Austral English Part 224

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 92:

"Morinish, was a worked-out rush close to Rockhampton, where the first attempt at gold-digging had been made in Queensland."

(3) A stampede of cattle.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 102:

"A confused whirl of dark forms swept before him, and the camp, so full of life a minute ago, is desolate. It was `a rush,' a stampede."

Rush-broom, n. Australian name for the indigenous shrub Viminaria denudata, Sm., N.O. Leguminosae. The flowers are orange-yellow.

In England, it is cultivated in greenhouses.

Rusty Fig, n. See under Fig-tree.

S

Saddle, Colonial, n.

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 53:

"The colonial saddle is a shapeless, c.u.mbersome fabric, made of rough leather, with a high pommel and cantle, and huge knee-pads, weighing on an average twenty pounds. The greatest care is necessary to prevent such a diabolical machine from giving a horse a sore back."

[Mr. Finch-Hatton's epithet is exaggerated. The saddle is well adapted to its peculiar local purposes. The projecting knee-pads, especially, save the rider from fractured knee-caps when galloping among closely timbered scrub. The ordinary English saddle is similarly varied by exaggeration of different parts to suit special requirements, as e.g. in the military saddle, with its enormous pommel; the diminutive racing saddle, to meet handicappers' "bottom-weights," etc. The mediaeval saddle had its turret-like cantle for the armoured spearman.]

Saddle-Back, n. a bird of the North Island of New Zealand, Creadion carunculatus, Cab. See also Jack-bird and Creadion.

1868. `Transactions of the New Zealand Inst.i.tute,' Essay on Ornithology, by W. Buller, vol. i. p. 5:

"The Saddle-back (Creadion carunculatus) of the North is represented in the South by C. cinereus, a closely allied species."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 64:

"It is the sharp, quick call of the saddle-back."

1886. A. Reischek, `Transactions of New Zealand Inst.i.tute,'

vol. xix. art. xxiii. p. 102:

"The bird derives its popular name from a peculiarity in the distribution of its two strongly contrasting colours, uniform black, back and shoulders ferruginous, the shoulders of the wings forming a saddle. In structure it resembles the starling (Sturnidae); it has also the wedge bill."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 18:

"Creadion Carunculatus. This bird derives its popular name from a peculiarity in the distribution of its too strongly contrasted colours, black and ferruginous, the latter of which covers the back, forms a sharply-defined margin across the shoulders, and sweeps over the wings in a manner suggestive of saddle-flaps."

Sagg, n. the name given in Tasmania to the plant Xerotes longifolia, R. Br., N.O. Junceae, and also to the White Iris, Diplarhena morcaea.

Saliferous, adj. salt-bearing. See Salt-bush. The word is used in geology in ordinary English, but the botanical application is Australian.

1890. E. W. Hornung, `A Bride from the Bush,' p. 277:

"You have only to cover the desert with pale-green saliferous bushes, no higher than a man's knee."

Sallee, n. aboriginal name for many varieties of the Acacia (q.v.).

Sally, Sallow, n. corruptions of the aboriginal word Sallee (q.v.). There are many varieties, e.g. Black-Sally, White-Sally, etc.

Salmon, n. The English Salmon is being acclimatised with difficulty in Tasmania and New Zealand; the Trout more successfully. But in all Australian, New Zealand, and Tasmanian waters there is a marine fish which is called Salmon; it is not the true Salmon of the Old World, but Arripis salar, Gunth., and called in New Zealand by the Maori name Kahawai. The fish is often called also Salmon-Trout. The young is called Samson-fish (q.v.).

1798. D. Collins, `Account of the English Colony of New South Wales,' p. 136:

[Sept. 1790.] "Near four thousand of a fish, named by us, from its shape only, the Salmon, being taken at two hauls of the seine. Each fish weighed on an average about five pounds."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i.

p. 93:

"The kawai has somewhat of the habits of the salmon, entering during spring and summer into the bays, rivers, and fresh-water creeks in large shoals."

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 393:

"Arripis salar, South Australia. Three species are known, from the coasts of Southern Australia and New Zealand.

They are named by the colonists Salmon or Trout, from their elegant form and lively habits, and from the sport they afford to the angler."

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

p. 35:

"Arripis salar, Gunth., is in the adult state the salmon of the Australian fishermen, and their salmon trout is the young. ... The most common of all Victorian fishes ... does not resemble the true salmon in any important respect ... It is the A. truttaceus of Cuvier and Valenciennes."

Salmon-Trout, n. i.q. Salmon (q.v.).

Saloop-bush, n. name given to an erect soft-stemmed bush, RhaG.o.dia hastata, R. Br., N.O. Salsolaceae, one of the Australian Redberries, two to three feet high. See Redberry and Salt-bush.

Salsolaceous, adj. belongs to the natural order Salsolaceae. The shrubs of the order are not peculiar to Australia, but are commoner there than elsewhere.

1837. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 906:

"Pa.s.sing tufts of samphire and salsolaceous plants."

1859. H. Kingsley, `Geoffrey Hamlyn,' c. xlii. (`Century'):

"It is getting hopeless now ... sand and nothing but sand.

The salsolaceous plants, so long the only vegetation we have seen, are gone."

Salt-bush, n. and adj. the wild alkaline herb or shrub, growing on the interior plains of Australia, on which horses and sheep feed, of the N.O. Salsolaceae.

The genera are Atriplex, Kochia, and RhaG.o.dia.

Of the large growth, A. nummularium, Lindl., and of the dwarf species, A. vesicarium, Heward, and A. halimoides, Lindl., are the commonest.

Some species bear the additional names of Cabbage Salt-bush, Old-Man Salt-bush, Small Salt-bush, Blue-bush, Cotton-bush, Saloop-bush, etc.