Austral English Part 26

"b.o.o.byalla bushes lay within the dash of the ceaseless spray."

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

"b.o.o.byalla ... an excellent tree for binding coast-sands."

1894. `Melbourne Museum Catalogue, Economic Woods,' p. 4:

"On the coast it is known by the native name, b.o.o.byalla."

Boomah, or Boomer, n. name of a very large kangaroo, Macropus giganteus, Shaw. The spelling "boomah" seems due to a supposed native origin. See quotation, 1872, the explanation in which is probably erroneous. It is really from the verb to boom, to rush with violence.

1830. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 110:

"Snapped the boomah's haunches, and he turned round to offer battle."

1833. Lieut. Breton, `Excursions in New South Wales, Western Australia, and Van Diemen's Land,' p. 251:

"Boomah. Implies a large kangaroo."

Ibid. p. 254:

"The flying gin (gin is the native word for woman or female) is a boomah, and will leave behind every description of dog."

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 244:

"The Great or Forest Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), the `Forester' of the Colonists... .The oldest and heaviest male of the herd was called a `Boomer,' probably a native term."

1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 325:

"The forester (Macropus major, Shaw), the male being known by the name of `boomer,' and the young female by that of `flying doe,' is the largest and only truly gregarious species."

1854. G. H. Haydon, `The Australian Emigrant,' p. 124:

"It was of an old man kangaroo,a regular boomer."

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 169:

"An officer from Van Diemen's Land told me that he had once killed in that colony a kangaroo of such magnitude, that, being a long way from home, he was unable, although on horseback, to carry away any portion except the tail, which alone weighed thirty pounds. This species is called the boomah, and stands about seven feet high."

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 47:

"Sometimes starting a grand boomah, or great red kangaroo."

1862. F. J. Jobson, `Australia,' c. v. p. 124:

"Some of the male kangaroos, called `boomers,' were described as being four or five feet high."

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' p. 55:

"The Boomer starts, and ponders What kind of beasts we be."

1867. W. Richardson, `Tasmanian Poems,' p. 26:

"The dogs gather round a `boomer' they've got."

1872. Mrs. E. Millett, `An Australian Parsonage,' p. 195:

"A tall old Booma, as the natives call the male kangaroo, can bring his head on a level with the face of a man on horseback... . A kangaroo's feet are, in fact, his weapons of defence with which, when he is brought to bay, he tears his antagonists the dogs most dreadfully, and instances are not wanting of even men having been killed by a large old male. No doubt this peculiar method of disposing of his enemies has earned him the name of Booma, which in the native language signifies to strike."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 16:

"As he plunged into the yellow waters, the dogs were once more by his side, and again the `boomer' wheeled, and backed against one of the big trees that stud these hollows."

Applied generally to something very large.

1885. `Australasian Printers' Keepsake,' p. 76:

"When the shades of evening come, I choose a boomer of a gum."

Boomerang, n. a weapon of the Australian aborigines, described in the quotations. The origin of the word is by no means certain. One explanation is that of Mr. Fraser in quotation, 1892. There may perhaps be an etymological connection with the name woomera (q.v.), which is a different weapon, being a throwing stick, that is, an instrument with which to throw spears, whilst the boomerang is itself thrown; but the idea of throwing is common to both. In many parts the word is p.r.o.nounced by the blacks b.u.mmerang. Others connect it with the aboriginal word for "wind," which at Hunter River was burramaronga, also boomori. In New South Wales and South Queensland there is a close correspondence between the terms for wind and boomerang.

1827. Captain P. P. King, `Survey of Intertropical and West Coasts of Australia,' vol. i. p. 355:

"Boomerang is the Port Jackson term for this weapon, and may be retained for want of a more descriptive name."

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 108:

"We gambolled all the way up, throwing small pieces of bark at each other, after the manner of the native youths, who practise this with a view of strengthening their arms, and fitting them for hurling a curious weapon of war called a `bomering,' which is shaped thus:"

Ibid. p. 280:

"Around their loins was the opossum belt, in one side of which they had placed their waddies, with which they meant to break the heads of their opponents, and on the other was the bomering, or stick, with which they threw their spears."

[This is a confusion between boomerang and woomera (q.v.). Perhaps Mr. Dawson wrote the second word, and this is a misprint.]

1839. Major T. L. `Mitch.e.l.l, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' vol. ii. p. 348:

"The bommereng, or their usual missile, can be thrown by a skilful hand, so as to rise upon the air, and thus to deviate from the usual path of projectiles, its crooked course being, nevertheless, equally under control."

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 186:

"The admirable dexterity with which they fling the bomerangs.

To our thinking the thrower was only sending the instrument along the ground, when suddenly, after spinning along it a little way, it sprung up into the air, performing a circle, its crescent shape spinning into a ring, constantly spinning round and round, until it came and fell at his feet."

1845. O. Wendell Holmes, `Modest Request' (in Poems):

"Like the strange missile which the Australian throws, Your verbal boomerang slaps you on the nose."