A state of humour, usually negative and apparently common in the early hours of the morning on awakening. Also peevish, and in extremes, bloody minded. During the South Australian Government's expedition of 1903, Basedow "often wondered how the word livery came to be so generally used in the Australian bush, When a man is in anything but a good temper or mood he is livery. Might one explain the fundamental suggestion on the lines of the ancient trend of thought that defined the temperaments according to the bile in one's system".

Lasseter could be particularly bilious, and threatened fisticuffs with Blakeley on one occasion, and he found the enforced wait for Coote and Hall at Illbilla in early September especially trying. "Harry was crotchety; he was picking on Phil but he got no change from Phil who merely said, 'There, that is another sure sign that your liver needs treatment'. There are three or four different kinds of pills in the medicine chest. Any one of them is guaranteed to cure liver complaints".

Lasseter's liver appears to have been a chronic problem, Hubbard, Lasseter's biographer mentions a memorable and well reported stoush between Lasseter and his Boss, it was a bloody 'all in' affray, fought to exhaustion with no winner. Lasseter was 31 at the time, a couple of years after his return from the U.S.A. One suspects Lasseter would give a good account of himself, but at five foot two he would be at a disadvantage. Hubbard has unearthed several references to Lasseter's aggressive tetchy nature.

Frequent reference is made to the health of Lasseter's liver and perhaps he was incurable of the condition if one is to believe Paul Johns account of the brawl somewhere in the Petermanns and his own Diary entries regarding aggressive relations with the Aboriginals. It is possible that Lasseter's liver hastened his demise.

LASSETERIA

  
© R.Ross. 1999-2006