1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 126:
"You just do as I tell you, and we'll go straight off to town and `do the block.'"
1894. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Oct. 6, p. 6, col. 1:
"But the people doing the block this morning look very nice."
1896. `The Argus,' July 17, p. 4. col. 7:
" We may slacken pace a little now and again, just as the busy man, who generally walks quickly, has to go slowly in the crowd on the Block."
(2) Term in mining, fully explained in `The Miner's Right,' chapters vii. and viii.
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Miner's Right,' p. 86:
"I declare the Liberator Lead to be `on the block.'"
`Extract from Mining Regulation 22' (Ibid. p. 77):
"The ground shall be open for taking up claims in the block form."
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 63:
"Myzomela sanguinolenta, Sanguineous Honey-eater. Blood-bird of the Colonists of New South Wales."
1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 37:
"Another description of lizard is here vulgarly called the `bloodsucker.' "
1890. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Natural History of Victoria,' Dec. 12, pl. cxi.:
"Why the popular name of `Bloodsucker' should be so universally given to this harmless creature by the Colonists (except on the locus a non lucendo principle) I cannot conceive."
1890. A. H. S. Lucas, `Handbook of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,' Melbourne, p. 70:
"Two species of `blood sucker' so absurdly designated."
1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 271:
"The natives tell me it breeds in the winter in Mun'ning-trees or Blood-trees of the colonists (a species of Eucalyptus)."
1847. L.Leichhardt,' Overland Expedition,' p. 292:
"The bergue was covered with fine bloodwood trees, stringy-bark, and box."
1892. A. J. North, `Proceedings of Linnaean Society,' New South Wales, vol. vii. series 2, p. 396:
"I traced her to a termite nest in a bloodwood tree (Eucalyptus corymbosa)."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' 448:
"It [E. eximia] is called `bloodwood,' partly because kino exudes in the concentric circles of the wood . . . partly because its fruits are in shape very similar to those of E. corymbosa."
1890. `The Argus,' September 20, p. 13, col. 7:
"The shearers must make their clip clean and thorough. If it be done so incompetently that a `second blow' is needed, the fleece is hacked."
1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' viii. p. 71:
"Is there not very much that the Australian may well be proud of, and may we not commend him for a spice of blow?"
1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydney-Side Saxon,' p. 77:
"He can walk as fast as some horses can trot, cut out any beast that ever stood on a camp, and canter round a cheese-plate. This was a bit of blow."
1893. `The Australasian,' Aug. 12, p. 102, col. 1:
"Now Digby Holland will think it was mere Australian blow."
1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 387:
"The blast of the trumpet as heard in Victoria is louder than all the blasts—and the Melbourne blast beats all the other blowing of that proud colony. My first, my constant, my parting advice to my Australian cousins is contained in two words, `don't blow.'"
1890. Rolf Boldrewood,' A Colonial Reformer,' p. 411:
"A regular Sydney man thinks all Victorians are blowers and speculators."
1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 387:
"A fine art much cultivated in the colonies, for which the colonial phrase of `blowing' has been created."
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 9:
"Blowing (that is, talking loudly and boastingly on any and every subject)."
1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 45:
"He was famous for `blowing' in Australian parlance . . . of his exploits."
1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 15:
"Blueberry Ash or Prickly Fig. A noble tree, attaining a height of 120 feet. Wood pale, fine-grained; exquisite for cabinet work."
1876. W. Harcus. `South Australia,' p. 124:
"[The country] would do splendidly for sheep, being thickly grassed with short fine grass, salt and blue bush, and geranium and other herbs."
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iv. pl. 68:
"Entomyza cyanotis, Swains. Blue-faced Entomyza. Blue-eye of the colonists."
1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 95:
"On the appearance of a `blue pointer' among boats fishing for schnapper outside, the general cry is raised, `Look out for the blue pointer.' . . . These are high swimming fishes, and may be readily seen when about pushing their pursuits; the beautiful azure tint of their back and sides, and independent manner they have of swimming rapidly and high among the boats in search of prey, are means of easy recognition, and they often drive the fishermen away."
1850. `The Australasian' (Quarterly), Oct. [Footnote], p. 138:
"The ancient Roman ways were paved with polygonal blocks of a stone not unlike the trap or bluestone around Melbourne."
1855. R. Brough Smyth, `Transactions of Philosophical Society, Victoria,' vol. i. p. 25:
"The basalt or `bluestone,' which is well adapted to structural purposes, and generally obtains where durability is desired."
1883. J. Hector, `Handbook to New Zealand,' p. 62:
"Basalts, locally called `bluestones,' occur of a quality useful for road-metal, house-blocks, and ordinary rubble masonry."
1890. `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania,' p. xx. [Letter from Mr. S. H. Wintle]:
"The newer basalts, which in Victoria have filled up so extensively Miocene and Pliocene valleys, and river channels, are chiefly vesicular Zeolitic dolerites and anaemesites, the former being well represented by the light-coloured Malmsbury `bluestone' so extensively employed in buildings in Melbourne."
1887. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria,' Dec. 14, pl. 131:
"Not uncommon about Melbourne, where it is generally called the`Blue-tongued Lizard,' or `Sleepy Lizard.'"
(2) In the wet wildernesses of Western Tasmania a rough shirt or blouse is made of this material, and is worn over the coat like an English smock-frock. Sailors and fishermen in England call it a "Baltic shirt."
1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 13, col. 2:
"We shall have to hump bluey again."
1891. R. Wallace, `Rural Economy and Agriculture of Australia and New Zealand,' p. 73:
"`Humping bluey' is for a workman to walk in search of work."
1891. W. Tilley, `The Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 29:
"Leehan presents an animated scene . . . . Heavily laden drays, pack-horses and mules, form constant processions journeying from Dundas or Trial; miners with their swags, surveyors in their `blueys' . . . all aid effectively in the panorama."
1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Dec. 23, p. 6, col. 1:
"`The board' is the technical name for the floor on which the sheep are shorn."
With a full board, with a full complement of shearers.
1894. `The Herald,' Oct. 6, p. 1. Col. 2:
"The secretary of the Pastoralists' Association . . . reports that the following stations have started shearing with full boards."
1878. F. P. Labilliere, `Early History of the Colony of Victoria,' vol. ii. p. 330:
"The first step which turned the tide of ill-fortune was the introduction of the system of boiling down sheep. When stock became almost worthless, it occurred to many people that, when a fleece of wool was worth from half-a-crown to three shillings in England, and a sheep's tallow three or four more, the value of the animal in Australia ought to exceed eighteenpence or two shillings. Accordingly thousands of sheep were annually boiled down after shearing . . . until . . . the gold discovery; and then `boiling down,' which had saved the country, had to be given up. . . . The Messrs. Learmonth at Buninyong . . . found it answered their purpose to have a place of their own, instead of sending their fat stock, as was generally done, to a public `boiling down' establishment."
1895. `The Argus,' Aug. 17, p. 8, col. 2:
"Boiled down, the matter comes to this."
1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 188:
"The native name of this bird, as Mr. Caley informs us, is Buck'buck. It may be heard nearly every night during winter, uttering a cry, corresponding with that word. . . .The lower order of the settlers in New South Wales are led away by the idea that everything is the reverse in that country to what it is in England : and the cuckoo, as they call this bird, singing by night, is one of the instances which they point out."
1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. 11, col. 4:
"In most cases—it may not be in all—the familiar call, which is supposed to sound like `More-pork,' is not the mopoke (or podargus) at all, but the hooting of a little rusty red feather-legged owl, known as the Boobook. Its double note is the opposite of the curlew, since the first syllable is dwelt upon and the second sharp. An Englishman hearing it for the first time, and not being told that the bird was a `more-pork,' would call it a night cuckoo."
1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p63:
"Acacia sophora. Sophora podded Acacia or Booby-aloe. This species forms a large shrub on the sand-hills of the coast."
1843. J. Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies,' p. 59:
"The sandbanks at the mouth of Macquarie Harbour are covered with Boobialla, a species of Acacia, the roots of which run far in the sand."
1855. J. Milligan, `Vocabulary of Dialects of the Aboriginal Tribes of Tasmania,' `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania,' vol. iii. p. 238:
"Wattle tree—seaside. (Acacia Maritinia) Boobyallah."
1861. Mrs. Meredith, `Over the Straits,' vol. ii. p. 62:
"Boobyalla bushes lay within the dash of the ceaseless spray."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 359:
"Boobyalla . . . an excellent tree for binding coast-sands."
1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 4:
"On the coast it is known by the native name, Boobyalla."
1830. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 110:
"Snapped the boomah's haunches, and he turned round to offer battle."
1833. Lieut. Breton, `Excursions in New South Wales, Western Australia, and Van Diemen's Land,' p. 251:
"Boomah. Implies a large kangaroo."
Ibid. p. 254:
"The flying gin (gin is the native word for woman or female) is a boomah, and will leave behind every description of dog."
1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 244:
"The Great or Forest Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), the `Forester' of the Colonists. . . .The oldest and heaviest male of the herd was called a `Boomer,' probably a native term."
1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 325:
"The forester (Macropus major, Shaw), the male being known by the name of `boomer,' and the young female by that of `flying doe,' is the largest and only truly gregarious species."
1854. G. H. Haydon, `The Australian Emigrant,' p. 124:
"It was of an old man kangaroo,a regular boomer."
1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 169:
"An officer from Van Diemen's Land told me that he had once killed in that colony a kangaroo of such magnitude, that, being a long way from home, he was unable, although on horseback, to carry away any portion except the tail, which alone weighed thirty pounds. This species is called the boomah, and stands about seven feet high."
1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 47:
"Sometimes starting a grand boomah, or great red kangaroo."
1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. v. p. 124:
"Some of the male kangaroos, called `boomers,' were described as being four or five feet high."
1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 55:
"The Boomer starts, and pondersWhat kind of beasts we be."
1867. W. Richardson, `Tasmanian Poems,' p. 26:
"The dogs gather round a `boomer' they've got."
1872. Mrs. E. Millett, `An Australian Parsonage,' p. 195:
"A tall old Booma, as the natives call the male kangaroo, can bring his head on a level with the face of a man on horseback. . . . A kangaroo's feet are, in fact, his weapons of defence with which, when he is brought to bay, he tears his antagonists the dogs most dreadfully, and instances are not wanting of even men having been killed by a large old male. No doubt this peculiar method of disposing of his enemies has earned him the name of Booma, which in the native language signifies to strike."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 16:
"As he plunged into the yellow waters, the dogs were once more by his side, and again the `boomer' wheeled, and backed against one of the big trees that stud these hollows."
Applied generally to something very large.
1885. `Australasian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 76:
"When the shades of evening come,I choose a boomer of a gum."
1827. Captain P. P. King, `Survey of Intertropical and West Coasts of Australia,' vol. i. p. 355:
"Boomerang is the Port Jackson term for this weapon, and may be retained for want of a more descriptive name."
1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 108:
"We gambolled all the way up, throwing small pieces of bark at each other, after the manner of the native youths, who practise this with a view of strengthening their arms, and fitting them for hurling a curious weapon of war called a `bomering,' which is shaped thus:" \ \ / /
Ibid. p. 280:
"Around their loins was the opossum belt, in one side of which they had placed their waddies, with which they meant to break the heads of their opponents, and on the other was the bomering, or stick, with which they threw their spears."
[This is a confusion between boomerang and woomera (q.v.). Perhaps Mr. Dawson wrote the second word, and this is a misprint.]
1839. Major T. L. `Mitchell, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' vol. ii. p. 348:
"The bommereng, or their usual missile, can be thrown by a skilful hand, so as to rise upon the air, and thus to deviate from the usual path of projectiles, its crooked course being, nevertheless, equally under control."
1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 186:
"The admirable dexterity with which they fling the bomerangs. To our thinking the thrower was only sending the instrument along the ground, when suddenly, after spinning along it a little way, it sprung up into the air, performing a circle, its crescent shape spinning into a ring, constantly spinning round and round, until it came and fell at his feet."
1845. O. Wendell Holmes, `Modest Request' (in Poems):
"Like the strange missile which the Australian throws,Your verbal boomerang slaps you on the nose."
1849. J. P. Townsend, `Rambles in New South Wales,' p. 39:
"This instrument, called a bommereng, is made of wood, and is much like the blade of a scimitar. I believe it has been introduced into England as a plaything for children."
1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 57:
"The boomerang is an extraordinary missile, formed in the shape of a crescent, and when propelled at an object, apparently point blank, it turns in any direction intended by the thrower, so that it can actually be directed in this manner against a person standing by his side. The consummate art visible in its unnatural-looking progression greatly depends upon the manner in which it is made to rebound from the ground when thrown."
1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. p. 107;
"He [Sir Thomas Mitchell] applied to the screw propeller the revolving principle of the boomerang of the Australian natives."
1867. G. G. McCrae, `Balladeadro,' p. 25:
"While circling thro' the air there sangThe swift careering boomerang."
1888. A. Seth, `Encyclopaedia Britannica,' vol. xxiv. p. 530, col. 2:
"He [Archbishop Whately] was an adept in various savage sports, more especially in throwing the boomerang."
1889. P. Beveridge, `Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina,' p. 49:
"Boomerang: a thin piece of wood, having the shape of a parabola, about eighteen inches or two feet long from point to point, the curve being on the thin side. Of the broad sides of the missile one is slightly convex, the other is flat. The thin sides are worked down finely to blunt edges. The peculiar curve of the missile gives it the property of returning to the feet of the thrower. It is a dangerous instrument in a melee. Of course the wood from which it is made is highly seasoned by fire. It is therefore nearly as hard as flint."
1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 49:
[A full description of the use of the boomerang is given, with illustrations.]
"The boomerang is a curved, somewhat flat, and slender weapon, made from a hard and heavy wood, Brigalow (Acacia excelsa), or Myall (Acacia pendula), but the best one I found was made of a lighter kind of wood. The curving of the boomerang, which often approaches a right angle, must be natural, and in the wood itself. One side is perfectly flat, and the other slightly rounded. The ends are pointed."
1890. G. W. Rusden, `Proceedings, Royal Colonial Institute,' vol. xxii. p. 62:
"You hardly ever see an allusion in the English Press to the boomerang which does not refer to it as a weapon of war which returns to the thrower, whereas the returning boomerang is not a weapon of war, and the boomerang which is a weapon of war does not return to the thrower. There are many kinds of boomerang—some for deadly strife, some for throwing at game, and the returning boomerang, which is framed only for amusement. If a native had no other missile at hand, he would dispatch it at a flight of ducks. Its circular course, however, makes it unfit for such a purpose, and there is a special boomerang made for throwing at birds. The latter keeps a straight course, and a native could throw it more than two hundred yards."
1892. J. Fraser, `The Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 69:
"The name bumarang has always hitherto been written boomerang; but, considered etymologically, that is wrong, for the root of it is buma—strike, fight, kill; and -ara, -arai, -arang, are all of them common formative terminations."
1893. `The Argus,' July 1, p. 8, col. 7:
"`I tell you, sir,' said Mr. Healy at an Irish political meeting, `that there are at the present moment crystallizing in this city precedents which will some day come home to roost like a boomerang.'"
1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 226:
"The tree-kangaroo is without comparison a better-proportioned animal than the common kangaroo. The fore-feet, which are nearly as perfectly developed as the hind-feet, have large crooked claws, while the hind-feet are somewhat like those of a kangaroo, though not so powerful. The sole of the foot is somewhat broader and more elastic on account of a thick layer of fat under the skin. In soft ground its footprints are very similar to those of a child. The ears are small and erect, and the tail is as long as the body of the animal. The skin is tough, and the fur is very strong and beautiful. . . . Upon the whole the boongary is the most beautiful mammal I have seen in Australia. It is a marsupial, and goes out only in the night. During the day it sleeps in the trees, and feeds on the leaves."
The word bur, given by Ridley, means not only girdle but `circle.' In the man-making ceremonies a large circle is made on the ground, where the ceremonies take place.
1875. W. Ridley, `Kamilaroi,' p. 24:
"Girdle—bor or bur. Hence Bora, the ceremony of initiation into manhood, where the candidate is invested with the belt of manhood."
1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 24:
"The great mystery of the Blacks is the Bora—a ceremony at which the young men found worthy receive the rank of warriors."
1892. J. Fraser, `Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 6:
"These ceremonies are . . . called the Bora."
1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 124:
"The native borage (Trichodesina zeylanica, R. Br.)."
1845. C. Griffith, `Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales,' p. 162:
"The following is a specimen of such eloquence:—`You pilmillally jumbuck, plenty sulky me, plenty boom, borack gammon,' which, being interpreted, means—`If you steal my sheep I shall be very angry, and will shoot you and no mistake.'"
1856. W. W. Dobie, `Recollections of a Visit to Port Phillip, Australia, in 1852-55' p. 93:
". . . he gravely assured me that it was `merrijig' (very good), and that `blackfellow doctor was far better than whitefellow doctor.' In proof of which he would say, `Borak you ever see black fellow with waddie (wooden) leg. Bungalallee white fellow doctor cut him leg, borak black fellow stupid like it that."
1885. `Australasian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 75:
"On telling him my adventures, how Bob in my misery had `poked borack' at me. . . ."
1888. Alfred J.Chandler,' Curley' in `Australian Poets,' 1788-1888, ed. Sladen, p. 100:
"Here broke in Super Scotty, `StopYour borak, give the bloomin' man a show.'"
1893. `The Argus,' Aug. 26, p. 13, col. 1:
"It does not do for a man whose mission it is to wear stuff and a horse-hair wig to `poke borak' at that venerable and eminently respectable institution—the law, and still worse is it for a practising barrister to actually set to work, even in the most kindly spirit, to criticise the judges, before whom at any moment he may be called upon to plead."
1890. Carl Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals' [Title of illustration], p. 122:
"A warrior in great excitement just before Borboby commences."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 363:
"Weeping, or true myall. It is sometimes called bastard gidgee in Western New South Wales. Called boree by aboriginals, and often boree, or silver-leaf boree, by the colonists of Western New South Wales. Nilyah is another New South Wales name."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' iii. p. 30:
"Myall and boree belts of timbers."
1893. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 6o:
"The timber, of course, when seen close at hand is strange. Boree and gidyah, coolibah and whitewood, brigelow, mulgah, and myall are the unfamiliar names by which you learn to recognise the commonest varieties."
1876. W. Harcus, `South Australia,' p. 110:
"There is another destructive insect called the `borer,' not met with near the sea-coast, but very active and mischievous inland, its attacks being chiefly levelled against timber. This creature is about the size of a large fly."
1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 72:
"Boronia variabilis. A beautiful little heath-like plant growing about the Cascade and other hills round about Hobart Town. . . . This genus is named after Borone, an Italian servant of the late Dr. Sibthorp, who perished at Athens. . . .Another species found in Van Diemen's Land is the Lemon plant of the mountains."
1896. `The Melburnian,' vol. xxii., No. 3, August 28, p. 53:
"Winter does not last for ever, and now at each street corner the scent of boronia and the odour of wattle-blossom greet us from baskets of the flower-girl."
1770. `Captain Cook's Original Journal,' ed. by Wharton, 1893, p. 247:
"6 May. . . .The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found in this place occasioned my giving it the Name of Botany Bay."
1789. [Title]:
"The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay," published inLondon.
1789. Captain Watkin Tench [Title]: "A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay," published in London.
1793 G. Barrington [Title]:
"Voyage to Botany Bay," [published in London.]
This was the popular book on the new settlement, the others being high priced. As Lowndes says, "A work of no authority, but frequently printed." Barrington, the pickpocket, whose name it bears, had nothing to do with it. It was pirated from Phillip, Collins, etc. It went through various editions and enlargements to 1810 or later. After 1795 the name was altered to `Voyage to New South Wales.'
1798. D. Collins, `Account of the English Colony in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 502:
"The word `Botany Bay' became a term of reproach that was indiscriminately cast on every one who resided in New South Wales."
1840. Thos. Hood, `Tale of a Trumpet:
"The very next dayShe heard from her husband at Botany Bay."
1851. Rev. David Mackenzie, `Ten Years in Australia,' p. 50:
". . . a pair of artificially black eyes being the Botany Bay coat of arms."
1852. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' Vol. ii. p. 91:
"Some gentlemen, on a visit to a London theatre, to draw the attention of their friends in an opposite box, called out cooey; a voice in the gallery answered `Botany Bay!'"
1894. `Pall Mall Budget,' May 17, p. 20, col. 1:
"The owner of the ship was an ex-convict in Sydney—then called Botany Bay—who had waxed wealthy on the profits of rum, and the `shangai-ing' of drugged sailors."
1810. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 263:
"Botany Bay greens are abundant; they much resemble sage in appearance; and are esteemed a very good dish by the Europeans."
1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 134:
"I do not think it necessary to enter upon any description of the Barilla shrubs (Atriplex halimus, Rhagodur billardiera; and Salicornia arbuscula), which, with some others, under the promiscuous name of Botany Bay greens, were boiled and eaten along with some species of seaweed, by the earliest settlers, when in a state of starvation."
1835. Ibid. p. 69:
"Atriplex Halimus. Barrilla. Botany Bay Greens. This is the plant so common on the shores of Cape Barren and other islands of the Straits, from which the alkaline salt is obtained and brought up in boats to the soap manufactory at Hobart Town. It has been set down as the same plant that grows on the coast of Spain and other parts of Europe."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 9:
"Once used as a pot-herb in New South Wales. Leichhardt used a species of Atriplex as a vegetable, and spoke very highly of it."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 359:
"Red Bottle-brush. The flowers of some species of Callistemon are like bottle-brushes in shape."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 192:
"Bottle Gourd. This plant, so plentiful along the tropical coast of Queensland, is said to be a dangerous poison. It is said that some sailors were killed by drinking beer that had been standing for some time in a bottle formed of one of these fruits. (F. M. Bailey.)"
1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 264:
"The sterculia, or bottle-tree, is a very singular curiosity. It generally varies in shape between a soda-water and port-wine bottle, narrow at the basis, gradually widening at the middle, and tapering towards the neck."
1848. L. Leichhardt, Letter in `Cooksland, by J. D. Lang, p. 91:
"The most interesting tree of this Rosewood Brush is the true bottle-tree, a strange-looking unseemly tree, which swells slightly four to five feet high, and then tapers rapidly into a small diameter; the foliage is thin, the crown scanty and irregular, the leaves lanceolate, of a greyish green; the height of the whole tree is about forty-five feet."
1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 127:
"It was on this range (Lat. 26 degrees, 42') that Mitchell saw the bottle-tree for the first time. It grew like an enormous pear-shaped turnip, with only a small portion of the root in the ground."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 60:
"A `Kurrajong.' The `Bottle-tree' of N.E. Australia, and also called `Gouty-stem,' on account of the extraordinary shape of the trunk. It is the `Binkey' of the aboriginals.
"The stem abounds in a mucilaginous substance resembling pure tragacanth, which is wholesome and nutritious, and is said to be used as an article of food by the aborigines in cases of extreme need. A similar clear jelly is obtainable by pouring boiling water on chips of the wood."
1887. H. H. Hayter, `Christmas Adventure,' p. 5:
"We reached the bottom, but did not find gold."
1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. xv. p. 219:
"In their anxiety to bottom their claims, they not seldom threw away the richest stuff."
1890. E. W. Hornung, `A Bride from the Bush,' p. 279:
"A boundary-rider is not a `boss' in the Bush, but he is an important personage in his way. He sees that the sheep in his paddock draw to the water, that there is water for them to draw to, and that the fences and gates are in order. He is paid fairly, and has a fine, free, solitary life."
1892. `Scribner's Magazine,' Feb., p. 147:
"The manager's lieutenants are the `boundary-riders,' whose duty it is to patrol the estate and keep him informed upon every portion of it."
Fawn-breasted Bower-bird— Chlamydoderea cerviniventris, Gould.
Golden B.—
Prionodura newtoniana, De Vis.
Great B.—
Chlambydodera nuchalis, Gould (`Birds of Australia,' vol.iv. pl. 9).
Queensland B.—
C. orientalis, Gould.
Satin B.—
Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, Vieillot.
Spotted B.—
Chlamydodera maculata, Gould (ibid. pl. 8).
Yellow-spotted B.—
C. gutttata, Gould.
And the Regent-bird (q.v.).
1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 140:
"The same person had the last season found, to his surprise, the playhouse, or bower, of the Australian satin bower-bird."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 28:
"Any shred of glass or metal which arrests the eye or reflects the rays of the sun is a gem in the bower-bird's collection, which seems in a sense to parody the art decorations of a modern home."
1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':
"In one is a representation of the playing place of the spotted bowerbird. These bowers are quite independent of the birds' nests, which are built on neighbouring trees. They first construct a covered passage or bower about three feet long, and near it they place every white or bright object they can find, such as the bleached bones of animals, pieces of white or coloured stone, feathers, shells, etc., etc.; the feathers they place on end. When these curious playing places were first discovered, they were thought to be made by the native women for the amusement of their children. More than a bushel of small pieces of bleached bones or shells are often found at one of these curious sporting places. Sometimes a dozen or more birds will assemble, and they delight in chasing each other through the bower and playing about it."
Bastard Box—Eucalyptus goniocalyx, F. v. M.;E. largiflorens, F. v. M. (called also Cooburn);E. longifolia, Link.; E. microtheca, F. v. M.;E. polyanthema, F. v. M.; E. populifolia,Hook. (called also Bembil or Bimbil Box and Red Box);Tristania conferta, R. Br.;T. laurana, R. Br., all of the N.O. Myrtaceae.
Black Box—Eucalyptus obliqua, L'Herit.;E. largiflorens, F. v. M.;E. microtheca, F. v. M.
Brisbane Box—-Tristania conferta, R. Br.
Broad-leaved Box—Eucalyptus acmenoides, Schau.
Brown Box—Eucalyptus polyanthema, Schau.
Brush Box—Tristania conferta, R. Br.
China Box— Murraya exotica, Linn., N.O. Rutaceae (not a tree, but a perfume plant, which is found also in India and China).
Dwarf, or Flooded Box— Eucalyptus microtheca, F. v. M. (Also called Swamp Gum, from its habit of growing on land inundated during flood time. An aboriginal name for the same tree is goborro.)
Grey Box—Eucalyptus goniocalyx, F. v. M.;E. hemiphloia, F. v. M.;E. largiflorens, F. v. M.;E. polyanthema, Schau.;E. saligna, Smith.
Gum-topped Box—Eucalyptus hemiphloia, F. v. M.
Heath Box— Alyxia buxifolia, R. Br., N.O. Apocyneae (called also Tonga-beanwood, owing to its scent)
Iron-bark Box—Eucalyptus obliqua, L'Herit.
Narrow-leaved Box—Eucalyptus microtheca, F. v. M.
Native Box— Bursaria spinosa, Cav.,N.O. Pittosporeae. (Called also Box-thornand Native-Olive. It is not a timber-tree but a forage-plant. See quotation, 1889.)
Poplar Box—Eucalyptus populifolia, Hook.
Red Box—Eucalyptus populifolia, Hook.;E. polyanthema, Schau.;Tristaniaconferta, R. Br.
Thozet's Box—Eucalyptus raveretiana, F. v. M.
White Box—Eucalyptus hemiphloia, F. v. M.;E. odorata, Behr.;E. populifolia, Hook.;Tristania conferta, R. Br.
Yellow Box—Eucalyptus hemiphloia, F. v. M.E. largiflorens, F. v. M.E. melliodora, A. Cunn.
1820. John Oxley, `Two Expeditions,' p. 126:
"The country continued open forest land for about three miles, the cypress and the bastard-box being the prevailing timber; of the former many were useful trees."
1838. T. L. Mitchell, `Three Expeditions, vol. ii. p. 55:
"The small kind of tree . . . which Mr. Oxley, I believe, terms the dwarf-box, grows only on plains subject to inundation . . . . It may be observed, however, that all permanent waters are invariably surrounded by the `yarra.' These peculiarities are only ascertained after examining many a hopeless hollow, where grew the `goborro' only; and after I had found my sable guides eagerly scanning the `yarra' from afar, when in search of water, and condemning any view of the `goborro' as hopeless during that dry season."
[See Yarra, a tree.]
1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. ii. p. 6:
"Belts of open forest land, principally composed of the box-tree of the colonists, a species of eucalyptus (in no respect resembling the box of Europe)."
1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 15:
"The Honey-Eucalypt (Eucalyptus melliodora). This tree passes by the very unapt vernacular name Yellow Box-tree, though no portion of it is yellow, not even its wood, and though the latter resembles the real boxwood in no way whatever. Its systematic specific name alludes to the odour of its flowers, like that of honey, and as the blossoms exude much nectar, like most eucalypts, sought by bees, it is proposed to call it the small-leaved Honey-Eucalypt, but the Latin name might as easily be conveyed to memory, with the advantage of its being a universal one, understood and used by all nations."
1881. A.C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 46:
"Poor country, covered with ti-tree, box, and iron-bark saplings, with here and there heavy timber growing on sour-looking ridges."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 7:
"The clumps of box-gums clinging together for sympathy."
1888. J. Howlett Ross, `Laureate of the Centaurs,' p. 41:
"Box shrubs which were not yet clothed with their creamy-white plumes (so like the English meadowsweet)."
1889. P. Beveridge, `Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina,' p. 59:
"These spears are principally made from a tall-growing box (one of the eucalypts) which often attains to an altitude of over 100 feet; it is indigenous to the north-western portion of the colony, and to Riverina; it has a fine wavy grain, consequently easily worked when in a green state. When well seasoned, however, it is nearly as hard as ebony."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 121:
"Native box is greedily eaten by sheep, but its thorny character preserves it from extinction upon sheep-runs: usually a small scrub, in congenial localities it developes into a small tree."
1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 67:
"Great care must of course be taken that no two flocks come into collision, for a `box,' as it is technically called, causes an infinity of trouble, which is the reason that the stations are so far apart."
1881. A.C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 253:
"All the mobs of different aged lambs which had been hitherto kept apart were boxed up together."
1889. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 356:
"After they'd got out twenty or thirty they'd get boxed, like a new hand counting sheep, and have to begin all over again."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 84:
"At nightfall, the fifteen flocks of sheep were all brought in, and `boxed,' or mixed together, to Ernest's astonishment."
1890. Tasma, `In her Earliest Youth,' p. 166:
"He must keep tally when the sheep are being counted or draughted, I'm not sure which, and swear—no, he needn't swear—when they get boxed."
1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 54:
"But the travelling sheep and the Wilga sheep were boxed on theOld Man Plain.'Twas a full week's work ere they drafted out and hunted them offagain."
1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 9, p. 14, col. 2:
"And will you wear a boxer that is in a battered state ?I wonder, will you—now that you're a knight?"
1865. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia,' vol. i. p. 384:
"The absolute power of boylas or evil sorcerers . . . he chanted gloomily:—
Oh, wherefore would they eat the muscles?Now boylas storm and thunder make.Oh, wherefore would they eat the muscles ?"
1843. James Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies,' p. 40:
"Natural Order. Fungi. . . . Mylitta Australis. Native Bread. This species of tuber is often found in the Colony, attaining to the size of a child's head: its taste somewhat resembles boiled rice. Like the heart of the Tree-fern, and the root of the Native Potato, cookery produces little change."
1848. `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 157:
"11th October, 1848 . . . Specimens of the fungus known as `native bread,' Mylitta Australis, lay upon the table. A member observed that this substance, grated and made into a pudding with milk alone, had been found by him very palatable. Prepared in the same way, and combined with double its weight of rice or sago, it has produced a very superior dish. It has also been eaten with approval in soup, after the manner of truffle, to which it is nearly allied."
1857. Dr. Milligan, in Bishop Nixon's `Cruise of the Beacon,' p. 27:
"But that which afforded the largest amount of solid and substantial nutritious matter was the native bread, a fungus growing in the ground, after the manner of the truffle, and generally so near the roots of trees as to be reputed parasitical."
1896. `Hobart Mercury,' Oct. 30, p. 2, last col.:
"A large specimen of `native bread,' weighing 12 lb., has been unearthed on Crab Tree farm in the Huon district, by Mr. A. Cooper. It has been brought to town, and is being examined with interest by many at the British Hotel. It is one of the fungi tribe that forms hard masses of stored food for future use."