Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(Aus.) to drink or eat.

1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Apr. 7/1: Rather unfortunately for posterity, the Boree scribe arrived just as the last chunk of the corned beef and cabbage had been surrounded by the village schoolmaster, and the account of how the battle raged is therefore confined to the short and pithy statement that ‘the luscious viands melted quicker than the change of half a sovereign’.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 28 Apr. 14/4: Not generally known that the frog is a cannibal. Writer placed a large brown one in a tin with a number of smaller ones, and subsequently found him ‘surrounding’ his mates.
1905		Sun. Times (Perth) 8 Oct. 1/3: After successfully surrounding the wallop they did in their cash at Canning.
1917		R. Lardner ‘Carmen’ in Gullible’s Travels 8: I just managed to surround a piece o’ steak as big as your eye and spill some gravy on my clo’es when the bell rung.