Austral English Part 233

"Trees of a peculiar character--the Casuarinas or Shiacks-- part of which, with their more rigid and outstretched branches, resemble pine-trees, and others, with theirs drooping gracefully, resembling large trees of bloom."

1859. D. Bunce, `Australasiatic Reminiscences,' p. 33:

"The trees forming the most interesting groups were the Casuarina torulosa, she-oak, and C. stricta, he-oak... . The name of the first is said to have been derived from `sheeac,' the name of an American tree producing the beef-wood like our she-oak. C. stricta, or he-oak, has been named in contradistinction to the s.e.xes, as if they const.i.tuted one dioecious plant, whereas they are two perfectly distinct species."

1860. J. D. Hooker, `Botany of the Antarctic Voyage,'

part iii. [Flora Tasmaniae], p. 348:

"Casuarina suberosa. This is an erect species, growing 15 feet high... It is well known as the `He-oak,' in contradistinction to the C. quadrivalvis, or `She-oak,'

a name, I believe, adapted from the North American `Sheack'

though more nearly allied botanically to the Northern Oaks than any Tasmanian genus except f.a.gus, they have nothing to do with that genus in habit or appearance, nor with the Canadian `Sheack.'"

1864. J. McDouall Stuart, `Explorations in Australia,' p. 150:

"Within the last mile or two we have pa.s.sed a few patches of Shea-oak, growing large, having a very rough and thick bark, nearly black. They have a dismal appearance."

1868. J. Bonwick, `John Batman, Founder of Victoria,' p.103:

"Even Batman's hill, the memorial of his ancient encampment, has been levelled; and the she-oaks upon that gra.s.sy mound no longer sigh in the breeze a dirge for the hero of exploration."

1869. `The Argus,' May 25, p. 5, col. 2:

"The she-oak trees, of which there are large quant.i.ties in the sandy soil of the salt-bush country, proved very serviceable during the late drought. Some of the settlers caused thousands of she-oaks to be stripped of their boughs, and it was a sight to see some of the famishing cattle rushing after the men who were employed in thus supplying the poor animals with the means of sustaining life. The cattle ate the boughs and the bark with the greatest avidity, and the bushman's axe as it felled the she-oak was music to their ears."

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

"She-oaks are scraggy-looking poles of trees, rather like fir-trees."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 203:

"The rough bark of the she-oak and its soft sappy wood ..."

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

"I came to a little clump of sheoaks, moaning like living things."

1895. `Notes and Queries,' Aug. 3, p. 87:

"The process followed by the Australian colonists when they converted a native word for the Casuarina trees into `she-oak.'"

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 204:

"The creek went down with a broken song, 'Neath the she-oaks high; The waters carried the song along, And the oaks a sigh."

(2) Slang name for colonial beer.

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

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

1890. Rolf Boldrewood,' Miner's Right,' c. vi. p. 59:

"Then have a gla.s.s of beer--it's only she-oak, but there's nothing wrong about it."

She-Oak nets, nets placed on each side of a gangway from a ship to the pier, to prevent sailors who have been indulging in she-oak (beer) falling into the water.

Shepherd, v. (1) to guard a mining claim and do a little work on it, so as to preserve legal rights.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 135:

"Few of their claims however are actually `bottomed,' for the owners merely watch their more active contemporaries."

(Footnote): "This is termed `shepherding' a claim."

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 11:

"All the ground ... is held in blocks which are being merely shepherded."

(2) By transference from (1). To follow or hang about a person in the hopes of getting something out of him. Compare similar use of shadow.

1896. Modern:

"The robbers knowing he had so much coin about him, determined to shepherd him till an opportunity occurred of robbery with impunity."

Shepherd, n. a miner who holds a claim but does not work it.

188-. `Argus' (date lost):

"The term `jumper,' being one of reproach, brought quite a yell from the supporters of the motion. Dr. Quick retorted with a declaration that the Grand Junction Company were all `shepherds,' and that `shepherds' are the worse of the two cla.s.ses. The `jumpers' sat in one gallery and certain representatives or deputy `shepherds' in the other. Names are deceitful... . The Maldon jumpers were headed by quite a venerable gentleman, whom no one could suspect of violent exercise nor of regrettable designs upon the properties of his neighbours. And the shepherds in the other gallery, instead of being light-hearted beings with pipes and crooks--a la Watteau and Pope--looked unutterable things at the individuals who had cast sheep's eyes on their holding."

Shicer, n. (1) An unproductive claim or mine: a duffer. From the German scheissen.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 135:

"A claim without gold is termed a `shicer.'"

1861. Mrs. Meredith, `Over the Straits,' c. ix. p. 256:

"It's a long sight better nor bottoming a shicer."

1863. `Victorian Hansard,' May 10, vol. ix. p. 571:

"Mr. Howard asked whether the member for Collingwood knew the meaning of the word `shicer.' Mr. Don replied in the affirmative. He was not an exquisite, like the hon. member (laughter), and he had worked on the goldfields, and he had always understood a shicer to be a hole with no gold."

1870. S. Lemaitre, `Songs of Goldfields,' p. 15:

"Remember when you first came up Like shicers, innocent of gold."

1894. `The Argus,' March 10, p. 4, col. 7: