Austral English Part 165

(3) In Tasmania, to Ca.s.sytha p.u.b.escens, R. Br., N.O. Lauraceae.

1877. F. v. Mueller, `Botanic Teachings, p. 43:

"The English mistletoe is the well-known Visc.u.m alb.u.m, whereas all the Victorian kinds belong to the genus Loranthus, of which the Mediterranean L. Europaeus is the prototype. The generic name arose in allusion to the strap-like narrowness of the petals."

[Greek lowron, from Lat. lorum, a thong, and 'anthos, a flower.]

Mitch.e.l.l-Gra.s.s, n. an Australian gra.s.s, Astrebla elymoides, A. triticoides, F. v. M., N.O. Gramineae. Two other species of Astrebla are also called "Mitch.e.l.l-gra.s.ses." See Gra.s.s.

1883. F. M. Bailey, `Synopsis of Queensland Flora,' p. 660:

"Used for food by the natives. The most valuable fodder-gra.s.s of the colony. True Mitch.e.l.l-gra.s.s."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 78:

"Mitch.e.l.l-gra.s.s. The flowering spikes resemble ears of wheat.

. . . It is by no means plentiful."

Moa, n. The word is Maori, and is used by that race as the name of the gigantic struthious bird of New Zealand, scientifically called Dinornis (q.v.). It has pa.s.sed into popular Australasian and English use for all species of that bird. A full history of the discovery of the Moa, of its nature and habits, and of the progress of the cla.s.sification of the species by Professor Owen, from the sole evidence of the fossil remains of its bones, is given in the Introduction to W. L. Buller's `Birds of New Zealand,' Vol. i.

(pp. xviii-x.x.xv).

1820. `Grammar and Vocabulary of New Zealand Language' (Church Missionary Society), p. 181:

"Moe [sic], a bird so called."

1839. `Proceedings of Zoological Society,' Nov. 12:

[Description by Owen of Dinornis without the name of Moa. It contained the words--

"So far as my skill in interpreting an osseous fragment may be credited, I am willing to risk the reputation for it, on the statement that there has existed, if there does not now exist, in New Zealand a Struthious bird, nearly, if not quite equal in size to the Ostrich."]

1844. Ibid. vol. iii. pt. iii. p. 237:

[Description of Dinornis by Owen, in which he names the Moa, and quotes letter from Rev. W. (afterwards Bishop) Williams, dated Feb. 28, 1842, "to which they gave the name of Moa."]

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 137:

"The new genus Dinornis, which includes also the celebrated moa, or gigantic bird of New Zealand, and bears some resemblance to the present Apteryx, or wingless bird of that country ... The New Zealanders a.s.sert that this extraordinary bird was in existence in the days of their ancestors, and was finally destroyed by their grandfathers."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand' (English translation), p. 214:

"First among them were the gigantic wingless Moas, Dinornis and Palapteryx, which seem to have been exterminated already about the middle of the seventeenth century."

[Query, eighteenth century?]

1867. Ibid. p. 181:

"By the term `Moa' the natives signify a family of birds, that we know merely from bones and skeletons, a family of real giant-birds compared with the little Apterygides."

[Footnote]: "Moa or Toa, throughout Polynesia, is the word applied to domestic fowls, originating perhaps from the Malay word mua, a kind of peasants [sic]. The Maoris have no special term for the domestic fowl."

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' Introduction, p. lvi. [Footnote]:

"I have remarked the following similarity between the names employed in the Fijian and Maori languages for the same or corresponding birds: Toa (any fowl-like kind of bird) = Moa (Dinornis)."

Mob, n. a large number, the Australian noun of mult.i.tude, and not implying anything low or noisy. It was not used very early, as the first few of the following quotations show.

1811. G. Paterson, `History of New South Wales,' p. 530:

"Besides herds of kangaroos, four large wolves were seen at Western Port."

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

[p. 110]: "Herds of kangaroos."

[p. 139]: "An immense herd of kangaroos."

[p. 196]: "Flocks of kangaroos of every size."

1835. T. B. Wilson, `Voyage round the World,' p. 243:

"We started several flocks of kangaroos."

1836. Dec. 26, Letter in `Three Years' Practical Experience of a Settler in New South Wales,' p.44:

"A man buying a flock of sheep, or a herd of cattle ...

While I watched the mop I had collected." [This, thus spelt, seems the earliest instance.]

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 6:

"Droves of kangaroos."

Of Men--

[But with the Australian and not the ordinary English signification.]

1874. W. M. B., `Narrative of Edward Crewe,' p. 223:

"A contractor in a large way having a mob of men in his employ."

1890. `The Argus,' Aug.16, p.13, Col. 2:

"It doesn't seem possible to get a mob of steady men for work of that sort now."

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. ix. p. 69:

"He, tho' living fifty miles away, was one of the `Dunmore mob,' and aided generally in the symposia which were there enjoyed."