Austral English Part 171
p. 43:
"Not a drop of rain! And for many and many a day the jackaroo will still chop down the limbs of the mulga-tree, that of its tonic leaves the sheep may eat and live."
1894. `The Argus,' Sept. 1, p. 4, col. 2:
"The dull green of the mulga-scrub at their base."
1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 85:
"Flax and tussock and fern, Gum and mulga and sand, Reef and palm--but my fancies turn Ever away from land."
(2) A weapon, made of mulgawood.
(a) A shield.
1878. `Catalogue of Ethnotypical Art in the National Gallery'
(Melbourne), p. 19:
"Mulga. Victoria. Thirty-six inches in length. This specimen is 37 inches in length and 5 inches in breadth at the broadest part. The form of a section through the middle is nearly triangular. The aperture for the hand (cut in the solid wood) is less than 4 inches in length. Ornamentation :Herring-bone, the incised lines being filled in with white clay. Some figures of an irregular form are probably the distinguishing marks of the owner's tribe. This shield was obtained from Larne-Gherin in the Western District."
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 349:
"Mulga is the name of a long narrow shield of wood, made by the aboriginals out of acacia-wood."
(b) In one place Sir Thomas Mitch.e.l.l speaks of it as a club.
1839. T. L. Mitch.e.l.l, `Three Expeditions,' vol. ii. p. 267:
"The malga [sic] ... with which these natives were provided, somewhat resembled a pick-axe with one half broken off."
.
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 3:
"In Western New South Wales two kinds of galls are found on these trees. One kind is very astringent, and not used; but the other is less abundant, larger, succulent and edible.
These latter galls are called `mulga-apples,' and are said to be very welcome to the thirsty traveller."
1889. E. Giles, `Australia Twice Traversed,' p. 71:
"The mulga bears a small woody fruit called the mulga apple.
It somewhat resembles the taste of apples and is sweet."
.
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 201:
"Fascinating territories of limitless mulga-downs."
.
1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 82:
"Mulga Gra.s.s... . Peculiar to the back country. It derives its vernacular name from being only found where the mulga-tree (Acacia aneura and other species) grows; it is a very nutritious and much esteemed gra.s.s."
.
1864. J. McDouall Stuart, `Explorations in Australia,'
p. 190:
"For the first three miles our course was through a very thick mulga scrub, with plenty of gra.s.s, and occasionally a little spinifex."
1875. John Forrest, `Explorations in Australia,' p. 220:
"Travelled till after dark through and over spinifex plains, wooded with acacia and mulga scrub, and camped without water and only a little scrub for the horses, having travelled nearly forty miles."
1876. W. Harcus, `South Australia,' p. 127:
"The road for the next thirty miles, to Charlotte Waters Telegraph Station, is characterized by mulga-scrub, open plains, sand-hills, and stony rises poorly gra.s.sed."
1893. A. R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 47:
"Still more dreaded by the explorer is the `Mulga' scrub, consisting chiefly of dwarf acacias. These grow in spreading irregular bushes armed with strong spines, and where matted with other shrubs form a ma.s.s of vegetation through which it is impossible to penetrate."
. with Mulga growing here and there.
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 201:
"The frown on the face of the mulga-studded lowlands deepened."
, or Grey-Mullets. They are the--
Flat-tail Mullet-- Mugil peronii, Cuv. and Val.
Hard-gut M.-- M. dobula, Gunth.
Sand-M., or Talleygalanu-- Myxus elongatus, Gunth. (called also Poddy in Victoria).
Sea-M.-- M. grandis, Castln.
In New Zealand, the Mullet is Mugil perusii, called the Silver-Mullet (Maori name, Kanae); and the Sea-Mullet, Agonostoma forsteri (Maori name, Aua, q.v.); abundant also in Tasmanian estuaries.
The Sand-Mullet in Tasmania is Mugil cephalotus, Cuv. and Val. See also Red-Mullet.
1890. `Victorian Statutes--Fisheries Act, Second Schedule':
[Close Season.] "Sand-mullet or poddies."
. In English, the word is obsolete; it was used by Chaucer in the sense of refuse, dirt. In Australia, it is confined to" `rubbish, dirt, stuff taken out of a mine--the refuse after the vein-stuff is taken away'
(Brough Smyth's `Glossary')."