Austral English Part 279

For etymology, see Wallaroo.

1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' p. 614 [Vocabulary]:

"Wal-li-bah--a black kangaroo."

1830. R. Dawson' `Present State of Australia,' p. 111:

"In the long coarse grass with which these flats are always covered, a species of small kangaroo is usually found, which the natives call the `wallaby.' Their colour is darker than that of the forest kangaroo, approaching almost to that of a fox, and they seat themselves in the grass like a hare or a rabbit."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' c. ii. p. 28:

"The wallabee is not very common."

1846. J. L. Stokes, `Discoveries in Australia,' vol. i. c. ix.

p. 267:

"The Wallaby are numerous on this part of the island."

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

"Rock wallabies were very numerous."

Ibid. c. xii. p. 418:

"They returned with only a red wallabi (Halmaturus agilis)."

1850. J. B. Clutterbuck, `Port Phillip in 1849,' p. 37:

"The rock Wallaby, or Badger, also belongs to the family of the kangaroo; its length from the nose to the end of the tail is three feet; the colour of the fur being grey-brown."

1855. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes,' p. 12:

"Sipping doubtfully, but soon swallowing with relish, a plate of wallabi-tail soup."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 18:

"Eyre succeeded in shooting a fine wallaby."

[Note]: "A small kind of kangaroo, inhabiting the scrub."

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. vii.

p. 117:

"I have also been frowned upon by bright eyes because I could not eat stewed wallabi. Now the wallabi is a little kangaroo, and to my taste it is not nice to eat even when stewed to the utmost with wine and spices."

1880. Garnet Watch, `Victoria in 1880,' p. 7:

"To hear ... that wallabies are `the women of the native race' cannot but be disconcerting to the well-regulated colonial mind." [He adds a footnote]: "It is on record that a journalistically fostered impression once prevailed, to high English circles, to the effect that a certain colonial Governor exhibited immoral tendencies by living on an island in the midst of a number of favourite wallabies, whom he was known frequently to caress."

188x. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 213:

"Now one hears the pat-pat-pat of a wallaby."

1885. J. B. Stephens, `To a Black Gin,' p. 5:

"Of tons of 'baccy, and tons more to follow,-- Of wallaby as much as thou could'st swallow,-- Of hollow trees, with 'possums in the hollow."

1886. J. A. Froude, `Oceana,' p. 309:

"My two companions ... went off with the keeper [sic] to shoot wallaby. Sir George (Grey) has a paternal affection for all his creatures, and hates to have them killed. But the wallaby multiply so fast that the sheep cannot live for them, and several thousands have to be destroyed annually."

1888. Sir C. Gavan Duffy, in the `Contemporary Review,'

vol. liii. p. 3:

"`Morality!' exclaimed the colonist. `What does your lordship suppose a wallaby to be?' `Why, a half-caste, of course.'

`A wallaby, my lord, is a dwarf kangaroo!'"

Wallaby-Bush, n. a tall shrub or tree, Beyeria viscosa, Miq., N.O. Euphorbiaceae.

Same as the Pinkwood of Tasmania.

Wallaby-Grass, n. an Australian grass, Danthonia penicillata, F. v. M., N.O. Gramineae.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 82:

"`Wallaby Grass.' This perennial artificial grass is useful for mixed pasture."

Wallaby-skin, the skin, with the hair on it, of the wallaby, prized as a warm and ornamental fur for rugs.

1890. `The Argus,' June13, p.6, col. 2:

"A quantity of hair, a wallaby-skin rug.

Wallaby track, On the, or On the Wallaby, or Out on the Wallaby, or simply Wallaby, as adj. [slang]. Tramping the country on foot, looking for work. Often in the bush the only perceptible tracks, and sometimes the only tracks by which the scrub can be penetrated, are the tracks worn down by the Wallaby, as a hare tramples its "form." These tracks may lead to water or they may be aimless and rambling. Thus the man "on the wallaby" may be looking for food or for work, or aimlessly wandering by day and getting food and shelter as a Sundowner (q.v.) at night.

1869. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic Philosopher' (Reprint), p. 41:

"The Wimmera district is noted for the hordes of vagabond `loafers' that it supports, and has earned for itself the name of `The Feeding Track.' I remember an old bush ditty, which I have heard sung when I was on the `Wallaby.' ... At the station where I worked for some time (as `knockabout man') three cooks were kept during the `wallaby' season--one for the house, one for the men, and one for the travellers."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 82:

"`What is the meaning of `out on the wallaby'?' asked Ernest.

`Well, it's bush slang, sir, for men just as you or I might be now, looking for work or something to eat; if we can't get work, living on the country, till things turn round a little.'"

Ibid. p. 388:

"Our friends who pursue the ever-lengthening but not arduous track of the wallaby in Australia."

1893. Gilbert Parker, `Pierre and his People,' p. 242: