rers, and do the branding. . . . The shearers hold themselves
as the aristocrats of the shed; and never associate with the
rouseabouts."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 58:

"While we sat there, a rouseabout came to the door. `Mountain
Jim's back,' he said. There was no `sir' in the remark of
this lowest of stationhands to his master."

1894. `Sydney Morning Herald' (date lost):

"A rougher person--perhaps a happier--is the rouseabout, who
makes himself useful in the shearing shed. He is clearly a man
of action. He is sometimes with less elegance, and one would
say less correctly, spoken of as a roustabout."

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 98 [Title of
poem, `Middleton's Rouseabout']:

"Flourishing beard and sandy,
Tall and robust and stout;
This is the picture of Andy,
Middleton's Rouseabout."

<hw>Rowdy</hw>, <i>adj</i>. troublesome. Common slang,
but unusual as applied to a bullock or a horse.

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 69:

"Branding or securing a troublesome or, colonially, a `rowdy'
bullock."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River, p. 125:

"And I can ride a rowdy colt, or swing the axe all day."

<hw>Rua</hw>, <i>n</i>. Maori word (used in North Island)
for a pit, cave or hole. A place for storing roots,
such as potatoes, etc. Formerly some of these <i>rua</i>
had carved entrances.

<hw>Ruffy</hw> or <hw>Ruffie</hw>, <i>n</i>. a fish.
See <i>Rough</i> or <i>Roughy</i>.

<hw>Run</hw>, <i>n</i>. (1) Tract of land over which sheep or
cattle may graze. It is curious that what in England is called
a sheep-walk, in Australia is a sheep-run. In the Western
United States it is a sheep-ranch. Originally the squatter, or
sheep-farmer, did not own the land. It was unfenced, and he
simply had the right of grazing or "running" his sheep or
cattle on it. Subsequently, in many cases, he purchased the
freehold, and the word is now applied to a large station
property, fenced or unfenced. (See quotation, 1883.)

1826. Goldie, in Bischoff's `Van Diemen's Land' (1832),
p. 157:

"It is generally speaking a good sheep-run."

1828. Report of Van Diemen's band Company, in Bischoff's
`Van Diemen's Land' (1832), p. 117:

"A narrow slip of good sheep-run down the west coast."

1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 8, p. 4, col. 3:

"The thousand runs stated as the number in Port Phillip under
the new regulations w