50 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
HOW THE AUSTRALIAN EMU CAME BY ITS 
VERNACULAR NAME. 
(By J. J, Fletcher, M.A., B.Sc.) 
Tue. term Emu, or Emeu, is said to be derived from a Portu- 
guese word Hma or Hmea, signifying a crane or large bird.* 
The name was formerly applied to the ostrich-like bird of the 
island of Ceram, subsequently known as the cassowary§; as 
well as to the struthious birds of South America, afterwards. 
called. South American Ostriches or Rheas.t As the Portu- 
guese had no share in the colonisation of Australia, it seems a 
legitimate question to ask, how it is. that a word of Portuguese: 
origin has been for more than a century the current vernacular 
name of the common struthious bird of Australia ? The answer 
to this question does not seem to be generally known. The 
most copious bibliography of the literature relating to the 
Australian emu is perhaps that to be found in the last volume 
(XXVIL.) of. the British Museum Catalogue of Birds (1895,:p. 
586). Nevertheless, this bibliography omits any reference to the 
earliest work in which the name is applied to the Australian 
bird. 5 
The facts are simple. On 26th January, 1788, Governor 
Phillip saw his fleet safely at anchor in Sydney Cove. On 2nd 
March following, the Governor made an exploring visit to 
Broken Bay, returning on the 9th. During his absence the 
first emu of which we have any definite account, was killed: 
within a distance of two miles of the settlement: As the first 
milestone is still extant, at the corner of George and Liverpool: 
Streets, the scene of the tragedy may very well have been 
within a radius of about half a mile of the site of the now dis- 
mantled Redfern Railway Station. Several of the officers beside 
the Governor were keeping journals, and one or two of them 
were interested in natural history. The capture of the first emu, 
therefore, excited some considerable interest, and afforded’ a 
_ pleasant break in the monotony which prevailed just at that 
particular period in colonial history. 
The earliest accounts of the Australian Emu are to be found 
in-the first two books dealing: with the history of/the settlement 
-at/ Port Jackson, to be published: These were Captain Watkin: 
Tench’s ‘“‘ Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay,” etc., a, 
thin octavo of 146 pp., without illustrations, and the more 
elaborate and. illustrated quarto, entitled, “The Voyage of 
Governor Phillip to Botany Bay.” According to the dates 
given on the title-pages of the first editions, both works were 
published in the same year, 1789; but it seems now impossible: 
to determine which of them appeared first. The preface of 
*Prof, Newton’s article‘‘Emeu,”’ Encyclop.. Brit., 9th Edit., Vol viii., p. 171. 
_§Any of the older ornithological works,such as Ray & Willoughby’s “Ornithologie,” 
1676, p; 105: 
+Charles Darwin’s ‘J ournal of Researches,’’ &., 1860, p. 93, (quoting Dobrizhoffer, 
1749, who, even at this early period, knew of more than one species), 
