Austral English Part 117

1849. C. Sturt, `Expedition into Central Australia,' vol.

ii. p. 90:

"I sought shelter behind a large gum tree, but the blasts of heat were so terrific that I wondered the very gra.s.s did not take fire... . Everything, both animate and inanimate, gave way before it: the horses stood with their backs to the wind, and their noses to the ground, without the muscular strength to raise their heads; the birds were mute, and the leaves of the trees, under which we were sitting, fell like a snow shower around us. At noon I took a thermometer, graduated to 127 degrees, out of my box, and observed that the mercury was up to 125 degrees. Thinking that it had been unduly influenced, I put it in the fork of a tree close to me, sheltered alike from the wind and the sun. In this position I went to examine it about an hour afterwards, when I found that the mercury had risen to the top of the instrument, and that its further expansion had burst the bulb... . We had reached our destination, however, before the worst of the hot wind set in."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 25:

"The immediate cause of the hot winds has given rise to much speculation... . The favourite theory is that they are generated in the sandy plains of the interior, which becoming powerfully heated, pour their glowing breath upon the fertile regions of the south."

1871. Dingo, `Australian Rhymes,' p. 7:

"A hot wind swift envelopes me In dust from foot to head."

1879. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' (1893) vol. i. p. 39:

"They are evidently produced by the sinking down to the surface of that north-westerly current of heated air which ... is always pa.s.sing overhead. The exact causes which bring it down cannot be determined, though it evidently depends on the comparative pressure of the atmosphere on the coast and in the interior. Where from any causes the north-west wind becomes more extensive and more powerful, or the sea breezes diminish, the former will displace the latter and produce a hot wind till an equilibrium is restored. It is the same wind pa.s.sing constantly overhead which prevents the condensation of vapour, and is the cause of the almost uninterrupted sunny skies of the Australian summer."

1879. Rev. J. H. Zillmann, `Australian Life,' p. 40:

"Scientific men, however, tell us that those hot winds are just what make Australia so healthy a climate--that they act as scavengers, and without them the death-rate of the colonies would be alarmingly great."

Hot-windy, adj. See above.

1871. Dingo, `Australian Rhymes,' p. 18:

"A spell that still makes me forget The dust and the hot-windy weather."

Houhere, or Hohere, n. Maori name for a New Zealand tree, Hoheria populnea, A. Cunn., N.O. Malvaceae; called also Lacebark (q.v.) and xeRibbonwood (q.v.).

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

"Houhere, ribbonwood of Dunedin. [The name is now more general.] An ornamental shrub-tree ten to thirty feet high.

Bark fibrous and used for cordage, and affords a demulcent drink. Wood splits freely for shingles, but is not durable.

... Bark used for making a tapa cloth by the Maoris in olden times."

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

"In one or other of its varied forms the `houhere' is found in nearly every district in N.Z. It is everywhere admired for its handsome foliage, and the beauty of its pure white flowers, which are produced in vast profusion during the early winter months... . The bark is capable of division into a number of layers... . By settlers all forms are termed `ribbonwood,'

or less frequently `lace-bark'--names which are applied to other plants; they are also termed `thousand-jacket.'"

1895. `Longman's Geography Reader for New Zealand,' p. 231:

"The houhere is a small tree with beautiful white flowers, and the bark splits up into thin layers which look like delicate lace; hence the plant is called lace-bark or ribbon-wood by the colonists."

Houi, n. Maori name for New Zealand tree, Ribbonwood (q.v.), N.O. Malvaceae, kindred to Hoheria, Plagianthus Betulinus, sometimes called Howi. In Maori, the verb houwere means to tie, to bind: the outer bark was used for tying.

Hound, n. (sometimes Smooth Hound), the Old World name for all the sharks of the genus Mustelus ("the h.e.l.l-hound of the Deep"); applied specially in New South Wales and New Zealand to the species Mustelus antarcticus, Guenth., also called Gummy (q.v.).

Hovea, n. scientific name for a genus of shrubs. "After Anthony Pantaleon Hove, a Polish botanist.

A small genus of highly ornamental leguminous shrubs, from Australia, having blue or purple flowers in axillary cl.u.s.ters, or very short racemes, alternate simple leaves, and short turgid pods." (`Century.')

Huia, n. Maori name for a New Zealand bird, like a starling, Heteralocha acutirostris, Gould, of limited occurrence, chiefly found in North Island; having beak straight and short in the male, long and curved in female. The tail feathers are highly prized for ornament by the Maoris.

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

p. 91:

"The huia is a black bird about as large as a thrush, with long thin legs and a slender semi-circular beak, which he uses in seeking in holes of trees for the insects on which he feeds.

In the tail are four long black feathers tipt with white.

These feathers are much valued by the natives as ornaments for the hair on great occasions... . The natives attracted the birds by imitating the peculiar whistle, from which it takes the name of huia."

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 36:

"One snow-tipped hui feather graced his hair."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 7:

[A full description.]

Hump, to, v. to shoulder, carry on the back; especially, to hump the swag, or bluey, or drum. See Swag, Bluey, Drum.

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 226:

"He `humped his swag,' in digger's phrase, that is, shouldered his pack and disappeared in the woods."

1857. `Geelong Advertiser,' quoted in `Argus,' Oct. 23, p. 5, col. 3:

"The despised old chum bought his swag, `humped it,' grumbled of course."

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 93:

"A hardwood slab-door weighs a goodish deal, as any one may find out that has to hump it a hundred yards."

1893. Haddon Chambers, `Thumbnail Sketches of Australian Life,' p. 224:

"I `humped my swag'--i.e. tied my worldly possessions, consisting of a blanket, a pannikin, and an odd pair of boots, upon my back-and `footed it' for the capital."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 134:

"But Bill preferred to hump his drum A-paddin' of the hoof."

Hump, n. a long walk with a swag on one's back.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. 3, p. 46:

"We get a fair share of exercise without a twenty-mile hump on Sundays."

Humpy, n. (1) a native hut. The aboriginal word is Oompi; the initial h is a c.o.c.kney addition, and the word has been given an English look, the appearance of the huts suggesting the English word hump. [The forms himbing and yamba occur along the East coast of Australia. Probably it is kindred with koombar, bark, in Kabi dialect, Mary River, Queensland.] The old convict settlement in Moreton Bay, now broken up, was called Humpy Bong (see Bung), sc. Oompi Bong, a dead or deserted settlement. The aboriginal names for hut may be thus tabulated

Gunyah ) ... New South Wales.

Goondie )