"The other genus (<i>Chilodactylus</i>) is also largely represented in Tasmania and Victoria, one species being commonly imported from Hobart Town in a smoked and dried state under the name of `perch.'"
<hw>Perish, doing a</hw>, modern slang from Western Australia. See quotation.
1894. `The Argus,' March 28, p. 5, col. 4:
"When a man (or party) has nearly died through want of water he is said to have `done a perish.'"
<hw>Perpetual Lease</hw>, though a misnomer, is a statutory expression in New Zealand. Under the former Land Acts, the grantee of a perpetual lease took a term of thirty years, with a right of renewal at a revalued rent, subject to conditions as to improvement and cultivation, with a right to purchase the freehold after six years' occupation.
<hw>Perriwinkle</hw>, <i>n</i>. See quotation. The most popular form in Melbourne is <i>Turbo undulatus</i>, Chemnitz. <i>T. constricta</i> is also called the <i>Native Whelk</i>.
1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales,' p. 122:
"<i>Trochocochlea constricta</i>, Lam., is used as a substitute for the British perriwinkle, but it is only consumed to a very small extent."
<hw>Perth Herring</hw>, i.q. <i>Sardine</i> (q.v.), and see <i>Herring</i>.
<hw>Petaurist</hw>, <i>n</i>. the general name for a <i>Flying-Phalanger</i> (q.v.), <i>Flying-Opossum</i> (q.v.), <i>Australian Flying-Squirrel</i> (q.v.). (Grk. <i>petauristaes</i>, a rope-dancer or tumbler). See <i>Petaurus</i>.