Austral English Part 295

Yarra-Bend, n. equivalent to the English word Bedlam. The first lunatic asylum of the colony of Victoria stood near Melbourne on a bend of the river Yarra.

Yarrah, n. aboriginal name for a species of Eucalyptus, E. rostrata, Schlecht; often called the River Gum, from its habit of growing along the banks of watercourses, especially in the dry interior of the continent.

According to Dr. Woolls (apud Maiden, p. 511), Yarrah is "a name applied by the aboriginals to almost any tree." The word is not to be confused with Jarrah (q.v.). As to etymology, see Yarraman.

Yarra-Herring, n. name given in Melbourne to a fresh-water fish, Prototroctes maraena, Gunth.; called also Grayling (q.v.).

Yarraman, n. aboriginal name for a horse.

Various etymologies are suggested; see quotation, 1875.

The river "Yarra Yarra" means ever flowing, sc. fast.

[A possible derivation is from Yaran, a common word in New South Wales and South Queensland, and with slight variation one of the most common words in Australia, for beard and sometimes hair. The mane would suggest the name.

--J. Mathew.]

1848. T. L. Mitch.e.l.l, `Tropical Australia,' p. 270:

"It was remarkable that on seeing the horses, they exclaimed `Yarraman,' the colonial natives' name for a horse, and that of these animals they were not at all afraid, whereas they seemed in much dread of the bullocks."

1875. W. Ridley, `Kamilaroi and other Australian Languages,'

p. 21:

"Horse-yaraman. All the Australians use this name, probably from the neighing of the horse, or as some think from `yira'

or `yera,' teeth (teeth), and `man' (with)."

Ibid. p. 104:

"Language of George's River. Horse--yaraman (from `yara,' throw fast)."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 4:

"Yarraman being the native word for horse."

Yarran, n. aboriginal name adopted by the colonists for several Acacias (q.v.)--Acacia homalophylla, A. Cunn., called also Spearwood; A. linifolia, Willd., called also Sally; A.

pendula, A. Cunn., called also Boree, and Weeping or True Myall (see Myall).

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 99:

"That infernal horse ... pretty near broke my leg and chucked me out over a yarran stump."

Yate, or Yate-tree, n. a large West Australian tree, Eucalyptus cornuta, Labill., yielding a hard tough elastic wood considered equal to the best ash.

Yellow-belly, n. In New South Wales, the name is given to a fresh-water fish, Ctenolates auratus; called also Golden-Perch. See Perch. In Dunedin especially, and New Zealand generally, it is a large flounder, also called Lemon-Sole, or Turbot (q.v.).

Yellow Fever, sc. the gold-fever.

1861. T. McCombie, `Australian Sketches,' p. 47:

"Evident symptoms of the return of the `yellow' fever, and a journey to the new goldfields seemed to be the only cure."

Yellow-head, n. name given to a bird of New Zealand, c.l.i.tonyx ochrocephala, or Native Canary (q.v.), common in South Island. See c.l.i.tonyx.

Yellow Jacket, n. a name given to various gum-trees, and especially to Eucalyptus melliodora, Cunn., E. ochrophlora, F. v. M., and E. rostrata, Schlecht, all of the N.O. Myrtaceae. They all have a smooth yellowish bark, and many other names are applied to the same trees.

Yellow Lily, n. a Tasmanian name for the Native Leek. See Leek.

Yellow-tail, n. The name is given in Victoria to the fish Caranx trachurus, Cuv. and Val.; the Horse-Mackerel (q.v.) of England. In New South Wales, it is Trachurus declivis, a slightly different species, also called Scad; but the two fish are perhaps the same.

Seriola grandis, Castln., also of the Carangidae family, is likewise called Yellow-tail in Melbourne. In New Zealand, the word is used for the fish Latris lineata, of the family of Sciaenidae, and is also a name for the King-fish, Seriola lalandii, and for the Trevally.

Yellow Thyme, n. a herb, Hibbertia serpyllifolia, R. Br., N.O. Dilleneaceae.

Yellow-wood, a name applied to several Australian trees with the epithets of Dark, Light, Deep, etc., in allusion to the colour of their timber, which is allied to Mahogany. They are--Acronychia laevis, Forst., N.O. Rutaceae; Rhus rhodanthema, F. v. M., N.O. Anacardiaciae; Flindersia oxleyana, F. v. M., N.O. Meliaceae. See also Satin-wood.

Yuro, n. i.q. Euro (q.v.).

Z

Zebra-fish, n. name given to the fish Neotephraeops zebra, Richards.

Zebra-Wolf, n. i.q. Tasmanian Wolf, or Tasmanian Tiger (q.v.).

Zelanian, a scientific term, meaning `pertaining to New Zealand,' from Zelania, a Latinised form of Zealand.

Zosterops, n. the scientific name of a genus of Australian birds, often called also popularly by that name, and by the names of Wax-eye, White-eye, Silver-eye (q.v.), Ring-eye, Blight-bird (q.v.), etc. From the Greek zowstaer, a girdle, `anything that goes round like a girdle' (`L. & S.'), and 'owps, the eye; the birds of the genus have a white circle round their eyes. The bird was not generally known in New Zealand until after Black Thursday (q.v.), in 1851, when it flew to the Chatham Islands. Some observers, however, noted small numbers of one species in Milford Sound in 1832.

New Zealand birds are rarely gregarious, but the Zosterops made a great migration, in large flocks, from the South Island to the North Island in 1856, and the Maori name for the bird is `The Stranger' (Tau-hou).

Nevertheless, Buller thinks that the species Z. caerulescens is indigenous in New Zealand.

(See under Silver-eye, quotation 1888.) The species are--

Zosterops caerulescens, Lath.

Green-backed Z.-- Z. gouldi, Bp.; called also Grape-eater, and Fig-eater (q.v.).

Gulliver's Z.-- Z. gulliveri, Castln. and Ramsay.

Pale-bellied Z.-- Z. albiventer, Homb. and Jacq.

Yellow Z.-- Z. lutea, Gould.

Yellow-rumped Z.-- Z. westernensis, Quoy and Gaim.

Yellow-throated Z.-- Z. flavogularis, Masters.

1897. A. J. Campbell (in `The Australasian,' Jan. 23), p. 180, col. 3:

"I have a serious charge to prefer against this bird [the Tawny Honeyeater] as well as against some of its near relatives, particularly those that inhabit Western Australia, namely, the long-billed, the spine-billed, and the little white-eye or zosterops. During certain seasons they regale themselves too freely with the seductive nectar of the flaming bottle-brush (Callistemon). They become tipsy, and are easily caught by hand under the bushes.In the annals of ornithology I know of no other instance of birds getting intoxicated."

Edward E. Morris