Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia

by Edward Ellis Morris

"You have only to cover the desert with pale-green saliferous bushes, no higher than a man's knee."

<hw>Sallee</hw>, <i>n</i>. aboriginal name for many varieties of the <i>Acacia</i> (q.v.).

<hw>Sally</hw>, <hw>Sallow</hw>, <i>n</i>. corruptions of the aboriginal word <i>Sallee</i> (q.v.). There are many varieties, e.g. <i>Black-Sally</i>, <i>White-Sally</i>, etc.

<hw>Salmon</hw>, <i>n</i>. The English Salmon is being acclimatised with difficulty in Tasmania and New Zealand; the <i>Trout</i> more successfully. But in all Australian, New Zealand, and Tasmanian waters there is a marine fish which is called Salmon; it is not the true Salmon of the Old World, but <i>Arripis salar</i>, Gunth., and called in New Zealand by the Maori name <i>Kahawai</i>. The fish is often called also <i>Salmon-Trout</i>. The young is called <i>Samson-fish</i> (q.v.).

1798. D. Collins, `Account of the English Colony of New South Wales,' p. 136:

[Sept. 1790.] "Near four thousand of a fish, named by us, from its shape only, the Salmon, being taken at two hauls of the seine. Each fish weighed on an average about five pounds."

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 93:

"The kawai has somewhat of the habits of the salmon, entering during spring and summer into the bays, rivers, and fresh-water creeks in large shoals."

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 393:

"<i>Arripis salar</i>, South Australia. Three species are known, from the coasts of Southern Australia and New Zealand. They are named by the colonists Salmon or Trout, from their elegant form and lively habits, and from the sport they afford to the angler."