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

1864. J. Rogers, `New Rush,' pt. 2, p. 46:

"The females would be comely looking gins,
Were not their limbs so much like rolling-pins."

1865. S. Bennett, `Australian Discovery,' p. 250:

"Gin or gun, a woman. Greek <i>gunae</i> and derivative words in English, such as generate, generation, and the like."

1872. C. H. Eden, `MY Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 118:

"The gins are captives of their bow and spear, and are brought home before the captor on his saddle. This seems the orthodox way of wooing the coy forest maidens. . . . All blacks are cruel to their gins."

1880. J. Brunton Stephens, `Poems' [Title]:

"To a black gin."

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 23:

"Certain stout young gins or lubras, set apart for the purpose, were sacrificed."