<hw>Paddymelon</hw>, <i>n</i>. the name of a small <i>Wallaby</i> (q.v.), <i>Macropus thetidis</i>, Less. It is certainly a corruption of an aboriginal name, and is spelt variously <i>pademelon, padmelon</i>, and <i>melon</i> simply. (See <i>Melon-holes</i>.) This word is perhaps the best instance in Australia of the law of Hobson-Jobson, by which a strange word is fitted into a language, assuming a likeness to existing words without any regard to the sense. The Sydney name for kangaroo was <i>patagorang</i>. See early quotations. This word seems to give the first half of the modern word. <i>Pata</i>, or <i>pada</i>, was the generic name: <i>mella</i> an adjective denoting the species. <i>Paddymalla</i> (1827) marks an intermediate stage, when one-half of the word had been anglicised. At Jervis Bay, New South Wales, the word <i>potalemon</i> was used for a kangaroo.
1793. J. Hunter, `Voyage,' p. 547:
"The pattagorang and baggaray frequently supplied our colonists with fresh meals, and Governor Phillip had three young ones, which were likely to live: he has not the least doubt but these animals are formed in the false belly."
1798. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 548:
"The pat-ta-go-rang or kangooroo was (bood-yer-re) good, and they ate it whenever they were fortunate enough to kill one."
1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i. p. 310:
"The wallabee and paddymalla grow to about sixty pounds each."
1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 212:
"Had hunted down a paddymelon (a very small species of kangaroo, which is found in the long grass and thick brushes)."
1845. Clement Hodgkinson, `Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay,' p. 45: