Austral English Part 249

Did they const.i.tute the stone wall which was to oppose all progress--to prevent the finances being dealt with and the business of the country carried on? It was like bully Bottom's stone wall. It certainly could not be a very high wall, nor a very long wall, if it only consisted of six."

1884. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. iii. p. 405:

"Abusing the heroic words of Stonewall Jackson, the Opposition applied to themselves the epithet made famous by the gallant Confederate General."

1894. `The Argus,' Jan. 26, p. 3, col. 5:

"The Tasmanians [sc. cricketers] do not as a rule stonewall."

Stonewood, n. Callistemon salignus, De C., N.O. Myrtaceae; called also the River Tea-tree.

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue--Economic Woods,' No. 48:

"Stonewood."

Store, n. a bullock, cow, or sheep bought to be fattened for the market.

1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. xiii.

p. 233:

"They then, if `stores,' pa.s.s to the rich salt-bush country of Riverina."

Store-cattle, n. lean cattle bought to be fattened for the market; often contracted to stores (q.v.).

1885. R. M. Praed, `Head-Station,' p. 74:

"Oh, we're not fit for anything but store-cattle: we are all blady gra.s.s."

Stranger, n. name given in Victoria and Tasmania to the Rock-Whiting, Odax richardsoni, Gunth., family Labridae. The Stranger, which is a marine fish, is caught occasionally in the fresher water of the upper estuary of the Derwent; hence its name.

See Whiting.

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, 1881, p. 1:

"Common fish such as ... garfish, strangers, silvers, and others.'

Stringy-bark, n. (1) any one of various Gums, with a tough fibrous bark used for tying, for cordage, for roofs of huts, etc.

1845. J. O. Balfour, `Sketch of New South Wales,' p. 37:

"The string bark [sic] tree is also useful, and its bark, which is of a fibrous texture, often more than an inch in thickness, parts easily from the wood, and may be obtained ten or twelve feet in length, and seven or eight in breadth."

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

"The natives appear also to like the fruit of the panda.n.u.s, of which large quant.i.ties are found in their camps, soaking in water contained in vessels formed of stringy-bark."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 27:

"In truth, the forests of Australia (consisting princ.i.p.ally of woods of iron-bark, stringy-bark, and other species of the Eucalyptus) seen at a distance, just before sunset, are n.o.ble objects--perfect pictures."

1862. G. T. Lloyd, `Thirty-three Years in Tasmania and Victoria,' p. 29:

"The stringy bark tree is so named from the ropy nature of its bark, which is frequently used for tying on the rods and thatch of sheds, huts, and barns in the country."

1862. W. Archer, `Products of Tasmania,' p. 39:

"Gum-topped String-bark, sometimes called white gum (Eucalyptus gigantea, var.). A tree resembling the Blue Gum in foliage, with rough bark similar to Stringy Bark towards the stem."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 237:

"Stringy-bark trees were also seen--so called, because the rough bark has a brown tenacious fibre, like that of the cocoanut, which can be split off in sheets to make the roofs of houses, or unravelled into a fibre that will tie like string."

1868. Carleton, `Australian Nights,' p. 2:

"The mia-mia that the native dark Had formed from sheets of stringy bark."

1873. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 204:

"The Stringy-bark tree is of straight growth, and takes its name from the strip-like character of its bark... . The wood is of a brown colour, hard, heavy, strong and close in the grain. It works up well ... in ship-building, for planking, beams, keels and keelsons, and in civil architecture for joists, flooring, etc. Upon the farms it is used for fences and agricultural implements: it is also employed for furniture and for all ordinary purposes."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 196:

"Down to the waist they are all wound round with frayed stringy-bark in thick folds."

1894. `The Age,' Oct. 19, p. 5, col. 8:

"Granite and stringy-bark are always a.s.sociated with `hungry'

country."

(2) Bush slang for bad whisky.

1890. A. J. Vogan, `The Black Police,' p. 217:

"Stringy-bark, a curious combination of fusil oil and turpentine, labelled `whisky.'"

Stringy-bark, adj. equivalent to "bush."

1833. Oct. `New South Wales Magazine,' vol. 1. p. 173:

"... the workmanship of which I beg you will not scrutinize, as I am but, to use a colonial expression, `a stringy-bark carpenter.'"

1853. C. Rudston Read, `What I Heard, Saw, and Did at the Australian Gold Fields,' p. 53:

"... after swimming a small river about 100 yards wide he'd arrive at old Geordy's, a stringy bark settler ..."

Sturt's Desert Pea, n. a beautiful creeper, Clianthus dampieri, Cunn., N.O. Leguminosae, which will only grow in very dry, sandy soil. It is sometimes called Lobster's Claw, from its cl.u.s.ters of brilliant scarlet flowers with black-purple centres, like a lobster's claw. Called also Glory Pea (q.v.).

See Clianthus.

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. i. p. 29: