had been made in Queensland."

(3) A stampede of cattle.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 102:

"A confused whirl of dark forms swept before him, and the camp,

so full of life a minute ago, is desolate. It was `a rush,' a

stampede."

<hw>Rush-broom</hw>, n. Australian name for the

indigenous shrub Viminaria denudata, Sm.,

N.O. Leguminosae. The flowers are orange-yellow.

In England, it is cultivated in greenhouses.

<hw>Rusty Fig</hw>, n. See under Fig-tree.

<hw>Saddle, Colonial</hw>, n.

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 53:

"The colonial saddle is a shapeless, cumbersome fabric,

made of rough leather, with a high pommel and cantle, and huge

knee-pads, weighing on an average twenty pounds. The greatest

care is necessary to prevent such a diabolical machine from

giving a horse a sore back."

[Mr. Finch-Hatton's epithet is exaggerated. The saddle is

well adapted to its peculiar local purposes. The projecting

knee-pads, especially, save the rider from fractured knee-caps

when galloping among closely timbered scrub. The ordinary

English saddle is similarly varied by exaggeration of different

parts to suit special requirements, as e.g. in the military

saddle, with its enormous pommel; the diminutive racing saddle,

to meet handicappers' "bottom-weights," etc. The mediaeval

saddle had its turret-like cantle for the armoured spearman.]

<hw>Saddle-Back</hw>, n. a bird of the North Island of

New Zealand, Creadion carunculatus, Cab. See also

Jack-bird and Creadion.

1868. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' Essay on

Ornithology, by W. Buller, vol. i. p. 5:

"The Saddle-back (Creadion carunculatus) of the North

is represented in the South by C. cinereus, a closely allied

species."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 64:

"It is the sharp, quick call of the saddle-back."

1886. A. Reischek, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,'

vol. xix. art. xxiii. p. 102:

"The bird derives its popular name from a peculiarity in the

distribution of its two strongly contrasting colours, uniform

black, back and shoulders ferruginous, the shoulders of the

wings forming a saddle. In structure it resembles the starling

(Sturnidae); it has also the wedge bill."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 18:

"Creadion Carunculatus. This bird derives its popular

name from a peculiarity in the distribution of its too strongly

contrasted colours, black and ferruginous, the latter of which

covers the back, forms a sharply-defined margin across the

shoulders, and sweeps over the wings in a manner suggestive of

saddle-flaps."

<hw>Sagg</hw>, n. the name given in Tasmania to the

plant Xerotes longifolia, R. Br., N.O. Junceae,

and also to the White Iris, Diplarhena morcaea.

<hw>Saliferous</hw>, adj. salt-bearing. See

Salt-bush. The word is used in geology in ordinary

English, but the botanical application is Australian.

1890. E. W. Hornung, `A Bride from the Bush,' p. 277:

"You have only to cover the desert with pale-green saliferous

bushes, no higher than a man's knee."

<hw>Sallee</hw>, n. aboriginal name for many varieties

of the Acacia (q.v.).

<hw>Sally</hw>, <hw>Sallow</hw>, n. corruptions of the

aboriginal word Sallee (q.v.). There are many

varieties, e.g. Black-Sally, White-Sally, etc.

<hw>Salmon</hw>, n. The English Salmon is being

acclimatised with difficulty in Tasmania and New Zealand;

the Trout more successfully. But in all Australian,

New Zealand, and Tasmanian waters there is a marine fish

which is called Salmon; it is not the true Salmon of the

Old World, but Arripis salar, Gunth., and called

in New Zealand by the Maori name Kahawai. The fish

is often called also Salmon-Trout. The young is

called Samson-fish (q.v.).

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

Wales,' p. 136:

[Sept. 1790.] "Near four thousand of a fish, named by us,

from its shape only, the Salmon, being taken at two hauls

of the seine. Each fish weighed on an average about five

pounds."

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

p. 93:

"The kawai has somewhat of the habits of the salmon, entering

during spring and summer into the bays, rivers, and fresh-water

creeks in large shoals."

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 393:

"Arripis salar, South Australia. Three species are

known, from the coasts of Southern Australia and New Zealand.

They are named by the colonists Salmon or Trout, from their

elegant form and lively habits, and from the sport they afford

to the angler."

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

p. 35:

"Arripis salar, Gunth., is in the adult state the salmon

of the Australian fishermen, and their salmon trout is the

young. . . . The most common of all Victorian fishes

. . . does not resemble the true salmon in any important

respect . . . It is the A. truttaceus of Cuvier

and Valenciennes."

<hw>Salmon-Trout</hw>, n. i.q. Salmon (q.v.).

<hw>Saloop-bush</hw>, n. name given to an erect

soft-stemmed bush, Rhagodia hastata, R. Br.,

N.O. Salsolaceae, one of the Australian Redberries,

two to three feet high. See Redberry and Salt-bush.

<hw>Salsolaceous</hw>, adj. belongs to the natural order

Salsolaceae. The shrubs of the order are not peculiar

to Australia, but are commoner there than elsewhere.

1837. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 906:

"Passing tufts of samphire and salsolaceous plants."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' c. xlii. (`Century'):

"It is getting hopeless now . . . sand and nothing but sand.

The salsolaceous plants, so long the only vegetation we have

seen, are gone."

<hw>Salt-bush</hw>, n. and adj. the wild alkaline

herb or shrub, growing on the interior plains of Australia,

on which horses and sheep feed, of the N.O. Salsolaceae.

The genera are Atriplex, Kochia, and Rhagodia.

Of the large growth, A. nummularium, Lindl.,

and of the dwarf species, A. vesicarium, Heward,

and A. halimoides, Lindl., are the commonest.

Some species bear the additional names of Cabbage

Salt-bush, Old-Man Salt-bush, Small Salt-bush,

Blue-bush, Cotton-bush, Saloop-bush, etc.

Some varieties are very rich in salt. Rhagodia

parabolica, R. Br., for instance, according to

Mr. Stephenson, who accompanied Sir T. Mitchell in one of his

expeditions, yields as much as two ounces of salt by boiling

two pounds of leaves.

1870. T. H. Braim, `New Homes,' c. ii. p. 89:

"This inland salt-bush country suits the settler's purpose

well."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 144:

"The ground is covered with the sage-coloured salt-bush

all the year round, but in the winter it blooms with flowers."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. xxi. p. 262:

"How glorious it will be to see them pitching into that lovely

salt-bush by the lake."

1892. E. W. Hornung, `Under Two Skies,' p. 11:

"The surrounding miles of salt-bush plains and low monotonous

scrub oppressed her when she wandered abroad. There was not

one picturesque patch on the whole dreary run."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 92:

"Over the miles of the salt-bush plain--

The shining plain that is said to be

The dried-up bed of an inland sea.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

For those that love it and understand,

The salt-bush plain is a wonderland."

<hw>Samson-fish</hw>, n. name given in Sydney to

Seriola hippos, Gunth., family Carangidae;

and in Melbourne to the young of Arripis salar,

Richards., family Percidae. See Salmon.

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

p. 60:

"The samson-fish (Senola hippos, Gunth.) is occasionally

caught. The great strength of these fishes is remarkable, and

which probably is the cause that gave it the name of

Samson-fish, as sailors or shipwrights give to the name of a

strong post resting on the keelson of a ship, and supporting

the upper beam, and bearing all the weight of the deck cargo

near the hold, Samson-post."

<hw>Sandalwood</hw>, n. The name is given to many

Australian trees from the strong scent of their timber.

They are --