y are carried across
narrow inlets, to continue the process of embarking."

1887. J. Bonwick, `Romance of Wool Trade,' p. 239:

"Though grasses are sadly conspicuous by their absence, saline
plants, so nutritious for stock, occur amidst the real deserts
of Spinifex."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 43:

"On the broad sandy heights . . . the so-called spinifex is
found in great abundance. This grass (<i>Triodia irritans</i>)
is the traveller's torment, and makes the plains, which it
sometimes covers for hundreds of miles, almost impassable. Its
blades, which have points as sharp as needles, often prick the
horses' legs till they bleed."

1893. A. F. Calvert, `English Illustrated Magazine,' Feb.,
p. 325:

"They evidently preferred that kind of watercress to the leaves
of the horrid, prickly Spinifex, so omnipresent in the
north-western district."

1896. R. Tate, `Horne Expedition in Central Australia,'
Botany, p. 119:

"A species of Triodia (`porcupine grass,' or incorrectly
`spinifex' of explorers and residents) dominates sandy ground
and the sterile slopes and tops of the sandstone table-lands."

<hw>Spiny-Lizard</hw>, <i>n</i>. i.q. <i>Mountain Devil</i>
(q.v.).

<hw>Split-stuff</hw>, <i>n</i>. timber sawn into lengths and
then split.

1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 159:

"`Sawed stuff' and `split stuff,' by which is meant timber
which is <i>sawn</i> into regular forms and thicknesses, as
flooring boards, joints, battens, &c., and that which is
<i>split</i> into `posts and rails,' slabs, or paling. Some of
the species of <i>eucalyptus</i>, or gum-trees, are peculiarly
adapted for splitting. The peppermint-tree (<i>Eucalyptus
piperita</i>) and the `Stringy Bark' are remarkable for the
perfectly straight grain which they often exhibit, and are
split with surprising evenness and regularity into paling and
boards for `weather-boarding' houses and other purposes, in
lengths of six or eight feet by one foot wide, and half or
one-third of an inch thick. . . . Any curve in a tree renders
it unfit for splitting, but the crooked- grained wood is best
for sawing. . . . All houses in the colony, with few
exceptions, are roofed with split shingles."

<hw>Splitter</hw>, <i>n</i>. a wood-cutter, cutting timber
in the bush, and splitting it into posts and rails, palings
or shingles. See quotation under <i>Split-stuff</i>.

1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 105:

"