Riverina Rewind: The mysterious Brungle Bunyip of 1883

In the latter half of 1883, the nation was abuzz with the news that a mythical creature of Aboriginal legend had been finally proven to exist with a remarkable discovery in a quiet corner of the Riverina.

In an article on 15 September, The Nepean Times declared: “It’s certainly a remarkable fact that though numberless authenticated stories have been told about the bunyip, one has never yet been captured.

“The lagoons about the valley of the Tumut have long been accredited as the favorite haunt of the beast, and now, it seems an opportunity has occurred here of confirming its existence.”

Of all the creatures of legend in Australia, few have cast as long a shadow, or struck as much fear into the hearts of First Nations people and European settlers alike, as the bunyip.

Wiradjuri mob remain familiar with tales of creatures and water spirits like the bunyip and the Waawii, which lurked in the creeks, rivers and billabongs of the Riverina. And while descriptions of these ancient guardians of waterways vary, children were warned to be careful lest they be snatched away.

The word has its origins in the Wemba-Wemba language from around Swan Hill, but it was picked up quickly by colonists and applied broadly to tales and sightings of mysterious aquatic creatures in the waterways of NSW and Victoria.

The earliest account of a bunyip appeared in the Geelong Advertiser on Wednesday, 2 July, 1845, with the description of “a wonderful discovery of a new animal”.

The story goes that an unusual bone was found and shown to an Aboriginal man, who immediately identified it as a “bunyip”. The bone was shown to various others, who agreed and told tales of their encounters with the beast and listed the relatives it had killed.

“The most direct evidence of all was that of Mumbowran, who showed several deep wounds on his breast made by the claws of the animal,” the reporter said.

White men had apparently not seen the creature because “it is amphibious, and does not come on land except on extremely hot days when it basks on the bank; but on noise or whisper they roll gently over into the water, scarcely creating a ripple”.

The subsequent description of a 10-foot-tall (three-metre) bird-alligator that swam like a frog, walked on its hind legs like a man and “hugs its prey to death” led the reporter to conclude that it was “fiction”.

Nevertheless, stories of strange aquatic creatures began to pour in from across the country and in 1846 a malformed skull was found on the Murrumbidgee River bank near Balranald.

In 1847, the skull was exhibited at the Sydney Museum, where the crowds poured in to see it. However, naturalist William Macleay examined the curiosity along with another hair-covered, single-eyed skull and concluded that one was a deformed camel and the other an unfortunate foal.

Fast-forwarding back to Tumut in 1883, it looked like Henry Wilkinson had finally produced the proof that Australia had been waiting for, with the discovery of “the headless trunk of a strange animal” on the banks of Brungle Creek.

“The body, which is covered with short, strong hair, has a porcine appearance, while the terminal appendage curls inwards, and resembles the tail of a huge lobster,” the story explained before concluding with a tale told by nearby locals.

“A party of bushmen were quietly smoking one night round their camp when a bunyip suddenly appeared upon the scene, and by an unearthly roar so scared the onlookers that they at once fled to the neighboring hill.”

Another report from The Herald’s Wagga Wagga correspondent on 4 September, 1883, claimed that a number of people had examined the remains and concluded that they were “of a very curious nature”.

“The carcass resembles somewhat that of a seal, but it has evidently been as large as that of a bullock, and has a long piece of flesh extending from the hind quarters which is pronounced to have been used as a kind of tail.”

One local had apparently stuck a knife into the carcass without hitting bone and others swore that no carrion birds had come near the exposed flesh.

While several articles reported that the creature’s remains were to be dried and sent to the Sydney Museum, nothing is available to confirm that it ever arrived.

At least for now, the whereabouts of the Brungle Bunyip remain a mystery.