Austral English Part 39

Burramundi, or Barramunda, n. a fresh-water fish, Osteoglossum leichhardtii, Guenth., family Osteoglossidae, found in the Dawson and Fitzroy Rivers, Queensland. The name is also incorrectly applied by the colonists to the large tidal perch of the Fitzroy River, Queensland, Lates calcarifer, Guenth., a widely distributed fish in the East Indies, and to Ceratodus forsteri, Krefft, family Sirenidae, of the Mary and Burnett Rivers, Queensland. Burramundi is the aboriginal name for O. leichhardtii. The spelling barramunda is due to the influence of barracouta (q.v.). See Perch.

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,'

vol. i. p. 189:

"There is a fish too at Rockhampton called the burra mundi,-- I hope I spell the name rightly,--which is very commendable."

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 357:

"Ceratodus... . Two species, C. forsteri and C. miolepis, are known from fresh-waters of Queensland... . Locally the settlers call it `flathead,'

`Burnett or Dawson salmon,' and the aborigines `barramunda,' a name which they apply also to other largescaled fresh-water fishes, as the Osteoglossum leichhardtii... . The discovery of Ceratodus does not date farther back than the year 1870."

1882. W. Macleay, `Descriptive Catalogue of Australian fishes'

('Proceedings of the Linnaean Society of New South Wales,'

vol. vi. p. 256):

"Osteoglossum leichhardtii, Gunth. Barramundi of the aborigines of the Dawson River."

1892. Baldwin Spencer, `Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria,' vol. iv. [Note on the habits of Ceratodus forsterii]

"It has two common names, one of which is the `Burnett Salmon'

and the other the `Barramunda" ... the latter name ... is properly applied to a very different form, a true teleostean fish (Osteoglossum leichhardtii) which is found ... further north ... in the Dawson and Fitzroy ... Mr. Saville Kent states that the Ceratodus is much prized as food. This is a mistake, for, as a matter of fact, it is only eaten by Chinese and those who can afford to get nothing better."

Burraw.a.n.g, or Burwan, n. an Australian nut-tree, Macrozamia spiralis, Miq.

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i.

p. 221:

"The burwan is a nut much relished by our natives, who prepare it by roasting and immersion in a running stream, to free it from its poisonous qualities."

1851. J. Henderson, `Excursions in New South Wales,' vol. ii.

p. 238

"The Burrowan, which grows in a sandy soil, and produces an inedible fruit, resembling the pine-apple in appearance."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 41:

"Burraw.a.n.g nut, so called because they used to be, and are to some extent now, very common about Burraw.a.n.g, N.S.W. The nuts are relished by the aboriginals. An arrowroot of very good quality is obtained from them."

Bush, n. Not originally an Australian application. "Recent, and probably a direct adoption of the Dutch Bosch, in colonies originally Dutch" (`O.E.D.'), [quoting (1780) Forster, in `Phil. Trans.' lxxi. 2, "The common Bush-cat of the Cape;" and (1818) Scott, `Tapestr. Chamber,'

"When I was in the Bush, as the Virginians call it"].

"Woodland, country more or less covered with natural wood applied to the uncleared or unt.i.tled districts in the British Colonies which are still in a state of nature, or largely so, even though not wooded; and by extension to the country as opposed to the towns." (`O.E.D.')

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 48:

"I have spent a good deal of my time in the woods, or bush, as it is called here.'

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 85:

"With the exception of two or three little farms, comprising about 20 or 30 acres of cultivation, all was `bush' as it is colonially called. The undergrowth was mostly clear, being covered only with gra.s.s or herbs, with here and there some low shrubs."

1837. J. D. Lang, `New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 253:

"His house was well enough for the bush, as the country is generally termed in the colony."

1855. From a letter quoted in Wathen's `The Golden Colony,'

p. 117:

"`The Bush,' when the word is used in the towns, means all the uninclosed and uncultivated country ... when in the country, `the Bush' means more especially the forest. The word itself has been borrowed from the Cape, and is of Dutch origin."

1857. `The Argus,' Dec. 14, p. 5, col. 7:

"`Give us something to do in or about Melbourne, not away in the bush,' says the deputation of the unemployed."

1861. T. McCombie,' Australian Sketches,' p. 123:

"At first the eternal silence of the bush is oppressive, but a short sojourn is sufficient to accustom a neophyte to the new scene, and he speedily becomes enamoured of it."

1865. J. F. Mortlock, `Experiences of a Convict,' p. 83:

"The `bush,' a generic term synonymous with `forest' or `jungle,' applied to all land in its primaeval condition, whether occupied by herds or not."

1872. A. McFarland, `Illawarra and Manaro,' p. 113:

"All the advantages of civilized life have been surrendered for the bush, its blanket and gunyah."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,'

vol. i. p. 250:

"The technical meaning of the word `bush.' The bush is the gum-tree forest, with which so great a part of Australia is covered, that folk who follow a country life are invariably said to live in the bush. Squatters who look after their own runs always live in the bush, even though their sheep are pastured on plains. Instead of a town mouse and a country mouse in Australia, there would be a town mouse and a bush mouse; but mice living in the small country towns would still be bush mice."

Ibid. c. xx. p. 299:

"Nearly every place beyond the influence of the big towns is called `bush,' even though there should not be a tree to be seen around."

1883. G. W. Rusden, `History of Australia,' vol. i. p. 67, n.:

"Bush was a general term for the interior. It might be thick bush, open bush, bush forest, or scrubby bushterms which explain themselves."

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 40:

"The first thing that strikes me is the lifeless solitude of the bush... . There is a deep fascination about the freedom of the bush."

1890. E. W. Hornung [t.i.tle]:

"A Bride from the Bush."

1896. `Otago Daily Times,' Jan. 27, p. 2, col. 5: