Austral English Part 194

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 162:

"Immense piles of paua sh.e.l.ls (Haliotis iris), heaped up just above the sh.o.r.e, show how largely these substantial molluscs were consumed."

Payable, adj. In Australia, able to be worked at a profit: that which is likely to pay; not only, as in England, due for payment.

1884. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 38:

"We ... expect to strike a payable lead on a hill near ...

A shaft is bottomed there, and driving is commenced to find the bottom of the dip."

1890. `Goldfields of Victoria,' p. 15:

"Good payable stone has been struck."

1894. `The Argus,' March 28, p. 5, col. 5:

"Good payable reefs have been found and abandoned through ignorance of the methods necessary to obtain proper results."

Pea, Coral, n. See Coral Pea.

Pea, Darling, n. See Darling Pea.

Pea, Desert, n. See Sturt's Desert Pea.

Pea, Flat, n. See Flat Pea.

Pea, Glory, n. another name for the Clianthus (q.v.).

Pea, Heart, n. i.q. Balloon-Vine (q.v.).

Pea-plant, n. The term is applied sometimes to any one of various Australian plants of the N.O. Leguminosae.

Peach-berry, n. a Tasmanian berry, Lissanthe strigosa, Smith, N.O. Epacrideae.

Peach, Native, n. another name for the Quandong (q.v.), and for Emu-Apple (q.v.).

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings, p. 42:

"The so-called native Peach-tree of our desert tracts is a true Santalum, S. ac.u.minatum."

Peac.o.c.king, vb. n. Australian slang. To peac.o.c.k apiece of country means to pick out the eyes of the land by selecting or buying up the choice pieces and water-frontages, so that the adjoining territory is practically useless to any one else.

1894. W. Epps, `Land Systems of Australasia,' p. 28:

"When the immediate advent of selectors to a run became probable, the lessees endeavoured to circ.u.mvent them by dummying all the positions which offered the best means of blocking the selectors from getting to water. This system, commonly known as `peac.o.c.king' ..."

Pear, Native, name given to a timber-tree, Xylomelum pyriforme, Sm., N.O. Proteaceae (called also Wooden Pear), and to Hakea acicularis.

See Hakea.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 219:

"The pear-tree is, I believe, an eucalyptus, and bears a pear of solid wood, hard as heart of oak."

[It is not a eucalypt.]

Pear, Wooden, i.q. Native Pear. See above.

Pearl-Perch, n. a rare marine fish of New South Wales, excellent for food, Glaucosoma scapulare, Ramsay, family Percidae.

Pedgery, n. i.q. Pituri (q.v.).

Pee-wee, n. a New South Wales name for the Magpie-Lark (q.v.).

Peg-out, v. tr. to mark out a gold-claim under the Mining Act, or a Free-Selection (q.v.) under the Land Act, by placing pegs at the corners of the land selected.

Used also metaphorically.

1858. W. H. Hall, `Practical Experiences at the Diggings in Victoria,' p. 23:

"I selected an unoccupied spot between two holes ... pegged out eight square feet, paid the licence fee."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 58:

"He was in high hopes that he might be one of the first to peg out ground on the goldfield."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `The Miner's Right,' c. iii. p. 32:

"The pegging out, that is, the placing of four stout sticks, one at each corner, was easy enough."

1891. W. Tilley, `Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 8:

"Making their way to Heemskirk, where they were the first to peg out land for ten."

Ibid. Preface:

"The writer ... should be called on to defend his conduct in pegging out an additional section on the outskirts of the field of literature."

Pelican, n. English bird-name. The pelicans occur in nearly all temperate or tropical regions. The Australian species is Peleca.n.u.s conspicillatus, Temm.

1885. R. M. Praed, `Head Station,' p. 256 [t.i.tle of chapter 39]:

"Where the pelican builds her nest."

Penguin, n. common English bird-name.

The species in Australia are--

Crested Penguin-- Catarractes chrysocome, Lath.

Fairy P.-- Eudyptula undina, Gould.