Austral English. Edward Ellis Morris

within easy distance.

      1887. G. L. Apperson, in `All the Year Round,' July 30, p. 67, col. 1 (`O.E.D.'):

      "A common mode of expression is to be `within cooey' of a place. … Now to be `within cooey' of Sydney is to be at the distance of an easy journey therefrom."

      1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), June 26, p. 2, col. 6:

      "Witness said that there was a post-office clock `within coo-ee,' or within less than half-a-mile of the station."

      1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 80:

      "Just to camp within a cooey of the Shanty for the night."

      <hw>Cooee</hw>, <i>v.intr</i>. to utter the call.

      1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 81:

      "Our sable guides `cooed' and `cooed' again, in their usual tone of calling to each other at a distance."

      1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition, p. 115:

      "Brown cooyed to him, and by a sign requested him to wait for us."

      1847. J. D. Lang, `Phillipsland,' p. 85 [Footnote]:

      "Cooey is the aboriginal mode of calling out to any person at a distance, whether visible or not, in the forest. The sound is made by dwelling on the first syllable, and pronouncing the second with a short, sharp, rising inflexion. It is much easier made, and is heard to a much greater distance than the English <i>holla</i>! and is consequently in universal use among the colonists. … There is a story current in the colony of a party of native-born colonists being in London, one of whom, a young lady, if I recollect aright, was accidentally separated from the rest, in the endless stream of pedestrians and vehicles of all descriptions, at the intersection of Fleet Street with the broad avenue leading to Blackfriars Bridge. When they were all in great consternation and perplexity at the circumstance, it occurred to one of the party to <i>cooey</i>, and the well-known sound, with its ten thousand Australian associations, being at once recognised and responded to, a reunion of the party took place immediately, doubtless to the great wonderment of the surrounding Londoners, who would probably suppose they were all fit for Bedlam."

      1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 90:

      "They [the aborigines] warily entered scrubs, and called out (cooyed) repeatedly in approaching water-holes, even when yet at a great distance."

      1852. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 91:

      "A female, born on this division of the globe, once stood at the foot of London Bridge, and cooyed for her husband, of whom she had lost sight, and stopped the passengers by the novelty of the sound; which however is not unknown in certain neighbourhoods of the metropolis. Some gentlemen, on a visit to a London theatre, to draw the attention of their friends in an opposite box, called out cooey; a voice in the gallery answered `Botany Bay!'"

      1880 (circa). `Melbourne Punch,' [In the days of long trains]:

      "George, there's somebody treading on my dress; cooee to the bottom of the stairs."

      <hw>Coo-in-new</hw>, <i>n</i>. aboriginal name for "a useful verbenaceous timber-tree of Australia, <i>Gmelina leichhardtii</i>, F. v. M. The wood has a fine silvery grain, and is much prized for flooring and for the decks of vessels, as it is reputed never to shrink after a moderate seasoning." (`Century.') Usually called <i>Mahogany-tree</i> (q.v.).

      <hw>Coolaman</hw> or <hw>Kooliman</hw>, <i>n</i>. an aboriginal word, Kamilaroi Dialect of New South Wales. [W. Ridley, `Kamilaroi,' p. 25, derives it from <i>Kulu</i>, seed, but it is just as likely from <i>Kolle</i>, water.—J. Mathew.] A hollowed knot of a tree, used as a seed vessel, or for holding water. The word is applied to the excrescence on the tree as well as to the vessel; a bush hand has been heard to speak of a hump-backed man as `cooliman-backed.'

      1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 269:

      "Three koolimans (vessels of stringy bark) were full of honey water, from one of which I took a hearty draught."

      1863. M. K. Beveridge, `Gatherings among the Gum-trees,' p. 37:

      "And the beautiful Lubrina

       Fetched a Cooliman of water."

      [In Glossary.] Cooliman, a hollow knot of a tree for holding water.

      186. W. Howitt, `Discovery in Australia, vol. ii. p. 24:

      "Koolimans, water vessels … The koolimans were made of the inner layer of the bark of the stringy-bark tree."

      1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 185:

      "Coolaman, native vessel for holding water."

      1885. Mrs. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 76:

      "Cooliman, a vessel for carrying water, made out of the bark which covers an excrescence peculiar to a kind of gum-tree."

      <hw>Cooper's-flag</hw>, <i>n</i>. another name in New Zealand for <i>Raupo</i> (q.v.).

      <hw>Coopers-wood</hw>, <i>n</i>. the timber of an Australian tree, <i>Alphitonia excelsa</i>, Reiss, <i>N.O. Rhamneae</i>. The wood becomes dark with age, and is used for coopers' staves and various purposes.

      1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 373:

      "Variously called Mountain-ash, Red-ash, Leather-jacket, and Coopers-wood."