1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Aus_Austral English

p. 233:

"They then, if `stores,' pass to the rich salt-bush country of

Riverina."

<hw>Store-cattle</hw>, n. lean cattle bought to be

fattened for the market; often contracted to stores

(q.v.).

1885. R. M. Praed, `Head-Station,' p. 74:

"Oh, we're not fit for anything but store-cattle: we are all

blady grass."

<hw>Stranger</hw>, n. name given in Victoria and

Tasmania to the Rock-Whiting, Odax richardsoni,

Gunth., family Labridae. The Stranger, which is

a marine fish, is caught occasionally in the fresher water of

the upper estuary of the Derwent; hence its name.

See Whiting.

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, 1881, p. 1:

"Common fish such as . . . garfish, strangers, silvers, and

others.'

<hw>Stringy-bark</hw>, n. (1) any one of various

Gums, with a tough fibrous bark used for tying,

for cordage, for roofs of huts, etc.

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 37:

"The string bark [sic] tree is also useful, and its bark, which

is of a fibrous texture, often more than an inch in thickness,

parts easily from the wood, and may be obtained ten or twelve

feet in length, and seven or eight in breadth."

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

"The natives appear also to like the fruit of the pandanus,

of which large quantities are found in their camps, soaking

in water contained in vessels formed of stringy-bark."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 27:

"In truth, the forests of Australia (consisting principally of

woods of iron-bark, stringy-bark, and other species of the

Eucalyptus) seen at a distance, just before sunset, are noble

objects--perfect pictures."

1862. G. T. Lloyd, `Thirty-three Years in Tasmania and

Victoria,' p. 29:

"The stringy bark tree is so named from the ropy nature of its

bark, which is frequently used for tying on the rods and thatch

of sheds, huts, and barns in the country."

1862. W. Archer, `Products of Tasmania,' p. 39:

"Gum-topped String-bark, sometimes called white gum

(Eucalyptus gigantea, var.). A tree resembling the Blue

Gum in foliage, with rough bark similar to Stringy Bark towards

the stem."

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

and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 237:

"Stringy-bark trees were also seen--so called, because the

rough bark has a brown tenacious fibre, like that of the

cocoanut, which can be split off in sheets to make the roofs of

houses, or unravelled into a fibre that will tie like string."

1868. Carleton, `Australian Nights,' p. 2:

"The mia-mia that the native dark

Had formed from sheets of stringy bark."

1873. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 204:

"The Stringy-bark tree is of straight growth, and takes its

name from the strip-like character of its bark. . . . The

wood is of a brown colour, hard, heavy, strong and close in the

grain. It works up well . . . in ship-building, for

planking, beams, keels and keelsons, and in civil architecture

for joists, flooring, etc. Upon the farms it is used for

fences and agricultural implements: it is also employed for

furniture and for all ordinary purposes."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 196:

"Down to the waist they are all wound round with frayed

stringy-bark in thick folds."

1894. `The Age,' Oct. 19, p. 5, col. 8:

"Granite and stringy-bark are always associated with `hungry'

country."

(2) Bush slang for bad whisky.

1890. A. J. Vogan, `The Black Police,' p. 217:

"Stringy-bark, a curious combination of fusil oil

and turpentine, labelled `whisky.'"

<hw>Stringy-bark</hw>, adj. equivalent to "bush."

1833. Oct. `New South Wales Magazine,' vol. 1. p. 173:

". . . the workmanship of which I beg you will not scrutinize,

as I am but, to use a colonial expression, `a stringy-bark

carpenter.'"

1853. C. Rudston Read, `What I Heard, Saw, and Did at the

Australian Gold Fields,' p. 53:

". . . after swimming a small river about 100 yards wide

he'd arrive at old Geordy's, a stringy bark settler . . ."

<hw>Sturt's Desert Pea</hw>, n. a beautiful creeper,

Clianthus dampieri, Cunn., N.O. Leguminosae,

which will only grow in very dry, sandy soil. It is sometimes

called Lobster's Claw, from its clusters of brilliant

scarlet flowers with black-purple centres, like a lobster's

claw. Called also Glory Pea (q.v.).

See Clianthus.

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

and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 29:

"Amongst which appears the beautiful Clianthus, known to the

colonists as Sturt's desert pea."

[Footnote]: "Woodward in `Dampier's Voyages,' vol. iii. cap. 4,

pl. 2. The plant is there called Colutea

Novae-Hollandiae. Its name now is Clianthus

Dampieri. R. Brown proposed the name of

Eremocharis, from the Greek 'eraemos, desert."

[Dampier's voyage was made in 1699, and the book published

in 1703. Mr. Woodward contributed notes on the plants brought

home by Dampier.]

<hw>Stump-jump Plough</hw>, n. a farm implement,

invented in Australia, for ploughing the wheat-lands, which are

often left with the stumps of the cleared trees not eradicated.

1896. `Waybrook Implement Company' (Advt.):

"It is only a very few years since it came into use, and no one

ever thought it was going to turn a trackless scrub into a huge

garden. But now from the South Australian border right through

to the Murray, farms and comfortable homesteads have taken the

place of dense scrub. This last harvest, over three hundred

thousand bags of wheat were delivered at Warracknabeal, and

this wonderful result must, in the main, be put down to the

Stump-jump Plough. It has been one of the best inventions this

colony has ever been blessed with."

<hw>Stump-tailed Lizard</hw>, n. an Australian lizard,

Trachydosaurus rugosus, Gray.

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

shrubby plants of New Zealand and Australia, of the

N.O. Epacrideae. It contains the Five-Corners

(q.v.).

1793. J. E. Smith, `Specimen of the Botany of New Holland,'

p. 46:

"We adopt Dr. Solander's original name Styphelia,

derived from stuphelos, harsh, hard, or firm, expressive

of the habit of the whole genus and indeed of the whole natural

order."

<hw>Sucker</hw>, n. name given in New Zealand to the

fish Diplocrepis puniceus, Rich., family

Gobiesocidae. This is a family of small, marine,

littoral fishes provided with a ventral disc, or adhesive

apparatus. Other genera of the family occur in Australasia.

<hw>Sugar</hw>, n. slang for money. It may be doubted

if it is specially Australian.

1887. J. Bonwick, `Romance of Wool Trade,' p. 273 (quoting

`Victoria, the El Dorado'):

"I hear him sing out `sold again, and got the sugar' (a

colonial slang word for ready money); `half a sheep for a

shilling.'"

<hw>Sugar-Ant</hw>, n. a small ant, known in many parts

of Australia by this name because of its fondness for sweet

things.

1896. `The Melbournian,' Aug. 28, p. 53:

"The sun reaches a sugar-ant and rouses him from his winter

sleep. Out he scurries, glad to greet the warmth, and tracks

hurriedly around. He feels the sun, but the cold damp ground

tells him the time is not yet come when at evening he will

sally forth in long columns over the soft warm dust in search

of the morrow's meal; so, dazzled by the unaccustomed glare, he

seeks his hiding-place once more."

<hw>Sugar-bag</hw>, n. nest of honey, and the honey.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 67:

"The regular sharp chop-chop of the tomahawks could be heard

here and there, where some of them had discovered a sugar-bag

(nest of honey) or a 'possum on a tree."

Ibid. vol. ii. p. 129:

"The tiny bee which manufactures his adored chewgah-bag."

[Footnote: "Sugar-bag--the native pigeon-English word for

honey."]

<hw>Sugar-Grass</hw>, n. an Australian grass,

Erianthus fulvus, Kunth., N.O. Gramineae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 106:

"The `Sugar Grass' of colonists, so called on account of its

sweetness; it is highly productive, and praised by

stockowners. Cattle eat it close down, and therefore it is in

danger of extermination, but it is readily raised from seed."

<hw>Sugar-Gum</hw>, n. an Australian Gum, Eucalyptus

corynocalyx of South Australia and North-Western Victoria.

The foliage is sweet, and attractive to cattle.

See Gum.

<hw>Sultana-bird</hw>, n. a name for the

Swamp-Hen (q.v.), Porphyrio melanonotus, Temm.

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 223:

"Black sultana-birds, blue-breasted as deep ocean."

<hw>Summer-bird</hw>, n. the Old Colonists' name for the

Wood-swallows. See Swallow. In Tasmania it is

applied to a species of Shrike, Graucalus melanops,

Lath. The name refers to the migratory habits of both birds.

1895. C. French, Government entomologist, letter to `Argus,'

Nov. 29:

"The wood-swallows, known to us old colonists as summer birds,

are migratory, making their appearance about September and

disappearing about the end of January."

<hw>Summer Country</hw>, n. In New Zealand (South

Island), country which can be used in summer only; mountain

land in Otago and Canterbury, above a certain level.

<hw>Sun-bird</hw>, n. a common name of various birds.

Applied in Australia to Cinnyris frenata, Mull.

1869. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia' (Supplement), pl. 45:

"`This pretty Sun-bird,' says Mr. MacGillivray, `appears to be

distributed along the whole of the northeast coast of

Australia, the adjacent islands, and the whole of the islands

in Torres Straits.'"

<hw>Sundew</hw>, n. There are many species of this

flower in Australia and Tasmania, most of them peculiar to

Australasia; Drosera spp., N.O. Droseraceae.

1888. `Cassell's Picturesque Australasia,' vol. ii. p. 236:

"Smooth, marshy meadows, gleaming with the ruby stars of

millions of tiny little sundews."

<hw>Sundowner</hw>, n. a tramp who takes care to arrive

at a station at sundown, so that he shall be provided with

`tucker' (q.v.) at the squatter's cost: one of those who

go about the country seeking work and devoutly hoping they may

not find it.

1880. G. n. Oakley, in `Victoria in 1880,' p. 114 [Title of

poem of seventeen stanzas]:

"The Sundowner."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 32:

"When the real `sundowner' haunts these banks for a season, he

is content with a black pannikin, a clasp knife, and a platter

whittled out of primaeval bark."

1890. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 5:

"Sundowners are still the plague of squatocracy, their petition

for `rashons' and a bed amounting to a demand."

1891. F. Adams, `John Webb's End,' p. 34:

"`Swagsmen' too, genuine, or only `sundowners,'--men who loaf

about till sunset, and then come in with the demand for the

unrefusable `rations.'"

1892. `Scribner's Magazine,' Feb., p. 143:

"They swell the noble army of swagmen or sundowners, who are

chiefly the fearful human wrecks which the ebbing tide of

mining industry has left stranded in Australia."

[This writer does not differentiate between Swagman

(q.v.) and Sundowner.]

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 12, p. 8, col. 7:

"Numbers of men who came to be known by the class name of

`sundowners,' from their habit of straggling up at fall of

evening with the stereotyped appeal for work; and work being at

that hour impossible, they were sent to the travellers' hut for

shelter and to the storekeeper or cook for the pannikin of

flour, the bit of mutton, the sufficiency of tea for a brew,

which made up a ration."

1896. `Windsor Magazine,' Dec., p. 132:

"`Here,' he remarked, `is a capital picture of a Queensland

sundowner.' The picture represented a solitary figure standing

in pathetic isolation on a boundless plain. `A sundowner?' I

queried. `Yes; the lowest class of nomad. For days they will

tramp across the plains carrying, you see, their supply of

water. They approach a station only at sunset, hence the name.

At that hour they know they will not be turned away.' `Do they

take a day's work?' `Not they! There is an old bush saying,

that the sundowner's one request is for work, and his one

prayer is that be may not find it.'"

<hw>Super</hw>, n. short for superintendent,

sc. of a station.

1870. A. L. Gordon, `Bush Ballads,' p. 23:

"What's up with our super to-night? The man's mad."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. ix. p. 83:

"That super's a growlin' ignorant beggar as runs a feller from

daylight to dark for nothing at all."

1890. `The Argus,' June 10, p. 4, col. 1:

"He . . . bragged of how he had bested the super who tried

to `wing him' in the scrub."

<hw>Superb-Dragon</hw>, n. an Australian marine fish,

Phyllopteryx foliatus, Shaw. See Sea-Dragon.

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' pl. 7:

"`Superb-Dragon--Phyllopteryx Foliatus.' This is one of the

`Pipe fishes,' order Lophobranchii. It has been

compared to the ghost of a seahorse (Hippocampus) with

its winding sheet all in ribbons around it; and the tattered

cerements are like in shape and colour to the seaweed it

frequents, so that it hides and feeds in safety. The long ends

of ribs which seem to poke through the skin to excite our

compassion are really `protective resemblances,' and serve to

allure the prey more effectually within reach of these awful

ghouls. Just as the leaf-insect is imitative of a leaf, and

the staff insect of a twig, so here is a fish like a bunch of

seaweed. (Tenison-Woods.)" [Compare Phasmid.]

<hw>Superb-Warbler</hw>, n. any Australian bird of

the genus Malurus (q.v.), especially M. cyaneus,

the Blue Wren.

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

"We also observed the Superb Warbler, Malurus cyaneus,

of Sydney."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 18:

"Malurus Cyaneus, Vieill., Blue Wren; Superb Warbler

of the Colonists."

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

"The best known are . . . and the Blue Wren or Superb

Warbler (Malurus cyaneus), both of which I have

repeatedly watched in the Sydney Botanic Gardens. . . .

They dart about the pathways like mice, but rarely seem to fly.

There are a dozen other Superb Warblers."

<hw>Supple-jack</hw>, n. The word is English in the

sense of a strong cane, and is the name of various climbing

shrubs from which the canes are cut; especially in America.

In Australia, the name is given to similar creeping plants,

viz.--Ventilago viminalis, Hook.,

N.O. Rhamnaceae; Clematis aristata, R. Br.,

N.O. Ranunculaceae. In New Zealand, to

Ripogonum (spp.).

1818. `History of New South Wales,' p. 47:

"The underwood is in general so thick and so bound together by

that kind of creeping shrub called supple-jack, interwoven in

all directions, as to be absolutely impenetrable."

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

p. 218:

"After a tedious march . . . along a track constantly

obstructed by webs of the kareau, or supple-jack, we came to

the brow of a descent."

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

vol. i. p. 135:

"Supple-jack snares, root-traps, and other parasitical

impediments."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 135:

"Two kinds of creepers extremely molesting and troublesome,

the so-called `supple-jack' of the colonists (Ripogonum

parviflorum), in the ropelike creeping vines of which

the traveller finds himself every moment entangled."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 11:

"The tangles black

Of looped and shining supple jack."

1874. W. M. B., `Narrative of Edward Crewe,' p. 199:

The supple-jack, that stopper to all speedy progression in the

New Zealand forest."

1881. J.L. Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 154:

"Forty or fifty feet of supple-jack. This creeper is of the

thickness of your finger, and runs along the ground, and goes

up the trees and springs across from one tree to the other,

spanning great gaps in some mysterious manner of its own--a

tough, rascally creeper that won't break, that you can't twist

in two, that you must cut, that trips you by the foot or the

leg, and sometimes catches you by the neck . . . so useful

withal in its proper places."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 71:

"Threading with somewhat painful care intricacies formed by

loops and snares of bewildering supple-jacks, that living study

of Gordian entanglement, nature-woven, for patient exercise of

hand and foot."

1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British

Colonies,' p. 309:

"Laced together by creepers called supple-jacks, which twine

and twist for hundreds of yards, with stems as thick as a man's

wrist, so as to make the forests impassable except with axes

and immense labour."

<hw>Surfacing</hw>, n. (1) Wash-dirt lying on the

surface of the ground.

(2) verbal n. Gold-digging on the surface of the

ground.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 133:

"What is termed `surfacing' consists of simply washing the soil

on the surface of the ground, which is occasionally

auriferous."

1861. Mrs. Meredith, `Over the Straits,' c. iv. p. 133:

"I've been surfacing this good while; but quartz-reefin's the

payinest game, now."

1866. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches' [Second Series],

p. 133:

"What is termed `surfacing' consists of simply washing the soil

on the surface of the ground, which is occasionally

auriferous."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xv. p. 153:

"They have been mopping up some rich surfacing."

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

"`Surfacing' or `loaming.' Small canvas bags are carried by

the prospector, and top soil from various likely-looking spots

gathered and put into them, the spots being marked to

correspond with the bags. The contents are then panned off

separately, and if gold is found in any one of the bags the

spot is again visited, and the place thoroughly overhauled,

even to trenching for the reef."

<hw>Swag</hw>, n. (1) Used in the early days, and still

by the criminal class, in the ordinary sense of Thieves'

English, as booty, plunder.

1837. J. Mudie, `Felonry of New South Wales,' p. 181:

"In short, having brought with her a supply of the `swag,' as

the convicts call their ill-gotten cash, a wife seldom fails of

having her husband assigned to her, in which case the

transported felon finds himself his own master."

1879. R. H. Barham, `Ingoldsby Legends' (Misadventures

at Margate):

"A landsman said, `I twig the drop,--he's been upon

the mill,

And `cause he gammons so the flats, ve calls him

Veepin' Bill.'

He said `he'd done me very brown, and neatly stowed

the swag,'

-That's French, I fancy, for a hat,--or else a carpet-bag."

(2) A special Australian use: a tramp's bundle, wrapt up in a

blanket, called a Bluey (q.v.). Used also for a

passenger's luggage.

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

p. 59:

"A number of the slang phrases current in St. Giles's

Greek bid fair to become legitimatized in the

dictionary of this colony: plant, swag,

pulling up, and other epithets of the

Tom and Jerry school, are established--the dross

passing here as genuine, even among all ranks."

1853. S. Sidney, `Three Colonies of Australia,' p. 361:

"His leathern overalls, his fancy stick, and his `swag' done up

in mackintosh."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 384:

"There were others with huge swags suspended from a pole, with

which they went on, like the Children of Israel carrying the

gigantic bunches of the grapes of Canaan."

1865. J. O. Tucker, `Australian Story,' c. i. p. 86:

"The cumbrous weight of blankets that comprised my swag."

1867. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 127:

"A pair of large double blankets to make the tent of,--that was

one swag, and a very unwieldy one it was, strapped knapsack

fashion, with straps of flax leaves."

1868. J. Bonwick, `John Batman, Founder of Victoria,' p. 51:

"Three white men, the Sydney natives, and Batman, who carried

his swag the same as the rest, all armed."

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking About in New Zealand,' p. 9:

"With my rug and blankets on my back (such a bundle being

called a `swag')."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i.

p. 285:

"Swag, which consists of his personal properties rolled up in

a blanket."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 33:

"His cumbrous attire and the huge swag which lay across the

seat."

1888. A. Reischek, in Buller's `Birds of New Zealand,' vol.

ii. p. 93:

"With the hope that there would now be a few fine days, I at

once packed up my swag with provisions, ammunition, blanket,

&c."

1892. `The Australasian,' May 7, p. 903, col. 1:

"Kenneth, in front, reminded me comically of Alice's White

Knight, what with the billies dancing and jingling on his back,

and the tomahawk in his belt, and his large swag in front."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 95:

"I suppose he's tramping somewhere,

Where the bushmen carry swags,

Cadging round the wretched stations

With his empty tucker-bags."

<hw>Swag</hw>, v. to tramp the bush, carrying a swag.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 5:

"There was the solitary pedestrian, with the whole of his

supplies, consisting of a blanket and other necessary articles,

strapped across his shoulders--this load is called the `swag,'

and the mode of travelling `swagging it.'"

<hw>Swag-like</hw>, adv. in the fashion of a swag.

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 2, p. 4, col. 2:

"He strapped the whole lot together, swag-like."

<hw>Swagger</hw>, n. Same as Swagman (q.v.).

Specially used in New Zealand. The word has also the modern

English slang sense.

1875. Lady Barker, `Station Amusements in New Zealand,' p. 154:

"Describing the real swagger, clad in flannel shirt, moleskin

trowsers, and what were once thick boots."

1890. `The Century,' vol. xli. p. 624 (`Century'):

"Under the name of swagger or sundowner the tramp, as he moves

from station to station in remote districts, in supposed search

for work, is a recognized element of society."

1893. `Otago Witness,' Dec. 21, p. 6, col. 3:

"Once a footsore swagger came along, and having gone to the

house to ask for `tucker,' soon returned. He took his swag

from his shoulders and leant it against the Tree; then he

busied himself gathering the small sticks and dried leaves

lying about on every side."

1896. `The Argus,' March 23, p.5, col. 1:

"The minister's house is the sure mark for every stone-broke

swagger in search of clothes or victuals."

1896. `Southern Standard' (New Zealand), [page not given]:

"An ardent young lady cyclist of Gore, who goes very long

journeys on her machine, was asked by a lady friend if she was

not afraid of swaggers on the road. `Afraid of them?' she

said, `why, I take tea with them!'"

1896. `The Champion,' Jan. 4, p. 3, col. 3:

"He [Professor Morris] says that `swagger' is a variant of

`swagman.' This is equally amusing and wrong."

[Nevertheless, he now says it once again.]

<hw>Swaggie</hw>, n. a humorous variation on swagman.

1892. E. W. Horning, `Under Two Skies,' p. 109:

"Here's a swaggie stopped to camp, with flour for a damper,

and a handful of tea for the quart-pot, as safe as the bank."

<hw>Swagman</hw>, n. a man travelling through the bush

carrying a Swag (q.v.), and seeking employment. There

are variants, Swagger (more general in New Zealand),

Swaggie, and Swagsman. The Sundowner,

Traveller, or New Zealand Tussocker, is not

generally a seeker for work.

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 4, col. 2:

"The regular swagman carrying his ration bags, which will

sometimes contain nearly twenty days' provender in flour and

sugar and tea."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 156:

"We pulled up a swagman. He was walking very slow; he was a

bit lame too. His swag wasn't heavy, for he had only a rag of

a blue blanket, a billy of water in his hand, and very little

else."

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Jan. 25:

"Under the electric light in the quadrangle of the Exhibition

they will give tableaux, representing the murder of a swagman

by a native and the shooting of the criminal by a black

tracker."

1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 11, p. 7, col. 2:

"The Yarra has claimed many swagman in the end, but not all

have died in full travelling costume . . . a typical

back-blocks traveller. He was grey and grizzled, but well fed,

and he wore a Cardigan jacket, brown moleskin trousers, blucher

boots, and socks, all of which were mended with rough patches.

His knife and tobacco, his odds and ends, and his purse,

containing 14 1/2d., were still intact, while across his

shoulder was a swag, and the fingers of his right hand had

tightly closed round the handle of his old black billy-can, in

which were some scraps of meat wrapped in a newspaper of the

5th inst. He had taken with him his old companions of the

roads--his billy and his swag."

<hw>Swagsman</hw>, n. a variant of Swagman

(q.v.).

1879 J. Brunton Stephens, `Drought and Doctrine' (Works,

p. 309):

"Rememberin' the needful, I gets up an' quietly slips

To the porch to see--a swagsman--with our bottle at his lips."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 89:

"One of these prospecting swagsmen was journeying towards

Maryborough."

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 111:

"Idleness being the mainspring of the journeys of the Swagsman

(Anglice, `tramp')."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xix. p. 235:

"The able-bodied swagsmen hasten towards Rainbar."

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

The species observed in Australia are--

The Swallow--

Hirundo neoxena, Gould.

Black-and-white S.--

Cheramaeca leucosternum, Gould.

Black-faced Wood S.--

Artamus melanops, Gould.

Eastern S.--

Hirundo javanica, Sparrm.

Grey-breasted Wood S.--

Artamus cinereus, Vieill.

Little Wood S.--

A. minor, Vieill.

Masked Wood S.--

Artamus personatus, Gould.

White-bellied Wood S.--

A. hypoleucus.

White-browed Wood S.--

A. superciliosus, Gould.

White-rumped Wood S.--

A. leucogaster, Valenc.

Wood S.--

A. sordidus, Lath.

Artamus is often wrongly spelt Artemus.

The Wood-Swallows are often called Summer-birds

(q.v.).

<hw>Swamp-Broom</hw>, n. a rush-broom, Viminaria

denudata, Sm., N.O. Leguminosae.

See Swamp-Oak.

<hw>Swamp-Daisy-tree</hw>, n. See Daisy-tree.

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

<hw>Swamp-Hawk</hw>, n. another name for the New Zealand

Harrier. See Harrier.

<hw>Swamp-Hen</hw>, n. an Australasian bird,

Porphyrio melanonotus, Temm. (often incorrectly

shortened to Melanotus). Called sometimes the

Porphyrio (q.v.); Maori name, Pukeko. Called

also the Swamp-Turkey, the Purple Coot, and by

New Zealand colonists, Sultana-bird, Pukaki,

or Bokaka, the last two being corruptions of the Maori

name. For a West-Australian variety of the Porphyrio,

see quotation (1848).

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

p. 228:

"The pukeko is of a dark-blue colour, and about as large as a

pheasant. The legs, the bill, and a horny continuation of it

over the front of the head, are of a bright crimson colour.

Its long legs adapt it for its swampy life; its flight is slow

and heavy, resembling that of a bittern."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi. pl. 70:

"Porphyrio Bellus, Gould, Azure breasted

Porphyrio; Swamp-Hen, Colonists of Western Australia."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 79:

[A full description.]

<hw>Swamp-Mahogany</hw>, n. a timber tree, Eucalyptus

botryoides, Sm. See Gum and Mahogany.

1886. T. Heney, `Fortunate Days,' p. 50:

"Swamp mahogany's floor-flowered arms."

<hw>Swamp-Oak</hw>, n. (1) A broomlike leguminous shrub

or small tree, Viminaria denudata, Sm. (also called

Swamp-broom). (2) A tree of the genus Casuarina,

especially C. paludosa. See Oak.

1833. C. Sturt, I Southern Australia,'vol. i. c. i. p. 53:

"Light brushes of swamp-oak, cypress, box and acacia pendula."

1847. J. D. Lang, `Phillipsland,' p. 257:

"Its banks (Murrumbidgee) are fringed with the beautiful

swamp-oak, a tree of the Casuarina family, with a form

and character somewhat intermediate between that of the spruce

and that of the Scotch fir, being less formal and Dutch-like

than the former, and more graceful than the latter."

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

Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 324:

"A stream, whose winding channel could be traced by the

particularly dark verdure of the swamp-oak (Casuarina

paludosa) on its banks."

1866. Miss Parkes, `Poems,' p. 40:

"Your voice came to me, soft and distant seeming,

As comes the murmur of the swamp-oak's tone."

1870. F. S. Wilson, `Australian Songs,' p. 100:

"Softly the swamp-oak

Muttered its sorrows to her and to me."

1883. C. Harpur, `Poems,' p. 47:

"Befringed with upward tapering feathery swamp-oaks."

<hw>Swamp-Pheasant</hw>, n. called also

Pheasant-cuckoo. Another name for the Coucal

(q.v.).

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 60:

"A Centropus phasianellus (the swamp-pheasant

of Moreton Bay) was shot."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 116:

"Far down the creek, on one of the river-oaks which grow in its

bed, a swamp-pheasant utters its rapid coocoo-coo-coo-coo-

coo-cook."

1887. R. M. Praed, `Longleat of Kooralbyn,' c. xvi. p. 102:

"The gurgling note of the swamp-pheasant."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 94:

"The bird Centropus, which is common in all Queensland,

is found here in great numbers. Although it really is a

cuckoo, the colonists call it the `swamp-pheasant,' because it

has a tail like a pheasant. It is a very remarkable bird with

stiff feathers, and flies with difficulty on account of its

small wings. The swamp-pheasant has not the family weakness of

the cuckoo, for it does not lay its eggs in the nests of other

birds. It has a peculiar clucking voice which reminds one of

the sound produced when water is poured from a bottle."

<hw>Swamp-Sparrow</hw>, n. a nickname in New Zealand

for the Fern-bird (q.v.).

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 60:

"These beds of rushes which form blind water-courses during the

winter season, are dry in summer and are then a favourite

resort for the Swamp-Sparrow as this bird is sometimes called."

Ibid. vol. ii. p. 255:

"The melancholy cry of the Fern-bird is so general and

persistent that its nick-name of Swamp Sparrow is not

undeserved."

<hw>Swan, Black</hw>, n. an Australian bird--Cycnus

niger, Juvenal; Cygnus atratus, Gould; Chenopsis

atrata, Wagl., sometimes miscalled Chenopis.

The river upon which Perth, Western Australia, is situated, is

called the Swan River, and the colony was long known as the

Swan River Settlement. It has expanded into Western Australia,

the emblem of which colony is still the Black Swan.

Since 1855 the Black Swan has been the device on the

postage stamps of Western Australia.

82 A.D. (circiter). `Juvenal, Sat.' vi. 164: "Rara avis

in terris nigroque simillima cycno."

1700 (circiter). J. Locke, in `Johnson's Dictionary' (9th

edition, 1805), s.v. Swan:

"The idea which an Englishman signifies by the name Swan,

is a white colour, long neck, black beak, black legs, and whole

feet, and all these of a certain size, with a power of swimming

in the water, and making a certain kind of noise."

1789. Governor Phillip, `Voyage,' p. 98:

"A black swan, which species, though proverbially rare in other

parts of the world, is here by no means uncommon . . . a very

noble bird, larger than the common swan, and equally beautiful

in form . . . its wings were edged with white: the bill was

tinged with red."

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 137:

"We found nine birds, that, whilst swimming, most perfectly

resembled the rara avis of the ancients, a black swan."

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 146:

"Large ponds covered with ducks and black swans."

1847. J. D. Lang, `Phillipsland,' p. 115:

"These extensive sheets of glassy water . . . were

absolutely alive with black swans and other water fowl . . .

There must have been at least five hundred swans in view at one

time on one of the lakes. They were no `rara avis' there."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vii. pl. 6:

"Cygnus Atratus, Black Swan. The first notice on record

respecting the existence of the Black Swan occurs in a letter

written by Mr. Witsen to Dr. M. Lister about the year 1698, in

which he says, `Here is returned a ship, which by our East

India Company was sent to the south land called Hollandea

Nova'; and adds that Black Swans, Parrots and many Sea-Cows

were found there."

1856. J. S. Mill, `Logic' [4th edition], vol. i. bk. iii.

c. iii. p. 344:

"Mankind were wrong, it seems, in concluding that all swans

were white. . . . As there were black swans, though civilized

people had existed for three thousand years on the earth

without meeting with them."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 29, p. 45, col. 3:

"The presence of immense flocks of black swans is also regarded

as an indication of approaching cold weather."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 22:

"The musical whoop of the black swan is sometimes heard as the

wedge-shaped flock passes over."

1895. G. Metcalfe, `Australian Zoology,' p. 64:

"Strzelecki states that the black swan was discovered in 1697

by Vlaming. . . . In 1726 two were brought alive to Batavia,

having been procured on the West Coast of Australia, near Dirk

Hartog's Bay. Captain Cook observed it on several parts of the

coast."

<hw>Swan-River Daisy</hw>, n. a pretty annual plant,

Brachycome iberidifolia, Benth., N.O. Compositae,

of Western Australia. The heads are about an inch broad, and

have bright blue rays, with paler centre. It is cultivated in

flower gardens, and is well suited for massing. (`Century.')

<hw>Sweep</hw>, n. a marine fish of the Australian

coasts, called by this name in Sydney. It is Scorpis

aequipinnis, Richards., family Squamipinnes.

This family has the soft, and frequently also the spinous,

part of their dorsal and anal fins so thickly covered with scales,

that the boundary between fins and body is entirely obliterated.

S. aequippinnis is possibly the Light-horseman

(q.v.) of early Australian writers.

<hw>Sweet Tea</hw>. See Tea.

<hw>Swift</hw>, n. In Australia, the species of this

common bird are--Spine-tailed Swift, Chaetura caudacuta,

Lath.; White-rumped S., Micropus pacificus, Lath.

<hw>Swing-gate</hw>, n. Used in its ordinary English

sense, but specially applied to a patent gate for drafting

sheep, invented by Mr. Lockhart Morton.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. ix. p. 91:

"Mr. Stangrove . . . has no more idea of a swing-gate than

a shearing-machine."

<hw>Sword-grass</hw>, n. In New Zealand, Arundo

conspicua; in Australia, Cladium psittacorum,

Labill. It is not the same as the English plant of that name,

and is often called Cutting Grass (q.v.).

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 172:

"The great plumes far and wide of the sword-grass aspire."

<hw>Sword-Sedge</hw>, a sedge on Australian coasts,

Lepidosperma gladiatum, Labill., N.O. Cyperaceae,

useful for binding sea-sand, and yielding a good material

for paper.

1877. Baron von Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 124:

"Lepidosperma is nearly endemically Australian. Lepidosperma

gladiatum, the great Swords-edge [sic] of our coasts, furnishes

an admirable material for writing paper."

[It is curious that Swords-edge makes most ingenious

sense, but it is evidently a misprint for Sword-sedge.]

<hw>Sycamore Tree</hw>. See Laurel. In New South

Wales, the name is given to Brachyciton luridus,

C. Moore, N.O. Sterculiaceae.

<hw>Sycoceric</hw>, adj. belonging to a waxy resin

obtained from the Port-Jackson Fig; see under

Fig. (From Grk. sukon, "fig," and kaeros,

"wax.")

<hw>Sycoceryl</hw>, n. a supposed element of the

sycoceric compounds. See Sycoceric.

<hw>Taboo</hw>, n. See Tapu.

<hw>Tagrag-and-Bobtail</hw>, n. a species of sea-weed.

See quotation.

1866. S. Hannaford, `Wild Flowers of Tasmania,' p. 80:

"It is a wiry-stemmed plant, with small mop-like tufts, which

hold water like a sponge. This is Bellotia Eriophorum,

the specific name derived from its resemblance to the

cotton-grass. Harvey mentions its colonial name as `Tagrag

and Bobtail,' and if it will enable collectors the more

easily to recognise it, let it be retained."

<hw>Taiaha</hw>, n. a Maori word for a chief's

walking-staff, a sign of office, sometimes used in fighting,

like a quarterstaff.

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

p. 139:

"The men are placed at equal intervals along either side to

paddle, and they keep excellent stroke to the song of two

leaders, who stand up and recite short alternate sentences,

giving the time with the taiaha, or long wooden spear. The

taiaha is rather a long-handled club than a spear. It is

generally made of manuka, a very hard, dark, close-grained

and heavy wood. The taiaha is about six feet long, etc."

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

"The taiaha is rather a long-handled club than a spear."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 299:

"A taiaha, or chiefs staff."

1881. J. L. Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 80:

"In his right hand he brandished a taiaha, a six-foot Maori

broadsword of hard wood, with its pendulous plume of feathers

hanging from the hilt."

1889. Major Wilson and Edward Tregear, `On the Korotangi,'

`Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxii. art. lxii.

p. 505:

"Many famous tribal heirlooms are hidden and lost to posterity.

The Rev. Mr. Buller mentions a famous taiaha, of great mana, as

having been buried and lost in this way, lest it should fall

into the power of opposing tribes, and cause disaster to the

original owner."

<hw>Taihoa</hw>, Maori phrase, meaning "Wait a bit."

Much used in some circles in New Zealand. The `Standard'

gives it wrongly as "Anglo-Tasmanian," probably because

Mr. Wade's book was published in Hobart.

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

p.66:

"`Taihoa.' This word has been translated, By and by;

but in truth, it has all the latitude of directly,--presently,

--by and by,--a long time hence,--and nobody knows when . . .

the deliberate reply is, `Taihoa'. . . this patience-trying

word. . . ."

1881. J. L. Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 87:

"That irritatingly provoking word, `taihoa.'"

[p. 88]: "The drawled-out t-a-i-h-o-a fell upon the ear."

[p. 266] [Title of chapter]: "I learn what Taihoa means."

[p.271]: "Great is the power of taihoa."

[p. 276]: "The imperturbable taihoa, given to us with the

ordinary placid good-humour."

<hw>Tail</hw>, v. tr. to herd and tend sheep or cattle:

lit. to follow close behind the tail.

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' Aug. 5, p. 3, col. 6:

"I know many boys, from the age of nine to sixteen years,

tailing cattle."

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

"The stockman, as he who tends cattle and horses is called,

despises the shepherd as a grovelling, inferior creature, and

considers `tailing sheep' as an employment too tardigrade for

a man of action and spirit."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xix. p. 239:

"`The cattle,' no longer `tailed,' or followed daily,

as a shepherd does sheep."

<hw>Tailing</hw>, adj. consisting of tailings

(q.v.).

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 21:

"From recent assays of the tailing-sand, scarcely one quarter

of the pyrites has been extracted."

<hw>Tailings</hw>, n. "The detritus carried off by water

from a crushing machine, or any gold-washing apparatus."

(Brough Smyth, `Glossary of Mining Terms.') Not limited to

Australia.

1891. `The Argus,' June 16, p. 6, col. 2:

"A hundred and fifty tons of tailings are treated at the

Sandhurst pyrites works every month."

<hw>Tailor</hw>, n. name given in New South Wales to the

fish Temnodon saltator, Cuv. and Val. It is called

Skipjack (q.v.) in Melbourne, a name by which it is also

known in America and Britain. Those of large size are called

"Sea-tailors." It belongs to the family Carangidae, or

Horse-Mackerels (q.v.).

<hw>Taipo</hw>, n. a New Zealand word for devil, often

applied by settlers to a vicious horse or as a name for a dog.

There is a dangerous river, the Taipo, on the west coast.

There is considerable dispute as to whether the word is true

Maori or not. The Rev. T. G. Hammond of Patea says--

"No such Maori word as taipo, meaning devil, exists. It would

mean evening-tide--tai-po. Probably the early sailors

introduced attached meaning of devil from the Maori saying,

`Are you not afraid to travel at night?' referring to the

danger of tidal rivers."

On the other hand, Mr. Tregear says, in his `Maori Comparative

Dictionary,' s.v.--

"Taepo, a goblin, a spectre. Cf. tae, to arrive;

po, night."

The Rev. W. Colenso says, in his pamphlet on `Nomenclature'

(1883), p. 5:

"Taepo means to visit or come by night,--a night visitant,--a

spectral thing seen in dreams,--a fancied and feared thing, or

hobgoblin, of the night or darkness; and this the settlers have

construed to mean the Devil!--and of course their own orthodox

one."

Taipo or taepo is also a slang term for a

surveyor's theodolite among the Maoris, because it is the

"land-stealing devil."

1848. Rev. R. Taylor, `Leaf from the Natural History of New

Zealand,' p. 43:

"Taipo, female dreamer; a prophetess; an evil spirit."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 49:

"There is the Taringa-here, a being with a face like

a cat; and likewise another, called a Taipo, who comes

in the night, sits on the tops of houses, and converses with

the inmates, but if a woman presumes to open her mouth,

it immediately disappears."

1878. B. Wells, `History of Taranaki,' p. 3:

"The similarity in sound and meaning of the Egyptian word

typhon with that of the Maori taipo, both being

the name of the Spirit of Evil, is also not a little

remarkable."

[Ingenious, but worthless.]

1886. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' `New Zealand Country

journal,' vol. x. p. 262:

"His wife became seriously affected, declaring that

Taipo had entered into her. Reasoning was wholly

useless. She declared that Taipo was in the smoke of the wood,

which smoke she had inhaled; soon she became prostrated by

illness and was expected to die."

1887. J. C. Crawford, `Travels in New Zealand and

Australia,' p. 107:

"After dinner Watkins requested the loan of a tomahawk

to defend himself on going up to the Pa on the hill above.

He said he knew that there was a taipo (devil) about;

he felt it in his head."

1888. P. W. Barlow, `Kaipara,' p. 48:

"They were making the noises I heard to drive away the `Taipo,'

a sort of devil who devotes his attention exclusively to

Maoris, over whom, however, he only possesses power at night."

1891. W. H. Roberts, `Southland in 1856,' p. 72:

"They believed it was the principal rendez-vous of the fallen

angel (Taipo) himself."

1896. Modern. Private Letter (May):

"Taipo, for instance, of course one knows its meaning,

though it has been adopted chiefly as a name as common as

`Dash' or `Nero' for New Zealand dogs; all the same the writers

upon Maori superstitions seem to have no knowledge of it.

Polach, Dieffenbach, Nicholas, Yates, call their evil spirits

whiros or atuas. Tepo, the place of darkness, is

the nearest they have come to it. I think myself it is South

Island Maori, often differing a little in spelling and use; and

so very much the larger proportion of New Zealand literature is

the literature of the North."

<hw>Tait</hw>, n. a Western Australian animal, properly

called the Long-snouted Phalanger, Tarsipes

rostratus, the only species of its genus. See

Phalanger and Opossum. It is about the size of

a mouse, and lives almost entirely on honey, which it extracts

from flowers.

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 120:

"The Long-snouted Phalanger, which derives its scientific name

from a certain resemblance of its hind feet to those of a

Malayan Lemur-like animal known as the Tarsier, is one of the

most interesting of the phalangers. . . . Known to the natives

by the names of Tait and Nulbenger, it is,

writes Gould, `generally found in all situations suited to

its existence, from Swan River to King George's Sound.'"

<hw>Takahe</hw>, n. Maori name for an extinct New

Zealand Rail, Notornis mantelli, Owen.

See Notornis.

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

p. 116:

"The Takahe is the rarest of existing native birds, if indeed

it is not already extinct."

<hw>Takapu</hw>, n. Maori name for the bird Dysporus

serrator, Banks, a Gannet (q.v.).

<hw>Take (a man) down</hw>, Australian sporting slang. (1) To

induce a man to bet, knowing that he must lose. (2) To advise

a man to bet, and then to "arrange" with an accomplice (a

jockey, e.g.) for the bet to be lost. (3) To prove superior

to a man in a game of skill.

1895. `The Argus,' Dec. 5, p. 5, col. 2:

"It appeared that [the plaintiff] had a particular fancy for a

[certain] horse, and in an evil hour induced [the defendant] to

lay him a wager about this animal at the long odds of two

shillings to threepence. When the horse had romped

triumphantly home and [the plaintiff] went to collect his two

shillings [the defendant] accused him of having `taken him

down,' stigmatised him as a thief and a robber, and further

remarked that [the plaintiff] had the telegram announcing the

result of the race in his pocket when the wager was made, and

in short refused to give [the plaintiff] anything but a black

eye."

<hw>Talegalla</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the

Brush-Turkey, and the scientific name for that bird,

viz., Talegalla lathami, Gray. See Turkey.

<hw>Tallow-wood</hw>, n. another name for one of the

Stringy-barks (q.v.), Eucalyptus microcorys,

F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae. The timber, which is hard,

gives forth an oily substance: hence the name. The tree

reaches a great height. Also called Turpentine-tree

(q.v.). See also Peppermint.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 493:

"In Queensland it is known as `Peppermint,' the foliage being

remarkably rich in volatile oil. But its almost universal name

is Tallow-wood. North of Port Jackson it bears the name of

`Turpentine Tree' and `Forest Mahogany.' The aboriginals of the

Brisbane River, Queensland, call it `tee.'"

Ibid. p. 494:

"Tallow-wood.--Used . . . for flooring, e.g. in ball-rooms;

for this purpose it is selected on account of its greasy

nature. This greasiness is most marked when it is fresh cut.

(General Report, Sydney International Exhibition, 1879.)"

1897. `The Argus,' Feb. 22, p. 5, col. 4 (Cable message

from London):

"Mr. Richards stated that the New South Wales black butt and

tallow wood were the most durable and noiseless woods for

street-paving."

<hw>Tallygalone</hw>, n. a fish of New South Wales,

Myxus elongatus, Gunth., a genus of the family

Mugilidae, or Grey-Mullet. The word is

also spelled talleygalann, and tallagallan.

Also called Sand-Mullet.

<hw>Tamarind-Tree</hw>, name given to Diploglottis

cunninghamii, Hook., N.O. Sapindaceae; called also

Native Tamarind. "A tall tree. The flesh of the fruit

is amber and of delightful acid flavour." (Bailey.)

<hw>Tambaroora</hw>, n. a Queensland game. More

generally known as "A shilling in and the winner shouts."

From a town in Queensland.

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 63:

"The exciting game of tambaroora . . . Each man of a party

throws a shilling, or whatever sum may be mutually agreed upon,

into a hat. Dice are then produced, and each man takes three

throws. The Nut who throws highest keeps the whole of the

subscribed capital, and out of it pays for the drinks of the

rest."

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

Schnapper fish (q.v.).

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

(Church Missionary Society), p. 206:

"Tamure s. Bream fish."

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

p. 93:

"There are many other sorts of fish, including the tamure, or

snapper, the manga, or barracouta, the mango, or dog-fish, of

which the natives catch large quantities, and the hapuka. This

last fish is caught in pretty deep water, near reefs and rocks.

It often attains a great size, attaining as much as 112 pounds.

It bears a considerable resemblance to the cod in form, but is,

however, of far finer flavour."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 413:

"Tamure, kouarea (the snapper), is a large fish like the

bream."

1879. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,'

vol. xii. art. vii. p. 118:

"The tamure is the snapper (Pagrus unicolor), a common fish on

all the coasts."

<hw>Tandan</hw>, n. the aboriginal name for the

Catfish (q.v.) or Eel-fish (q.v.),

Copidoglanis tandanus, Mitchell (or Plotosus

tandanus). Mitchell, who first discovered and described

the Cat-fish, called it the Tandan, or Eel-fish.

1838. T. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions,' pp. 44, 45, pl. 5:

"In this piece of water we caught some small fish, two of them

being of a rather singular kind, resembling an eel in the head

and shape of the tail."

[p. 45]: "On my return to the camp in the evening, I made a

drawing of the eel fish which we had caught early in the day

(fig. 2, pl. 5)."

<hw>Tanekaha</hw>, n. Maori name of a New Zealand tree;

also called Celery-topped Pine, Phyllocladus

trichomanoides, Don., N.O. Coniferae.

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 306:

"The Tanakaha Tree (Podocarpus asplenifolius) is found

scattered over a large portion of the northern island of New

Zealand. . . Height, sixty to eighty feet. . . The wood is

close and straight in the grain. . . It works up well, is

tough and very strong; so much so that the New Zealanders say

it is the `strong man' among their forest trees."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 125:

"Tanakaha. A slender, handsome tree, sixty feet high; trunk

rarely exceeds three feet in diameter; wood pale,

close-grained, and excellent for planks and spars; resists

decay in moist positions in a remarkable manner."

<hw>Tangi</hw>, n. (pronounced Tang-y)

Maori word for a lamentation, a cry, or dirge.

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

(Church Missionary Society), p. 207:

"Tangi, s. a cry or lamentation."

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

p. 194:

"They wrapped the mutilated corpse in his red blanket, and bore

it, lashed to a tree, to the village, where the usual tangi

took place."

1873. Lieut.-Colonel St. John, `Pakeha Rambles through Maori

Lands,' p. 154:

"Shortly afterwards a `tangi' was held over those of the party

whose remains could be identified."

1881. J. L. Campbell, `Poenamo,' p.191:

"Perhaps some old woman did a quiet tangi over his grave."

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 41:

"'Tis the tangi floats on the seaborne breeze,

In its echoing notes of wild despair."

<hw>Taniwha</hw>, n. Maori name for a mythical monster.

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

(Church Missionary Society), p. 207:

"Taniwa, s. a sea-monster so called."

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

p. 34:

"Hearing us use the word tapu, as we looked towards it,

one of our boatmen quickly repeated that the place was tapued

for the tanewa (a water demon). `And I wonder,' was his

irreverent addition, `what this same tanewa may be! An old pot

leg, perhaps!'"

1896. `Otago Witness,' Jan. 23, p. 51, col. 2:

"The river at one time is reported as having been infested with

taniwhas--gigantic fish that used to swallow the natives--and a

Maori pointed out a deep pool under some willows, and told me

his grandfather had been seized by one of these monsters at

that spot, dragged to the bottom and eaten. This taniwha,

which was about forty feet in length and had a long mane, was

in the habit of sometimes standing almost erect in the water,

and frightening the women and children out of their wits. It

had a tremendous-sized head, and its mouth somewhat resembled

the beak of a very large bird. Its neck was about six feet in

circumference and was covered with scales, as likewise its body

down to its tail, which was formed by a series of fin-shaped

projections, and somewhat resembled in form the tail of a grey

duck. It had two short legs which were as big around as the

body of a half-grown pig, and with one kick it could knock a

hole through the stoutest canoe."

<hw>Tannergrams</hw>, n. very recent New Zealand slang.

On 1st of June, 1896, the New Zealand Government reduced the

price of telegrams to sixpence (slang, a `tanner') for twelve

words.

1896. `Oamaru Mail,' June 13:

"Tannergrams is the somewhat apt designation which the new

sixpenny telegrams have been christened in commercial

vernacular."

<hw>Tappa</hw>, n. South-sea Island word. A native

cloth made from the bark of the Paper-mulberry, Broussonetia

papyrifera, Benth.

1886. `Art journal: Exhibition Supplement,' p. 24:

"The Tappa, or native cloth [of Fiji], made from the bark of a

tree. . . Has been extensively used in the draping of the

court."

1888. H. S. Cooper, `The Islands of the Pacific,' p. 9:

"Tappa, a native cloth of spotless white, made from the bark

of the mulberry-tree.'

<hw>Tapu</hw>, adj. a Maori word, but common also to

other Polynesian languages. The origin of the English word

taboo. It properly means `prohibited.' There was a

sacred tapu, and an unclean tapu. What was

consecrated to the gods was forbidden to be touched or used

by the people.

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

(Church Missionary Society), p. 208:

"Tapu, a. sacred, inviolable."

1835. W. Yate, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 84:

"This system of consecration--for that is the most frequent

meaning of the term `tapu'--has prevailed through all the

islands of the South Seas, but nowhere to a greater extent than

in New Zealand."

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

p. 194:

"They wrapped the mutilated corpse in his red blanket, and

bore it, lashed to a tree, to the village, where the usual

tangi took place after it had been deposited in the wahi tapu,

or sacred ground.'"

1859. A. S. Thomson, M.D., `Story of New Zealand,' p. 100:

"The primary meaning of the Maori word tapu is `sacred';

tabut is a Malay word, and is rendered `the Ark of the

Covenant of God'; taboot is a Hindoo word signifying

`a bier,' `a coffin,' or `the Ark of the Covenant'; ta

is the Sanscrit word `to mark,' and pu `to purify.'"

[There is no authority in this polyglot mixture.]

1879. Clement Bunbury, `Fraser's Magazine,' June, `A Visit to

the New Zealand Geysers,' p. 767:

"I had not much time to examine them closely, having a proper

fear of the unknown penalties incurred by the violation of

anything `tapu' or sacred."

1893. `Otago Witness,' Dec. 21, p. 10, col. 1:

"He seeks treasures which to us are tapu."

<hw>Tapu</hw>, n. the state of being consecrated or

forbidden.

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

p. 25:

"We found no natives, the cove being under tapu, on account of

its being the burial-place of a daughter of Te Pehi, the late

chief of the Kapiti, or Entry Island, natives."

1847. A. Tennyson, `Princess,' canto iii. l. 261:

". . . Women up till this

Cramp'd under worse than South-Sea-Isle taboo,

Dwarfs of the gynaeceum."

1851. Mrs. Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 24:

"But chiefly thou, mysterious Tapu,

From thy strange rites a hopeful sign we draw."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 281:

"The tapu, which either temporarily or permanently renders

sacred an object animate or inanimate, is the nearest approach

to the Hindoo religious exclusive-ism."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 89:

"His sole `tapu' a far securer guard

Than lock and key of craftiest notch and ward."

Ibid. p. 100:

"Avenge each minor breach of this taboo."

<hw>Tapu</hw>, v. originally to mark as sacred,

and later to place under a ban. English, taboo.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 284:

"The tapued resting-place of departed chieftains."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 29, p. 40, col. 2:

"I . . . found the telegraph office itself tabooed."

1893. R. L. Stevenson, `Island Nights' Entertainments,' p. 39:

"By Monday night I got it clearly in my head I must be

tabooed."

<hw>Tara</hw>, n. (1) Maori name for the birds

Sterna caspia, Pallas, and S. frontalis,

Gray, the Sea-Swallow, or Tern (q.v.).

(2) A Tasmanian aboriginal name for the fern Pteris

aquilina, L., N.O. Polypodeae.

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 129:

"The most extensively diffused eatable roots of Van Diemen's

Land are those of the tara fern . . . greatly resembles

Pteris aquilina, the common fern, brake, breckon,

or brackin, of England . . . it is known among the aborigines

by the name of tara . . . the root of the tara fern possesses

much nutritive matter."

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

formerly Nesodaphne tarairi, Hook., now Beilschmiedia

tarairi, Benth. and Hook., N.O. Laurineae.

1873. `Catalogue of Vienna Exhibition':

"Tarairi. Used for most of the purposes for which sycamore is

applied in Europe."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 129:

"Tarairi. A lofty forest tree, sixty to eighty feet high,

with stout branches. Wood white, splits freely, but not much

valued."

<hw>Tarakihi</hw>, n. the Maori name for the fish

Chilodactylus macropterus, Richards.; called in Sydney

the Norwong (q.v.).

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

tree Pittosporum eugenioides, A. Cunn.,

N.O. Pittosporeae; called also Mapau,

Maple, etc. See Mapau.

1876. W. n. Blair, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,'

vol. ix., art. x. p. 143:

"A small tree seldom exceeding thirty feet in height, and

twelve inches in diameter. It has pale green shining leaves

and purple flowers. The wood of a dirty white colour, is tough

and fibrous."

1879. J. B. Armstrong, `Transactions of New Zealand

Institute,' vol. xii. art. xlix. p. 329:

"The tarata or Lemon-wood, a most beautiful tree, also used

for hedges."

1889. E. H. and S. Featon, `New Zealand Flora,' p. 35:

"The Tarata. This elegant tree is found on the east coast of

both islands. It attains a height of from twenty to thirty

feet, and has a stem from twelve to eighteen inches in

diameter. It is known to the settlers in some parts as

`Lemon-wood.' When displaying its profuse masses of pale

golden flowers, it is very pretty."

<hw>Tare, Native</hw>, n. name applied in Tasmania to

the plant Swainsonia lessertiaefolia, De C.,

N.O. Leguminosae.

<hw>Taro</hw>, n. a familiar food plant,

Colocasia species, widely cultivated in tropical

regions, especially in Polynesia. The word is Polynesian,

and much used by the Maoris.

1846. J. Lindley, `Vegetable Kingdom,' p. 128 [Stanford]:

"Whole fields of Colocasia macrorhyza are cultivated

in the South Sea Islands under the name tara or kopeh roots."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 374:

"Many a bed,

That late in such luxurious neatness spread,

Of melons, maize and taro--now a wreck."

1878. Lady Brassey, `Voyage in the Sunbeam,' p. 263:

"A good-looking man was busy broiling beef-steaks, stewing

chickens and boiling taro, and we had soon a plentiful

repast set before us."

<hw>Tarsipes</hw>, n. the scientific generic name

of the Tait (q.v.).

<hw>Tarwhine</hw>, n. an Australian fish, Chrysophrys

sarba, Forsk. See Black-Bream. It is somewhat

difficult to distinguish the fish from its close relation the

Black-Bream, Chrysophrys australis, Gunth. Both are

excellent food, and frequently abundant in brackish waters.

<hw>Tar-wood</hw>, n. name given by the Otago bushmen to

the tree Darrydium colensoi, Hook.; Maori name,

Manoao (q.v.). (Kirk, `Forest Flora,' p. 189.)

<hw>Tasmania</hw>, n. island and colony, formerly called

Van Diemen's Land. The new name, from that of the Dutch

navigator, Abel Jansen Tasman, was officially adopted in 1853,

when the system of transportation ceased. The first quotations

show it was in popular use much earlier.

1820. Lieut. Charles Jeffreys, `Delineation of the Island of

Van Dieman's Land,' p. 1:

"Van Dieman's Land, or Tasmania, is an island of considerable

extent."

1823. `Godwin's Emigrant's Guide to Van Diemen's Land, more

properly called Tasmania':

[Title.]

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

p. 8:

"Over Van Diemen's Land (or Tasmania, as we love to call

it here), New South Wales enjoys also many advantages."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 491:

"Tasmania is a more musical alias adopted by the island.

It has been given in titular distinction to the first bishop,

my excellent and accomplished friend Dr. Nixon, and will

doubtless be its exclusive designation when it shall have

become a free nation."

1892. A. and G. Sutherland, `History of Australia,' p. 41:

"The wild country around the central lakes of Tasmania."

<hw>Tasmanian</hw>, adj. belonging or native to

Tasmania.

1825. A. Bent, `The Tasmanian Almanack for the Year of our

Lord 1825'

[Title.]

<hw>Tasmanian</hw>, n. an inhabitant of Tasmania,

a colonist. The word is also used of the aborigines,

the race of whom is now extinct.

<hw>Tasmanian Devil</hw>, n. the only species of the

genus Sarcophilus (q.v.), S. ursinus.

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 156:

"Like many of its kindred, the Tasmanian Devil is a burrowing

and nocturnal animal. In size it may be compared to a Badger,

and owing to its short limbs, plantigrade feet, and short

muzzle, its gait and general appearance are very Badger or

Bear-like."

<hw>Tasmanian Tiger</hw>, n. called also Native

Wolf, Marsupial Wolf, Zebra Wolf, and

Hyaena; genus, Thylacinus (q.v.). It is the

largest carnivorous marsupial extant, and is so much like a

wolf in appearance that it well deserves its vernacular name of

Wolf, though now-a-days it is generally called

Tiger. There is only one species, Thylacinus

cynocephalus, and the settlers have nearly exterminated it,

on account of its fierce predatory habits and the damage it

inflicts on their flocks. The Tasmanian Government pays L1 for

every one destroyed. The Van Diemen's Land Company in the

North-West of the Island employs a man on one of its runs who

is called the "tiger-catcher."

1813. `History of New South Wales' (1818), p. 430:

"About Port Dalrymple an animal was discovered which bore some

resemblance to the hyena both in shape and fierceness; with a

wide mouth, strong limbs, sharp claws and a striped skin.

Agreeably to the general nature of New South Wales quadrupeds,

this animal has a false belly. It may be considered as the

most formidable of any which New South Wales has been yet found

to produce, and is very destructive; though there is no

instance of its attacking the human species."

1832. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 85:

"During our stay a native tiger or hyena bounded from its lair

beneath the rocks."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Friends and Foes,' p. 65:

"There is another charming fellow, which all the people here

call the Tiger, but as a tiger is like a great cat, and this

beast is much more like a dog, you will see how foolish this

name is. I believe naturalists call it the dog-faced opossum,

and that is not much better . . . the body is not a bit like

that of an opossum."

1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British

Colonies,' p. 273:

"The `Tasmanian tiger' is of the size of a shepherd's dog, a

gaunt yellow creature, with black stripes round the upper part

of its body, and with an ugly snout. Found nowhere but in

Tasmania, and never numerous even there, it is now slowly

disappearing."

<hw>Tasmanian Whiptail</hw>, n. a Tasmanian fish,

Coryphaenoides tasmaniae, family Macruridae,

or deep-sea Gadoids, an altogether different fish from

Myliobatis aquila, the Eagle or Whiptail

Ray, which also occurs in Tasmania, but is found all

over the world.

<hw>Tasmanite</hw>, n. a mineral. "A resinous,

reddish-brown, translucent, hydrocarbon derivative (C40H6202S),

found in certain laminated shales of Tasmania, Resiniferous

shale." (`Standard.')

<hw>Tassel-fish</hw>, n. a thread-fish of Queensland,

of the genus Polynemus, family Polynemidae.

Polynemoid fish have free filaments at the humeral arch below

the pectoral fins, which Guenther says are organs of touch,

and to be regarded as detached portions of the fin; in some

the filaments or threads are twice as long as the fish.

<hw>Tassy</hw>, n. a pet name for Tasmania.

1894. `The Argus,' Jan. 26, p. 3, col. 5:

"To-day Tassy--as most Victorian cricketers and footballers

familiarly term our neighbour over the straits--will send a team

into the field."

<hw>Tattoo</hw>, v. and n. to mark the human

body with indelible pigments. The word is Polynesian; its

first occurrence in English is in Cook's account of Tahiti.

The Tahitian word is Tatau, which means tattoo marks

on the human skin, from Ta, which means a mark or

design. (Littre.) The Maori verb, ta, means to cut,

to tattoo, to strike. See Moko.

1773. `Hawkesworth's Voyages' (Cook's First Voyage; at

Tahiti, 1769), vol. ii. p. 191:

"They have a custom of staining their bodies . . . which they

call Tattowing. They prick the skin, so as just not to

fetch blood, with a small instrument, something in the form of

a hoe. . . . The edge is cut into sharp teeth or points

. . . they dip the teeth into a mixture of a kind of lamp-black

. . . The teeth, thus prepared, are placed upon the skin, and

the handle to which they are fastened being struck by quick

smart blows, they pierce it, and at the same time carry into

the puncture the black composition, which leaves an indelible

stain."

1777. Horace Walpole, `Letters,' vol. vi. p. 448:

"Since we will give ourselves such torrid airs, I wonder we

don't go stark and tattoo ourselves."

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

p. 109:

"A very famous artist in tatu came with the party, and was kept

in constant and profitable employment. Everybody, from the

renowned warrior to the girl of twelve years old, crowded to be

ornamented by the skilful chisel. . . . The instruments used

were not of bone, as they used formerly to be; but a graduated

set of iron tools, fitted with handles like adzes, supplied

their place. . . . The staining liquid is made of charcoal."

1847. A. Tennyson, `Princess,' canto ii. l. 105:

". . . Then the monster, then the man;

Tattoo'd or woaded, winter-clad in skins,

Raw from the prime, and crushing down his mate."

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

p. 74:

"First among the New Zealand list of disfigurations is

tattooing, a Polynesian word signifying a repetition of taps,

but which term is unknown in the language of the New

Zealanders; moko being the general term for the

tattooing on the face, and whakairo for that on the

body." [But see Moko.]

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 17:

"Lips no stain of tattoo had turned azure."

Ibid. p. 104:

"A stick knobbed with a carved and tattoo'd wooden head."

1873. J. B. Stephens, `Black Gin,' p. 3:

"Thy rugged skin is hideous with tattooing."

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

Nesodaphne tawa, Hook., N.O. Laurineae. The

newer name is Beilschmiedia tawa, Benth. and Hook. f.

Allied to Taraire (q.v.). A handsome forest tree with

damson-like fruit.

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 129:

"Tawa. A lofty forest tree, sixty to seventy feet high, with

slender branches. The wood is light and soft, and is much used

for making butter-kegs."

<hw>Tawara</hw>, n. Maori name for the flower of the

Kie-kie (q.v.), Freycinetia Banksii.

<hw>Tawhai</hw>, or <hw>Tawai</hw>, n. Maori name

for several species of New Zealand Beech-trees,

N.O. Cupuliferae. The settlers call them Birches

(q.v.).

1873. `Catalogue of Vienna Exhibition':

"Tawhai. Large and durable timber, used for sleepers."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 125:

"Tawhai, Red-birch (from colour of bark). A handsome tree,

eighty to one hundred feet high. Fagus Menziesii, Hook.

[also called large-leaved birch]. Tawhai, Tawhairaunui,

Black-birch of Auckland and Otago (from colour of bark),

Fagus fusca, Hook."

<hw>Tawhiri</hw>, or <hw>Tawiri</hw>, n. Maori name

for the Black Mapau. A name applied to the tree

Pittosporum tenuifolium, N.O. Pittosporeae.

It is profusely covered with a fragrant white blossom.

See Mapau.

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 108:

"Its floor . . . with faint tawhiri leaves besprent "

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 21:

"The early breeze that . . . stole

The rich Tawhiri's sweet perfume."

<hw>Tea</hw>, n.--

Billy-tea, or Bush-tea. Tea made in a

billy (q.v.). There is a belief that in order to bring

out the full flavour it should be stirred with a gum-stick.

New Zealand tea. Tea made of the leaves

of Manuka (q.v.). See Tea-tree.

<hw>Sweet-tea</hw>, or <hw>Botany-Bay tea</hw>, or

Australian tea. (Called also Native Sarsaparilla.

See Sarsaparilla.) A plant, Smilax glycyphylla,

Smith., N.O. Liliaceae.

1788. D. Considen, letter to Sir Joseph Banks, Nov. 18, in

`Historical Records of New South Wales,' vol. i. part ii.

p. 220:

"I have sent you some of the sweet tea of this country, which

I recommend, and is generally used by the marines and convicts.

As such it is a good anti-scorbutic, as well as a substitute

for that which is more costly."

1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 195:

"The sweet-tea, a creeping kind of vine . . . the taste is

sweet, exactly like the liquorice-root of the shops. Of this

the convicts and soldiers make an infusion which is tolerably

pleasant, and serves as no bad succedaneum for tea."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 203:

"`Sweet tea' . . . The decoction made from its leaves . . .

is similar in properties, but more pleasant in taste, than that

obtained from the roots of S. officinalis, or Jamaica

sarsaparilla. The herb is a common article of trade among

Sydney herbalists."

<hw>Tea-broom</hw>, n. a New Zealand name for the

Tea-tree (q.v.).

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' [Notes] p. 505:

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

<hw>Teak</hw>, n. The original Teak is an East Indian

timber-tree, Tectina grandis, but the name has been

transferred to other trees in different parts of the world,

from a similarity in the hardness of their wood. In Australia,

it is given to Dissiliaria baloghioides, F. v. M.,

N.O. Euphorbiaceae; to Endiandra glauca, R. Br.,

N.O. Leguminosae; and to Flindersia Bennettiana,

F. v. M., N.O. Meliaceae. In New Zealand, it is

Vitex littoralis; Maori name, Puriri (q.v.).

<hw>Teal</hw>, n. the common English name given to the

small ducks of the genus Querquedula. In Australia, the

name is applied to Anas castanea, Eyton; and to the

Grey Teal, A. gibberifrons, Mull. See also

Goose-teal.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 291:

"Brown returned with . . . four teals (Querquedula

castanea)." [The old name.]

<hw>Tea-tree</hw>, n. (Very frequently, but

erroneously, spelt Ti-tree, and occasionally,

more ridiculously still, Ti-tri, q.v.) A name given

in Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania to several species

of trees and shrubs whose leaves were used by Captain Cook's

sailors, by escaped convicts, and by the early settlers as

a ready substitute for the leaves of the Chinese Tea-plant

(Thea chinensis) for making tea. The trees of the

genera Leptospermum and Melaleuca were the

earliest used, in Australia and New Zealand, in this way.

When in blossom, the branches of many species, with their

little white flowers, and the general appearance of their

leaves, bear a strong resemblance to those of the true Tea-plant.

Their leaves, though exceedingly aromatic, have not, however,

the same flavour. Nevertheless, it was probably this superficial

likeness which first suggested the experiment of making an

infusion from them. Some of the species of Leptospermum

and Melaleuca are so closely allied, that their names

are by some botanists interchanged and used as synonyms for the

same plant.

Although not all of the species of these two genera were used

for making tea, yet, as a tree-name, the word Tea-tree

is indifferently and loosely used to denote nearly all of them,

especially in the form Tea-tree scrub, where they grow,

as is their habit, in swamps, flat-land, and coastal districts.

Other trees or plants to which the name of Tea-tree was

occasionally given, are species of the genera Kunzea

and Callistemon.

The spelling Ti-tree is not only erroneous as to the

origin of the name, but exceedingly misleading, as it confuses

the Australian Tea-tree with another Ti (q.v.)

in Polynesia (Cordyline ti). This latter genus is

represented, in Australia and New Zealand, by the two species

Cordyline australis and C. indivisa,

the Cabbage-trees (q.v.), or Cabbage palms (q.v.),

or Ti-palms (q.v.), or Ti (q.v.), which are a

marked feature of the New Zealand landscape, and are of the

lily family (N.O. Liliaceae), while the genera

Leptospermum and Melaleuca are of the myrtle

family (N.O. Myrtaceae).

As to the species of the Australian Tea-tree, that first

used by Cook's sailors was either--Leptospermum

scoparium, R. and G. Forst.,

L. lanigerum, Smith.

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