Austral English Part 166
Of Blackfellows--
1822. J. West, `History of Tasmania' (1852), vol. ii.
p. 12:
"The settlers of 1822 remember a number of natives, who roamed about the district, and were known as the `tame mob'; they were absconders from different tribes."
1830. Newspaper (Tasmanian), March, (cited J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 42):
"A mob of natives appeared at Captain Smith's hut, at his run."
1835. H. Melville, `History of Van Diemen's Land,' p. 75:
"A mob of some score or so of natives, men, women, and children, had been discovered by their fires."
1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia', p. 107:
"A whole crowd of men on horseback get together, with a mob of blacks to a.s.sist them."
1892. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 134:
"At the side of the crowd was a small mob of blacks with their dogs, spears, possum rugs, and all complete."
Of Cattle--
1860. R. Donaldson, `Bush Lays,' p. 14:
"Now to the stockyard crowds the mob; 'Twill soon be milking time."
1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 70:
"A number of cattle collected together is colonially termed a mob."
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii.
p. 105:
"A mixed mob of cattle--cows, steers, and heifers-- had to be collected."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 120:
"`Mobs' or small sub-divisions of the main herd."
Of Sheep--
1860. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 169:
"It was more horrible to see the drowning, or just drowned, huddled-up `mob' (as sheep en ma.s.se are technically called) which had made the dusky patch we noticed from the hill."
1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 22, p. 34, col. 2:
"A mob of sheep has been sold at Belfast at 1s. 10d. per head."
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 83
"The army of sheep--about thirty thousand in fifteen flocks-- at length reached the valley before dark, and the overseer, pointing to a flock of two thousand, more or less, said, `There's your mob.'"
Of Horses--
1865. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 27:
"All the animals to make friends with, mobs of horses to look at."
1879. W. J. Barry, `Up and Down,' p. 197:
"I purchased a mob of horses for the Dunstan market."
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 111:
"The stockman came suddenly on a mob of nearly thirty horses, feeding up a pleasant valley."
Of Kangaroos--
1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 59:
"The `old men' are always the largest and strongest in the flock, or in colonial language `mob.'"
1864. `Once a Week,' Dec. 31, p. 45, `The Bulla Bulla Bunyip':
"About a mile outside the town a four-rail fence skirted the rough track we followed. It enclosed a lucerne paddock.
Over the grey rails, as we approached, came bounding a mob of kangaroos, headed by a gigantic perfectly white `old man,'
which glimmered ghostly in the moonlight."
Of Ducks--
1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia, p. 99:
"They [the ducks] all came in twos and threes, and small mobs."
Of Clothes--
1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 22, p. 2, col. 6:
"They b.u.t.toned up in front; the only suit to the mob which did so."
Of Books--
1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compa.s.s in Australia,' p. 72:
"If it was in your mob of books, give this copy to somebody that would appreciate it."