Austral English

E (continued 5)

Reading edition

1873. Marcus Clarke, `Holiday Peak, etc.,' p. 21:

"The result was always the same—a shilling a nobbler. True, that Trowbridge's did not `lamb down' so well as the Three Posts, but then the Three Posts put fig tobacco in its brandy casks, and Trowbridge's did not do that."

1880. Garnet Walch, `Victoria in 1880,' p.30:

"The operation—combining equal parts of hocussing, overcharging, and direct robbery—and facetiously christened by bush landlords `lambing down.'"

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 4, col. 7:

"One used to serve drinks in the bar, the other kept the billiard-table. Between them they lambed down more shearers and drovers than all the rest on the river."

<hw>Lamprey</hw>, n. The Australian Lampreys are species of the genera Mordacia and Geotria, of the same family as the "Lampreys" of the Northern Hemisphere.

<hw>Lancelet</hw>, n. The fishes of this name present in Australasia are—

In Queensland, Epigonichthys cultellus, Peters, family Amplingae; in Victoria and New South Wales, species of Heteropleuron.

<hw>Lancewood</hw>, n. There are many lancewoods in various parts of the world. The name, in Australia, is given to Backhousia myrtifolia, Hook. and Harv., N.O. Myrtaceae; and in New Zealand, to Panax crassifolium, Dec. and Plan., N.O. Araliaceae, known as Ivy- tree, and by the Maori name of Horoeka (q.v.).

<hw>Landsborough Grass</hw>, n. a valuable Queensland fodder grass of a reddish colour, Anthistiria membranacea, Lindl., N.O. Gramineae. See Grass.

<hw>Lantern, Ballarat</hw>, n. a local term. See quotation.

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 21:

"I may explain that a `Ballarat Lantern' is formed by knocking off the bottom of a bottle, and putting a candle in the neck."

<hw>Lark</hw>, n. common English bird name. The Australian species are—

Brown Song Lark— Cincloramphus cruralis, Vig. and Hors.

Bush L.— Mirafra horsfieldii, Gould.

Field L.— Calamanthus campestris, Gould.

Ground L.— Anthus australis, Vig. and Hors. (Australian Pipit), A. novae-zelandae, Gray (New Zealand Pipit).

Lesser Bush L.— Mirafra secunda, Sharpe.

Little Field L.— Cathonicola sagittata, Lath.

Magpie L.— Grallina picata, Lath.; see Magpie-Lark.

Rufous Song L.— Cincloramphus rufescens, Vig. and Hors.

Striated Field L.— Calamanthus fuliginosus, Vig. and Hors.

See Ground-Lark, Sand-Lark, Pipit, and Magpie-Lark.

<hw>Larrikin</hw>, n. The word has various shades of meaning between a playful youngster and a blackguardly rough. Little streetboys are often in a kindly way called little larrikins. (See quotations, 1870 and 1885.) Archibald Forbes described the larrikin as "a cross between the Street Arab and the Hoodlum, with a dash of the Rough thrown in to improve the mixture." (`Century.) The most exalted position yet reached in literature by this word is in Sir Richard Burton's `Translation of the Arabian Nights' (1886-7), vol. i. p. 4, Story of the Larrikin and the Cook; vol. iv. p. 281, Tale of First Larrikin. The previous translator, Jonathan Scott, had rendered the Arabic word, Sharper.

There are three views as to the origin of the word, viz.—

(1) That it is a phonetic spelling of the broad Irish pronunciation, with a trilled r of the word larking. The story goes that a certain Sergeant Dalton, about the year 1869, charged a youthful prisoner at the Melbourne Police Court with being "a-larrr-akin' about the streets." The Police Magistrate, Mr. Sturt, did not quite catch the word—"A what, Sergeant?"—"A larrikin', your Worchup." The police court reporter used the word the next day in the paper, and it stuck. (See quotation, `Argus,' 1896.)

This story is believed by 99 persons out of 100; unfortunately it lacks confirmation; for the record of the incident cannot be discovered, after long search in files by many people. Mr. Skeat's warning must be remembered—"As a rule, derivations which require a story to be told turn out to be false."

(2) That the word is thieves' English, promoted like swag, plant, lift, etc., into ordinary Australian English. Warders testify that for a number of years before the word appeared in print, it was used among criminals in gaol as two separate words, viz.—leary ('cute, fly, knowing), and kinchen (youngster),—`leary kinchen ,'—shortened commonly into `leary kin' and `leary kid.' Australian warders and constables are Irish, almost to a man. Their pronunciation of `leary kin' would be very nearly `lairy kin,' which becomes the single word larrikin. (See quotation, 1871.) It is possible that Sergeant Dalton used this expression and was misunderstood by the reporter.

(3) The word has been derived from the French larron (a thief), which is from the Latin latronem (a robber). This became in English larry, to which the English diminutive, kin, was added; although this etymology is always derided in Melbourne.

1870. `The Daily Telegraph' (Melbourne), Feb. 7, p. 2, col. 3:

"We shall perhaps begin to think of it in earnest, when we have insisted upon having wholesome and properly baked bread, or a better supply of fish, and when we have put down the `roughs' and `larrikins.'"

1870. `The Age,' Feb. 8, p. 3, col. 1:

"In sentencing a gang of `larrikins' who had been the terror of Little Bourke-street and its neighbourhood for several hours on Saturday night, Mr. Call remarked. . ."

1870. `The Herald,' April 4, p.3, col. 2:

". . . three larikins who had behaved in a very disorderly manner in Little Latrobe-street, having broken the door of a house and threatened to knock out the eye of one of the inmates."

1870. Marcus Clarke, `Goody Two Shoes,' p. 26:

"He's a lively little larrikin lad, and his name is Little Boy Blue."

1871. `The Argus,' Sept. 19, p.5, col. 4:

"In San Francisco, the vagabond juveniles who steal, smash windows, and make themselves generally obnoxious to the respectable inhabitants, instead of being termed `larrikins,' as in Victoria, are denominated `hoodleums.' The name is more musical than the one in vogue here, and probably equally as descriptive, as its origin appears to be just as obscure as that of the word `larrikin.' This word, before it got into print, was confined to the Irish policemen, who generally pronounced it `lerrikan,' and it has been suggested that the term is of Hibernian origin, and should be spelt lerrichaun.'"

1871. Sir George Stephen, Q.C., `Larrikinism,' a Lecture reported in `Prahran Telegraph,' Sept. 23, p. 3, col. 1:

What is Larrikinism? It is a modern word of which I can only guess the derivation, . . . nor can I find any among the erudite professors of slang who adorn our modern literature who can assist me. Some give our police the credit of coining it from the `larking' of our school boys, but I am inclined to think that the word is of Greek origin—Laros, a cormorant—though immediately derived from the French `larron' which signifies a thief or rogue. If I am right, then larrikin is the natural diminutive form in English phraseology for a small or juvenile thief. . . . This however is, I must acknowledge, too severe a construction of the term, even if the derivation is correct; for I was myself, I frankly confess it, an unquestionable larrikin between 60 and 70 years ago. . . . Larrikinism is not thieving, though a road that often leads to it. . . . Is it a love of mischief for mischief's sake? This is the theory of the papers, and is certainly a nearer approach to the true solution."

1871. `Figaro,' in `Prahran Telegraph,' Sept. 30, p. 7, col. 3:

"A local contemporary has . . . done his `level best' to help me out of my `difficulty' with respect to the word Larrikin. He suggests that lerrichan should read leprichaun , a mischievous sprite, according to Irish tradition. . . . We think we may with more safety and less difficulty trace the word to the stereotype [sic] reply of the police to the magisterial question—`What was he doing when you apprehended him?' `Oh! larriking (larking) about, yer Wurtchip.'"

1872. J. S. Elkington, `Tenth Report of Education, Victoria,' dated Feb. 14:

"My inquiries into the origin and habits of that troublesome parasite the larrikin (if I may adopt Constable Dalton's term) do not make me sanguine that compulsory primary instruction can do much for him, unless indirectly."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 15, p. 21, col. 3:

"On Sunday night an unfortunate Chinaman was so severely injured by the Richmond larrikins that his life was endangered."

1875. David Blair, in `Notes and Queries,' July 24, p. 66:

"Bedouins, Street Arabs, Juvenile Roughs in London; Gamins in Paris; Bowery Boys in New York; Hoodlums to San Francisco; Larrikins in Melbourne. This last phrase is an Irish constable's broad pronunciation of `larking' applied to the nightly street performances of these young scamps, here as elsewhere, a real social pestilence."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 338:

"There is not a spare piece of ground fit for a pitch anywhere round Melbourne that is not covered with `larrikins' from six years old upwards."

1889. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' p. 159:

"It has become the name for that class of roving vicious young men who prowl about public-houses and make night hideous in some of the low parts of our cities. There is now the bush `larrikin' as well as the town `larrikin,' and it would be difficult sometimes to say which is the worse. Bush `larrikins' have gone on to be bushrangers."

1890. `The Argus,' May 26, p. 6, col. 7:

"He was set upon by a gang of larrikins, who tried to rescue the prisoner."

1891. `Harper s Magazine,' July, p. 215, col. 2:

"The Melbourne `larrikin' has differentiated himself from the London `rough,' and in due season a term had to be developed to denote the differentiation."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 12, p. 13, col. 2:

"Robert Louis Stevenson, in a recent novel, `The Wrecker,' makes the unaccountable mistake of confounding the unemployed Domain loafer with the larrikin. This only shows that Mr. Stevenson during his brief visits to Sydney acquired but a superficial knowledge of the underlying currents of our social life."

1896. J. St. V. Welch, in `Australasian Insurance and Banking Record,' May 19, p. 376:

"Whence comes the larrikin? that pest of these so-called over-educated colonies; the young loafer of from sixteen to eight-and-twenty. Who does not know him, with his weedy, contracted figure; his dissipated pimply face; his greasy forelock brushed flat and low over his forehead; his too small jacket; his tight-cut trousers; his high-heeled boots; his arms—with out-turned elbows—swinging across his stomach as he hurries along to join his `push,' as he calls the pack in which he hunts the solitary citizen—-a pack more to be dreaded on a dark night than any pack of wolves—and his name in Sydney is legion, and in many cases he is a full-fledged voter."

1896. W. H. Whelan, in `The Argus,' Jan. 7, p. 6, col. 3:

"Being clerk of the City Court, I know that the word originated in the very Irish and amusing way in which the then well-known Sergeant Dalton pronounced the word larking in respect to the conduct of `Tommy the Nut,' a rowdy of the period, and others of both sexes in Stephen (now Exhibition) street.

"Your representative at the Court, the witty and clever `Billy' O'Hea, who, alas! died too early, took advantage of the appropriate sound of the word to apply it to rowdyism in general, and, next time Dalton repeated the phrase, changed the word from verb to noun, where it still remains, anything to the contrary notwithstanding. I speak of what I do know, for O'Hea drew my attention to the matter at the time, and, if I mistake not, a reference to your files would show that it was first in the `Argus' the word appeared in print."

("We can fully confirm Mr. Whelan's account of the origin of the word `larrikin.'"—Ed. `Argus.')

[But see quotation from `Argus,' 1871.]

<hw>Larrikin</hw>, adj.

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 522:

"Marks the young criminals as heroes in the eyes not only of the ostensible larrikin element . . ."

<hw>Larrikinalian</hw>, adj. (Not common.)

1893. `Evening Standard,' July 5, p. 4, col. 4 (Leading Article):

"In the larrikinalian din which prevailed from start to finish . . ."

<hw>Larrikiness</hw>, n. a female larrikin.

1871. `Collingwood Advertiser and Observer,' June 22, p. 3, col. 5:

"Evidence was tendered as to the manner of life led by these larikinesses . . . The juvenile larrikin element being strongly represented in court, all the boys were ordered out."

1871. Sir George Stephen, Q.C., `Larrikinism,' a Lecture reported in `Prahran Telegraph,' Sept. 23, p. 3, col. 1:

"I know many a larrikiness to whose voice I could listen by the hour with all my heart, without the least fear of her stealing it, even if it were worth the trouble."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 224:

"I have not found the larrikin [in Brisbane]. . . . The slouch-hat, the rakish jib, the drawn features are not to be seen; nor does the young larrikiness—that hideous outgrowth of Sydney and Melbourne civilization—exist as a class."

<hw>Larrikinism</hw>, n. the conduct of larrikins (q.v.).

1870. `The Australian' (Richmond, Victoria), Sept. 10, p. 3, col. 3:

"A slight attempt at `larrikinism' was manifested. . . . "

1871. J. J. Simpson, `Recitations and Rhymes,' p. 17:

"Melbourne larrikinism is still very bad, By the papers each day we are told."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, p. 80, col. 2:

"He took as his theme the `Dialect of Victoria,' which was coarse and vulgar to a degree. `Larrikinism' was used as a synonym for `blackguardism.'"

1876. A. P. Martin, `Sweet Girl-Graduate,' p. 20:

"There is no doubt that its rising generation afforded material for letters in the newspapers, under the headings `Larrikinism,' or, `What shall we do with our boys?'"

1893. `The Argus,' Feb. 23:

"Outbreaks of larrikinism are not always harmless ebullitions of animal spirits. Sometimes they have very serious results."

<hw>Laughing Jackass</hw>, n. See Jackass.

<hw>Launce</hw>, n. The Australian species of this fish is Congrogradus subducens, Richards., found in North- West Australia. The Launces or Sand-eels of the Northern Hemisphere belong to a different group.

<hw>Laurel</hw>, n. The English tree name is applied in Australia to various trees, viz.—

Alexandrian Laurel— Calophyllum inophyllum, Linn:, N.O. Guttiferae; not endemic in Australia.

Diamond-leaf L.— Pittosporum rhombifolium, A. Cunn., N.O. Pittosporeae.

Dodder L.— Cassytha filiformis, Linn., N.O. Lauraceae; called also Devil's Guts, not endemic in Australia.

Hedge L. (q.v.)— Pittosporum eugenioides, Cunn.

Moreton Bay L.— Cryptocarya australis, Benth., N.O. Lauraceae; called also Grey Sassafras.

Native L.— Pittosporum undulatum, Andr., N.O. Pittosporeae; called also Mock Orange (q.v.). Panax elegans, C. Moore and F. v. M., N.O. Araliaceae; which is also called Light or White Sycamore.

White L.— Cryptocarya glaucescens, R. Br., N.O. Lauraceae; for other names see Beech.

In Tasmania, the name Native Laurel is applied to Anopterus glandulosus, Lab., N.O. Saxifrageae. Peculiar to Tasmania.

The New Zealand Laurel is Laurelia novae-zelandiae; called also Sassafras.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 292:

"Native Laurel, [also called] `Mock Orange.' This tree is well worth cultivating on a commercial scale for the sake of the sweet perfume of its flowers."

<hw>Lavender, Native</hw>, n. a Tasmanian tree, Styphelia australis, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae.

<hw>Lawyer</hw>, n. One of the English provincial uses of this word is for a thorny stem of a briar or bramble. In New Zealand, the name is used in this sense for the Rubus australis, N.O. Rosaceae, or Wild Raspberry-Vine (Maori, Tataramoa). The words Bush-Lawyer, Lawyer-Vine, and Lawyer-Palm, are used with the same signification, and are also applied in some colonies to the Calamus australis, Mart. (called also Lawyer- Cane), and to Flagellaria indua, Linn,, similar trailing plants.

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 157:

"Calamus Australis, a plant which Kennedy now saw for the first time. . . It is a strong climbing palm. From the roots as many as ninety shoots will spring, and they lengthen out as they climb for hundreds of feet, never thicker than a man's finger. The long leaves are covered with sharp spines; but what makes the plant the terror of the explorers, is the tendrils, which grow out alternately with the leaves. Many of these are twenty feet long, and they are covered with strong spines, curved slightly downwards."

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

"Rubus Australis, the thorny strings of which scratch the hands and face, and which the colonists, therefore, very wittily call the `bush-lawyer.'"

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

"Torn by the recurved prickles of the bush-lawyer."

1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby,' p. 16:

"Trailing `bush-lawyers,' intermingled with coarse bracken, cling lovingly to the rude stones."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 103:

"In the mountain scrubs there grows a very luxuriant kind of palm (Calamus Australis), whose stem of a finger's thickness, like the East Indian Rotang-palm, creeps through the woods for hundreds of feet, twining round trees in its path, and at times forming so dense a wattle that it is impossible to get through it. The stem and leaves are studded with the sharpest thorns, which continually cling to you and draw blood, hence its not very polite name of lawyer-palm."

1891. A. J. North, `Records of Australian Museum,' vol. i. p. 118:

"Who, in the brushes of the Tweed River, found a nest placed on a mass of `lawyer-vines' (Calamus Australis)."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 256:

"`Look out,' said my companion, `don't touch that lawyer-vine; it will tear you properly, and then not let you go.' Too late; my fingers touched it, and the vine had the best of it. The thorns upon the vine are like barbed spears, and they would, in the language of the Yankee, tear the hide off a crocodile."

1892. `The Times,' [Reprint] `Letters from Queensland,' p. 7:

"But no obstacle is worse for the clearer to encounter than the lawyer-vines where they are not burnt off. These are a form of palm which grows in feathery tufts along a pliant stalk, and fastens itself as a creeper upon other trees. From beneath its tufts of leaves it throws down trailing suckers of the thickness of stout cord, armed with sets of sharp red barbs. These suckers sometimes throw themselves from tree to tree across a road which has not been lately used, and render it as impassable to horses as so many strains of barbed wire. When they merely escape from the undergrowth of wild ginger and tree-fern and stinging-bush, which fringes the scrub, and coil themselves in loose loops upon the ground, they are dangerous enough as traps for either man or horse. In the jungle, where they weave themselves in and out of the upright growths, they form a web which at times defies every engine of destruction but fire."

<hw>Lawyer-Cane</hw>, <hw>Lawyer-Palm</hw>, and <hw>Lawyer-Vine</hw>. See Lawyer.

<hw>Lead</hw>, n. (pronounced leed), a mining term. In the Western United States and elsewhere, the term lead in mining is used as equivalent for lode. In Australia, the word lead is only used in reference to alluvial mining, and signifies the old river-bed in which gold is found.

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, p. 75, col. 2:

"There was every facility for abstracting the gold in the rich lead of a neighbour."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 272 [Note]:

"The expression `deep lead' refers to those ancient river-courses which are now only disclosed by deep-mining operations."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. v. p. 55:

"Taking the general matter of `leads' or dead rivers, it chiefly obtained that if gold were found on one portion of them, it extended to all the claims within a considerable distance."

<hw>Lead, to strike the</hw>. See above. Used figuratively for to succeed.

1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 74:

"We could shy up our caps for a feller, As soon as he struck the lead."

<hw>Leadbeater</hw>, n. applied to a Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri, Vig., called Leadbeaters Cockatoo by Major Mitchell (q.v.).

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' c. xiv. p. 127:

"The birds are very beautiful—the Blue Mountain and Lowrie parrots . . . leadbeater, and snow-white cockatoos."

<hw>Leaf-insect</hw>, n. See Phasmid.

<hw>Lease</hw>, n. a piece of land leased for mining purposes. In England, the word is used for the document or legal right concerning the land. In Australia, it is used for the land itself. Compare Right-of-way.

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

"A nice block of stone was crushed from Johnson's lease."

<hw>Lease in perpetuity</hw>, a statutory expression in the most recent land legislation of New Zealand, indicating a specific mode of alienating Crown lands,. It is a lease for 999 years at a permanent rental equal to 4% on the capital value, which is not subject to revision.

<hw>Leather-head</hw>, n. another name for the Friar-bird (q.v.), Philemon corniculatus, Lath. See Tropidorhynchus.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 461:

"The Leatherhead with its constantly changing call and whistling."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 58:

"The leather-heads utter their settled phrase `Off we go! off we go!' in the woods, or they come to suck honey from the Melianthus major, which stands up like a huge artichoke plant, tipped with dark red plumes of flowers."

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 233:

"Among the Honey-suckers is that singular-looking bird, the Leatherhead, or Bald-headed Friar (Tropidorhynchus corniculatus); it is commonly seen upon the topmost branches of lofty trees, calling `Poor Soldier,' `Pimlico,' `Four o'clock,' and uttering screaming sounds. It feeds upon insects, wild fruits, and any sweets it can procure from the flowers of the Banksia and Gum-trees."

<hw>Leather-Jacket</hw>, n.

(1) A name applied popularly and somewhat confusedly to various trees, on account of the toughness of their bark— (a) Eucalyptus punctata, De C., Hickory Eucalypt (q.v.); (b) Alphitonia excelsa, Reiss., or Cooperswood; (c) Ceratopetalum, or Coachwood; (d) Cryptocarya meissnerii, F. v. M.; (e) Weinmannia benthami, F. v. M.

(2) A fish of the family Sclerodermi, Monacanthus ayraudi, Quoy. and Gaim., and numerous other species of Monocanthus. Leather-Jackets are wide-spread in Australian seas. The name is given elsewhere to other fishes. See File-fish and Pig-fish.

1770. `Capt. Cook's Journal,' edition Wharton, 1893, p. 246:

"They had caught a great number of small fish, which the sailors call leather jackets, on account of their having a very thick skin; they are known in the West Indies."

1773. `Hawkesworth's Voyages,' vol. iii. p. 503—'Cook's First Voyage,' May 4, 1770 (at Botany Bay):

"Small fish, which are well known in the West Indies, and which our sailors call Leather jackets, because their skin is remarkably thick."

1789. W. Tench, `Expedition to Botany Bay, p. 129:

"To this may be added bass, mullets, skaits, soles, leather-jackets, and many other species."

(3) A kind of pancake.

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 151:

"A plentiful supply of `leatherjackets' (dough fried in a pan)."

1853. Mossman and Banister, `Australia Visited and Revisited,' p. 126:

"Our party, upon this occasion, indulged themselves, in addition to the usual bush fare, with what are called `Leather jackets,' an Australian bush term for a thin cake made of dough, and put into a pan to bake with some fat. . . The Americans indulge in this kind of bread, giving them the name of `Puff ballooners,' the only difference being that they place the cake upon the bare coals . . ."

1855. R. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 117:

"The leather-jacket is a cake of mere flour and water, raised with tartaric acid and carbonate of soda instead of yeast, and baked in the frying-pan; and is equal to any muffin you can buy in the London shops."

<hw>Leather-wood</hw>, n. i.q. Pinkwood (q.v.).

<hw>Leawill</hw>, or <hw>Leeangle</hw> (with other spellings), n. aboriginal names for a native weapon, a wooden club bent at the striking end. The name is Victorian, especially of the West; probably derived from lea or leang, or leanyook, a tooth. The aboriginal forms are langeel, or leanguel, and lea-wil, or le-ow-el. The curve evidently helped the English termination, angle.

1845. Charles Griffith, `Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales,' p. 155:

"The liangle is, I think, described by Sir Thomas Mitchell. It is of the shape of a pickaxe, with only one pick. Its name is derived from another native word, leang, signifying a tooth. It is a very formidable weapon, and used only in war."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. II. c. xiii. p. 479:

"A weapon used by the natives called a Liangle, resembling a miner's pick."

1863. M. K. Beveridge,' Gatherings among the Gum-trees,' p. 56:

"Let us hand to hand attack him With our Leeawells of Buloite."

Ibid. (In Glossary) p. 83:

"Leeawell, a kind of war club."

1867. G. Gordon McCrae, `Mimba,' p. 9:

"The long liangle's nascent form Fore-spoke the distant battle-storm."

1886. R. Henty, `Australiana,' p. 21:

"His war-club or leeangle."

1889. P. Beveridge, `Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina, p. 67:

"Of those [waddies] possessing—we might almost say—-a national character, the shapes of which seem to have come down generation after generation, from the remotest period, the Leawill is the most deadly-looking weapon. It is usually three feet long, and two and a half inches thick, having a pointed head, very similar both in shape and size to a miner's driving pick; in most cases the oak (Casuarina) is used in the manufacture of this weapon; it is used in close quarters only, and is a most deadly instrument in the hands of a ruthless foe, or in a general melee such as a midnight onslaught."

<hw>Leeangle</hw>, n. i.q. Leawill (q.v.).

<hw>Leek</hw>, n. a small parrot. See Greenleek.

<hw>Leek, Native</hw>, n. a poisonous Australian plant, Bulbine bulbosa, Haw., N.O. Liliaceae. Called also Native Onion. Its racemes of bright yellow flowers make the paddocks gay in spring.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 121:

"`Native Onion,' `Native Leek.' Mr. W. n. Hutchinson, Sheep Inspector, Warrego, Queensland, reports of this plant: `Its effects on cattle are . . . continually lying down, rolling, terribly scoured, mucous discharge from the nose.'"

<hw>Leg</hw>, n. mining term. a peculiar form of quartz-reef, forming a nearly vertical prolongation of the saddle.

1890. `The Argus,' June x6th, p. 6, col. 1:

"It may also be observed that in payable saddle formations a slide intersects the reef above the saddle coming from the west, and turning east with a wall of the east leg, where the leg of reef is observed to go down deeper, and to carry a greater amount of gold than in ordinary cases."

<hw>Legitimacy</hw>, n. See quotation. [Old and now unused slang.]

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 16:

"Legitimacy—a colonial term for designating the cause of the emigration of a certain portion of our population; i.e. having legal reasons for making the voyage."

[So also at p. 116, "Legitimates"]

<hw>Leguminous Ironbark</hw>, n. a name given by Leichhardt to the Queensland tree Erythrophaeum laboucherii, F. v. M., N.O. Leguminosae. See Ironbark.

<hw>Leichhardt</hw>, or <hw>Leichhardt-Tree</hw>, n. an Australian timber-tree, Morinda citrifolia, Linn., N.O. Rubiaceae; called also Canary-wood and Indian Mulberry. In Queensland, the name is applied to Sarcocephalus cordatus, Miq., N.O. Rubiaceae, a large timber-tree of North Queensland, much used in building.

1874. M. K. Beveridge, `Lost Life,' p. 40:

"Groaning beneath the friendly shade That by a Leichhardt-tree was made."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia, p. 258:

"The Leichhardt is a very symmetrical tree, that grows to a height of about sixty feet, and has leaves rather like a big laurel."

<hw>Leichhardt-Bean</hw>, n. See Bean.

<hw>Leichhardt's Clustered-Fig</hw>, n. i.q. Clustered Fig. See Fig.

<hw>Lemon, Desert</hw>, n. See Desert Lemon.

<hw>Lemon-scented Gum</hw>, n. See Gum.

<hw>Lemon-scented Ironbark</hw>, n. a name given to the Queensland tree Eucalyptus staigeriana, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae. See Ironbark. The foliage of this tree yields a large quantity of oil, equal in fragrance to that of lemons.

<hw>Lemon-Sole</hw>, n. In England, the name is applied to an inferior species of Sole. In New South Wales, it is given to Plagusia unicolor, Mad., of the family Pleuronectidae or Flat-fishes. In New Zealand, it is another name for the New Zealand Turbot (q.v.).

<hw>Lemon, Wild</hw>, n. a timber tree, Canthium latifolium, F. v. M., N.O. Rubiaceae; called also Wild Orange.

<hw>Lemon-Wood</hw>, n. one of the names given by settlers to the New Zealand tree called by Maoris Tarata (q.v.), or Mapau (q.v.). It is Pittosporum eugenoides, A. Cunn., N.O. Pittosporeae.

<hw>Leopard-Tree</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Flindersia maculosa (or Strezleckiana), F. v. M., N.O. Meliaceae; called also Spotted-Tree (q.v.), and sometimes, in Queensland, Prickly Pine.

<hw>Lerp</hw>, n. an aboriginal word belonging to the Mallee District of Victoria (see Mallee). Sometimes spelt leurp, or laap. The aboriginal word means `sweet.' It is a kind of manna secreted by an insect, Psylla eucalypti, and found on the leaves of the Mallee, Eucalyptus dumosa. Attention was first drawn to it by Mr. Thomas Dobson (see quotations). A chemical substance called Lerpamyllum is derived from it; see Watts' `Dictionary of Chemistry,' Second Supplement, 1875, s.v.

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

"The natives of the Wimmera prepare a luscious drink from the laap, a sweet exudation from the leaf of the mallee (Eucalyptus dumosa)."

1850. T. Dobson, `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. i. p. 235:

"The white saccharine substance called `lerp,' by the Aborigines in the north-western parts of Australia Felix, and which has attracted the attention of chemists, under the impression that it is a new species of manna, originates with an insect of the tribe of Psyllidae, and order Hemiptera."

1850. Ibid. p. 292::

"Insects which, in the larva state, have the faculty of elaborating from the juices of the gum-leaves on which they live a glutinous and saccharine fluid, whereof they construct for themselves little conical domiciles."

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `The Aborigines of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 211:

"Another variety of manna is the secretion of the pupa of an insect of the Psylla family and obtains the name of lerp among the aborigines. At certain seasons of the year it is very abundant on the leaves of E. dumosa, or mallee scrub . . ."

<hw>Lift</hw>, v. tr. to drive to market from the run.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' c. iv. p. 45:

"I haven't lifted a finer mob this season."

1890. `The Argus,' June 14, p. 4, col. 2:

"We lifted 7000 sheep."

<hw>Light-horseman</hw>, n. obsolete name for a fish; probably the fish now called a Sweep (q.v.).

1789. W. Tench, `Expedition to Botany Bay,' p. 129:

"The French once caught [in Botany Bay] near two thousand fish in one day, of a species of grouper, to which, from the form of a bone in the head resembling a helmet, we have given the name of light horseman."

1793. J. Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 410 [Aboriginal Vocabulary]:

"Woolamie, a fish called a light-horseman." [But see Wollomai.]

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. iv. p. 78:

"A boat belonging to the Sirius caught near fifty large fish, which were called light-horsemen from a bone that grew out of the head like a helmet."

<hw>Lightwood</hw>, n. a name given to various trees. See Blackwood. It is chiefly applied to Acacia melanoxylon, R. Br., N.O. Leguminosae. See quotations, 1843 and 1889.

1843. I. Backhouse. `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies,' p. 48:

"Lightwood—Acacia Melanoxylon . . . It derives its name from swimming in water, while the other woods of V. D. Land, except the pines, generally sink. In some parts of the Colony it is called Blackwood, on account of its dark colour."

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 515:

"Some immense logs of `light wood,' a non lucendo, darker than mahogany."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 17:

"Arms so brown and bare, to look at them Recalls to mind the lightwood's rugged stem."

1866. H. Simcox, `Rustic Rambles,' p. 54:

"The numerous lightwood trees with sombre shade Tend to enhance the richness of the glade."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. xv. p. 111:

"The ex-owner of Lyne wished himself back among the old lightwood trees."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 359:

"Called `Blackwood' on account of the very dark colour of the mature wood. It is sometimes called `Lightwood' (chiefly in South Tasmania, while the other name is given in North Tasmania and other places), but this is an inappropriate name. It is in allusion to its weight as compared with Eucalyptus timbers. It is the `Black Sally' of Western New South Wales, the `Hickory' of the southern portion of that colony, and is sometimes called `Silver Wattle.' This is considered by some people to be the most valuable of all Australian timbers.

It is hard and close-grained; much valued for furniture, picture-frames, cabinet-work, fencing, bridges, etc., railway, and other carriages, boat-building, for tool-handles, gun-stocks, naves of wheels, crutches, parts of organs, pianofortes (sound-boards and actions), etc."

<hw>Light Yellow-wood</hw>, i.q. Long-Jack (q.v.).

<hw>Lignum</hw> (1), or <hw>Lignum-Vitae</hw>, n. The name is applied to several trees, as Myrtus acmenioides, F. v. M., called also White Myrtle; Acacia falcata, Willd., N.O. Leguminosae, called also Hickory and Sally; but chiefly to Eucalyptus polyanthema, Schau., N.O. Myrtaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 505:

"[E. polyanthema.] The `Red Box' of South-eastern Australia. Called also `Brown Box,' `Grey Box,' and `Bastard Box.' `Poplar-leaved Gum' is another name, but it is most commonly known as `Lignum Vitae' because of its tough and hard wood. Great durability is attributed to this wood, though the stems often become hollow in age, and thus timber of large dimensions is not readily afforded. It is much sought after for cogs, naves and felloes; it is also much in demand for slabs in mines, while for fuel it is unsurpassed. (Mueller.) Its great hardness is against its general use."

(2) A bushman's contraction for any species of the wiry plants called polygonum.

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' [writing of the Lachlan district, New South Wales] p. 180:

"The poor emus had got down into the creek amongst the lignum bushes for a little shade . . . I do not know what a botanist would call them; they are something like cane, but with large leaves, which all animals are fond of, and they grow about eight feet high in the creeks and gullies."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 135:

"By mulga scrub and lignum plain."

<hw>Lilac</hw>, n. name given in Australia to the tree Melia composita, Willd., N.O. Meliaceae, called Cape Lilac. It is not endemic in Australia, and is called "Persian Lilac "in India. In Tasmania the name of Native Lilac is given to Prostanthera rotundifolia, R. Br., N.O. Labiatae, and by Mrs. Meredith to Tetratheca juncea, Smith, of the Linnean Order, Octandria.

1793. J. E. Smith, `Specimen of Botany of New Holland,' p. 5:

"Tetratheca juncea, Rushy Tetratheca [with plate]."

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 69:

"A little purple flower, which is equally common, so vividly recalls to my mind, both by its scent and colour, an Old-World favorite, that I always know it as the native Lilac (Tetratheca juncea)."

<hw>Lily, Darling</hw>, n. a bulbous plant, Crinum flaccidum, Herb., N.O. Amaryllideae; called also the Murray Lily. (See Lily, Murray.)

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 20:

"The `Darling Lily.' This exceedingly handsome white-flowered plant, which grows back from the Darling, has bulbs which yield a fair arrowroot. On one occasion, near the town of Wilcannia, a man earned a handsome sum by making this substance when flour was all but unattainable."

<hw>Lily, Flax</hw>, n. See Flax-Lily, and Flax, New Zealand.

<hw>Lily, Giant</hw>-, or <hw>Spear</hw>-, n. a fibre plant, Doryanthes excelsa, Corr., N.O. Amaryllideae.

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 339:

"The Doryanthes excelsa, a gigantic Lily of Australia, is a magnificent plant, with a lofty flowering spike. The bunches or clusters of crimson flowers are situated in the summit of the flowering spike . . . The diameter of a cluster of blossoms is about 14 inches . . . The flower-buds are of a brilliant crimson, and the anthers of the stamens are, in the recently expanded flower, of a dark-green colour."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 621:

"`Spear Lily.' `Giant Lily.' The leaves are a mass of fibre, of great strength, which admits of preparation either by boiling or maceration, no perceptible difference as to quality or colour being apparent after heckling. Suitable for brush making, matting, etc."

<hw>Lily, Gordon</hw>, n. a Tasmanian plant and its flower, Blandfordia marginata, Herb., N.O. Liliaceae, and other species of Blandfordia (q.v.).

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 72:

"Blandfordia nobilis. This splendid plant is common on the west coast and on the shores of the Mersey. It bears a head of pendulous scarlet blossoms tipped with yellow, one inch long, rising out of a stalk of from 1 1/2 to 3 feet long, from between two opposite series of strapshaped leaves. It is named after George [Gordon] Marquis of Blandford, son of the second Duke of Marlborough."

<hw>Lily, Murray</hw>, n. i.q. Darling Lily. See above.

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings,' p. 119:

"This showy genus Crinum furnishes also Victoria with a beautiful species, the Murray Lily (Crinum flaccidum), not however to be found away from the Murray-River southward."

<hw>Lilly-Pilly</hw>, n. name given to a large timber tree, Eugenia smithii, Poir., N.O. Myrtaceae. The bark is rich in tanning. Sometimes called Native Banana.

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 327:

"The Lillypilly-trees, as they are named by the colonists, consist of several species of Acmena, and are all of elegant growth and dense and handsome foliage."

1879. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales,' p. 134:

"Eugenia Smithii, or Lilli pilli, and Melodorum Leichhardtii are also fair eating. The latter goes by the name of the native banana though it is very different from a banana, and in reality allied to the custard apple."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 29:

"`Lilly Pilly.' The fruits are eaten by aboriginals, small boys, and birds. They are formed in profusion, are acidulous and wholesome. They are white with a purplish tint, and up to one inch in diameter."

<hw>Lily, Rock</hw>, n. an orchid, Dendrobium speciosum, Smith, N.O. Orchideae. although not a Lily, it is always so called, especially in Sydney, where it is common.

1879. H. n. Moseley, `Notes by Naturalist on Challenger,' p. 270:

"A luxuriant vegetation, with huge masses of Stagshorn Fern (Platycerium) and `rock-lilies' (orchids), and a variety of timbers, whilst there are Tree-ferns and small palms in the lateral shady gullies."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 22:

"`Rock Lily.' The large pseudobulbs have been eaten by the aboriginals; they contain little nutritive matter."

<hw>Lily, Water</hw>, n. There are several indigenous native varieties of the N.O. Nymphaeceae—Cabombia peltata, Pursh; Nymphaea gigantea, Hook. (Blue Water-lily).

<hw>Lily, Yellow</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for Bulbine bulbosa, Haw., N.O. Liliaceae. See Leek, Native.

<hw>Lime, Native</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Citrus australasica, F. v. M., N.O. Rutaceae; called also Finger Lime and Orange. But the appellation of Native Lime is more generally given to Citrus australis, Planch., N.O. Rutaceae.

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

"`Native Lime. Orange.' The fruit, which is an inch and a half in diameter, and almost globular, yields an agreeable beverage from its acid juice."

<hw>Ling</hw>, n. a fish. The name is given in England to various fishes, from their length. In New Zealand and Tasmania, it is applied to Genypterus blacodes, Forst.; also called Cloudy Bay Cod. Lotella marginata, Macl., is called Ling, in New South Wales, and Beardie. Genypterus belongs to the Ophidiidae and Lotella to the next family, the Gadidae.

<hw>Lobster</hw>, n. The name is often carelessly used in Australia for the Crayfish (q.v.).

<hw>Lobster's</hw>-Claw, n. another name for Sturt's Desert Pea (q.v.).

<hw>Locust</hw>, n. name popularly but quite erroneously applied to insects belonging to two distinct orders.

(1) Insects belonging to the order Hemiptera. The great black Cicada, Cicada moerens, Germ., and the great green Cicada, Cyclochila australasiae, Donov.

(2) Insects belonging to the order Orthoptera, such as the great green gum-tree grasshopper, Locusta vigentissima, Serv., or the Australian yellow-winged locust, Oedipoda musica, Fab.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. I. c. ix. p. 285:

"The trees swarmed with large locusts (the Cicada), quite deafening us with their shrill buzzing noise."

1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. iv. p. 104:

"We heard everywhere on the gumtrees the cricket-like insects—usually called locusts by the colonists—hissing their reed-like monotonous noise."

1869. J. Townend, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 155:

"The perpetual song of unnumbered locusts."

1885. H. H. Hayter, `Carboona,' p. 5:

"The deaf'ning hum of the locusts."

1885. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Natural History of Victoria,' Dec. 5, pl. 50:

"Our Cicada moerens . . . produces an almost deafening sound from the numbers of the individuals in the hottest days and the loudness of their noise." "This species (Cyclochila Australasiae) is much less abundant than the C. moerens, and seems more confined to moist places, such as river banks and deep ravines and gullies."

1889. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Natural History of Victoria,' Dec. 11, pl. 110:

"The great size of the muscular thighs of the posterior pair of feet enables the Locusts to jump much higher, further, and more readily than Grasshoppers, giving an example of muscular power almost unparalleled in the animal kingdom."

1896. F. A. Skuse, `Records of Australian Museum,' vol. ii. No. 7, p. 107:

"What are commonly styled `locusts' in this country are really Cicadae, belonging to a totally distinct and widely separated order of insects. And moreover the same kind of Cicada is known by different names in different localities, such as `Miller,' `Mealyback,' etc. The true locusts belong to the grasshoppers, while the Homopterous Cicadidae have been known as Cicadas from times of remote antiquity."

<hw>Locust-tree</hw>, of New Zealand. See Kowhai.

<hw>Logan-Apple</hw>, n. a small Queensland tree, with an acid fruit, Acronychia acidia, F. v. M., N.O. Rutaceae.

<hw>Log-hut</hw>, n. Log-cabin is American. Log-hut is Australian.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 178:

"Not more than ten settlers had been able to erect dwellings better than log-huts." [This was in Sydney, 1796.]

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. I. c. ix. p. 287:

"Captain Fyans was living in a log-hut on the banks of the Marabool river."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. vi. p. 61:

"Log-huts, with the walls built American fashion, of horizontal tree-trunks."

<hw>Log-Runner</hw>, n. an Australian bird, called also a Spinetail. The species are—

Black-headed— Orthonyx spaldingi, Ramsay;

Spinetailed— O. spinicauda, Temm., called also Pheasant's Mother. See Orthonyx.

<hw>Logs</hw>, n. pl. the Lock-up. Originally, in the early days, a log-hut, and often keeping the name when it was made a more secure place. Sometimes, when there was no lock-up, the prisoners were chained to heavy logs of trees.

1802. G.Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 184:

"The governor resolved on building a large log prison both at Sydney and Paramatta, and `as the affair cried haste,' a quantity of logs were ordered to be sent in by the various settlers, officers and others."

[p. 196]: "The inhabitants of Sydney were assessed to supply thatch for the new gaol, and the building was enclosed with a strong high fence. It was 80 feet long, the sides and ends were of strong logs, a double row of which formed each partition. The prison was divided into 22 cells. The floor and the roof were logs, over which was a coat eight inches deep of clay."

1851. Letter from Mrs. Perry, given in Canon Goodman's `Church of Victoria during Episcopate of Bishop Perry,' p. 164:

"One [sentry] at the lock-up, a regular American log-hut." [sic. But in America it would have been called a log-cabin.]

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 193:

"Let's put him in the Logs . . . The lock-up, like most bush ones, was built of heavy logs, just roughly squared, with the ceiling the same sort."

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydneyside Saxon,' p. 111:

"`He'll land himself in the logs about that same calf racket if he doesn't lookout, some day.' `Logs!' I says. `There don't seem to be many about this part. The trees are all too small.'"

<hw>Log up</hw>, v. to make a log-support for the windlass.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. v. p. 54:

"We . . . had logged up and made a start with another shaft."

<hw>Lolly</hw>, n., pl. <hw>Lollies</hw>. The English word lollipop is always shortened in Australia, and is the common word to the exclusion of others, e.g. sweets. Manufacturers of sweetmeats are termed Lolly-makers.

1871. J. J. Simpson, `Recitations,' p. 24:

"Lollies that the children like."

1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 18:

"Common children fancy lollies, Eat them 'gainst their parents' wills."

1882. A. J. Boyd, `Old Colonials,' p. 16:

"I thankfully expended the one in bile-producing cakes and lollies."

1893. `Evening Standard' (Melbourne), Oct. 18, p. 6, col. 2:

"Mr. Patterson (musing over last Saturday's experiences): You're going to raise the price of lollies. I'm a great buyer of them myself. (Laughter.) If you pay the full duty it will, doubtless, be patriotic for me to buy more when I go amongst the juveniles."

<hw>Long-fin</hw>, n. name given to the fish Caprodon schlegelii, Gunth., and in New South Wales to Anthias longimanus, Gunth.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 33:

"The long-fin, Anthias Iongimanus, Gunth., is a good fish that finds its way to the market occasionally . . . may be known by its uniform red colour, and the great length of the pectoral fins."

<hw>Long-Jack</hw>, name given to the tree Flindersia oxleyana, F. v. M., N.O. Meliaceae; called also Light Yellow-Wood.

<hw>Long-sleever</hw>, n. name for a big drink and also for the glass in which it is contained. Perhaps in allusion to its tall, tapering, long shape.

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 83:

"Their drivers had completed their regulation half-score of `long-sleevers' of `she-oak.'"

<hw>Long-Tom</hw>, n. name given in Sydney to Belone ferox, Gunth., a species of Garfish which has both jaws prolonged to form a slender beak. See Garfish.

<hw>Long-Yam</hw>. See Yam.

<hw>Look</hw>, v. tr. to examine.

1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. vi. p. 105:

"Plains are scoured and every piece of timber looked." [sc. looked-over.]

<hw>Lope</hw>, n. a slow and steady gallop. From Dutch verb loopen, to leap, to run. The word is American rather than Australian.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 35:

"Every body gallops here, or at least goes at a canter—which they call the Australian lope."

<hw>Loquat</hw>, a Chinese word meaning "Rush-orange," Photinia japonica. Being highly ornamental and bearing a pleasant stony juicy fruit of the colour and size of a small orange, it has been introduced into nearly all Australian gardens. The name Native Loquat has been given to an indigenous shrub, Rhodomyrtus macrocarpa, Benth., N.O. Myrtaceae.

<hw>Lorikeet</hw>, n. a bird-name, little Lory (q.v.). The species in Australia are—

Blue-bellied Lorikeet— Trichoglossus novae-hollandiae, Gmel.

Blue-faced L.— Cyclopsitta macleayana, Ramsay.

Little L.— Trichoglossus pusillus, Shaw.

Musk L.— T. concinnus, Shaw.

Purple-crowned L.— T. porphyrocephalus, Dietr.

Red-collared L.— T. rubritorqus, Vig. and Hors.

Red-faced L.— Cyclopsitta coxenii, Gould.

Scaly-breasted L.— Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus, Kuhl.

Swift L.— Lathamus discolor, Shaw.

Varied L.— Trichoglossus versicolor, Vig.

The following table gives Gould's classification in 1848:—

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

Plate

Lathamus discolor, Swift Lorikeet … … 47 Trichoglossus Novae-Hollandiae, Jard. and Selb., Swainson's L. … … … … … … 48 T. rubritorquis, Vig. and Horsf., Red-collared L. 49 T. chlorolepidotus, Scaly-breasted L. … 50 T. versicolor, Vig., Varied L. … … 51 T. concinnus, Musky L. … … … … 52 T. porphyrocephalus, Dict., Porphyry-crowned L. 53 T. pusillus, Little L. … … … … 54

1890. `The Argus,' June 7, p. 13, col. 4:

"On the hill-sides the converse of the lorikeets as they drain the honeycups and swing and chatter in low undertones the whole day long."

<hw>Lory</hw>, n. a bird-name. The word is Malay. (See `Encyclopaedia Britannica,' vol. xv.) It is often spelt Lowrie in Australia. The species in Australia are—

Crimson-winged Lory— Aprosmictus coccineopterus, Gould.

King L.— A. scapulatus, Bechst.

Red-winged Lory— A. erythropterus, Gmel.

1848. Gould's `Birds of Australia,' vol. v.:

"Aprosmictus scapulatus, king lory; erythropturus, red-winged lory."

<hw>Lotus-bird</hw>, n. Parra gallinacea, Temm.; called also the Jacana (q.v.), and the Parra (q.v.).

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 22:

"The most striking bird on the lagoon is doubtless the beautiful Parra gallinacea, which in Australia is called the lotus-bird. It sits on the leaves that float on the water, particularly those of the water-lily."

<hw>Lowan</hw>, n. aboriginal birdname for Leipoa ocellata, Gould. The name is used for the bird in Victoria and in the south-east district of South Australia. In the Mallee district, it is called Mallee-bird, Mallee fowl, Mallee-hen (q.v.); in South Australia, Native Pheasant (q.v.); and in various parts of Australia, the Scrub-Turkey. The county called Lowan, after the bird, is in the Mallee country in the west of Victoria. See Turkey.

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 171:

"The Lowan (Mallee-hen, they're mostly called). The Lowan eggs—beautiful pink thin-shelled ones they are, first-rate to eat, and one of 'em a man's breakfast."

1890. A. H. S. Lucas, `Handbook of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science,' Melbourne, p. 68:

"To the dry, arid Mallee Scrub of the Western District is a radical change of scene. There the so-called Mallee hen, or Native name, Lowan (Leipoa ocellata), loves to dwell."

1896. `The Argus,' Aug. 4, p. 5, col. 2:

"The postmaster at Nhill had drawn the attention of the Deputy Postmaster-General to the large number of letters which are received there addressed to `Lowan.' It should be understood that this is the name of a county containing several postal districts, and correspondents should be more specific in their addresses."

<hw>Lowrie</hw>, n. a bird-name. An Australian variant of Lory (q.v.).

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 40:

"A great many species of the parrot are found; and of these the King Parrot is the most beautiful, and that called the Lowrie is perhaps the most docile."

1890. Lyth, `Golden South,' p. 127:

"The birds are very beautiful—the Blue Mountain and Lowrie parrots . . .'

<hw>Lubra</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a black woman. The name comes from Tasmania, appearing first in the form loubra, in a vocabulary given in the `Voyage de Decouvertes de l'Astrolabe' (Paris, 1834), vol. vii. p. 9, and was obtained from a Tasmanian woman, belonging to Port Dalrymple on the Tamar River. It is probably a compound of the Tasmanian words loa or lowa, a woman, and proi (with variants), big. In Victoria, the use of the word began at the Hopkins River and the vicinity, having been introduced by settlers from Tasmania, but it was generally adopted south of the Murray. North of the Murray the native women were called Gins (q.v.). Both words are now used indiscriminately.

1855. W. Blandowski, `Transactions of Philosophical Society of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 73 :

"The young man who wishes to marry has first to look out for a wife amongst the girls or leubras of some neighbouring tribe."

1864. H. Simcox, `Outward Bound," p. 87:

"Many lubras so black with their load on their back."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life," p. 23:

"Certain stout young gins or lubras, set apart for that purpose, were sacrificed."

1891. `The Argus,' Nov. 7, p. 13, col. 4:

"A few old lubras sufficiently dirty and unprepossessing."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 28:

"Naked, and not ashamed, the old men grey-bearded and eyes bright, watched the cooking of the fish, and the younger, with the lubras, did the honours of reception."

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

1895. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 95:

"And now lies wandering fat and sleek, On the Lucerne flats by the Homestead Creek."

<hw>Luderick</hw>, or <hw>Ludrick</hw>, n. an aboriginal Gippsland name for a local variety of the fish Girella simplex, Richards., the Black-fish (q.v.).

<hw>Lugg</hw>, n. a fish not identified.

"Lug, a kind of fish." (`Walker,' 1827)

1802. Flemming, `Journal of the Exploration of C. Grimes' (at Port Phillip), ed. by J. J. Shillinglaw, Melbourne, 1897, p. 27:

"Many swans, ducks and luggs."

<hw>Lyonsia</hw>, n. a Tasmanian plant. See Devil's guts.

<hw>Lyre-bird</hw>, n. an Australian bird, originally called the Bird of Paradise of New South Wales; then called a Native Pheasant, or Mountain Pheasant, and still generally called a Pheasant by the Gippsland bushmen. The name Lyre-bird apparently began between 1828 and 1834. It is not used by Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales' (1828), vol. i. p. 303. See Menura. The species are—

The Lyre-bird— Menura superba, Davies.

Albert L.-b.— M. alberti, Gould.

Victoria L.-b.— M. victoriae, Gould.

Since 1888 the Lyre-bird has been the design on the eight-penny postage-stamp of New South Wales.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' p. 435:

"The Bird of Paradise of New South Wales [with picture]. This elegant bird, which by some is called the Bird of Paradise, and by others the Maenura Superba, has a straight bill, with the nostrils in the centre of the beak."

1802. D. Collins, `History of English Colony of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 335:

"Menura superba." [But not the name lyre-bird].

1834. Geo. Bennett, `Wanderings in New South Wales, etc.,' /vol./ i. p. 277:

"The `Native or Wood-pheasant,' or `Lyre bird' of the colonists, the `Menura superba' of naturalists, and the `Beleck, beleck,' and `Balaugara' of the aboriginal tribes, is abundant about the mountain ranges, in all parts of the colony."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 132:

"Numerous pheasants (Menura superba). These birds are the mocking-birds of Australia, imitating all the sounds that are heard in the bush in great perfection. They are about the size of a barn-door fowl, and are not remarkable for any beauty either in the shape or colour, being of a dirty brown, approaching to black in some parts; their greatest attraction consists in the graceful tail of the cock bird, which assumes something the appearance of a lyre, for which reason some naturalists have called them lyre-birds."

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. iii. pl. 14:

"Menura superba, Davies, Lyre-bird; Pheasant of the Colonists. Were I requested to suggest an emblem for Australia amongst its birds, I should without the slightest hesitation select the Menura as the most appropriate, being strictly peculiar to Australia."

1864. J. S. Moore, `Spring-Life Lyrics;' p. 92:

"Shy as the lyre-bird, hidden away, A glittering waif in the wild."

1867. G. G. McCrae, `Balladeadro,' p. 30:

"There the proud lyre-bird spreads his tail, And mocks the notes of hill and dale Whether the wild dog's plaintive howl Or cry of piping water-fowl."

1872. A. McFarland, `Illawarra Manaro,' p. 54:

"The Lyre-bird may yet be seen—more frequently heard—amongst the gullies and ravines. It has the power of imitating every other bird, and nearly every sound it hears in the bush-even that of a cross-cut saw."

1886. J. A. Fronde, `Oceana,' p. 146:

"Here, too, for the first time, we saw a lyre-bird, which some one had just shot, the body being like a coot's, and about the same size, the tail long as the tail of a bird of paradise, beautifully marked in bright brown, with the two chief feathers curved into the shape of a Greek lyre, from which it takes its name."

1890. `Victorian Statutes'—Game Act, Third Schedule:

[Close Season.] "Lyre Birds. The whole year."

1893. `The Age,' Aug. 7, p. vi, col. 9:

"There are more reasons than one why the lyre-bird should be preserved. From a purely utilitarian point of view it is of value, for it is insectivorous and preys upon insects which are apt to prefer orchard fruit to their natural bush food. But the bird has as well a national and sentimental value. Next to the emu it is the most typical Australian bird. It is peculiar to Australia, for in no other country is it to be seen. Comparatively speaking it is a rara avis even in Australia itself, for it is only to be found in the most secluded parts of two colonies—Victoria and New South Wales. It is the native pheasant. The aborigines call it `Beleck-Beleck,' and whites call it the `lyre-bird' from the shape of its tail; the ornithologists have named it Menura. There are three species—the Victoriae of this colony, and the Alberta and superba of New South Wales. The general plumage is glossy brown, shaded with black and silver grey, and the ornate tail of the male bird is brown with black bars. They live in the densest recesses of the fern gullies of the Dividing Range with the yellow-breasted robin, the satin-bird, and the bell-bird as their neighbours. They are the most shy of birds, and are oftener heard than seen. Their notes, too, are heard more frequently than they are recognized, for they are consummate mimics and ventriloquists. They imitate to perfection the notes of all other birds, the united voicing of a flock of paraquetts [sic], the barking of dogs, the sawing of timber, and the clink of the woodman's axe. Thus it is that the menura has earned for itself the title of the Australian mocking-bird. Parrots and magpies are taught to speak; as a mimic the lyre-bird requires no teacher."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 9. p. 9, col. 1:

"If the creature was lovely its beauty was marketable and fatal—and the lyre-bird was pursued to its last retreats and inveigled to death, so that its feathers might be peddled in our streets."

M

<hw>Mackerel</hw>, n. In Australia, Scomber antarcticus, Castln., said to be identical with Scomber pneumatophorus, De la Roche, the European mackerel; but rare. In New Zealand, Scomber australasicus, Cuv. and Val.

<hw>Macquarie Harbour Grape</hw>, or <hw>Macquarie Harbour Vine</hw>, n. the Tasmanian name for Muhlenbeckia adpressa, Meissn. N.O. Polygonaceae; called Native Ivy in Australia. See Ivy and Grape.

1831. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 265:

"That valuable plant called the Macquarie harbour grape. It was so named by Mr. Lempriere, late of the Commissariat at that station, who first brought it into notice as a desirable acquisition in our gardens."

1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 133:

"Polygonum adpressum. The Macquarie harbour vine, either as an insignificant trailing plant, or as a magnificent climber, according to the soil and situation, is found on the coast of various parts of Van Diemen's Land, and also as far inland as within about four miles of New Norfolk. This plant has a small but sweet fruit, formed of the thickened divisions of the calyx of the flower, inclosing a triangular seed of unpleasant flavour."

<hw>Macquarie Pine</hw>, n. See Pine.

<hw>Macropus</hw>, n. the scientific name for the typical genus of Macropodidae, established by Shaw in 1800. From the Greek makropous, long-footed. It includes the Kangaroo (q.v.) and Wallaby (q.v.). M. giganteus, Zimm., is the Giant Kangaroo, or Forester (q.v.).

<hw>Mado</hw>, n. a Sydney fish, Therapon cuvieri, Bleek; called also Trumpeter-Perch. Atypus strigatus, Gunth., is also called Mado by the Sydney fishermen, who confound it with the first species. The name is probably aboriginal.

<hw>Magpie</hw>, n. a black-and-white Crow-Shrike, present all over Australia. He resembles the English Magpie in general appearance, but has not the long tail of that bird, though he shares with him his kleptomania. He is often called the Bush-magpie (q.v.) by townsfolk, to distinguish him from the tamed specimens kept in many gardens, or in cages, which are easily taught to talk. The species are—

Black-backed Magpie— Gymnorhina tibicen, Lath.; called also Flute-Bird (q.v.).

Long-billed M.— G. dorsalis, Campbell.

White, or Organ M.— G. organicum, Gould; called also Organ-bird (q.v.).

White-backed M.— G. leuconota, Gould.

In Tasmania, the name is also applied to the—

Black Magpie— Strepera fuliginosa, Gould; and S. arguta, Gould.

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffr/e/y Hamlyn,' vol. ii. p. 314 [Footnote]:

"Magpie, a large, pied crow.Of all the birds I have ever seen, the cleverest, the most grotesque, and the most musical. The splendid melody of his morning and evening song is as unequalled as it is indescribable."

1869. B. Hoare, `Figures of Fancy,' p. 97:

"Gay magpies chant the livelong day."

1886. T. Heney, `Fortunate Days,' p. 47:

"The magpie swells from knoll or silent brake His loud sweet tune."

1887. `Melbourne Punch,' March 31:

"The magpie maketh mute His mellow fluent flute, Nor chaunteth now his leuconotic hymn."

<hw>Magpie-Goose</hw>, n. a common name for the Australian Goose, Anseranus melanoleuca, Lath.; called also Swan-goose, and Pied goose. See Goose.

<hw>Magpie-Lark</hw>, n. an Australian black-and-white bird (Grallina picata, Lath.), resembling the Magpie in appearance, but smaller; called also Pee-wee, and Mudlark, from its building its nest of mud.

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

"The little magpie-lark. . . . His more elegant and graceful figure remains in modest silence by the hedgerow in the outskirts."

<hw>Magpie-Perch</hw>, n. a West Australian, Victorian, and Tasmanian fish, Chilodactylus gibbosus, Richards.; not a true Perch, but of family Cirrhitidae.

<hw>Magra</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the sling or pouch in which the gins carry their children on their backs.

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 185:

"Other lesser brats were in magras, gipsy-like, at their mothers' backs."

On p. 191, Mr. Howitt uses the form "mogra."

<hw>Mahoe</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand Whitewood-tree, Melicytus ramiflorus, Forst., N.O. Violarieae.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 447:

"Mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus) grows to the height of about fifty feet, and has a fine thin spiral leaf."

1863. Thomas Moser, `Mahoe Leaves':

[Title of a volume of articles about the Maoris.]

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 130:

"Mahoe, hinahina. A small tree twenty to thirty feet high; trunk often angular and seven feet in girth. The word is soft and not in use. . . . Leaves greedily eaten by cattle."

<hw>Mahogany</hw>, n. The name, with varying epithets, is applied to several Australian trees, chiefly Eucalypts, on account of the redness or hardness of their timber, and its applicability to purposes similar to that of the true Mahogany. The following enumeration is compiled from Maiden's `Useful Native Plants'

Mahogany, Tristania conferta, R. Br., N.O. Myrtaceae; called also White Box, Red Box, Brush Box, Bastard Box, Brisbane Box. This bark is occasionally used for tanning.

Bastard Mahogany, or Gippsland Mahogany, or Swamp Mahogany, Eucalyptus botryoides, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae. The Blue Gum of New South Wales coast districts. Bastard Mahogany of Gippsland and New South Wales; called also Swamp Mahogany in Victoria and New South Wales. It also bears the names of Bastard Jarrah, and occasionally Woolly Butt. Sydney workmen often give it the name Bangalay, by which it was formerly known by the aboriginals of Port Jackson. It is one of four colonial timbers recommended by the Victorian Carriage Timber Board for use in the construction of railway carriages. Specimens from Gippsland (Gippsland Mahogany) are spoken of as "a timber of good colour, as strong as Blue Gum."

Mahogany, or Bastard Mahogany, Eucalyptus marginata, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae. Universally known as Jarrah. In Western Australia it also bears the name of Mahogany, or Bastard Mahogany.

Forest or Red Mahogany, Eucalyptus resinifera, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae; called also Jimmy Low (q.v.).

Forest Mahogany, Eucalyptus microcorys, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae. In Queensland it is known as Peppermint, the foliage being remarkably rich in volatile oil. But its almost universal name is Tallow Wood (q.v.). North of Port Jackson it bears the name of Turpentine Tree (q.v.), and Forest Mahogany.

Tom Russell's Mahogany, Lysicarpus ternifolius, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae.

Swamp Mahogany, or White Mahogany, Eucalyptus robusta, Smith, N.O. Myrtaceae, B. Fl. This tree is known as White, or Swamp Mahogany, from the fact that it generally grows in swampy ground. It is also called Brown Gum. This timber is much valued for shingles, wheelwrights'work, ship-building, and building purposes generally. As a timber for fuel, and where no great strength is required, it is excellent, especially when we consider its adaptability to stagnant, swampy, or marshy places.

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. ii. c. iv. p. 132:

"Mahogany, Jarrail, Eucalyptus, grows on white sandy land."

Ibid. vol. ii. c. iv. p. 231:

"Part of our road lay through a thick mahogany scrub."

<hw>Mai</hw>, or <hw>Matai</hw>, n. a New Zealand tree, now called Podocarpus spicata.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 440:

"Matai, mai (Dacrydium mai), a tree with a fine thick top, and leaf much resembling that of the yew. The wood is of a slightly reddish colour, close-grained, but brittle, and peculiarly fragrant when burnt. . . . Highly prized for fuel, and also much used for furniture, as it works up easily and comes next to the totara for durability."

1876. W. n. Blair, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. ix. art. x. p. 157:

"I have in this paper adhered to the popular name of black-pine for this timber, but the native name matai is always used in the north."

<hw>Maiden's</hw> Blush, n. name given to the Australian tree Echinocarpus australis, Benth., N.O. Tiliaceae; and sometimes applied to Euroschinus falcatus, Hook., N.O. Anacardiaceae. The timber is of a delicate rosy colour when cut. The fruit is called Hedgehog-fruit (q.v.). In Tasmania, the name is applied to Convolvulus erubescens, Sims., order Convolvulaceae.

<hw>Maire</hw>, n. a Maori name applied to three kinds of trees; viz.—

(1) Santalum cunninghamii, Hook., a sandal-wood;

2) Olea of various species (formerly Fusanus);

(3) Eugenia maire, A. Cunn., native box-wood, but now usually confined to N.O. Santalaceae.

1835. W. Yate, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 41:

"Mairi—a tree of the Podocarpus species."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, pp. 132-33:

"Maire—a small tree ten to fifteen feet high, six to eight inches in diameter; wood hard, close-grained, heavy, used by Maoris in the manufacture of war implements. Has been used as a substitute for box by wood-engravers. Black maire, N.O. Jasmineae;also Maire-rau-nui, Olea Cunninghamii. Hook., fil., Black M., forty to fifty feet high, three to four feet in diameter, timber close-grained, heavy, and very durable."

<hw>Major Buller</hw>, n. name given to one of the fruits of the Geebong tribe. See Geebong.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 82:

"The Sergeant Baker in all probability got its local appellation to the early history of the colony (New South Wales), as it was called after a sergeant of that name in one of the first detachments of a regiment; so were also two fruits of the Geebong tribe (Persoonia); one was called Major Buller, and the other Major Groce, and this latter again further corrupted into Major Grocer."

<hw>Major Groce</hw>, or <hw>Major Grocer</hw>, name given to one of the fruits of the Geebung tribe. See Geebung, /or Geebong/ and quotation under Major Buller.

<hw>Major Mitchell</hw>, n. vernacular name of a species of Cockatoo, Cacatua leadbeateri, Vig. It was called after the explorer, Major (afterwards Sir Thomas) Mitchell, who was Surveyor- General of New South Wales. The cry of the bird was fancifully supposed to resemble his name. See Leadbeater.

<hw>Make a light</hw>, expressive pigeon-English. An aboriginal's phrase for to look for, to find. "You been make a light yarraman this morning?" i.e. Have you found or seen the horses this morning?

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' vol. ii. p. 185 [Footnote]:

"`Make a light,' in blackfellow's gibberish, means simply `See.'"

<hw>Mako</hw>, n. originally Makomako. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Aristotelia racemosa, Hook., N.O. Tiliaceae, often but incorrectly called Mokomoko.

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 130:

"Mako, a small handsome tree, six to twenty feet high, quick-growing, with large racemes of reddish nodding flowers. Wood very light and white in colour."

<hw>Mako/2/</hw>, n. Maori name for the Tiger- Shark. See Shark. The teeth of the Mako are used for ornaments by the Maoris.

<hw>Mallee</hw>, n. and adj. an aboriginal word. Any one of several scrubby species of Eucalyptus in the desert parts of South Australia and Victoria, especially Eucalyptus dumosa, Cunn., and E. oleosa, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae. They are also called Mallee Gums. Accent on the first syllable. The word is much used as an adjective to denote the district in which the shrub grows, the "Mallee District," and this in late times is generally shortened into The Mallee. Compare "The Lakes" for the Lake-district of Cumberland. It then becomes used as an epithet of Railways, Boards, Farmers, or any matters connected with that district.

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

"The natives of the Wimmera prepare a luscious drink from the laap, a sweet exudation from the leaf of the mallee (Eucalyptus dumosa"

1854. E. Stone Parker, `Aborigines of Australia,' p. 25:

"The immense thickets of Eucalyptus dumosa, commonly designated the `Malle' scrub."

1857. W. Howitt,' Tallangetta,' vol. ii. p. 2:

"This mallee scrub, as it is called, consists of a dense wood of a dwarf species of gum-tree, Eucalyptus dumosa. This tree, not more than a dozen feet in height, stretches its horizontal and rigid branches around it so as to form with its congeners a close, compact mass."

186. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia, vol. i. p. 214 (Oxley's Expedition in 1817):

"The country, in dead flats, was overspread with what is now called mallee scrub, that is, the dwarf spreading eucalyptus, to which Mr. Cunningham gave the specific name of dumosa, a most pestilent scrub to travel through, the openings betwixt the trees being equally infested with the detestable malle-grass."

1883. `The Mallee Pastoral Leases Act, 1883,' 47 Vict. No. 766, p. 3:

"The lands not alienated from the Crown and situated in the North-Western district of Victoria within the boundaries set forth in the First Schedule hereto, comprising in all some ten millions of acres wholly or partially covered with the mallee plant, and known as the Mallee Country, shall be divided into blocks as hereinafter provided."

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

"Mallee Selections at Horsham. A special Mallee Board, consisting of Mr. Hayes, head of the Mallee branch of the Lands Department, and Mr. Porter."

1893. `The Argus,' April 24, p. 7, col. 5:

"In the Mallee country there is abundance of work, cutting down mallee, picking up dead wood, rabbit destruction, etc.

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 46:

"One of the most common terms used by explorers is `Mallee' scrub, so called from its being composed of dwarf species of Eucalyptus, called `Mallee' by the natives. The species that forms the `mallee' scrub of South Australia is the Eucalyptus dumosa, and it is probable that allied species receive the same name in other parts of the country."

1897. `The Argus,' March 2, p. 7, col. 1:

"The late Baron von Mueller was firmly convinced that it would pay well in this colony, and especially in the mallee, to manufacture potash."

<hw>Mallee-bird</hw>, n. an Australian bird, Leipoa ocellata, Gould. Aboriginal name, the Lowan (q.v.); see Turkey.

<hw>Mallee-fowl</hw>, n. Same as Mallee-bird (q.v.).

<hw>Mallee-hen</hw>, n. Same as Mallee-bird (q.v.).

1890. `Victorian Statutes-Game Act, Third Schedule':

[Close Season.] "Mallee-hen, from 1st day of August to the 20th day of December next following in each year."

1895. `The Australasian,' Oct.5, p. 652, col. 1:

". . . the economy of the lowan or mallee-hen. . . . It does not incubate its eggs after the manner of other birds, but deposits them in a large mound of sand . . . Shy and timid. Inhabits dry and scrubs. In shape and size resembles a greyish mottled domestic turkey, but is smaller, more compact and stouter in the legs."

<hw>Mallee-scrub</hw>, n. the "scrub," or thicket, formed by the Mallee (q.v.).

1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 22:

"The flat and, rarely, hilly plains . . . are covered chiefly with thickets and `scrub' of social plants, generally with hard and prickly leaves. This `scrub,' which is quite a feature of the Australian interior, is chiefly formed of a bushy Eucalyptus, which grows somewhat like our osiers to a height of 8 or 10 feet, and often so densely covers the ground as to be quite impenetrable. This is the `Mallee scrub' of the explorers; while the still more dreaded `Mulga scrub' consists of species of prickly acacia, which tear the clothes and wound the flesh of the traveller."

<hw>Malurus</hw>, n. the scientific name for a genus of Australian warblers. Name reduced from Malacurus, from the Grk. malakos, soft, and 'oura, a tail. The type-species is Malurus cyaneus of Australia, the Superb Warbler or Blue-Wren. See Superb Warbler, Wren, and Emu-Wren. All the Maluri, of which there are fifteen or sixteen species, are popularly known as Superb Warblers, but are more correctly called Wrens.

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

"The Wrens and Warblers—chiefly Maluri, with the allied Amytis and Stipiturus—are purely Australian. They are feeble on the wing but swift of foot."

<hw>Mana</hw>, n. a Maori word for power, influence, right, authority, prestige. See chapter on Mana, in `Old New Zealand' (1863), by Judge Maning.

1843. E. Dieffenbach, `Travels in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 371:

"Mana—command, authority, power."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 279:

"The natives feel that with the land their `mana,' or power, has gone likewise; few therefore can now be induced to part with land."

1863. F. E. Maning (Pakeha Maori), `Old New Zealand,' Intro. p. iii:

"The Maoris of my tribe used to come and ask me which had the greatest `mana' (i.e. fortune, prestige, power, strength), the Protestant God or the Romanist one."

1873. `Appendix to Journal of House of Representatives,' G. i, B. p. 8:

"The Government should be asked to recognize his mana over that territory."

1881. J. L.Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 166:

"We should be glad to shelter ourselves under the mana— the protection—of good old Kanini."

1892. `Otago Witness,' Dec 22, p. 7, col. 1:

"A man of great lineage whose personal mana was undisputed."

1896. `New Zealand Herald,' Feb. 14 [Leading Article]:

"The word `mana,' power, or influence, may be said to be classical, as there were learned discussions about its precise meaning in the early dispatches and State papers. It may be said that misunderstanding about what mana meant caused the war at Taranaki."

<hw>Mangaroo</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a small flying phalanger with exquisitely fine fur.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 217:

"Descending from the branches of an ironbark tree beside him, a beautiful little mangaroo floated downwards on out-stretched wings to the foot of a sapling at a little distance away, and nimbly ascending it was followed by his mate."

<hw>Mangi</hw>, or <hw>Mangeao</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Litsea calicaris, Benth. and Hook. f.

1873. `Catalogue of Vienna Exhibition':

"Mangi—remarkably tough and compact, used for ship-blocks and similar purposes."

<hw>Mango</hw>, n. Maori name for the Dog-fish (q.v.), a species of shark.

<hw>Mangrove</hw>, n. The name is applied to trees belonging to different natural orders, common in all tropical regions and chiefly littoral. Species of these, Rhizophorea mucronata, Lamb, and Avicennia officinalis, Linn., are common in Australia; the latter is also found in New Zealand.

Bruguiera rheedii, of the N.O. Rhizophoreae, is called in Australia Red Mangrove, and the same vernacular name is applied to Heritiera littoralis, Dryand., N.O. Sterculiaceae, the Sundri of India and the Looking-glass Tree of English gardeners.

The name Milky Mangrove is given, in Australia, to Excaecaria agallocha, Linn., N.O. Euphorbiaceae, which further goes by the names of River Poisonous Tree and Blind-your-Eyes—names alluding to the poisonous juice of the stem.

The name River Mangrove is applied to AEgiceras majus, Gaertn., N.O. Myrsineae, which is not endemic in Australia.

In Tasmania, Native Mangrove is another name for the Boobialla (q.v.)

<hw>Mangrove-Myrtle</hw>, n. name applied by Leichhardt to the Indian tree Barringtonia acutangula, Gaertn. (Stravadium rubrum De C.), N.O. Myrtaceae.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 289:

"As its foliage and the manner of the growth resemble the mangrove, we called it the mangrove-myrtle."

<hw>Manna</hw>, n. the dried juice, of sweet taste, obtained from incisions in the bark of various trees. The Australian manna is obtained from certain Eucalypts, especially E. viminalis, Labill. It differs chemically from the better known product of the Manna-Ash (Fraxinus ornus). See Lerp.

1835. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 99:

"Several of the species yield an exudation in the spring and summer months, which coagulates and drops from the leaves to the ground in small irregular shaped snow white particles, often as large as an almond [?]. They are sweet and very pleasant to the taste, and are greedily devoured by the birds, ants, and other animals, and used to be carefully picked up and eaten by the aborigines. This is a sort of Manna."

1878. R. Brough Smyth, `The Aborigines of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 211:

"Two varieties of a substance called manna are among the natural products . . . one kind . . . being secreted by the leaves and slender twigs of the E. viminalis from punctures or injuries done to these parts of the tree. . . . It consists principally of a kind of grape sugar and about 5 %. of the substance called mannite. Another variety of manna is the secretion of the pupa of an insect of the Psylla family and obtains the name of lerp among the aborigines. At certain seasons of the year it is very abundant on the leaves of E. dumosa, or mallee scrub . . ."

1878. W. W. Spicer, `Handbook of Plants of Tasmania, p. viii:

"The Hemipters, of which the aphids, or plant-lice, are a familiar example, are furnished with stiff beaks, with which they pierce the bark and leaves of various plants for the purpose of extracting the juices. It is to the punctures of this and some other insects of the same Order, that the sweet white manna is due, which occurs in large quantities during the summer months on many of the gum-trees."

<hw>Manna-Grass</hw>. See Grass.

<hw>Manna-Gum</hw>. See Manna and Gum.

<hw>Manoao</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Yellow-pine, Dacrydium colensoi, Hook., N.O. Coniferae.

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 192:

"The wood of the manoao is of a light-brown colour."

<hw>Manucode</hw>, n. The word is in English use for the bird-of- paradise. It is Malay (manuk-dewata = bird of the gods). The species in Australia is Manucodia gouldii, Grey. See also Rifle-bird.

<hw>Manuka</hw>, n. the Maori name for Tea-tree (q.v.). Properly, the accent is on the first syllable with broad a. Vulgarly, the accent is placed on the second syllable. There are two species in New Zealand, white and red; the first, a low bush called Scrub-Manuka, L. scoparium, R. and G. Forst., the Tea-tree used by Captain Cook's sailors; the second, a tree Leptospermum ericoides, A. Richard.

1840. J. S. Polack, `Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders,' p. 258:

"This wood, called by the southern tribes manuka, is remarkably hard and durable, and throughout the country is an especial favourite with the natives, who make their spears, paddles, fishing rods, etc., of this useful timber."

1842. W. R. Wade, `Journey in Northern Island of New Zealand,' p. 75:

"The Manuka, or, as it is called in the northern part of the island, Kahikatoa (leptospermum scoparium), is a mysterious plant, known in Van Diemen's Land as the tea tree."

1843. E. Dieffenbach, `Travels in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 28:

"The manuka supplies the place of the tea-shrub."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 270:

"[The house] was protected from the weather by a wooden railing filled in with branches of the manuka. This is a shrub very abundant in some parts. The plant resembles the teaplant in leaves and flower, and is often used green by the whalers and traders for the same purpose."

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

"It is generally made of manuka a very hard, dark, close-grained and heavy wood."

1867. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 121:

"The manuka, a sort of scrub, has a pretty blossom like a diminutive Michaelmas daisy, white petals and a brown centre, with a very aromatic odour; and this little flower is succeeded by a berry with the same strong smell and taste of spice. The shepherds sometimes make an infusion of these when they are very hard up for tea; but it must be like drinking a decoction of cloves."

1871. C. L. Money, `Knocking about in New Zealand,' p. 70:

"Chiefly covered with fern and tea-tree (manuka) scrub."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 149:

"Then to a copse of manuka retreat, Where they could safely, secretly commune."

[Domett has the following note—"`A large shrub or small tree; leaves used as tea in Tasmania and Australia, where the plant is equally abundant' (Hooker). In the poem it is called indiscriminately manuka, broom, broom-like myrtle, or leptosperm. The settlers often call it `tea-broom.'"]

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 23:

"A tremendous fire of broadleaf and manuka roared in the chimney."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 123:

"Manuka is a shrub which is rampant throughout New Zealand. If it were less common it would be thought more beautiful. In summer it is covered with white blossom: and there are few more charming sights than a plain of flourishing manuka."

<hw>Maomao</hw>, n. Maori name for a New Zealand sea-fish, Ditrema violacea.

1886. R. A. Sherrin, `Fishes of New Zealand,' p. 67:

"The delicious little maomao may be caught at the Riverina Rocks in immense quantities."

<hw>Maori</hw>, n. (pronounced so as to rhyme with Dowry). (1) The name used to designate themselves by the Polynesian race occupying New Zealand when it was discovered by the white man, and which still survives. They are not aboriginal as is commonly supposed, but migrated into New Zealand about 500 years ago from Hawaii, the tradition still surviving of the two great canoes (Arawa and Tainui) in which the pioneers arrived. They are commonly spoken of as the Natives of New Zealand.

(2) The language of the Maori race.

(3) adj. applied to anything pertaining to the Maoris or their language. See Pakeha.

There is a discussion on the word in the `Journal of Polynesian Society,' vol. i. no. 3, vol. ii. no. 1, and vol. iii. no. i. Bishop Williams (4th ed.) says that the word means, "of the normal or usual kind." The Pakehas were not men to whom the natives were accustomed. So Maori was used as opposed to the Europeans, the white-skins. Kuri Maori was a name used for a dog after the arrival of other quadrupeds called also kuri. Wai maori was freshwater, ordinary as opposed to sea-water. Another explanation is that the word meant "indigenous," and that there are kindred words with that meaning in other Polynesian languages. First, "indigenous," or "of the native race," and then with a secondary meaning, "ours." (See Tregear's Maori Comparative Dictionary,' s.v.)

The form of the plural varies. The form Maoris is considered the more correct, but the form Maories is frequently used by good writers.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 194:

"The Maori language is essentially a poor one, and possesses in particular but few words which express abstract ideas."

1859. A. S. Thomson, `Story of New Zealand,' vol. i. c. iii. p. 51:

"No light is thrown on the origin of the New Zealanders from the name Maori which they call themselves. This word, rendered by linguists `native,' is used in contradistinction to pakeha, or stranger."

1864. Crosbie Ward, `Canterbury Rhymes,' `The Runaways' (2nd edition), p. 79:

"One morn they fought, the fight was hot, Although the day was show'ry; And many a gallant soldier then Was bid Memento Maori."

1891. Jessie Mackay, `The Sitter on the Rail, and other Poems,' p. 61:

"Like the night, the fated Maori Fights the coming day; Fights and falls as doth the kauri Hewn by axe away."

(4) Name given in New South Wales to the fish, Cosis lineolatus, one of the Labridae, or Wrasses.

<hw>Maori-Cabbage</hw>, n. the wild cabbage of New Zealand, Brassica spp., N.O. Cruciferae, said to be descended from the cabbages planted by Captain Cook.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 206.:

"Every recollection of Cook is interesting. . . . But the chief record of his having been on the island is the cabbage and turnip which he sowed in various places: these have spread and become quite naturalized, growing everywhere in the greatest abundance, and affording an inexhaustible supply of excellent vegetables."

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,' p. 131:

"The only plant good to eat is Maori cabbage, and that is swede turnip gone wild, from seed left by Captain Cook."

1880. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xiii. art. i. p. 31 [`On the Vegetable Food of the Ancient New Zealanders']:

"The leaves of several smaller plants were also used as vegetables; but the use of these in modern times, or during the last forty or fifty years, was commonly superseded by that of the extremely useful and favourite plant—the Maori cabbage, Brassica oleracea, introduced by Cook (nani of the Maoris at the north, and rearea at the south), of which they carefully sowed the seeds."

<hw>Maori-chief</hw>, n. name given to a New Zealand Flathead-fish, Notothenia maoriensis, or coriiceps. The name arises from marks on the fish like tattooing. It is a very dark, almost black fish.

1877. P. Thomson, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. x. art. xliv. p. 330:

"Some odd fishes now and then turn up in the market, such as the Maori-chief, cat-fish, etc."

1878. Ibid. vol. xi. art. lii. p. 381:

"That very dark-skinned fish, the Maori-chief, Notothenia Maoriensis of Dr. Haast, is not uncommon, but is rarely seen more than one at a time."

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

"Resemblances are strange things. At first it would seem improbable that a fish could be like a man, but in Dunedin a fish was shown to me called Maori Chief, and with the exercise of a little imagination it was not difficult to perceive the likeness. Nay, some years ago, at a fishmonger's in Melbourne, a fish used to be labelled with the name of a prominent Victorian politician now no more. There is reason, however, to believe that art was called in to complete the likeness."

<hw>Maori-head</hw>, n. a swamp tussock, so called from a fancied resemblance to the head of a Maori. (Compare Black-boy.) It is not a grass, but a sedge (carex).

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 169:

"A boggy creek that oozed sluggishly through rich black soil, amongst tall raupo, maori-heads, and huge flax-bushes."

1892. W. McHutcheson, `Camp Life in Fiordland,' p. 34:

"Amid the ooze and slime rose a rank growth of `Maori heads.'"

<hw>Maori-hen</hw>, n. Same as Weka (q.v.).

<hw>Maoriland</hw>, n. a modern name for New Zealand. It is hardly earlier than 1884. If the word, or anything like it, such as Maoria, was used earlier, it meant "the Maori parts of New Zealand." It is now used for the whole.

1873. J. H. St. John [Title]:

"Pakeha Rambles through Maori Lands."

1874. J. C. Johnstone [Title]:

"Maoria: a sketch of the Manners and Customs of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of New Zealand."

1884. Kerry Nicholls [Title]:

"The King Country, or Explorations in New Zealand. A Narrative of 600 Miles of Travel through Maoriland."

1884. [Title]:

"Maoriland: an Illustrated Handbook to New Zealand."

1886. Annie R. Butler [Title]

"Glimpses of Maori Land."

1890. T. Bracken [Title]:

"Musings in Maori Land."

1896. `The Argus,' July 22, p. 4, col. 8:

"Always something new from Maoriland! Our New Zealand friends are kindly obliging us with vivid illustrations of how far demagogues in office will actually go."

<hw>Maorilander</hw>, n. modern name for a white man born in New Zealand.

1896. `Melbourne Punch,' April 9, p. 233, col. 2:

"Norman is a pushing young Maorilander who apparently has the Britisher by the right ear."

<hw>Maori, White</hw>, New Zealand miners' name for a stone. See quotation.

1883. `A Citizen,' `Illustrated Guide to Dunedin,' p. 169:

"Tungstate of lime occurs plentifully in the Wakatipu district, where from its weight and colour it is called White Maori by the miners."

<hw>Mapau</hw>, n. a Maori name for several New Zealand trees; called also Mapou, and frequently corrupted by settlers into Maple, by the law of Hobson-Jobson. The name is applied to the following—

The Mapau— Myrsine urvillei, De C., N.O. Myrsineae; sometimes called Red Mapau.

Black M.— Pittosporum tenuifolium, Banks and Sol., N.O. Pittosporeae; Maori name, Tawhiri.

White M.— Carpodetus serratus, Forst., N.O. Saxifrageae; Pittosporum eugenoides, A. Cunn.; Maori name, Tarata (q.v.); called also the Hedge-laurel (q.v.), Lemon-wood, and New Zealand Oak. See Oak.

The first of these trees (Myrsine urvillei) is, according to Colenso, the only tree to which the Maoris themselves give the name Mapau. The others are only so called by the settlers.

1868. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. i., `Essay on Botany of Otago,' p. 37:

"White Mapau, or Piripiri-whata (Carpodetus serratus), an ornamental shrub-tree, with mottled-green leaves, and large cymose panicles of white flowers. . . . Red Mapau (Myrsine Urvillei), a small tree common at Dunedin. Wood dark red, very astringent, used as fence stuff."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 132:

"Tawiri, white-mapou, white-birch (of Auckland). A small tree, ten to thirty feet high; trunk unusually slender; branches spreading in a fan-shaped manner, which makes it of very ornamental appearance; flower white, profusely produced. The wood is soft and tough."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 75:

"By the settlers it is frequently called `black mapou' on account of the colour of the bark. . . . With still less excuse it is sometimes called `black maple,' an obvious corruption of the preceding."

<hw>Maple</hw>, n. In New Zealand, a common settlers' corruption for any tree called Mapau (q.v.); in Australia, applied to Villaresia moorei, F. v. M., N.O. Olacineae, called also the Scrub Silky Oak. See Oak.

<hw>Maray</hw>, n. New South Wales name for the fish Clupea sagax, Jenyns, family Clupeidae or Herrings, almost identical with the English pilchard. The word Maray is thought to be an aboriginal name. Bloaters are made of this fish at Picton in New Zealand, according to the Report of the Royal Commission on Fisheries of New South Wales, 1880. But Agonostoma forsteri, a Sea-Mullet, is also when dried called the Picton Herring (q.v). See Herring and Aua.

<hw>Marble-fish</hw>, n. name given to the Tupong (q.v.) in Geelong.

<hw>Marble-wood</hw>, n. name applied to a whitish-coloured mottled timber, Olea paniculata, R. Br., N.O. Jasmineae; called also Native Olive and Ironwood.

<hw>Mark, a good</hw>, Australian slang.

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 233:

"I wondered often what was the meaning of this, amongst many other peculiar colonial phrases, `Is the man a good mark?' I heard it casually from the lips of apparently respectable settlers, as they rode on the highway, `Such and such a one is a good mark,"—simply a person who pays his men their wages, without delays or drawbacks; a man to whom you may sell anything safely; for there are in the colony people who are regularly summoned before the magistrates by every servant they employ for wages. They seem to like to do everything publicly, legally, and so become notoriously not `good marks.'"

[So also "bad mark," in the opposite sense.]

<hw>Mariner</hw>, n. name given in Tasmania to a marine univalve mollusc, either Elenchus badius, or E. bellulus, Wood.

The Mariner is called by the Tasmanian Fishery Commissioners the "Pearly Necklace Shell"; when deprived of its epidermis by acid or other means, it has a blue or green pearly lustre.

The shells are made into necklaces, of which the aboriginal name is given as Merrina, and the name of the shell is a corruption of this word, by the law of Hobson-Jobson. Compare Warrener.

1878. `Catalogue of the Objects of Ethnotypical Art in the National Gallery' (Melbourne), p. 52:

"Necklace, consisting of 565 shells (Elenchus Bellulus) strung on thin, well-made twine. The native name of a cluster of these shells was, according to one writer, Merrina."

<hw>Marsh</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for a meadow. See quotation.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 163:

"Perhaps my use of the common colonial term `marsh' may be misunderstood at home, as I remember that I myself associated it at first with the idea of a swamp; but a `marsh' here is what would in England be called a meadow, with this difference, that in our marshes, until partially drained, a growth of tea-trees (Leptospermum) and rushes in some measure encumbers them; but, after a short time, these die off, and are trampled down, and a thick sward of verdant grass covers the whole extent: such is our `marsh.'"

<hw>Marsupial</hw>, adj. See the Noun.

<hw>Marsupial</hw>, n. an animal in which the female has an abdominal pouch in which the young, born in a very immature state, are carried. (Lat. Marsupium = a pouch.) At the present day Marsupials are only found in America and the Australian region, the greater number being confined to the latter. See quotation 1894, Lydekker.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 129:

"The marsupial type exhibits the economy of nature under novel and very interesting arrangements. . . . Australia is the great head-quarters of the marsupial tribe."

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 5:

"I believe it was Charles Lamb who said, the peculiarity of the small fore-feet of the Kangaroo seemed to be for picking pockets; but he forgot to mention the singularity characterizing the animal kingdom of Australia, that they have pockets to be picked, being mostly marsupial. We have often amused ourselves by throwing sugar or bread into the pouch of the Kangaroo, and seen with what delight the animal has picked its own pocket, and devoured the contents, searching its bag, like a Highlander his sporran, for more."

[See Kangaroo, quotation 1833.]

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 106:

"An Act known as the Marsupial Act was accordingly passed to encourage their destruction, a reward of so much a scalp being offered by the Government. . . . Some of the squatters have gone to a vast expense in fencing-in their runs with marsupial fencing, but it never pays."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 29:

"One of the sheep-owners told me that in the course of eighteen months he had killed 64,000 of these animals (marsupials), especially wallabies (Macropus dorsalis) and kangaroo- rats (Lagorchestes conspicillatus), and also many thousands of the larger kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 5, p. 9, col. 1:

"In South Australia the Legislature has had to appoint a close season for kangaroos, else would extinction of the larger marsupials be at hand. We should have been forced to such action also, if the American market for kangaroo-hides had continued as brisk as formerly."

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 1:

"The great island-continent of Australia, together with the South-eastern Austro-Malayan islands, is especially characterized by being the home of the great majority of that group of lowly mammals commonly designated marsupials, or pouched-mammals. Indeed, with the exception of the still more remarkable monotremes [q.v.], or egg-laying mammals, nearly the whole of the mammalian fauna of Australia consists of these marsupials, the only other indigenous mammals being certain rodents and bats, together with the native dog, or dingo, which may or may not have been introduced by man."