Austral English Part 94

1852. G. S. Rutter [Title]:

"Hints to Gold-hunters."

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. v. p. 48:

"I was not as one of the reckless gold-hunters with which the camp was thronged."

Gold-mining, verbal n.

1852. J. A.Phillips [Title]:

"Gold-mining; a Scientific Guide for Australian Emigrants."

1880. G. Sutherland, `Tales of Goldfields,' p. 23:

"He had already had quite enough of gold-mining."

Gold-seeking, adj.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Miner's Right,' c. xv. p. 150:

"The great gold-seeking multitude had swelled ... to the population of a province."

Golden Bell-Frog, n. name applied to a large gold and green frog, Hyla aurea, Less., which, unlike the great majority of the family Hylidae to which it belongs, is terrestrial and not arboreal in its habits, being found in and about water-holes in many parts of Australia.

1881. F. McCoy, `Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria,'

Dec. 6, pl. 53:

"So completely alike was the sound of the Bell-frogs in an adjoining pond at night to the noise of the men by day."

Golden-chain, n. another name for the Laburnum (q.v.).

Golden-eye, n. the bird Certhia lunulatu, Shaw; now called Melithreptus lunulatus, Shaw, and classed as White-naped Honey-eater (q.v.).

1827. Vigors and Horsfield, `Transactions of Linnaean Society,'

vol. xv. p. 315:

"`This bird,' Mr. Caley says, `is called Golden-eye by the settlers. I shot it at Iron Cove, seven miles from Sydney, on the Paramatta road.'"

Golden-Perch, n. a fresh-water fish of Australia, Ctenolates ambiguus, Richards., family Percidae, and C. christyi, Castln.; also called the Yellow-belly. C. ambiguus is common in the rivers and lagoons of the Murray system.

Golden-Rosemary, n. See Rosemary.

Golden-Wattle, n. See Wattle.

1896. `The Argus,' July 20, p. 5, col. 8:

"Many persons who had been lured into gathering armfuls of early wattle had cause to regret their devotion to the Australian national bloom, for the golden wattle blossoms produced unpleasant associations in the minds of the wearers of the green, and there were blows and curses in plenty.

In political botany the wattle and blackthorn cannot grow side by side."

1896. `The Melburnian,' Aug. 28, p. 53:

"The last two weeks have been alive with signs and tokens, saying `Spring is coming, Spring is here.' And though this may not be the `merry month of May,' yet it is the time of glorious Golden Wattle,--wattle waving by the river's bank, nodding aloft its soft plumes of yellow and its gleaming golden oriflamme, or bending low to kiss its own image in the brown waters which it loves."

Goodenia, n. the scientific and popular name of a genus of Australian plants, closely resembling the Gentians; there are many species. The name was given by Sir James Smith, president of the Linnaean Society, in 1793.

See quotation.

1793. `Transactions of the Linn.can Society,' vol. ii. p. 346:

"I [Smith] have given to this ... genus the name of Goodenia, in honour of ... Rev. Dr. Goodenough, treasurer of this Society, of whose botanical merits ... example of Tournefort, who formed Gundelia from Gundelscheimer."

[Dr. Goodenough became Bishop of Carlisle; he was the grandfather of Commodore Goodenough.]

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 188:

"A species of Goodenia is supposed to be used by the native gins to cause their children to sleep on long journeys, but it is not clear which is used."

Goodletite, n. scientific name for a matrix in which rubies are found. So named by Professor Black of Dunedin, in honour of his assistant, William Goodlet, who was the first to discover the rubies in the matrix, on the west coast.

1894. `Grey River Argus,' September:

"Several sapphires of good size and colour have been found, also rubies in the matrix--Goodletite."

Goondie, n. a native hut. Gundai = a shelter in the Wiradhuri dialect. It is the same word as Gunyah (q.v.).

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 204:

"There were a dozen `goondies' to be visited, and the inmates started to their work."

Goose, n. English bird-name. The Australian species are--

Cape Barren Goose-- Cereopsis novae-hollandiae, Lath. [Gould (`Birds of Australia,' vol. vii. pl. 1) calls it the Cereopsis Goose, or Cape Barren Goose of the Colonists.]

Maned G. (or Wood-duck, q.v.)-- Branta jubata, Lath.

Pied G.-- Anseranus melanoleuca, Lath.

Called also Magpie-Goose and Swan-Goose.

1843. J. Backhouse, `Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies,' p. 75:

"Five pelicans and some Cape Barren Geese were upon the beach of Preservation Island [Bass Strait]."

Goose-teal, n. the English name for a very small goose of the genus Nettapus. The Australian species are--

Green,-- Nettapus pulchellus, Gould;

White-quilled,-- N. albipennis, Gould.