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

1872. G. S. Baden-Powell, `New Homes for the Old Country,' p. 208:

"For sheep, too, is made the `basket fence.' Stakes are driven in, and their pliant `stuff' interwoven, as in a stake hedge in England."

<hw>Bastard Dory</hw> and <hw>John Dory</hw> (q.v.), spelt also <HW>Dorey</HW>, <i>n</i>. an Australian fish, <i>Cyttus australis</i>, family <i>Cyttidae</i>; the Australian representative of <i>Zeus faber</i>, the European "John Dory," and its close relative, is called <i>Bastard Dorey</i> in New Zealand, and also <i>Boar-fish</i> (q.v.).

1880. Guenther, `Study of Fishes,' p. 387:

"<i>Histiopterus</i>. . . .The species figured attains to a length of twenty inches, and is esteemed as food. It is known at Melbourne by the names of `Boar-fish' or `Bastard Dorey' (fig.), <i>Histiopterus recurvirostris</i>."

<hw>Bastard Trumpeter</hw>, <i>n</i>. a fish. See <i>Morwong, Paper-fish</i>, and <i>Trumpeter</i>. In Sydney it is <i>Latris ciliaris</i>, Forst., which is called <i>Moki</i> in New Zealand; in Victoria and Tasmania, <i>L. forsteri</i>, Casteln.

1883. `Royal Commission on the Fisheries of Tasmania,' p. 35:

"The bastard trumpeter (<i>Latris Forsteri</i>). . . .Scarcely inferior to the real trumpeter, and superior to it in abundance all the year round, comes the bastard trumpeter. . . This fish has hitherto been confounded with <i>Latris ciliaris</i> (Forst.); but, although the latter species has been reported as existing in Tasmanian waters, it is most probably a mistake: for the two varieties (the red and the white), found in such abundance here, have the general characters as shown above. . . They must be referred to the <i>Latris Forsteri</i> of Count Castelnau, which appears to be the bastard trumpeter of Victorian waters."

<hw>Bat-fish</hw>, <i>n</i>. The name in England is given to a fish of the family <i>Maltheidae</i>. It is also applied to the Flying Gurnard of the Atlantic and to the Californian Sting-ray. In Australia, and chiefly in New South Wales, it is applied to <i>Psettus argenteus</i>, Linn., family <i>Carangidae</i>, or Horse Mackerels. Guenther says that the "Sea Bats," which belong to the closely allied genus <i>Platax</i>, are called so from the extraordinary length of some portion of their dorsal and anal fins and of their ventrals.

<hw>Bathurst Bur</hw>, <i>n</i>. Explained in quotation.