Austral English

N (continued 6)

Reading edition

<hw>Tena koe</hw>, a Maori salutation used in North Island of New Zealand. Lit. "That is you," and meaning "How do you do?"

Tena and Tera both mean `that'; but tena implies the idea of nearness, `that near you,' tera the idea of distance, `that (or there) away yonder.' Hence, while Tena koe is a welcome, Tera koe would be an insult.

<hw>Tench</hw>, n. slang term, used during the days of transportation, for the Hobart Town Penitentiary, or Prisoners' Barracks—a corruption of "'tentiary," which is for Penitentiary. It is now obsolete.

1859. Caroline Leakey, `The Broad Arrow,' vol. ii. p. 32:

"Prisoners' barracks, sir—us calls it Tench."

<hw>Teraglin</hw>, n. a fish of New South Wales, Otolithus atelodus, Gunth. The name Teraglin is stated to be aboriginal. Sometimes called Jew-fish (q.v.).

<hw>Thickhead</hw>, n. the name applied to the Australian birds of the genus Pachycephala (q.v.). They are often called Thrushes. The species are—

The Banded Thickhead Pachycephala pectoralis, Vig. and Hors.

Black T.— P. melanura, Gould.

Gilbert's T.— P. gilbertii, Gould.

Grey-tailed T.— P. glaucura, Gould (confined to Tasmania).

Lunated T.— P. falcata, Gould.

Olivaceous T.— P. olivacea, Vig. and Hors. (confined to Tasmania).

Pale-breasted T.— P. pallida, Ramsay.

Plain-coloured T.— P. simplex, Gould.

Red-throated T.— P. rufigularis, Gould.

Rufous-breasted T.— P. rufiventris, Lath.

Shrike-like T.— Pachycephala lanoides, Gould.

Torres-straits T.— P. fretorum, De Vis.

Western T.— P. occidentalis, Ramsay.

White-throated T.— P. gutturalis, Lath.; called also the Thunder-bird (q.v.).

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

"Thick-heads. [Close season.] From the first day of August to the twentieth day of December next following in each year."

<hw>Thornback</hw>, n. special name for one of the Stingrays, Raia lemprieri, Richards., or Raja rostata, Castln., family Raijdae.

1875. `Melbourne Spectator,' Aug. 28, p. 201, col. 3:

"A thornback skate . . . weighing 109 lbs., has been caught . . . at North Arm, South Australia."

<hw>Thousand-Jacket</hw>, n. a North Island name for Ribbon-wood (q.v.), a New Zealand tree. Layer after layer of the inner bark can be stripped off.

1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 210:

"Koninny [sic], raupo, toi-toi, supplejack, thousand-jacket, and the like, are names of things known well enough to the inhabitants of Napier and Taranaki, but to the average stay-at-home Englishman they are nouns which only vexatiously illustrate the difference between names and things."

1889. T. Kirk, `Flora of New Zealand,' p. 87:

"Hoheria populnea. The Houhere. Order—Malvaceae. . . In the north of Auckland the typical form is known as `houhere'; but Mr. Colenso informs me the varieties are termed `houi' and `whau-whi' in the south . . . By the settlers all the forms are termed `ribbon-wood,' or less frequently `lace-bark'— names which are applied to other plants: they are also termed `thousand-jacket.'"

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

"`Thousand-jacket' is a picturesque name for a many-named New Zealand tree, the bark of which peels, and peels, and peels again, though in the number chosen there is certainly a note of exaggeration."

<hw>Throwing-stick</hw>, n. native Australian weapon, by means of which the spear is thrown. See Woomera.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. i. p. 12:

"The principals who perform it come from, Cammer-ray, armed with shields, clubs, and throwing-sticks."

Ibid. c. i. p. 26:

"The throwing-stick is used in discharging the spear. The instrument is from two to three feet in length, with a shell on one end and a hook on the other."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. i. p. 72:

"Natives . . . seemingly ignorant of the use of the throwing-stick."

1879. J. D. Woods, `Native Tribes of South Australia,' Introd. p. xviii:

"The spear is propelled by a wommerah or throwing-stick, having at one end a kangaroo's tooth, fixed so as to fit into a notch at the end of the spear. This instrument gives an amount of leverage far beyond what would be excited by unaided muscular strength."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 251:

"It is supposed that if the hair of a person is tied on the end of the throwing-stick. . . and roasted before the fire with some kangaroo fat, the person to whom it belonged will pine away and die."

1885. H. H. Hayter, `Carboona,' p. 24:

"Warrk Warrk, having a dart on his throwing-stick ready adjusted, hurled it."

<hw>Thrush</hw>, n. This common English bird-name is applied in Australia and New Zealand to four different genera of birds, viz.—

(1) Collyriocincla, the Shrike-Thrushes (q.v.); the name Collyriocincla is a compound of two Greek bird-names, kolluriown /corr. from kolluriowu in Morris/, `a bird, probably of the thrush kind, Arist. H. A. 9, 23, 2' (`L. & S.' /1869 p.864/), and kigalos, `a kind of wag-tail or water-ousel' (`L. & S.'). The next two genera are derived in a similar way from gaer, earth, and 'opos, mountain.

(2) Geocincla, the Ground-Thrushes (q.v.).

(3) Oreocincla, the Mountain-Thrush (q.v.).

(4) Pachycephala (q.v.); called Thrushes, but more often Thickheads (q.v.).

(5) Turnagra (the New Zealand Thrushes), viz.—

T. hectori, Buller, North Island Thrush. T. crassirostris, Gmel., South Island Thrush.

The name Thrush was also applied loosely, by the early writers and travellers, to birds of many other genera which have since been more accurately differentiated. The common English thrush has been acclimatised in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.

<hw>Thunder-bird</hw>, n. an early name for one of the Thickheads (q.v.), or Pachycephalae (q.v.). See also quotation, 1896.

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,' vol. xv. p. 239:

"`This species,' Mr. Caley says, `is called Thunder-bird by the colonists. . . . The natives tell me, that when it begins to thunder this bird is very noisy.'"

1848. J. Gould,' Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 64:

"Pachycephala Gutturalis, Thunder Bird, Colonists of New South Wales."

1896. A. J. North, `List of the Insectivorous Birds of New South Wales,' part i. p. 3:

"Pachycephala gutturalis, Latham. `Yellow-breasted Thick-head.' . . . From its habit of starting to sing immediately after a clap of thunder, the report of a gun, or any other loud and sudden noise, it is known to many residents of New South Wales as the Thunder-bird.'

"Pachycephala rufiventris, Latham. `Rufous-breasted Thickhead.' . . . Also known as the `Thunder-bird.'"

<hw>Thunder-dirt</hw>, n. In New Zealand, a gelatinous covering of a fungus (Ileodictyon cibarium) formerly eaten by the Maoris.

<hw>Thylacine</hw>, and <hw>Thylacinus</hw>, n. the scientific name of the genus of the animal called variously the Tasmanian Tiger (q.v.), Hyaena, Tasmanian Wolf, Zebra Wolf, and Marsupial Wolf. The first spelling is the Anglicised form of the word. (Grk. thulakos, a pouch, and kuown, a dog.)

1894. R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia,' p. 153:

"The Thylacine appears to be generally found among caverns and rocks and the deep and almost impenetrable glens in the neighbourhood of the highest mountains of Tasmania."

<hw>Ti</hw>, n. the name of various species of trees of the genus Cordyline, N.O. Liliaceae. It exists in the Pacific Islands as C. Ti, and in New Zealand the species are C. australis and C. indivisa. It is called in New Zealand the Cabbage-tree (q.v.), and the heart used to be eaten by the settlers. The word is Polynesian. In Hawaiian, the form is Ki; in Maori, Ti. Compare Kanaka (q.v.) and Tangata. By confusion, Tea, in Tea-tree (q.v.), is frequently spelt Ti, and Tea-tree is sometimes spelt Ti-tri (q.v.).

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 58:

"In these natural shrubberies, too, and especially in wet situations, a kind of cabbage-tree, called ti by the natives, flourishes to great abundance."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor,' Te Ika a Maui,' p. 435:

"The ti (Cordyline australis or Dracoena australis) is found in great abundance. Though so common, it has a very foreign look . . . the leaf is that of a flag, the flower forms a large droop and is very fragrant."

1866. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 52:

"Ti-ti palms are dotted here and there, and give a foreign and tropical appearance to the whole."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 297:

"An abundance of narrow strips of the tough, fibrous leaves of the ti-palm."

1890. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xviii. art. lvii. p. 486:

"In these plains stand a number of cabbage-trees (Cordyline Australis), the ti-trees of the Maori. These often bear only a single head of long narrow harsh leaves at the top of their tall slender stems, but sometimes they are slightly branched, the branches also only bearing a similar tuft."

1892. `Otago Witness,' Dec. 22, p. 7, col. 2:

"A small grove of ti-palms or cabbage-tree."

<hw>Tiaki</hw> (spelt also <hw>Tieke</hw>), n. Maori name for the Saddle-back or Jack-bird (q.v.).

1835. W. Yate, `Account of New Zealand,' p. 56:

"Tiaki or purourou. This elegant bird is about the size of the sky-lark."

<hw>Tieke</hw>, n. Same as Tiaki (q.v.).

<hw>Tiers</hw>, pl. n. used in Tasmania as the usual word for mountains, in the same way as the word Ranges (q.v.) in Australia.

1876. W. B. Wildey, `Australasia and Oceanic Region,' p. 320:

"Two chains of mountains, the eastern and western tiers, run through it nearly north and south."

1891. `The Australasian,' April 4, p. 670, col. 2:

"That stuff as they calls horizontal, a mess of branches and root, The three barren tiers; and the Craycroft, that 'ud settle a bandicoot."

<hw>Tiersman</hw>, n. Tasmanian word for one who lives in the Tiers (q.v.).

1852. F. Lancelott, `Australia as it is,' vol. ii. p. 115:

"Splatters, or, as they are commonly called tiersmen, reside in the forest of stringy bark . . ."

<hw>Tiger-Cat</hw>, n. special name applied to the Common and Spotted-tailed Native Cat. See under Cat.

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. ii. p. 52:

"The skins of the . . . opossum, tiger-cat, and platypus . . . are exported."

1852. Ronald C. Gunn, `Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 11:

"Dasyurus maculatus, Shaw. . . . The Spotted Martin, Phillip's `Voy. to Botany Bay, p. 276. Martin Cat,' pl. 46. `Tiger Cat' of the Colonists of Tasmania, to which island it is confined. It is distinguished from D. viverrinus, the `Native Cat' of the Colonists, by its superior size and more robust form; also from the tail being spotted as well as the body."

1891. `Guide to the Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"After the opossums comes a specimen of the tiger-cat (Dasyurus maculatus); this animal, which is so destructive to poultry, is well known throughout the country in Victoria."

<hw>Tiger, Tasmanian</hw>. See Thylacine and Tasmanian Tiger.

<hw>Tiger-Snake</hw>, n. See under Snake.

<hw>Tihore</hw>, n. Maori name for a species of New Zealand flax. Name used specially in the North Island for the best variety of Phormium (q.v.).

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 286:

"The species of Phormium tenax thus cultivated is the tihore, literally the `skinning' flax. This name describes the ease with which it submits to the scraping process."

<hw>Tiki</hw>, n. Maori name for the Creator of man, and thence taken to represent an ancestor. The Maoris made large wooden images to represent their Tiki, and gave the name of Tiki to these images. Later they were made in miniature in greenstone (q.v.), and used as neck ornaments. See Heitiki.

<hw>Tit</hw>, n. common English bird name. Applied in Australia to the following species—

Broad-tailed Tit— Acanthiza apicalis, Gould.

Brown T.— A. pusilla, Lath.

Buff T.— Geobasileus reguloides, V. and H.

Chestnut-rumped T.— Acanthiza uropygialis, Gould.

Little T.— A. nana, Vig. and Hors.

Plain T.— A. inornata, Gould.

Red-rumped T.— A. pyrrhopygia, Gould.

Scaly-breasted T.— A. squamata, De Vis.

Scrub T.— Sericornis magna, Gould.

Striated T.— Acanthiza lineata, Gould.

Tasmanian T.— A. diemenensis, Gould; called also Brown-tail.

Yellow-rumped T.— Geobasileus chrysorrhoea, Quoy and Gaim.

See also Tree-tit.

<hw>Tit-fish</hw>, n. a name given in North Australia to the Sea-slug, or Trepang; because the appearance of its tentacles suggests the teat of a cow.

1880. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales,' vol. v. pt. ii. p. 128:

"G. F. Jaeger, in 1833, . . . enumerates four [species of Trepang), viz. Trepang edulis, T. ananas, T. impatiens and T. peruviana. The first of these is certainly found on the reefs, and is called by the fishermen `redfish.' . . . Next to this is the `tit-fish' . . . studded with somewhat distant large tentacles, which project nearly an inch or so."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 22:

"They were engaged in smoking a large haul of `tit' fish, which they had made on a neighbouring reef."

<hw>Ti-ti</hw>, n. Maori name for the sea-bird Pelecanoides urinatrix, Gmel., the Diving-petrel. Spelt also tee-tee.

1891. `The Australasian,' Nov. 14, p. 963, col. 1 (`A Lady in the Kermadecs'):

"The petrels—there are nine kinds, and we have names of our own for them, the black burrower, the mutton-bird, the white burrower, the short-billed ti-ti, the long-billed ti-ti, the little storm petrel, and three others that we had no names for—abound on the island."

<hw>Tititpunamu</hw>, n. (spelt also <hw>Tititipunamu</hw>), n. Maori name for the bird Acanthidositta chloris, Sparm., the Rifleman (q.v.). It has many other Maori names.

<hw>Titoki</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand tree, Alectryon excelsum, De C., N.O. Sapindaceae. Also called New Zealand Oak and New Zealand Ash. See Alectryon.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 317:

"The berry of the titoki tree might be turned to account. The natives extract a very fine oil from it."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 253:

The youth, with hands beneath his head, Against a great titoki's base."

1877. Anon., `Colonial Experiences or Incidents of Thirty-four Years in New Zealand,' p: 16:

"For this purpose, titoki was deemed the most suitable timber, from its hardness and crooked growth resembling English oak."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand, p. 131:

"Titoki, a beautiful tree with large panicles of reddish flowers . . . Wood has similar properties to ash. Its toughness makes it valuable for wheels, coachbuilding, etc."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 183:

"It is sometimes termed `the New Zealand ash,' doubtless on account of its resembling that tree in the shape of its foliage and in the toughness of its wood, but it is most generally known as the `titoki.'"

1896. `Otago Witness,' June 23, p. 42, col. 2:

"The saddling-paddock and the scales are surrounded by a fence made of stout titoki saplings, on which are perched the knowing."

<hw>Ti-tree</hw>, n. erroneous spelling of Tea-tree (q.v.). See also Manuka.

<hw>Titri</hw>, n. corruption for Tea-tree (q.v.), from the fancy that it is Maori, or aboriginal Australian. On the railway line, between Dunedin and Invercargill, there is a station called "Titri," evidently the surveyor's joke.

1895. `Otago Witness,' Dec. 19, p. 23, col. 3:

"Our way lay across two or three cultivations into a grove of handsome titri. Traversing this we came to a broad, but shallow and stony creek, and then more titri, merging into light bush."

<hw>Toad-fish</hw>, n. In New Zealand, a scarce marine fish of the family Psychrolutidae, Neophrynichthys latus. In Australia, the name is applied to Tetrodon hamiltoni, Richards., and various other species of Tetrodon, family Gymnodontes, poisonous fishes.

Toad-fishes are very closely allied to Porcupine-fishes. "Toads" have the upper jaw divided by a median suture, while the latter have undivided dental plates. See Porcupine-fish and Globe-fish,

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 89:

"The Poisonous or Toad Fish of Van Diemen's Land. (Communicated by James Scott, Esq. R.N. Colonial Surgeon). . . . The melancholy and dreadful effect produced by eating it was lately instanced in the neighbourhood of Hobart Town, on the lady of one of the most respectable merchants, and two children, who died in the course of three hours . . . The poison is of a powerful sedative nature, producing stupor, loss of speech, deglutition, vision and the power of the voluntary muscles, and ultimately an entire deprivation of nervous power and death."

1844. J. A. Moore, `Tasmanian Rhymings,' p. 24:

"The toad-fish eaten, soon the body dies."

<hw>Toatoa</hw>, n. Maori name of New Zealand tree, Phyllocladus glauca, Carr., N.O. Coniferae. The Mountain Toatoa is P. alpinus, Hook.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 120:

"The toa toa, a small tree which is much prized by the natives for walking-sticks, and only grows, they say, in the neighbourhood of Tonga Riro. The stick underneath the bark is of a bright red colour, which takes a fine polish."

<hw>Tobacco, Colonial</hw>. See Tobacco, Native.

<hw>Tobacco, Native</hw>, n. In Australia generally, a true Tobacco, Nicotiana suaveolens, Lehm., N.O. Solanaceae; readily eaten as a forage plant by stock. In Queensland, the name is also applied to Pituri (q.v.). In Tasmania, the name is given to Cassinia billardieri, De C., N.O. Compositae. Various American tobaccos are also naturalised, and their growing and manufacture is an industry. Tobacco manufactured in the colonies, whether from imported American leaf or from leaf grown in the colonies, is called Colonial Tobacco.

1848. T. L. Mitchell, `Tropical Australia,' p. 64:

"In the rich soil near the river-bed, we saw the yellowish flowers of the native tobacco, Nicotiana suaveolens."

<hw>Toe-ragger</hw>, n. In the bush a term of abuse; though curiously in one or two parts of New South Wales the word "toey," which is derived from it, is a term of praise, a "swell." The word has been explained as of convict origin, that the rags were used to soothe the galling of fetters; but the explanation is not satisfactory, for the part galled by the irons would not be the toe, but the ankle. A writer in `Truth' has cleared up the word (see quotation). It is of Maori origin. Away from Maoriland "toe-rigger" had no meaning, and a false meaning and origin were given by the change of vowel.

1896. `Truth' (Sydney), Jan. 12:

"The bushie's favorite term of opprobrium `a toe-ragger' is also probably from the Maori. Amongst whom the nastiest term of contempt was that of tau rika rika, or slave. The old whalers on the Maoriland coast in their anger called each other toe-riggers, and to-day the word in the form of toe-ragger has spread throughout the whole of the South Seas."

<hw>Toe-toe</hw>, and <hw>Toi-toi</hw>, Maori name of several species of native grass of the genus Arundo, especially Arundo conspicua, A. Cunn. Toe-toe is the right spelling in Maori, given in Williams' `Maori Dictionary.' In English, however, the word is frequently spelt toi-toi. It is also called Prince of Wales' feather.

1843. `An Ordinance for imposing a tax on Raupo Houses, Session II. No. xvii. of the former Legislative Council of New Zealand':

[From A. Domett's collection of Ordinances, 1850.]

"Section 2. . . . there shall be levied in respect of every building constructed wholly or in part of raupo, nikau, toitoi, wiwi kakaho, straw or thatch of any description [ . . . L20]."

1849. C. Hursthouse, `Settlement of New Plymouth,' p. 13:

"A species of tall grass called `toetoe.'"

1861. C. C. Bowen, `Poems,' p. 57:

"High o'er them all the toi waved, To grace that savage ground."

1867. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 110:

"Thatching it with tohi, or swamp-grass."

1892. `The Katipo,' Jan. i. [sic] p. 3 [description of the Title-cut]:

"The toi toi and Phorinium tenax in the corners are New Zealand emblems."

1895. `Otago Witness,' Dec. 19, p. 6, col. 3:

"Where Christmas lilies wave and blow, Where the fan-tails tumbling glance, And plumed toi-toi heads the dance."

<hw>Tohora</hw>, n. Maori name for a whale.

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 136:

"Fable of the Kauri (pine-tree) and Tohora (whale)."

1878. W. Colenso, `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. xi. art. iv. pt. 2, p. 90:

"Looking at it as it lay extended, it resembled a very large whale (nui tohora)."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 21:

"In the open sea, and to the south, the most prized whale next to the sperm is the black whale, or tohora (Eubalaena Australis), which is like the right whale of the North Sea, but with baleen of less value."

<hw>Tohunga</hw>, n. Maori word for a wise man. "Perhaps from Maori verb tohu, to think." (Tregear's `Polynesian Dictionary.') Tohu, a sign or omen; hence Tohunga, a dealer in omens, an augur.

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf and Amohia,' p. 102:

"But he whose grief was most sincere The news of that unwonted death to hear, Was Kangapo, the Tohunga—a Priest And fell Magician famous far and near."

1873. `Appendix to Journals of House of Representatives,' G. 1, B. p. 9:

"I am a tohunga who can save the country if you will follow my advice."

1878. F. E. Maning, `Heke's War, told by an Old Chief,' `New Zealand Reader,' p. 153:

"Amongst these soldiers there was not one tohunga—not a man at all experienced in omens—or they must have had some warning that danger and defeat were near."

1893. `Otago Witness,' Dec. 21, p. 10, col. 2:

"She would consult a tohunga. The man she selected— one of the oldest and most sacred of the Maori priests, prophet, medicine-man, lawyer and judge."

<hw>Tolmer's Grass</hw>, n. a fibrous plant, Lepidosperma gladiatum, Labill., N.O. Cyperaceae, suitable for manufacture of paper. It is not a true grass, and is classed by Maiden (`Useful Native Plants,' p. 626) under fibres.

1882. A. Tolmer, `Reminiscences,' p. 298:

"The plant that has since by courtesy borne my name (Tolmer's grass)."

<hw>Tomahawk</hw>, n. a word of North-American Indian origin, applied in English to the similarly shaped short one-handed axe or hatchet. The word is not frequent in England, but in Australia the word hatchet has practically disappeared, and the word Tomahawk to describe it is in every-day use. It is also applied to the stone hatchet of the Aboriginals. A popular corruption of it is Tommy-axe.

1802. G. Barrington, `History of New South Wales,' c. xii. p. 466:

"A plentiful assortment of . . . knives, shirts, toma-hawkes [sic], axes, jackets, scissars [sic], etc., etc., for the people in general."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 259:

"We . . . observed recent marks of the stone tomahawk of the natives."

1851. G. W. Rusden, `Moyarra,' canto i. 17, p. 25:

"One hand he wreathed in Mytah's hair, Whirled then the tomahawk in air."

1870. E. B. Kennedy, `Fours /sic/ Years in Queensland,' p. 721:

"They [the Aboriginals] cut out opossums from a tree or sugar bag (wild honey) by means of a tomahawk of green stone; the handle is formed of a vine, and fixed in its place with gum. It is astonishing what a quantity of work is got through in the day with these blunt tomahawks."

1873. J. B. Stephens, `Black Gin,' p. 60:

"Lay aside thy spears (I doubt them); Lay aside thy tomahawk."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 206:

"The aborigines have obtained iron tomahawks."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 73:

"Men had to cleave out a way for themselves with tomahawks."

1888. A. Reischek, in Buller's `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 94:

"The snow had been blown together, and was frozen so hard that I had to take my tomahawk to chop it down so as to get softer snow to refresh myself with a wash."

<hw>Tomahawk</hw>, v. tr. to cut sheep when shearing them.

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 147:

"Shearers were very scarce, and the poor sheep got fearfully `tomahawked' by the new hands."

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 96:

"Some men never get the better of this habit, but `tomahawk' as badly after years of practice as when they first began."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 162:

"The Shearers sat in the firelight, hearty and hale and strong, After the hard day's shearing, passing the joke along The `ringer' that shore a hundred, as they never were shorn before, And the novice who toiling bravely had tommyhawked half a score."

<hw>Tommy-axe</hw>, n. a popular corruption of the word Tomahawk (q.v.); it is an instance of the law of Hobson-Jobson.

<hw>Tom Russell's Mahogany</hw>. See Mahogany.

<hw>Tomtit</hw>, n. name applied in New Zealand to two New Zealand birds of the genus Myiomoira, the species being M. toitoi, Garnot, in North Island; M. macrocephala, Gmel., in South Island.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 39:

[A full description.]

<hw>Tonquin Bean-Tree</hw>, n. a Tasmanian variety of Native Sandalwood; also called Tonga Beanwood.

1862. W. Archer, `Products and Resources of Tasmania,' p. 41:

"`Tonga Bean-wood (Alyxia buxifolia, Br.). The odour is similar to that of the Tonga Bean (Dipteryx odorata). A straggling seaside shrub, three to five inches in diameter."

<hw>Tooart</hw>, or <hw>Tewart</hw>, n. a West Australian name for Eucalyptus gomphocephala, or White Gum. See Gum.

1870. T. H. Braim, `New Homes,' c. iv. p. 181:

`Another valuable tree is the tooart, a kind of white gum."

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 187:

"The Tewart Tree (Eucalyptus), a variety of the White Gum, found principally in the Swan River and King George's Sound District of Western Australia. . . . Of straight growth and noble dimensions. The wood is of a yellowish or straw colour, hard, heavy, tough, strong and rigid. . . . It is used in ship-building for beams, keelsons, stern-posts, engine-bearers, and for other works below the line of flotation."

<hw>Tookytook</hw>, n. a corruption of Kotukutuku (q.v.), a Maori name equivalent to Konini, the fruit of the Fuchsia-tree (q.v.).

<hw>Toot</hw>, n. the anglicised spelling of the Maori word Tutu (q.v.).

<hw>Tooted</hw>, quasi past participle from Toot. The cattle are tooted, sc. poisoned by the Toot.

1863. G. Butler, `Canterbury Settlement,' p. 98:

"As, then, my bullocks could not get tuted."

1891. T. H. Potts, `New Zealand Country Journal,' p. 201:

"His hearty salutation in its faultiness proved to be about on a par with `rummy-rum,' `triddy' and `toot.' The last word reminds me of a man near by who was even judged to be somewhat vain of his Maori accent and pronunciation. With one word he was indeed very particular, he could not bring himself to use that manifest corruption `toot.' With him it was ever `tutu.' He had to make rather a boggle or dodge of it when he used the colonial made verb formed on his favourite Maori noun."

<hw>Tooth-shell</hw>, n. The name is applied, in Europe, to any species of Dentalium and allied genera having a tooth-shaped shell. In Australia, it is the shell of Marinula pellucida, Cooper, a small marine mollusc used for necklaces.

<hw>Tope</hw>, n. an Australasian Shark, Galeus australis, Macl. It differs somewhat from Galeus canis, the Tope of Britain. Called also the School-Shark, in Australia.

<hw>Top-knot Pigeon</hw>, n. an Australian bird, Lopholaimus antarcticus, Shaw.

1891. Francis Adams, `John Webb's End,' p. 33:

"Flying for a moment beside a lovely, melodious top-knot pigeon."

<hw>Torea</hw>, n. Maori name for all the New Zealand species of the Oyster-catchers (q.v.).

<hw>Torpedo</hw>, n. a fish, well known elsewhere, and also called elsewhere, the Numb-fish and Cramp fish. For the Australian species, see quotation.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 100:

"Our Torpedo or Electric Ray is Hypnos subnigrum, that of Tasmania is Narcine Tasmaniensis."

<hw>Torres-Straits Pigeon</hw>, n. See quotation.

1893. Saville Kent, `Great Barrier Reef,' p. 123:

"Making a bag of the famous Torres Straits pigeons (Myristicivora spilorrhoa), a large white variety, highly esteemed for the table, which, arriving from the north [that is New Guinea], is distributed from October until the end of March throughout the tree-bearing islets and mainland coast, as far south as Keppel Bay."

<hw>Tortoise-shell Fish</hw>. See Hand-fish.

<hw>Totara</hw>, n. Maori name for a lofty-spreading New Zealand tree, Podocarpus totara, A. Cunn., N.O. Coniferae,. In Maori, the accent falls on the first syllable; but in English use it is often placed on the second, and from Mr. Polack's spelling it must have been so as early as 1840. Called also Mahogany-pine. There are several other species, e.g. P. vivalis, Hook., the Mountain Totara; called also Mahogany Pine. See Mahogany, and Pine.

1832. G. Bennett, in Lambert's `Genus Pinus,' vol. ii. p. 190:

"This is an unpublished species of Podocarpus, called Totara by the natives. . . . The value placed on this tree by the natives is sometimes the occasion of quarrels, terminating in bloodshed, if it is cut down by any except the party by whom it is claimed. . . It is not unusual for the trees to descend from father to son."

1840. J. S. Polack, `Manners and Customs of New Zealanders,' vol. i. p. 227:

"The totarra or red-pine."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 221:

"The totara is one of the finest trees in the forest, and is the principal wood used by the natives, whether for canoes, houses, or fencing."

1854. W. Golder, `Pigeons' Parliament,' [Notes] p. 80:

"The place received its name from a number of large totara trees."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 134:

"Totara (Podocarpus totara) and Matai (Podocarpus spicata) are large and beautiful trees found in every forest."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 107:

"One lone totara-tree that grew Beneath the hill-side."

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 308:

"The Totara Tree (Taxus or Podocarpus totara). Height, eighty to ninety feet. The wood is red in colour, close, straight, fine and even in grain . . . a good substitute for mahogany."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 227:

"With the exception of the kauri, the totara affords the most valuable timber in New Zealand, but unlike the kauri it is found almost throughout the colony."

<hw>Towai</hw>, n. Maori name for New Zealand tree, Weinmannia racemosa, Forst., N.O. Saxifrageae, i.q. Kamahai in south of South Island, and Tawhero in North Island (Wellington).

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 95:

"Its banks . . . are covered almost wholly with the towai. This tree has very small dark leaves.It is used for ship- building, and is called by Englishmen the `black birch.'"

1851. Mrs. Wilson, `New Zealand,' p. 43:

"The ake . . . and towai (Leiospermum racemosum) are almost equal, in point of colour, to rosewood."

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

"Towhai, Kamahi. A large tree; trunk two to four feet in diameter, and fifty feet high. Wood close-grained and heavy, but rather brittle. . . . The bark is largely used for tanning. The extract of bark is chemically allied to the gum kino of commerce, their value being about equal."

<hw>Township</hw>, n. a village, a possible future town. In the United States, the word has a definite meaning—a district, subordinate to a county, the inhabitants having power to regulate their local affairs; in Australia, the word has no such definite meaning. It may be large or small, and sometimes consists of little more than the post-office, the public-house, and the general store or shop.

1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,' vol. ii. p. 7:

"The timber of a hundred and twenty acres was cut down . . . a small township marked out, and a few huts built."

1861. Mrs. Meredith, `Over the Straits,' vol. ii. p. 40:

"It used to seem to me a strange colonial anomaly to call a very small village a `township,' and a much larger one a `town.' But the former is the term applied to the lands reserved in various places for future towns."

1873. J. B. Stephens, `Black Gin,' p. 79:

"There's a certain township and also a town,— (For, to ears colonial, I need not state That the two do not always homologate)."

1888. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 439:

[Mr. Parker is a Canadian who lived four years in Australia]

"A few words of comparison here. A pub of Australia is a tavern or hotel in Canada; a township is a village; a stock-rider is a cow-boy; a humpy is a shanty; a warrigal or brombie 1s a broncho or cayuse; a sundowner is a tramp; a squatter is a rancher; and so on through an abundant list."

1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 276:

"Villages, which are always called `townships,' spring up suddenly round a railway-station or beside some country inn."

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

"A township—the suffix denotes a state of being—seems to be a place which is not in the state of being a town. Does its pride resent the impost of village that it is glad to be called by a name which is no name, or is the word loosely appropriated from America, where it signifies a division of a county? It is never found in England."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 38:

"There stands the town of Dandaloo— A township where life's total sum Is sleep, diversified with rum."

<hw>Traveller</hw>, n. used specifically for a Swagman, a Sundowner. See quotation.

1868. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic Philosopher' (Reprint), p. 41:

"At the station where I worked for some time (as `knock-about-man') three cooks were kept during the `wallaby' season—one for the house, one for the men, and one for the travellers. Moreover, `travellers' would not unfrequently spend the afternoon at one of the three hotels (which, with a church and a pound, constituted the adjoining township), and having `liquored up' extensively, swagger up to the station, and insist upon lodging and food—which they got. I have no desire to take away the character of these gentlemen travellers, but I may mention as a strange coincidence, that, was the requested hospitality refused by any chance, a bush-fire invariably occurred somewhere on the run within twelve hours."

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

"Throughout the Western pastoral area the strain of feeding the `travellers,' which is the country euphemism for bush unemployed, has come to be felt as an unwarranted tax upon the industry, and as a mischievous stimulus to nomadism."

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 8, p. 249, col. 2:

". . . never refuses to feed travellers; they get a good tea and breakfast, and often 10 to 20 are fed in a day. These travellers lead an aimless life, wandering from station to station, hardly ever asking for and never hoping to get any work, and yet they expect the land-owners to support them. Most of them are old and feeble, and the sooner all stations stop giving them free rations the better it will be for the real working man. One station-owner kept a record, and he found that he fed over 2000 men in twelve months. This alone, at 6d. a meal, would come to L100, but this is not all, as they `bag' as much as they can if their next stage is not a good feeding station."

<hw>Travellers' Grass</hw>, i.q. Settler's Twine (q.v.).

<hw>Tree-creeper</hw>, n. popular name applied to members of an old Linnaean genus of birds. The Australian species are enumerated by Gould in quotation.

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

Plate

Climacteris scandens, Temm., Brown Tree-creeper . 93

C. rufa, Gould, Rufous T. . . . . . . . . 94

C. erythrops, Gould, Red-eyebrowed T. . . . . 95

C. melanotus, Gould, Black-backed T. . . . . 96

C. melanura, Gould, Black-tailed T. . . . . . 97

C. picumnus, Temm., Whitethroated T. . . . . 98

<hw>Tree-fern</hw>, n. See Fern-tree.

<hw>Tree-Kangaroo</hw>, called Boongary (q.v.) by the aboriginals. See Dendrolagus and Kangaroo.

<hw>Tree-Runner</hw>, n. another name for the Sittella (q.v.). The species are—

Black-capped Tree-Runner— Sittella pileata, Gould.

Orange-winged T.— S. chrysoptera, Lath.

Pied T.— S. albata, Ramsay.

Slender-billed T.— S. tenuirostris, Gould.

Striated T.— S. striata, Gould.

White-headed T.— S. leucocephala, Gould.

White-winged T.— S. leucoptera, Gould.

But see Gould's earlier (1848), under Sittella.

<hw>Tree-Tit</hw>, n. The word tit is terminally applied to many little English birds. In Australia, this new compound has been adopted for the two species, Short-billed Tree-tit, Smicrornis brevirostris, Gould, and Yellow-tinted Tit, S. flavescens, Gould.

<hw>Tremandra</hw>, n. scientific name of a genus of Australian plants, the Purple Heath-flower. Name given by R. Brown in 1814, from the remarkably tremulous anthers. (Lat. tremere, to tremble, and Grk. 'anaer, 'andros a man, taken as equivalent to "anther.")

<hw>Trevally</hw>, or <hw>Trevalli</hw>, or <hw>Trevalla</hw>, or <hw>Travale</hw>, n. an Australian fish. In various localities the name is applied to several fishes, which are most of them of the family Carangidae, or Horse-Mackerels. An Old-World name for the Horse-Mackerels is Cavalli (Ital. cavallo, a little horse). Trevalli is sometimes called Cavalli; this was probably its original name in Australia, and Trevalli a later corruption.

The different kinds are—

Black Trevally— Teuthis nebulosa, Quoy, family Teuthididae (a New South Wales fish).

Mackerel T. (so called in Tasmania)— Neptonemus dobula, Gunth., family Carangidae.

Silver T.— Another Tasmanian name for the White Trevally, Caranx georgianus (see below).

Snotgall T.— Neptonemus travale, Casteln. (in Victoria); N. brama, Gunth. in Tasmania); both of the family of Carangidae.

White T.— Caranx georgianus, Cuv. and Val., family Carangidae; (so called in New South Wales, New Zealand, and Tasmania; in Victoria it is called Silver Bream). Teuthis javus, Linn., family Tuethididae.

The Maori name for the Trevally is Awara, and in Auckland it is sometimes called the Yellow-Tail (q.v.). See also quotation, 1886.

Guenther says, the genus Teuthis is readily recognised by the peculiar structure of the ventral fins, which have an outer and an inner spine and three soft rays between.

1769. `Capt. Cook's Journal' (edition Wharton, 1893), p. 164:

"Several canoes came off to the ship, and two or three of them sold us some fish—cavallys as they are called—which occasioned my giving the Islands the same name."

1886. R. A. Sherrin, `Fishes of New Zealand,' p. 99:

"Dr. Hector says: `The trevalli is the arara of the Maoris, or the trevalli or cavalli of the fishermen . . . In Auckland it is sometimes called the yellow-tail, but this name appears to be also used for the king-fish. The fish known as trevalli in the Dunedin market is a different fish, allied to the warehou.'"

1890. `Victorian Statutes—Fisheries Act' (Second Schedule):

"Travale."

<hw>Triantelope</hw>, n. a European comic variation of the scientific name Tarantula. It is applied in Australia to a spider belonging to a quite different genus, Voconia, a perfectly harmless spider, though popularly supposed to be poisonous. It has powerful mandibles, but will attack nobody unless itself attacked.

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 173:

"The tarantulas, or `triantelopes,' as the men call them, are large, ugly spiders, very venomous."

1860. A Lady, `My Experiences in Australia,' p. 151:

"There is no lack of spiders either, of all sorts and sizes, up to the large tarantula, or tri-antelope, as the common people persist in calling it."

<hw>Tribonyx</hw>, n. There are several species of this bird in Australia and Tasmania, where they go by the name of Native Hen, and sometimes, erroneously, Moor-hen (q.v.). For the species, see Native Hen. No species of Tribonyx has been found wild in New Zealand, though other birds have been mistaken for the genus.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. (Introd.), p. xiv:

"I ought perhaps here to refer to a species mentioned in the former Introduction as a newly discovered addition to the New Zealand Avifauna, but now omitted from the list . . ."

Ibid. p. liv:

"Tribonyx has never actually occurred in a wild state [in New Zealand]."

Ibid. p. 90:

"Tribonyx, a bird incapable of flight, but admirably adapted for running."

<hw>Trichosurus</hw>, n. the scientific name of a genus of the Phalangers (q.v.), or Australian Opossums (q.v.). (Grk. trichos, of hair, and 'oura, tail.)

<hw>Trickett</hw>, n. slang name for a long drink of beer in New South Wales, after Trickett, the New South Wales champion sculler.

<hw>Trigger-plant</hw>, n. i.q. Hairtrigger (q.v.) plant; called also Jack-in-a-box.

<hw>Trigonia</hw>, n. a bivalve marine mollusc with a nacreous interior, much admired in Tasmania and used for pendants and necklaces, Trigonia margaritacea, Lamarck, of the order Pectinaceae. It is the largest trigonia occurring in Australasia, and the only one found in Tasmania. Numerous extinct species are characteristic of the Mesozoic rocks. The only living species existing are confined to Australia.

<hw>Trooper</hw>, n. a mounted policeman. The use is transferred from the name for a private soldier in a cavalry regiment. The Native troopers, or Black police, in Queensland, are a force of aboriginal police, officered by white men.

1858. T. McCombie, `History of Victoria,' c. viii. p. 100:

"A violent effort [was] made by the troopers on duty to disperse an assemblage which occupied the space of ground in front of the hustings."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 51:

"A trooper spies him snoring in the street."

1868. J. A. B., `Meta,' canto iii. ver. 20, p. 72:

"The felon crew . . . hard pressed by troopers ten."

<hw>Tropic-bird</hw>, n. The English name is applied because the bird is usually seen in the tropics. The species observed in Australia are—Red-tailed, Phaeton rubricaudus, Bodd.; White-tailed, P. candidus, Briss.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,'vol. vii. pl. 73:

"Phaeton Phoenicurus, Gmel., Red-tailed Tropic Bird; New Holland Tropic Bird, Latham, `General History, vol. x. p. 448."

<hw>Tropidorhynchus</hw>, n. scientific name of a genus of birds peculiar to Australia and New Guinea. The typical species has a knob on the bill, and the head and neck destitute of feathers. From Grk. tropis, the keel of a ship, and rhunchos, "beak." They are called Friar Birds (q.v.), and the generic name of Tropidorhynchus has been replaced by Philemon (q.v.).

<hw>Trout</hw>, n. The English Trout has been naturalised in Australia. In Tasmania, the name of Trout, or Mountain-Trout, is also given to species of the genus Galaxias. See Salmon.

<hw>Trumpeter</hw>, n. (1) A fish of Tasmanian, New Zealand, and Australian waters, but chiefly of Hobart— Latris hecateia, Richards., family Cirrhitidae, much esteemed as a food-fish, and weighing sometimes 50 or 60 lbs. The name is probably from the noise made by the fish when taken out of the water. The name was formerly given to a different fish in Western Australia. See also Bastard-Trumpeter, Morwong, and Paper-fish.

1834. M. Doyle, `Letters and Journals of G. F. Moore, Swan River Settlement,' p. 191:

"Many persons are trying to salt fish, which are very numerous in the river about and below Perth, as you must have seen by one of my letters, in which I mentioned our having taken 10,000 at one draught of the seine; these are of the kind called herrings, but do not look very like them; they make a noise when out of the water, and on that account are also called trumpeters."

1870. T. H. Braim, `New Homes,' vol. ii. p. 65:

"The finest kinds are the guard-fish of the mainland and the trumpeter of the Derwent in Tasmania."

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,' p. 45:

"The first of these [Latris] is the genus of the well-known `Hobart Town trumpeter,' a fish deservedly of high reputation."

(2) An obsolete name in Tasmania for the black Crow-Shrike (q.v.), Strepera fuliginosa, Gould.

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' p. 177:

"We also occasionally heard the trumpeter or black magpie."

<hw>Trumpeter-Perch</hw>, n. i.q. Mado (q.v.).

<hw>Trumpeter-Whiting</hw>, n. See Whiting, quotation 1882.

<hw>Tuan</hw>, n. aboriginal name for the Flying-Squirrel (q.v.). See also Pongo.

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 57:

"The flying-squirrel, or tuan, is much sought after for its fine fur; of these there are two kinds, a large one of a dark colour, only found 1n the mountains; and a smaller description found in all parts of the colony, and better known by the native name, tuan."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' p. 274:

"The Touan, the little grey flying-squirrel, only begins to fly about at night, and slides down from his bough sudden and sharp."

<hw>Tuatara</hw>, n. the Maori name of a New Zealand lizard, or reptile, Hatteria punctata, Gray; called also Sphenodon puntatum.

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of Language of New Zealand' (Church Missionary Society), p. 218:

"Tua tira, a species of lizard."

1863. `Mahoe Leaves,' p. 47:

"A small boy of a most precocious nature, who was termed `tua tara,' from a horrid sort of lizard that the natives abhor."

1890. `Catalogue of New Zealand Exhibition':

"The Tuatara is the largest existing New Zealand reptile. It is closely allied to the Lizards; but on account of certain peculiarities of structure, some of which tend to connect it with the Crocodiles, is placed by Dr. Guenther in a separate order (Rhynchocephalina)."

<hw>Tucker</hw>, n. Australian slang for food. To tuck in is provincial English for to eat, and tuck is a school-boy word for food, especially what is bought at a pastrycook's. To make tucker means to earn merely enough to pay for food.

1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 73:

"For want of more nourishing tucker, I believe they'd have eaten him."

1875. Wood and Lapham, `Waiting for the Mail,' p. 33:

"We heard of big nuggets, but only made tucker."

1890. `The Argus,' June 14, p. 14, col. 1:

"When a travelling man sees a hut ahead, he knows there's water inside, and tucker and tea."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 83:

"I took my meal in the hut, but we'd both the same kind of tucker."

<hw>Tui</hw>, n. Maori name for the New Zealand bird, Prosthemadera novae-zelandae, Gray; called the Parson-bird (q.v.), and earlier the Poe (q.v.). Another name is the Koko, and the young bird is distinguished as Pi-tui, or Pikari. It is also called the Mocking bird.

1835. W. Yate, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 52:

"Tui. This remarkable bird, from the versatility of its talents for imitation, has by some been called `the Mocking-Bird.'"

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 80:

"The little birds were chiefly the tui, or mocking-bird. It resembles a blackbird in size and plumage, with two graceful bunches of white feathers under the neck. It abounds in the woods, and is remarkably noisy and active . . . it imitates almost every feathered inhabitant of the forest, and, when domesticated, every noise it hears."

1863. B. A. Heywood, `Vacation Tour at the Antipodes,' p. 170:

"I saw several birds named the Tooi; they are black, about the size of a starling, and are sometimes called Parson-birds, as they have two white feathers like clergymen's bands in front of them."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 166:

"One of the prettiest creatures is the tui, Parson-Bird of the colonists (Prosthemadera Novae-Zelandae), which roves about in the lofty, leafy crowns of the forest-trees."

1881. J. L. Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 102:

"The tui, with his grand, rich note, made the wood musical."

1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 21:

"Woo the Bell-bird from his nest, to ring The Tui up to sing his morning hymns."

Ibid. p. 101:

"I hear the swell Of Nature's psalms through tree and bush, From tui, blackbird, finch and thrush."

1889. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. facing p. 94.:

[A plate entitled] "Tui, or parson-bird."

Ibid. pp. 94-100:

[A full description.]

1893. D. Frobisher, `Sketches of Gossipton,' p. 61:

As the forest soft echoes brought back their sweet chorus, The tuis seemed silent from envy and spleen."

<hw>Tulip, Native</hw>, i.q. Waratah (q.v.); and see Telopea.

<hw>Tulip-tree</hw>, n. The name is given, in Australia, to Stenocarpus cunninghamii, R. Br., N.O. Proteaceae, on account of the brilliancy of its bright-red flowers; called also Queensland Fire-tree.

<hw>Tulip-wood</hw>, n. The name is given, in Australia, to Aphnanthe philipinensis, Planch., N.O. Urticaceae, and to the timber of Harpullia pendula, Planch., N.O. Sapindaceae. It is, further, a synonym for the Emu-Apple.

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 39:

"The tulip-wood, with its variegated flowers and delightful perfume, grows in abundance."

<hw>Tumata-kuru</hw>, n. Maori name for plant better known as Wild Irishman (q.v.), Discaria toumatou, Raoul. "A thorny plant, very difficult to handle." (Vincent Pyke.) Tumatagowry, or Matagory (q.v.), is the Southern corruption of contractors, labourers, and others.

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

"Upon the arid flats, patches of Tumatu-kuru, and of a purple-flowering broom, struggle to maintain a scraggy existence."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 283:

"The tumatakuru merits a place in this work rather on account of its value in the past than of its present usefulness. In the early days of settlement in the South Island this afforded the only available timber in many mountain-valleys, and was frequently converted by hand sawyers for building purposes; being of great durability, it was found very serviceable, notwithstanding its small dimensions: the formation of roads has deprived it of value by facilitating the conveyance of ordinary building timber."

<hw>Tuna</hw>, n. See Eel.

<hw>Tupakihi</hw>, n. i.q. Tutu (q.v.).

<hw>Tupara</hw>, n. Maori corruption of "two-barrel." Compare the aboriginal word Whilpra (q.v.).

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 109:

"He had previously despatched a messenger to me, begging me to bring some tupara, or `two-barrel.'"

1881. J. L.Campbell, `Poenamo,' p. 137:

"They were labouring under the `tupera fever' [in 1840]. The percussion-gun had made its appearance, and the natives were not slow to see how much more effectual a weapon it was than the old flint `brown-bess.' And when they saw the tupera, double-barrelled gun, the rage at once set in to possess it."

<hw>Tupong</hw>, n. aboriginal name for a Southern Australian fish, Aphritis bassii, Castln., family Trachinidae. Mr. J. Bracebridge Wilson says it is called Marble-fish in the Geelong district. It is also known as the Freshwater Flathead.

<hw>Tupuna</hw>, n. Maori word, meaning ancestor, progenitor, male or female. Often used in the Land Courts in the question: "Who are your tupuna?"

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. ii. p. 113:

"I asked his permission to ascend Tonga Riro . . . But he steadily refused, saying, `I would do anything else to show you my love and friendship, but you must not ascend my tepuna, or ancestor.'"

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika a Maui,' p. 202:

"Tupuna, to stand, to spring; an ancestor; hence Tu-pu, to grow."

1863. F. Maning (Pakeha Maori), `Old New Zealand,' p. 196:

"One evening a smart, handsome lad came to tell me his tupuna was dying . . . The tribe were ke poto or assembled to the last man about the dying chief."

<hw>Turbot</hw>, n. The name is given to a New Zealand fish, called also Lemon-Sole (q.v.) or Yellow-belly (q.v.), Ammotretis guntheri.

1876. `Transactions of New Zealand Institute,' vol. viii. p. 215:

"Turbot—a fish not uncommon in the Dunedin market, where it goes by the name of `lemon-sole.'"

<hw>Turkey</hw>, n. This common English bird-name is applied in Australia to three birds, viz.—

(1) To the bird Eupodotis australis, Gray, which is a true Bustard, but which is variously called the Native Turkey, Plain Turkey (from its frequenting the plains), and Wild Turkey.

(2) To the bird Talegalla lathami, Gould, called the Brush Turkey (from its frequenting the brushes), Wattled Turkey and Wattled Talegalla (from its fleshy wattles), and sometimes, simply, Talegalla. By Latham it was mistaken for a Vulture, and classed by him as the New Holland Vulture. (`General History of Birds,' 1821, vol. i. p. 32.)

(3) To the bird Leipoa ocellata, Gould, called the Scrub-Turkey (from its frequenting the Scrubs, the Lowan (its aboriginal name), the Native Pheasant (of South Australia); in the Mallee district it is called Mallee-bird, Mallee-fowl, Mallee-hen.

In the following quotations the number of the bird referred to is placed in square brackets at the end.

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 14:

"We passed several nests of the Brush-Turkey (Talegalla Lathami, Gould)." [2.]

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 260:

"Several native bustards (Otis Novae Hollandiae, Gould) were shot." [1.]

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. vi. pl. 4:

"Otis Australasianus, Gould, Australian Bustard; Turkey, Colonists of New South Wales; Native Turkey, Swan River." [1.]

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pl. 77:

"Talegalla Lathami, Wattled Talegalla; Brush-Turkey of the Colonists." [2.]

1872. C. H. Eden, `My wife and I in Queensland,' p. 122:

"The bird that repaid the sportsman best was the plain turkey or bustard (Otis Australasianus), a noble fellow, the male weighing from eighteen to twenty pounds. They differ from the European birds in being good flyers. . . . The length of the wings is very great, and they look like monsters in the air." [1.]

1872. Ibid. p. 124:

"The scrub-turkey (Talegalla Lathami) is a most curious bird; its habitat is in the thickest scrubs. In appearance it much resembles the English hen turkey, though but little larger than a fowl." [2.]

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 214:

"Look at this immense mound. It is a scrub-turkey's nest. Thirty or forty lay their eggs in it. One could hardly imagine they could gather such a huge pile of sticks and earth and leaves. They bury their eggs, and heap up the nest until the laying time ceases. The moist heap heats and incubates the eggs. The young turkeys spring out of the shell, covered with a thick warm coat, and scratch their way into daylight, strong and able to provide food for themselves." [3.]

1891. `Guide to Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"The bustard (Eupodotis Australis) is known by the colonists as the native turkey. It is excellent eating and is much sought after on that account. The hen bird lays only one egg, depositing it on the bare ground. Formerly they were numerous in the neighbourhood of Melbourne, but they have now been driven further inland; they are still abundant on the western plains and on the open Saltbush country of the Lower Murray. They are difficult to approach on foot, but it is easy to get within gunshot of them on horseback or driving. The natives used formerly to capture them in an ingenious manner by means of a snare; they approached their intended victim against the wind under cover of a large bush grasped in the left hand, while in the right was held a long slender stick, to the end of which was fastened a large fluttering moth, and immediately below a running noose. While the bird, unconscious of danger, was eyeing and pecking at the moth, the noose was dexterously slipped over its head by the cunning black, and the astonished bird at once paid the penalty of its curiosity with its life." [1.]

1891. Ibid.:

"In the first division are several specimens of the Brush-Turkey (Talegalla Lathami) of Australia. These birds have excited world-wide interest in scientific circles, by their ingenious mode of incubating. They construct a large mound of vegetable mould and sand; mixed in such proportions that a gentle heat will be maintained, which hatches the buried eggs. The young chicks can look after themselves shortly after bursting the egg-shell." [2.]

1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 274:

"The brush-turkeys, which are not really turkeys but birds of that size, build big mounds of decaying vegetable matter, lay their eggs on the top, cover them over with leaves, and leave the whole to rot, when the heat of the sun above and of the fermentation below, hatches the eggs, and the young creep out to forage for themselves without ever knowing their parents." [2.]

1893. Professor H. A. Strong, in `Liverpool Mercury,' Feb. 13:

"The well-known `wild turkey' of Australian colonists is a bustard, and he has the good sense to give a wide berth to the two-legged immigrants indeed the most common method of endeavouring to secure an approach to him is to drive up to him in a buggy, and then to let fly. The approach is generally made by a series of concentric circles, of which the victim is the centre. His flesh is excellent, the meat being of a rich dark colour, with a flavour resembling that of no other game bird with which I am acquainted." [1.]

1893. `The Argus,' March 25, p. 3, col. 5:

"The brush-turkey (Talegalla), another of the sand-builders, lays a white egg very much like that of a swan, while the third of that wonderful family, the scrub-hen or Megapode, has an egg very long in proportion to its width." [2.]

<hw>Turmeric</hw>, i.q. Stinkwood (q.v.); also applied occasionally to Hakea dactyloides, Cav., N.O. Proteaceae. See Hakea.

<hw>Turnip-wood</hw>, n. the timbers of the trees Akania hillii, J. Hook., N.O. Sapindaceae, and Dysoxylon Muelleri, Benth., N.O. Meliaceae, from their white and red colours respectively.

<hw>Turpentine, Brush</hw>, name given to two trees— Metrosideros leptopetala, F. v. M., also called Myrtle; and Rhodamnia trinervia, Blume, both N.O. Myrtaceae.

<hw>Turpentine-Tree</hw>, n. The name is applied to many trees in Australia yielding a resin, but especially to the tree called Tallow-Wood (q.v.), Eucalyptus microcorys, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae; to Eucalyptus punctata, De C., N.O. Myrtaceae, called also Leather- Jacket, Hickory, Red-, and Yellow-Gun, and Bastard-Box; and to E. stuartiana, F. v. M., N.O. Myrtaceae. In New Zealand, it is also applied to the Tarata. See Mapau.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 523:

"[E. Stuartiana is] frequently called Turpentine Tree, or Peppermint Tree. In Victoria it is known as Apple Tree, Apple-scented Gum, White Gum, and Mountain Ash. It is the Woolly Butt of the county of Camden (New South Wales). Occasionally it is known as Stringybark. It is called Box about Stanthorpe (Queensland), Tea Tree at Frazer's Island (Queensland), and Red Gum in Tasmania."

<hw>Turquoise-Berry</hw>, n. i.q. Solomon's Seal (q.v.).

<hw>Tussock-grass</hw>, n. Tussock is an English word for a tuft of grass. From this a plant of the lily family, Lomandra longifolia, R. Br., N.O. Lilaceae, is named Tussock-grass; it is "considered the best native substitute for esparto." (`Century.')

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. v. p. 38:

"The roof was neatly thatched with the tall, strong tussock-grass."

<hw>Tussocker</hw>, n. a New Zealand name for a Sundowner (q.v.).

1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby':

"Now, a `sun-downer,' or `tussocker'—for the terms are synonymous—is a pastoral loafer; one who loiters about till dusk, and then makes for the nearest station or hut, to beg for shelter and food."

<hw>Tutu</hw>, or <hw>Toot</hw>, n. Maori name for a shrub or small tree, Coriaria ruscifolia, Linn., or C. sarmentosa, Forst., of New Zealand, widely distributed. It bears greenish flowers, and shiny pulpy black berries. From these the Maoris make a wine resembling light claret, taking care to strain out and not to crush the seeds, which are poisonous, with an action similar to that of strychnine. It goes also by the name of Wineberry-bush, and the Maori name is Anglicised into Toot. In Maori, the final u is swallowed rather than pronounced. In English names derived from the Maori, a vowel after a mute letter is not sounded. It is called in the North Island Tupakihi. In Maori, the verb tutu means to be hit, wounded, or vehemently wild, and the name of the plant thus seems to be connected with the effects produced by its poison. To "eat your toot": used as a slang phrase; to become acclimatised, to settle down into colonial ways.

1857. R. Wilkin, in a Letter printed by C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand,' p. 372:

"The plant called `tutu' or `toot' appears to be universal over New Zealand. If eaten by sheep or cattle with empty stomachs, it acts in a similar manner to green clover, and sometimes causes death; but if partaken of sparingly, and with grass, it is said to possess highly fattening qualities. None of the graziers, however, except one, with whom I conversed on the subject, seemed to consider toot worth notice; . . . it is rapidly disappearing in the older settled districts and will doubtless soon disappear here."

1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand,' p. 395:

"The wild shrub Tutu (Coriaria ruscifolia), greedily devoured by sheep and cattle, produces a sort of `hoven' effect, something like that of rich clover pastures when stock break in and over feed. . . . Bleeding and a dose of spirits is the common cure. . . Horses and pigs are not affected by it."

1861. C. C. Bowen, `Poems,' p. 57:

"And flax and fern and tutu grew In wild luxuriance round."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 139:

"The toot-plant, tutu or tupakihi of the Maoris (Coriaria sarmentosa, Forst. = C. ruscifolia, L.), is a small bush, one of the most common and widely distributed shrubs of the islands. [New Zealand.] It produces a sort of `hoven' or narcotic effect on sheep and cattle, when too greedily eaten. It bears a fruit, which is produced in clusters, not unlike a bunch of currants, with the seed external, of a purple colour. The poisonous portion of the plant to man are the seeds and seedstalks, while their dark purple pulp is utterly innoxious and edible. The natives express from the berries an agreeable violet juice (carefully avoiding the seed), called native wine."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 103:

"The tutu-tree, Whose luscious purple clusters hang so free And tempting, though with hidden seeds replete That numb with deadly poison all who eat."

1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 131:

"Tupakihi, tree tutu. A perennial shrub ten to eighteen feet high; trunk six to eight inches in diameter. The so-called berries (fleshy petals) vary very much in succulence. . . . The juice is purple, and affords a grateful beverage to the Maoris; and a wine, like elderberry wine, has been made from them. The seeds and leaves contain a poisonous alkaloid, and produce convulsions, delirium and death, and are sometimes fatal to cattle and sheep."

1884. Alfred Cox, `Recollections,' p. 258:

"When footpaths about Christchurch were fringed with tutu bushes, little boys were foolish enough to pluck the beautiful berries and eat them. A little fellow whose name was `Richard' ate of the fruit, grew sick, but recovered. When the punster heard of it, he said, `Ah! well, if the little chap had died, there was an epitaph all ready for him, Decus et tutamen. Dick has ate toot, amen.'"

1889. G. P. Williams and W. P. Reeves, `Colonial Couplets,' p. 20:

"You will gather from this that I'm not `broken in,' And the troublesome process has yet to begin Which old settlers are wont to call `eating your tutu;' (This they always pronounce as if rhyming with boot)."

1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby, p. 16 [Footnote]:

"The poisonous tutu bushes. A berry-bearing, glossy-leaved plant, deadly to man and to all animals, except goats."

1891. T. H. Potts, `New Zealand Country Journal,' vol. xv. p. 103:

"The Cockney new chum soon learnt to `eat his toot,' and he quickly acquired a good position in the district."

<hw>Twenty-eight</hw>, n. another name for the Yellow-collared Parrakeet. Named from its note. See Parrakeet.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. v. pl. 19:

"Platycercus Semitorquatus, Quoy and Gaim., Yellow-collared Parrakeet; Twenty-eight Parrakeet, Colonists of Swan River. It often utters a note which, from its resemblance to those words, has procured for it the appellation of `twenty-eight' Parrakeet from the Colonists; the last word or note being sometimes repeated five or six times in succession."

<hw>Twine Bush</hw>, n. i.q. Hakea flexilis. See Hakea.

<hw>Twine, Settler's</hw>, n. See Settler's Twine.

<hw>Two-hooded Furina-Snake</hw>. See under Snake.