Austral English Part 86

[Footnote]:

"The marsupial flying phalanger is so called by the Australians."

Fly-Orchis, n. name applied in Tasmania to the orchid, Prasophyllum patens, R. Br.

Forest, n. See quotation.

1839. T. L. Mitch.e.l.l, `Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia,' vol i. p. 71 [Footnote]:

"A `forest' means in New South Wales an open wood with gra.s.s.

The common `bush' or `scrubb' consists of trees and saplings, where little gra.s.s is to be found."

[It is questionable whether this fine distinction still exists.]

Forester, n. the largest Kangaroo, Macropus giganteus, Zimm.

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' vol. ii. p. 27:

"There are three or four varieties of kangaroos; those most common are denominated the forester and brush kangaroo."

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 423:

"I called this river the `Red Kangaroo River,' for in approaching it we first saw the red forester of Port Essington."

1862. H. C. Kendall, `Poems,' p. 67:

"And the forester snuffing the air Will bound from his covert so dark."

1880. Mrs. Meredith, `Tasmanian Friends and Foes,' p. 15:

"We have never had one of the largest kind--the Forester Kangaroo (Macropus gigantes)--tame, for they have been so hunted and destroyed that there are very few left in Tasmania, and those are in private preserves, or very remote out-of-the-way places, and rarely seen... . The aborigines called the old father of a flock a Boomer. These were often very large: about five feet high in their usual position, but when standing quite up, they were fully six feet ... and weighing 150 or 200 pounds."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xix. p. 181:

"The dogs ... made for them as if they had been a brace of stray foresters from the adjacent ranges."

Forest-Oak, n. See Oak.

Forget-me-not, n. The species of this familiar flower is Myosotis australis, R. Br., N.O. Asperifoliae.

Fortescue, or 40-skewer, n. a fish of New South Wales, Pentaroge marmorata, Cuv. and Val., family Scorpaenidae; called also the Scorpion, and the Cobbler. All its names allude to the th.o.r.n.y spines of its fins. The name Fortescue is an adaptation of Forty-skewer by the law of Hobson-Jobson.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,'

p. 49:

"Of this fish Mr. Hill says: The scorpion or Fortescue, as these fish are popularly termed by fishermen, have been known for a long time, and bear that name no doubt in memory of the pain they have hitherto inflicted; and for its number and array of p.r.i.c.kles it enjoys in this country the alias `Forty-skewer' or `Fortescure.' "

1896. F. G. Aflalo, `Natural History of Australia,' p. 228:

"Fortescue is a terrible pest, lurking among the debris in the nets and all but invisible, its spines standing erect in readiness for the unwary finger. And so intense is the pain inflicted by a stab, that I have seen a strong man roll on the ground crying out like a madman."

Forty-legs, n. name given to a millipede, Cermatia smithii.

Forty-spot, n. name for a bird, a Pardalote (q.v.). Pardalote itself means spotted "like the pard." See also Diamond-bird.

1848. J. Gould, `Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. pl. 37:

"Pardalotus quadragintus, Gould, Forty-spotted pardalote. Forty-spot, Colonists of Van Diemen's Land."

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 5:

"`Lyre bird' is obvious; so, too, is `forty-spot'; only one wonders why the number 40 was pitched upon. Was it a guess?

Or did the namer first shoot the bird and count?"

Fossick, v. intrans. to dig, but with special meanings. Derived, like fosse, a ditch, and fossil, through French from Lat. fossus, perfect part. of fodere, to dig. Fossicking as pres. part., or as verbal noun, is commoner than the other parts of the verb.

(1) To pick out gold.

1852. W. H. Hall, `Practical Experiences at the Diggings in Victoria,' p. 16:

"Or fossicking (picking out the nuggets from the interstices of the slate formation) with knives and trowels."

(2) To dig for gold on abandoned claims or in waste-heaps.

1865. F. H. Nixon, `Peter Perfume,' p. 59:

"They'll find it not quite so `welly good'

As their fossicking freak at the Buckland."

1873. A.Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. xix. p. 286:

"Here we found about a dozen Chinamen `fossicking' after gold amidst the dirt of the river, which had already been washed by the first gold-seekers."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 22:

"He commenced working along with several companions at surface digging and fossicking."

1894. `The Argus,' March 14, p. 4, col. 6:

"The easiest and simplest of all methods is `fossicking.' An old diggings is the place for this work, because there you will learn the kind of country, formation, and spots to look for gold when you want to break new ground. `Fossicking' means going over old workings, turning up boulders, and taking the clay from beneath them, exploring fissures in the rock, and sc.r.a.ping out the stuff with your table knife, using your pick to help matters. Pulling up of trees, and clearing all soil from the roots, sc.r.a.ping the bottoms of deserted holes, and generally keeping your eye about for little bits of ground left between workings by earlier miners who were in too great a hurry looking after the big fish to attend much to small fry."

(3) To search for gold generally, even by stealing.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 60:

"A number of idle and disorderly fellows had introduced a practice which was termed `fossicking.' ... In the dead hours of midnight they issued forth, provided with wax tapers, and, entering upon the ground, stole the auriferous earth."

(4) To search about for anything, to rummage.