1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 32:
"Damper is the name of a kind of bread made of wheat flour and water. The dough is shaped into a flat round cake, which is baked in red-hot ashes. This bread looks very inviting, and tastes very good as long as it is fresh, but it soon becomes hard and dry."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 53:
"Native Damson or Native Plum. This shrub possesses edible fruit, something like a plum, hence its vernacular names. The Rev. Dr. Woolis tells me that, mixed with jam of the Native Currant (Leptomeria acida), it makes a very good pudding."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 575:
"Native Daphne. . . . Timber soft and moderately light, yet tough. It is used for building purposes. It dresses well, and is straight in the grain."
1887. J. Farrell, `How: he died,' p. 20:
"Whose `dart' for the LooardWas to appear the justest stewardThat ever hiked a plate round."
1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 9, p. 4, col. 2:
"When I told them of my `dart,' some were contemptuous, others incredulous."
1892. Rolf Boldrewood, `Nevermore,' p. 22:
"Your only dart is to buy a staunch horse with a tip-cart."
(2) Particular fancy or personal taste.
1895. Modern:
"`Fresh strawberries eh!—that's my dart,' says the bushman when he sees the fruit lunch in Collins-street."
The Thylacine, Tasmanian Devil, Pouched Mice, and Banded Ant-eater have sometimes been incorrectly classed as Dasyures, but the name is now strictly allotted to the genus Dasyurus, or Native Cat.
(1)Albizzia basaltica, Benth., N.O. Leguminosae.
(2) Acacia farnesiana, Willd., N.O. Leguminosae. See quotation, 1889.
1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia', p. 272:
"On the eastern face of the coast range are pine, red cedar, and beech, and on the western slopes, rose-wood, myall, dead-finish, plum-tree, iron-wood and sandal-wood, all woods with a fine grain suitable for cabinet-making and fancy work."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 355:
"Sometimes called by the absurd name of `Dead Finish.' This name given to some species of Acacia and Albizzia, is on account of the trees or shrubs shooting thickly from the bottom, and forming an impenetrable barrier to the traveller, who is thus brought to a `dead finish' (stop)"
1893. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 60:
"The hawthorn is admirably represented by a brush commonly called `dead finish.'" [p. 61]: "Little knolls are crowned with `dead finish' that sheep are always glad to nibble."
1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 157:
"A `dead-wood fence,' that is, a mass of timber four or five feet thick, and five or six high, the lower part being formed of the enormous trunks of trees, cut into logs six or eight feet long, laid side by side, and the upper portion consisting of the smaller branches skilfully laid over, or stuck down and twisted."
1872. G. Baden-Powell, `New Homes for the Old Country,' p. 207:
"A very common fence is built by felling trees round the space to be enclosed, and then with their stems as a foundation, working up with the branches, a fence of a desirable height."
1869. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 589:
"Pine, white pine, called she-pine in Queensland; native deal, pencil cedar. This tree has an elongated trunk, rarely cylindrical; wood free from knots, soft, close, easily worked, good for joiners' and cabinet-work; some trees afford planks of great beauty. (Macarthur.) Fine specimens of this timber have a peculiar mottled appearance not easily described, and often of surpassing beauty."
[See also Pine.]
1885. J. Hood, `Land of the Fern,' p. 34:
"Warm December sweeps with burning breathAcross the bosom of the shrinking earth."
1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 15, p. 6, Col 5:
"As athletes the cocoons can run rings round the beans; they can jump out of a tumbler—whether medium, small, or deepsinker is not recorded."
1896. `The Argus,' March 19, p. 5, col. 9:
"Mr. Croker: Certainly. We will tender it as evidence.(To the witness.) Have you any particular `derry' upon thisWendouree?—No; not at all. There are worse vessels knockingabout than the Wendouree."
1896. `The Argus,' Jan. 2, p. 3, col. 4, Letters to the Editor:
"`Dervener.'—An expression used in continental Australia for a man from the Derwent in Tasmania. Common up till 1850 at least.—David Blair."
Ibid. Jan. 3, p. 6, col. 6:
"With respect to `dervener,' the word was in use while the blue shirt race existed [sc. convicts], and these people did not become extinct until after 1860.—Cymro-Victoria."
1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xx. p. 140:
"An odd pair of sawyers, generally `Derwenters,' as theTasmanian expirees were called."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 8:
"The native kumquat or desert lemon. The fruit is globular, and about half an inch in diameter. It produces an agreeable beverage from its acid juice."
1896. Baldwin Spencer, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,' Narrative, p. 49:
"We had now amongst these sandhills come into the region of the `Desert Oak' (Casuarina Decaisneana). Some of the trees reach a height of forty or fifty feet, and growing either singly or in clumps form a striking feature amongst the thin sparse scrub. . . . The younger ones resemble nothing so much as large funeral plumes. Their outlines seen under a blazing sun are indistinct, and they give to the whole scene a curious effect of being `out of focus.'"
1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 29:
"The devil, or as naturalists term it, Dasyurus ursinus, is very properly named."
1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 323:
"The devil (Dasyurus ursinus, Geoff.), about the size of a bull terrier, is an exceedingly fierce and disgusting-looking animal, of a black colour, usually having one white band across the chest, and another across the back, near the tail. It is a perfect glutton, and most indiscriminate in its feeding."
1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. vii. p. 186:
"Dasyurus ursinus—a carnivorous marsupial. Colonists in Tasmania, where only it exists . . . called it the `devil,' from the havoc it made among their sheep and poultry."
1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':
"In the next division is a pair of Tasmanian devils (Dasyurus ursinus); these unprepossessing-looking brutes are hated by every one in Tasmania, their habitat, owing to their destructiveness amongst poultry, and even sheep. They are black in colour, having only a white band across the chest, and possess great strength in proportion to their size."
1862. W. Archer, `Products of Tasmania,' p. 41:
"Lyonsia (Lyonsia straminea, Br.). Fibres of the bark fine and strong. The lyonsia is met with, rather sparingly, in dense thickets, with its stems hanging like ropes among the trees."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `useful Native Plants,' p. 14:
"This and other species of Cassythia are called `dodder-laurel.' The emphatic name of `devil's guts' is largely used. It frequently connects bushes and trees by cords, and becomes a nuisance to the traveller." [This plant is used by the Brahmins of Southern India for seasoning their buttermilk. (`Treasury of Botany.')]
Ibid. p. 162:
"It is also used medicinally."
1862. Rev. A. Polehampton, `Kangaroo Land,' p. 77:
"Instead of damper we occasionally made what is colonially known as `devils on the coals.' . . . They are convenient when there is not time to make damper, as only a minute or so is required to bake them. They are made about the size of a captain's biscuit, and as thin as possible, thrown on the embers and turned quickly with the hand."
1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 238:
"We are informed by Mr. Caley that this species is called diamond bird by the settlers, from the spots on its body. By them it is reckoned as valuable on account of its skin."
1852. Title:
"Murray's Guide to the Gold Diggings.—The Australian GoldDiggings; where they are, and how to get at them; with lettersfrom Settlers and Diggers telling how to work them. London:Stewart & Murray) 1852."
1853. Valiant, `Letter to Council,' given in McCombie's `History of Victoria' (1853), c. xvi. p. 248:
"It caused the diggers, as a body, to pause in their headlong career."
1855. W. Howitt, `Land, Labour, and Gold,' vol. ii. p. 148, Letter xxx:
"Buckland River, January 29th, 1854. The diggers here are a very quiet and civil race, at the same time that they are a most active and laborious one. . . . The principal part of the diggers here are from the Ovens."
1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 31:
"Drink success to the digger's trade,And break up to the squatter's."
1896. H. Lawson, `While the Billy boils,' p. 148:
"His Father's Mate had always been a general favourite with the diggers and fossickers, from the days when he used to slip out first thing in the morning and take a run across the frosty flat in his shirt."
1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `First Book of Australian Botany,' p. 64:
"Digger's Delight, Veronica perfoliata, N.O. Scrophularineae. A pretty, blue-flowering shrub, with smooth stem-clasping leaves; found in the mountainous districts of Victoria and New South Wales, and deriving its common name from a supposition that its presence indicated auriferous country. It is plentiful in the elevated cold regions of Australia."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 147:
"Such native flowers as the wild violet, the shepherd's purse, or the blue-flowered `digger's delight.' This latter has come, perhaps, with the seeds from some miner's holding amongst the iron-barks in the gold country, and was once supposed to grow only on auriferous soils. When no one would think of digging for gold in this field, the presence of the flower is, perhaps, as reliable an indication of a golconda underneath as the reports and information on the strength of which many mining companies are floated."
1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 43:
"Diggerdom is gloriously in the ascendant here."
1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 43:
"The digger marching off, followed by his diggeress, a tall, slim young woman, who strode on like a trooper. . . . Open carriages driving about, crowded with diggers and their diggeresses."
1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. ii. p. 36:
"I'm tir'd of being a diggeress,And yearn a farmer's home to grace."
1769. De Foe's `Tour of Great Britain,' i. 39 (`O.E.D.'):
"King Henry VIII. was induced to dig for Gold. He was disappointed, but the Diggings are visible at this Day."
1852. J. Morgan, `Life and Adventures of William Buckley' (published at Hobart), p. 183 [quoting from the `Victoria Commercial Review,' published at Melbourne, by Messrs. Westgarth, Ross, & Co., under date September 1, 1851]:
"The existence of a `goldfield' was not ascertained until May last. . . . Numbers of persons are daily `prospecting' throughout this Colony and New South Wales in search of gold. . . .In Victoria, as well as in New South Wales, regular `diggings' are now established."
1852. Murray, `The Australian Gold Diggings: where they are and how to get at them,' p. 1;
"It cannot but be acceptable to the crowds of intending colonists and gold seekers, to present them with a picture of the `Progress of the Diggins,' [sic] drawn by the diggers."
1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. xv. p. 234:
"Immigrants who had not means to start to the diggings."
1870. J. O. Tucker, `The Mute,' p. 48:
"Ye glorious diggings `neath a southern clime!I saw thy dawn."
[`Ye,' `thy.' Is this singular or plural?]
1887. H. H. Hayter, `Christmas Adventure,' p. i:
"Fryer's creek, a diggings more than 90 miles from Melbourne."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. vii. p. 71:
"It was a goldfield and a diggings in far-away Australia."
1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 90:
"In their `dillis' (small baskets) were several roots or tubers."
Ibid. p. 195:
"A basket (dilli) which I examined was made of a species of grass."
1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 34:
"I learned too at the camp to plait dilly-bags."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 210:
"Mayboy came forward dangling a small dilly-bag."
1896. A.J. North, `Report of Australian Museum,' p. 26:
"Dilly-bag (partly wool and partly grass)."
1870. F. S. Wilson, `Australian Songs,' p. 30:
"The bell-like chimings of the distant dingle-bird."
1883. C. Harpur, `Poems,' p. 78:
"I . . . list the tinkling of the dinglebird."
1790. J. White, `Voyage to New South Wales,' p. 280:
[A dingo or dog of New South Wales. Plate. Description by J. Hunter.] "It is capable of barking, although not so readily as the European dogs; is very ill-natured and vicious, and snarls, howls, and moans, like dogs in common. Whether this is the only dog in New South Wales, and whether they have it in a wild state, is not mentioned; but I should be inclined to believe they had no other; in which case it will constitute the wolf of that country; and that which is domesticated is only the wild dog tamed, without having yet produced a variety, as in some parts of America."
1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' p. 614 [Vocab.]:
"Jungo—-Beasts, common name.Tein-go—-Din-go.Wor-re-gal—-Dog."
1820. W. C. Wentworth, `Description of New South Wales,' p. 62:
"The native dog also, which is a species of the wolf, was proved to be fully equal in this respect [sport] to the fox; but as the pack was not sufficiently numerous to kill these animals at once, they always suffered so severely from their bite that at last the members of the hunt were shy in allowing the dogs to follow them."
1834. L. E. Threlkeld, `Australian Grammar,' p. 55:
"Tigko—-a bitch."
1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes `(1855), p. 153:
"I have heard that the dingo, warragal or native dog, does not hunt in packs like the wolf and jackal."
1860. William Story, `Victorian Government Prize Essays,' p. 101:
"The English hart is so greatly superior, as an animal of chase, to that cunning poultry thief the fox, that I trust Mister Reynard will never be allowed to become an Australian immigrant, and that when the last of the dingoes shall have shared the fate of the last English wolf, Australian Nimrods will resuscitate, at the antipodes of England, the sterling old national sport of hart hunting, conjointly with that of African boks, gazelles, and antelopes, and leave the fox to their English cousins, who cannot have Australian choice."
1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 103:
"In the neighbourhood of Brisbane and other large towns where they have packs, they run the dingoes as you do foxes at home."
1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 113:
"The arms of the Wimmera should be rabbit and dingo, `rampant,' supporting a sun, `or, inflamed.'"
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 71:
"Dingoes, the Australian name for the wild dogs so destructive to sheep. They were . . . neither more nor less than wolves, but more cowardly and not so ferocious, seldom going in large packs. They hunted kangaroos when in numbers, or driven to it by hunger; but usually preferred smaller and more easily obtained prey, as rats, bandicoots, and 'possums."
1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 38:
"On the large stations a man is kept whose sole work it is to lay out poison for the dingo. The black variety with white breast generally appears in Western Queensland along with the red."
1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':
"The dingo of northern Australia can be distinguished from his brother of the south by his somewhat smaller size and courageous bearing. He always carries his tail curled over his back, and is ever ready to attack any one or anything; whilst the southern dingo carries his tail low, slinks along like a fox, and is easily frightened. The pure dingo, which is now exceedingly rare in a wild state, partly through the agency of poison, but still more from the admixture of foreign breeds, is unable to bark, and can only express its feelings in long-drawn weird howls."
1894. `The Argus,' June 23, p. l1, col. 4:
"Why is the first call of a dingo always apparently miles away, and the answer to it—another quavering note slightly more shrill—so close at hand? Is it delusion or distance?"
1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. Intro. p. xviii:
"The specimens [fossil-bones] transmitted . . . were confided to the learned Professor [Owen] for determination; and these materials, scanty as they were, enabled him to define the generic characters of Dinornis, as afforded by the bones of the hind extremity."
Ibid. p. xxiv:
"Professor Owen had well-nigh exhausted the vocabulary of terms expressive of largeness by naming his successive discoveries ingens, giganteus, crassus, robustus, and elephantopus, when he had to employ the superlative Dinornis maximus to distinguish a species far exceeding in stature even the stately Dinornis giganteus. In this colossal bird . . . some of the cervical vertebrae almost equal in size the neck-bones of a horse! The skeleton in the British Museum . . . measures 11 feet in height, and . . . some of these feathered giants attained to a still greater stature."
1893. `Australasian Schoolmaster,' Feb.:
"These answers have not the true colonial ring of the following, which purports to be the remark of the woman of Samaria: `Sir, the well is very deep, and you haven't got a dipper.'"
1859. G. Bunce, `Travels with Leichhardt,' p. 161:
". . . Dr. Leichhardt gave the party a quantity of dough boys, or as we called them, dips. . ."
[p. 171]: "In this dilemma, Dr. Leichhardt ordered the cook to mix up a lot of flour, and treated us all to a feed of dips. These were made as follows:—a quantity of flour was mixed up with water, and stirred with a spoon to a certain consistency, and dropped into a pot of boiling water, a spoonful at a time. Five minutes boiling was sufficient, when they were eaten with the water in which they were boiled."
1853. Mrs. Chas. Clancy, `Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings,' p. 109:
"And after doing this several times, the `dirt,' of course, gradually diminishing, I was overjoyed to see a few bright specks."
1857. Borthwick, `California,' [Bartlett, quoted in `O.E.D.'] p. 120:
"In California, `dirt' is the universal word to signify the substance dug; earth, clay, gravel, or loose slate. The miners talk of rich dirt and poor dirt, and of stripping off so many feet of `top dirt' before getting to `pay-dirt,' the latter meaning dirt with so much gold in it that it will pay to dig it up and wash it."
1870. J. O. Tucker, `The Mute,'p. 40:
"Others to these the precious dirt convey,Linger a moment till the panning's through."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xiv. p. 142:
"We were clean worked out . . . before many of our neighbours at Greenstone Gully, were half done with their dirt."
Ibid. c. xviii. p. 177:
"We must trust in the Oxley `dirt' and a kind Providence."
1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 17:
"I have obtained good dish prospects after crudely crushing up the quartz."
1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of the Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 250:
"This bird is called by the colonists Dishwasher. It is very curious in its actions. In alighting on the stump of a tree it makes several semi-circular motions, spreading out its tail, and making a loud noise somewhat like that caused by a razor-grinder when at work."
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vii. pl. 80:
"Podiceps australis, Gould; Australian Tippet Grebe; Diver of the Colonists."
1896. `The Australasian,' June 13, p. 1133, col. 1:
"`The doctor's in the kitchen, and the boss is in the shed;The overseer's out mustering on the plain;Sling your bluey down, old boy, for the clouds are overhead,You are welcome to a shelter from the rain.'"
1875. R. and F. Hill, `What we saw in Australia,' p. 61:
". . . we made acquaintance with the `dog's leg' fence. This is formed of bare branches of the gum-tree laid obliquely, several side by side, and the ends overlapping, so that they have somewhat the appearance that might be presented by the stretched-out legs of a crowd of dogs running at full speed. An upright stick at intervals, with a fork at the top, on which some of the cross-branches rest, adds strength to the structure."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 13:
"While the primaeval `dog-leg' fence of the Victorian bush, or the latter-day `chock and log' are no impediments in the path of our foresters." [sc. kangaroos; see Forester.]
1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 71:
"As we rode up we could see a gunyah made out of boughs, and a longish wing of dog leg fence, made light but well put together."
1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 16:
"There is a secluded hollow of this kind near Kangaroo Bottom, near Hobart Town, where the common dogwood of the colony (pomaderris apetala) has sprung up so thick and tall, that Mr. Babington and myself having got into it unawares one day, had the greatest difficulty imaginable to get out after three or four hours' labour. Not one of the plants was more than six inches apart from the others, while they rose from 6 to 12 yards in height, with leaves at the top which almost wholly excluded the light of the sun."
1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 11:
"Iron-bark ridges here and there, with spotted gum, with dogwood (Jacksonia) on a sandy soil." (p. 20): "A second creek, with running water, which from the number of dogwood shrubs (Jacksonia), in the full glory of their golden blossoms, I called `Dogwood Creek.'"
1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue—Economic Woods,' p. 46:
"Native dogwood, a hard, pale-brown, well-mottled wood; good for turnery."
1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 202:
"The settlers call it dollar-bird, from the silver-like spot on the wing."
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia;' vol. ii. pl. 17:
"Eurystomus Australis, Swains., Australian Roller. Dollar Bird of the Colonists. During flight the white spot in the centre of each wing, then widely expanded, shows very distinctly, and hence the name of Dollar Bird.'"
1851. I. Henderson, `Excursions in New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 183:
"The Dollar-bird derives its name from a round white spot the size of a dollar, on its wing. It is very handsome, and flies in rather a peculiar manner. It is the only bird which I have observed to perform regular migrations; and it is strange that in such a climate any one should do so. But it appears that the dollar-bird does not relish even an Australian winter. It is the harbinger of spring and genial weather."
1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 451:
"The fishermen of Roman Catholic countries hold this fish in special respect, as they recognize in a black round spot on its side the mark left by the thumb of St. Peter, when he took the piece of money from its mouth."
1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 62:
"The dory has been long known, and when the currency of the colony was in Mexican coin it was called a `dollar-fish.'"
Black-fronted Dottrel—Charadrius nigrifrons, Temm.
Double-banded D.—C. bicincta, Jord. and Selb.
Hooded D.—C. monacha, Geoff.
Large Sand D.—C. (AEgialitis) geoffroyi, Wag.
Mongolian Sand D.—C. (AEgialitis) mongolica, Pallas.
Oriental D.—C. veredus, Gould.
Red-capped Dottrel— Charadrius ruficapilla, Temm.; called also Sand-lark.
Red-necked D.—C. (AEgialitis) mastersi, Ramsay.
Ringed D.—C. hiaticula, Linn. [See also Red-knee.]
Barred-shouldered Dove—Geopelia humeralis, Temm.
Ground D.—G. tranquilla, Gould.
Little D.—G. cuneata, Lath. [See also Ground-dove.]
Prion turtur, Smith.
Banks D.-P.—P. banksii, Smith.
Broad-billed D.-P.—P. vittata, Forst.
Fairy D.-P.—P. ariel, Gould.
1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 418:
"In plates and knives scant is the shepherd's store,`Dover' and pan are all, he wants no more."
1893. April 15, `A Traveller's Note':
"`So much a week and the use of my Dover' men used to say in making a contract of labour."
1894. `Bush Song' [Extract]:
"Tie up the dog beside the log,And come and flash your Dover."
1856. W. W. Dobie, `Recollections of a Visit to Port Philip,' p. 84:
". . . the bushranger had been in search of another squatter, on whom `he said he had a down'. . ."
1884. J. W. Bull, `Early Life in South Australia,' p. 179:
"It was explained that Foley had a private `down' on them, as having stolen from him a favourite kangaroo dog."
1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia, vol. iv. p. 180:
"They [diggers] had a `dead down' on all made dishes."
1893. Professor Gosman, `The Argus,' April 24, p. 7, col. 4:
"That old prejudice in the minds of many men to the effect that those who represented the churches or religious people had a regular down upon freedom of thought."
1893. `The Age,' June 24, p. 5, col. 1:
"Mr. M. said it was notorious in the department that one of the commissioners had had `a down' on him."
1893. R. L. Stevenson, `Island Nights' Entertainments,' p. 46:
"`They have a down on you,' says Case. `Taboo a man because they have a down on him'' I cried. `I never heard the like.'"
1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. vi. p. 46:
"I should like to be drafting there again."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Squatter's Dream,' p. 2:
"There were those cattle to be drafted that had been brought from the Lost Waterhole."
1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. ii. p. 22:
"A draft of out-lying cattle rose and galloped off."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xviii. p. 227:
"They behave better, though all the while keeping the drafters incessantly popping at the fence by truculent charges."
1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 4, col. 7:
"But the tent-flap seemed to go up and down quick as a drafting-gate."
1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. x. p. 72:
"We . . . armed ourselves with drafting-sticks and resolutely faced it."
1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 13, col. 1:
"There were drafting-yards and a tank a hundred yards off, but no garden."
1833. C. Sturt, `Southern Australia,' vol. i. Intro. p. xlix:
"They send their produce to the market . . . receiving supplies for home consumption on the return of their drays or carts from thence."
1872. C. H. Eden, "My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 31:
"A horse dray, as known in Australia, is by no means the enormous thing its name would signify, but simply an ordinary cart on two wheels without springs." [There are also spring-drays.]
1886. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 41:
"One told by camp fires when the station draysWere housed and hidden, forty years ago."
1895. W. 0. Legge, `Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science' (Brisbane), p. 448:
"There being but one member of the interesting Asiatic genus Drongo in Australia, it was thought best to characterize it simply as the Drongo without any qualifying term."
It is curious that while an American magazine calls this phraseAustralian (see quotation), the `Dictionary of Slang'—oneeditor of which is the distinguished American, GodfreyC. Leland—says it is American. It is in common use inAustralia.
1894. `Atlantic Monthly,' Aug., p. 179.
"His terrible wife, if we may borrow a phrase from Australia, `had the drop on him' in every particular."
1890. A. J. Vogan, `Black Police,' p. 334:
"I don't know how you'd be able to get on without the `boys' to muster, track, and drove."
1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River' [Poem `In the Droving Days'], p. 95:
"For though lie scarcely a trot can raise,He can take me back to the droving days."
1866. Wm. Starner, `Recollections of a Life of Adventure,' vol. i. p. 304
". . . and `humping his drum' start off for the diggings to seek more gold."
1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 17:
"They all chaffed us about our swags, or donkeys, or drums, as a bundle of things wrapped in a blanket is indifferently called."
1886. Frank Cowan, `Australia, Charcoal Sketch,' p. 31:
"The Swagman: bed and board upon his back—or, having humped his drum and set out on the wallaby . . ."
1894. `The Argus,' March 28, p. 5, col. 5:
"When water is not available, as unfortunately is the case at Coolgardie, `dry blowing' is resorted to. This is done by placing the pounded stuff in one dish, and pouring it slowly at a certain height into the other. If there is any wind blowing it will carry away the powdered stuff; if there is no wind the breath will have to be used. It is not a pleasant way of saving gold, but it is a case of Hobson's choice. The unhealthiness of the method is apparent."
Blue-billed Duck—Erismatura australis, Gould.
Freckled D.—Stictonetta naevosa, Gould.
Mountain D. (the Shel-drake, q.v.).
Musk D. (q.v.)—Biziura lobata, Shaw.
Pink-eared D., or Widgeon (q.v.)—Malacorhynchus membranaceus, Lath.
Plumed Whistling D.—Dendrocygna eytoni, Gould.
Whistling D.—D. vagans, Eyton. [Each species of theDendrocygna called also by sportsmen Tree-duck.]
White-eyed D., or Hard-head (q.v.)—Nyroca australis, Gould.
Wild D.—Anas superciliosa, Gmel.
Wood D. (the Maned Goose; see Goose).
The following is a table of the ducks as compiled by Gould nearly fifty years ago.
1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vii:
Plate
Anas superciliosa, Gmel.Australian Wild Duck . . . 9
Anas naevosa, Gould,Freckled Duck . . . 10
Anas punctata, Cuv.Chestnut-breasted Duck . . . 11
Spatula Rhyncotis,Australian Shoveller . . . 12
Malacorhynchus membranaceus, . . . 13Membranaceous Duck
Dendrocygna arcuata,Whistling Duck (q.v.) . . . 14
Leptolarsis Eytoni, Gould,Eyton's Duck . . . 15
Nyroca Australis, Gould,White-eyed Duck . . . 16
Erismatura Australis,Blue-billed Duck . . . 17
Biziura lobata,Musk Duck . . . 18
The following is Professor Parker's statement of the New Zealand Ducks.
1889. Prof. Parker, `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition,' p. 117:
"There are eleven species of Native Ducks belonging to nine genera, all found elsewhere, except two—the little Flightless Duck of the Auckland Islands (genus Nesonetta) and the Blue Mountain Duck (Hymenolaemus). Among the most interesting of the non-endemic forms, are the Paradise Duck or Sheldrake (Casarca variegata), the Brown Duck (Anas chlorotis), the Shoveller or Spoonbill Duck (Rhynchaspis variegata), and the Scaup or Black Teal (Fuligula Novae-Zealandiae)."
1825. Barron Field, `First Fruits of Australian Poetry,' in `Geographical Memoirs of New South Wales,' p. 496:
"When sooty swans are once more rare,And duck-moles the museum's care."
[Appendix : "Water or duck-mole."]
1875. Schmidt, `Descent and Darwinism,' p. 237:
"The Ornithorhyncus or duck-mole of Tasmania."
In Melbourne, before the days of trams, the wagonette-cabs used to run by a time-table from fixed stations at so much (generally 3d.) a passenger. A cabman who did not wait his turn on the station rank, but touted for passengers up and down the street in the neighbourhood of the rank, was termed a Duck-shover.
1870. D. Blair, `Notes and Queries,' Aug. 6, p. 111:
"Duck-shoving is the term used by our Melbourne cabmen to express the unprofessional trick of breaking the rank, in order to push past the cabman on the stand for the purpose of picking up a stray passenger or so."
1896. `Otago Daily Times,' Jan. 25, p. 3, col. 6:
"The case was one of a series of cases of what was technically known as `duck shoving,' a process of getting passengers which operated unfairly against the cabmen who stayed on the licensed stand and obeyed the by-law."
1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (3rd ed. 1855), c. vii. p. 170:
"In the grassland, a sort of ground pigeon, called the dudu, a very handsome little bird, got up and went off like a partridge, strong and swift, re-alighting on the ground, and returning to cover."
1869. E. Carton Booth, `Another England,' p. 138:
"He said there was a `duffing paddock' somewhere on the Broken River, into which nobody but the owner had ever found an entrance, and out of which no cattle had ever found their way—at any rate, not to come into their owner's possession. . . . The man who owned the `duffing paddock' was said to have a knack of altering cattle brands . . ."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. xiv. p. 162:
"I knew Redcap when he'd think more of duffing a red heifer than all the money in the country."
1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydneyside Saxon,' p. 95:
"As to the calves I'm a few short myself, as I think that half-caste chap of yours must have `duffed.'"
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xxv. p. 352:
"What's a little money . . . if your children grow up duffers and planters?"
1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 193:
"It was a terrible duffer anyhow, every ounce of gold got from it cost L 20 I'll swear."
1864. J Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 55:
"Tho' duffers are so commonAnd golden gutters rare,The mining sons of womanCan much ill fortune bear."
1873. A.Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 291:
"A shaft sunk without any produce from it is a duffer. . . . But of these excavations the majority were duffers. It is the duffering part of the business which makes it all so sad.So much work is done from which there is positively no return."
1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 266:
"The place is then declared to be a `duffer,' and abandoned, except by a few fanatics, who stick there for months and years."
1891. `The Australasian,' Nov. 21, p. 1014:
"Another duffer! Rank as ever was bottomed! Seventy-five feet hard delving and not a colour!"
1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 279:
"He then reported to the shareholders that the lode had `duffered out,' and that it was useless to continue working."
1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 73:
"Cloncurry has, to use the mining parlance, duffered out."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. vi. p. 58:
"`So you're duffered out again, Harry,' she said."