Austral English Part 275

"... being all in and around the umus (or native ovens) in which they had been cooked."

1882. S. Locke, `Traditions of Taupo,' `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xv. art. liv. p. 440:

"They killed Kurimanga the priest and cooked him in an oven, from which circumstance the place is called Umu-Kuri."

1889. S. P. Smith, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxii. p. 98:

"An oven of stones, exactly like a Maori umu or hangi."

1893. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xxvi.

p. 432:

"The oumu or haangi, in which food was cooked, was only a hole scooped in the ground, of a size proportioned to that which was to be cooked."

Union Nut, n. a fine cabinet timber, Bosistoa sapindiformis, F. v. M., N.O. Rutaceae.

"Unlock the lands." A political cry in Victoria, meaning open up for Free-selection (q.v.) the lands held by squatters on lease.

1887. J. F. Hogan, `The Irish in Australia,' p. 290:

"The democratic party, that had for its watchword the expressive phrase, `Unlock the lands.'"

Unpayable, adj. not likely to pay for working; not capable of yielding a profit over working expenses.

(A very rare use.)

1896. `The Argus,' Dec. 26, p. 5, col. 3:

"Unpayable Lines.--The Commissioner of Railways has had a return prepared showing the results of the working of 48 lines for the year ending 30th June, 1896. Of these, 33, covering 515 miles, do not pay working expenses, and are reckoned to be the worst lines in the colony."

Utu, n. a Maori word for "Return, price paid, reward, ransom, satisfaction for injuries received, reply."

(Williams.) Sometimes corrupted by Englishmen into Hoot (q.v.).

1840. J. S. Polack, `Manners and Customs of New Zealand,'

vol. ii. p. 63:

"Utu or payment is invariably expected for any injustice committed, and is exacted in some shape, the sufferer feeling debased in his own opinion until he obtains satisfaction. The Utu, similar to the tapu, enters into everything connected with this people."

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

p. 29:

"He asserted that we should pay for the tapu; but suggested as an amendment that the utu or `payment' should be handed to him."

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 252:

"Utu, which may be freely translated `blood for blood,'

is with him [the Maori] a sacred necessity. It is the lex talionis carried out to the letter. The exact interpretation of the formidable little word `Utu' is, I believe, `payment.'"

1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 61:

"The learned commissioner's court was instantly besieged by bands of natives vociferating for more `utu' (payment), and threatening the settlers with the tomahawk if more `utu' were not instantly accorded."

1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 470:

"Besides that, for such shining service done, A splendid claim, he reckoned, would arise For `utu'--compensation or reward."

1873. H. Carleton, `Life of Henry Williams,' p. 79:

"Blood for blood, or at least blood money, is Maori law.

Better the blood of the innocent than none at all, is a recognised maxim of the Maori law of utu."

V

Vandemonian, n. and adj. belonging to Van Diemen's land, the old name of Tasmania; generally used of the convicts of the early days; and the demon in the word is a popular application of the law of Hobson-Jobson.

Now obsolete.

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' (edition 1855), p. 533:

"The Van Diemonians, as they unpleasingly call themselves, or permit themselves to be called, are justly proud of their horse-flesh."

1853. S. Sidney, `Three Colonies of Australia' (2nd edit.), p. 171:

"One of the first acts of the Legislative Assemblies created by the Australian Reform Bill of 1850 was to pass ... acts levelled against Van Diemonian expirees."

1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i, p. 367:

"Unquestionably some of the Van Diemenian convicts."

1867. `Cassell's Magazine,' p. 440:

"`I never wanted to leave England,' I have heard an old Vandemonian observe boastfully. `I wasn't like one of these `Jemmy Grants' (cant term for `emigrants'); I could always earn a good living; it was the Government as took and sent me out."

Vandemonianism, n. rowdy conduct like that of an escaped convict; the term is now obsolete.

1863. `Victorian Hansard,' April 22, vol. ix. p. 701:

"Mr. Houston looked upon the conduct of hon. gentlemen opposite as ranging from the extreme of vandemonianism to the extreme of nambypambyism."

Van Diemen's Land, the name given to the colony now called Tasmania, by Abel Jansz Tasman, the Dutch navigator, in 1642, after Anthony Van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. The name was changed to Tasmania (q.v.) in 1853, on the granting of Responsible Government.

Vedalia, n. a genus of greedily predatory ladybirds. The V. cardinalis of Australia was imported by the United States Government from Australia and New Zealand into California in 1888-89, in order to kill the fluted scale (Icerya purchasi), a fruit-pest. It destroyed the scale in nine months.

Velvet-fish, n. name given in Tasmania to the fish Holoxenus cutaneus, Gunth., family Cirrhitidae. The skin is covered with minute appendages, so soft to the touch as to suggest velvet; the colour is deep purplish red.

Verandah, n. In Australia, the heat of the sun makes verandahs much commoner than in England. They are an architectural feature of all dwelling-houses in suburb or in bush, and of most City shops, where they render the broad side-walks an almost continuous arcade. "Under the Verandah "

has acquired the meaning, "where city men most do congregate."