stralian diggings `Joe' was the
warning word shouted out when the police or gold commissioners
were seen approaching, but is now the chaff for new chums."
1865. F. H. Nixon, `Peter Perfume,' p. 58:
"And Joe joed them out, Tom toed them out."
1891. `The Argus,' Dec. 5, p. 13, col. 4:
"`The diggers,' he says, `were up in arms against the
Government officials, and whenever a policeman or any other
Government servant was seen they raised the cry of "Joe-Joe."'
The term was familiar to every man in the fifties. In the
earliest days of the diggings proclamations were issued on
diverse subjects, but mostly in the direction of curtailing the
privileges of the miners. These were signed, `C. Joseph La
Trobe,' and became known by the irreverent--not to say flippant
--description of `Joes.' By an easy transition, the corruption
of the second name of the Governor was applied to his officers,
between whom and the spirited diggers no love was lost, and
accordingly the appearance of a policeman on a lead was
signalled to every tent and hole by the cry of `Joe-Joe.'"
Joey, n. (1) A young kangaroo.
1839. W. H. Leigh, `Reconnoitring Voyages in South Australia'
pp. 93-4:
"Here [in Kangaroo Island] is also the wallaba . . . The
young of the animal is called by the islanders a joe."
1861. T. McCombie, I`Australian Sketches,' p. 172:
"The young kangaroos are termed joeys. The female carries the
latter in her pouch, but when hard pressed by dogs, and likely
to be sacrificed, she throws them down, which usually distracts
the attention of the pack and affords the mother sufficient
time to escape."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 10:
"Sometimes when the flying doe throws her `joey' from her
pouch the dogs turn upon the little one."
1896. F. G. Aflalo, `Natural History of Australia,' p. 29:
"At length the actual fact of the Kangaroo's birth, which is
much as that of other mammals, was carefully observed at the
London Zoo, and the budding fiction joined the myths that were.
It was there proved that the little `joey' is brought into the
world in the usual way, and forthwith conveyed to the
comfortable receptacle and affixed to the teat by the dam,
which held the lifeless-looking little thing tenderly in her
cloven lips."
(2) Also slang used for a baby or little child, or even a young
animal, such as a little guinea-pig. Compare "kid."
(3) A hewer of wood and drawer of water.
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