properly Yappee, aboriginal name for a small crayfish found in water-holes in many partsof Australia, Astacopsis bicarinatus. The Rev. F. A.Hagenauer gives Yappy, in `Curr's Australian Race,'vol. iii. p. 554, as a Gippsland word. Such variants asthe following occur – – Yappitch, kapich, yabbechi,yaabity. The distinction between the thin and thickconsonants is usually uncertain.
1894. `The Argus,' Oct. 6, p. 11, col. 2:
«In the case of small crayfish, called `yabbies,' . . . thesemay be found all over Australia, both in large and smalllagoons. These creatures, whilst nearing a drought, and as thesupply of water is about to fail, burrow deeply in the beds ofthe lagoons, water-holes, or swamps, piling up the excavationson the surface over their holes, which I take, amongst otherreasons, to be a provision against excessive heat.»
1897. `The Australasian,' Jan. 30, p. 224, col. 4:
«The bait used is `yabby,' a small crayfish found in the sandon the beach at low tide. The getting of the bait itself isvery diverting. The yabbies are most prized by fish andfishermen, and the most difficult to obtain. The game is veryshy, and the hunter, when he has found the burrow, has to digrapidly to overtake it, for the yabby retires with marvellousrapidity, and often half a dozen lifts of wet sand have to bemade before he is captured. There is no time to be lost. Inquite twenty-five per cent. of the chases the yabbies get awaythrough flooding and collapse of the hole.»