Austral English Part 58

1888. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 242:

"The boy raises the most awful corroboree of screams and howls, enough for a whole gang of bushrangers, if they went in for that sort of thing."

1897. `The Herald,' Feb. 15, p. i, col. 1:

"Latest about the Cretan corroboree in our cable messages this evening. The situation at the capital is decidedly disagreeable. A little while ago the Moslems threw the Christians out and took charge. Now the last report is that there is a large force of Christians attacking the city and quite ready, we doubt not, to cut every Moslem throat that comes in the way."

Corrobbery, v. (1) To hold a corrobbery.

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 61:

"They began to corrobery or dance.

(p. 206): They `corroberried,' sang, laughed, and screamed."

1885. R. M. Pried, `Australian Life,' p. 22:

"For some time the district where the nut [bunya] abounds is a scene of feasting and corroboreeing."

(2) By transference to animals, birds, insects, etc.

1846. C. P. Hodgson, `Reminiscences of Australia,' p. 257:

"The mosquitoes from the swamps corroboreed with unmitigated ardour."

1871. C. Darwin, `Descent of Man' (2nd ed. 1885), p. 406:

"The Menura Alberti [see Lyrebird] scratches for itself shallow holes, or, as they are called by the natives, corroborying places, where it is believed both s.e.xes a.s.semble."

(3) To boil; to dance as boiling water does.

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 43:

"`Look out there! `he continued; `quart-pot corroborree,'

springing up and removing with one hand from the fire one of the quart-pots, which was boiling madly, while with the other he dropped in about as much tea as he could hold between his fingers and thumb."

Ibid. p. 49:

"They had almost finished their meal before the new quart corroborreed, as the stockman phrased it."

Corypha-palm, n. an obsolete name for Livistona inermis, now called Cabbage-tree (q.v.).

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 49:

"The bottle-tree and the corypha-palm were frequent."

Cottage, n. a house in which all the rooms are on the ground-floor. An auctioneer's advertis.e.m.e.nt often runs--"large weatherboard cottage, twelve rooms, etc.," or "double-fronted brick cottage." The cheapness of land caused nearly all suburban houses in Australia to be built without upper storeys and detached.

Cotton-bush, n. name applied to two trees called Salt-bush (q.v.). (1) Ba.s.sia bicornis, Lindl. (2) Kochia aphylla, R. Br., N.O. Salsolaceae. S. Dixon (apud Maiden, p. 132) thus describes it--

"All kinds of stock are often largely dependent on it during protracted droughts, and when neither gra.s.s nor hay are obtainable I have known the whole bush chopped up and mixed with a little corn, when it proved an excellent fodder for horses."

1876. W. Harcus, `South Australia,' p. 126:

"This is a fine open, hilly district, watered, well gra.s.sed, and with plenty of herbage and cotton-bush."

Cotton-shrub, n. a name given in Tasmania to the shrub Pimelea nivea, Lab., N.O. Thymeleae.

Cotton-tree, n. an Australian tree, Hibiscus teliaceus, Linn., N.O. Malvaceae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 624:

"The fibre of the bark [cotton-tree] is used for nets and fis.h.i.+ng-lines by the aborigines."

Cotton-wood, n. the timber of an Australian tree, Bedfordia salicina, De C., N.O. Compositae.

Called Dog-wood (q.v.) in Tasmania.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p.386:

"The `dog-wood' of Tasmania, and the `cotton-wood' of Southern New South Wales, on account of the abundant down on the leaves.

A hard, pale-brown, well-mottled wood, said by some to be good for furniture. It emits a foetid smell when cut."

Coucal, n. a bird-name, "mentioned probably for the first time in Le Vaillant's `Oiseaux d'Afrique,' beginning about 1796; perhaps native African. An African or Indian spear-headed cuckoo: a name first definitely applied by Cuvier in 1817 to the birds of the genus Centropus."

(`Century.') The Australian species is Centropus phasianellus, Gould, or Centropus phasia.n.u.s, Lath.

It is called also Swamp-pheasant (q.v.), and Pheasant-cuckoo.

Count-fish, n. a large Schnapper (q.v.). See c.o.c.k-Schnapper.

1874. `Sydney Mail,' `Fishes and Fis.h.i.+ng in New South Wales':

"The ordinary schnapper or count fish implies that all of a certain size are to count as twelve to the dozen, the shoal or school-fish eighteen or twenty-four to the dozen, and the squire, thirty or thirty-six to the dozen--the latter just according to their size, the redbream at per bushel."

Count-muster, n. a gathering, especially of sheep or cattle in order to count them.

1891. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Sydney-side Saxon,' p. 1:

"The old man's having a regular count-muster of his sons and daughters, and their children and off side relatives-that is, by marriage."

Cowdie, n. an early variant of Kauri (q.v.), with other spellings.

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 143:

"The native name `Kauri' is the only common name in general use. When the timber was first introduced into Britain it was termed `cowrie' or `kowdie-pine'; but the name speedily fell into disuse, although it still appears as the common name in some horticultural works."

Cowshorns, n. a Tasmanian orchid, Pterostylis nutans, R. Br.

Cow-tree, n. a native tree of New Zealand.

Maori name, Karaka (q.v.).