settlers' matches

n.

name occasionally appliedto the long pendulous strips of bark which hang from theEucalypts and other trees, during decortication, and which,bec oming exceedingly dry, are readily ignited and used askindling wood.

1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 84:

«In the silence of the darkness and the playing of the breeze,

That we heard the settlers' matches rustle softly in the trees.»

1896. `The Australasian,' June 13, p. 1133, col. 1:

« Re settlers' matches, torches, the blacks in theSouth-east of South Australia always used the bark of theshe-oak to carry from one camp to another; it would last andkeep alight for a long time and show a good light to travel bywhen they had no fire. A fire could always be lighted with twograss trees, a small fork, and a bit of dry grass. I haveoften started a fire with them myself.»