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

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 318:

"The wombat, a large animal of the size of a mastiff, burrowing in the ground, feeding on grass and roots and attaining considerable fatness."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' p. 175:

"The dogs had caught . . . two badgers or woombacks."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 58:

"The Wombat is a large kind of badger, which burrows in the ground to a considerable depth, and is taken by the blacks for food; it makes a noise, when attacked in its hole, something similar to the grunting of a pig."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 129:

"Mere rudimentary traces (of a pouch) in the pig-like wombat."

1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 325:

"The Wombat, commonly called in the colony Badger (<i>Phascolomys wombat</i>, Peron.), is an animal weighing forty to eighty pounds, having a large body with short legs. Notwithstanding its burrowing habits, and the excessive thickness and toughness of its skin, it is usually so easily killed that it is becoming less and less common."