A Bunyip Aristocracy

Every culture has its mythical beasts. The Egyptians have the sphinx, Greece has the Centaur, Scotland has the Lochness Monster, the Yeti inhabits the Himalayas and Bigfoot is found in North America. Both the European and Asian cultures created traditions based around the concept of dragons - a mythical, scaly, serpentine creature. Aboriginal culture also had its mythical creatures which varied from region to region, however one mythical creature which was common to many indigenous groups across the country was the bunyip. Known by various names (bunyip, kianpraty, katenpai, wawee, tooroodun), there were as many different descriptions of bunyips as there were names for it and each was different from the other. There was agreement that the bunyip was a large, aquatic creature which emitted a terrifying moan. However, one description was of an emu-like creature, whilst another had it with a tusk, teeth and feet like fins. It could have scales, fur or smooth skin.
To the European settlers who had recently arrived in the country, the concept of a bunyip must have been terrifying. They were in a land filled with animals which had been totally unimaginable only a few decades earlier - kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, platypus, a multitude of poisonous snakes, spiders and sea creatures and of course, crocodiles in the north, so the idea of a fearsome creature which lived in the rivers, lakes, swamps, billabongs and lagoons of this new country did not seem so far-fetched as it does today.

Drawing of a bunyip at "Barwon Lakes" near
Geelong, 1845

It is not surprising then, that the Wathaurong also had an established tradition of bunyip stories and sightings and naturally, several of these centred around the Barwon River. The first reported use of the word bunyip in and Australian newspaper was in 1845 when the Geelong Advertiser reported that a "wonderful new animal" had been discovered when a local indigenous man identified a fossilised bone as that of a bunyip. He claimed to have seen the creature and a tale was also told of an Aboriginal woman killed by a bunyip. When asked to describe the bunyip, he told of a part-bird, part-crocodile with an emu's head and a long bill. Its body was that of the crocodile or alligator and when in water it swam, whilst on land it walked on its hind legs, measuring about 12 to 13 feet. Interestingly, it was stated that the bunyip's preferred method of dispatch was to hug its victim to death. Another man showed deep scarring on his chest, also - he said - the work of a bunyip whilst it was also reported in the article that a "bunyip attack" took place on the river in South Geelong where the punts crossed back and forth. It was claimed that a local woman - the preferred prey of the bunyip - was taken in the river at this point.
However, not everyone was convinced that bunyips really existed. Some alternate explanations included seals which had found their way into inland rivers, fugitive humans hiding out in swamps, freshwater crocodiles or perhaps even a particularly large eel. If the latter is true, then I have seen a bunyip myself - by the Breakwater, dangling off the end of the rod of an elderly Greek fisherman. And an impressive size it was too!

Duck-billed dinosaur

As early as 1871 it was suggested that the bunyip was in fact an indigenous cultural memory of Australia's extinct megafauna with long dead bones being identified as those of bunyips. Gradually, as more people began to doubt the existence of bunyips, they slowly became a source of ridicule. It is from this we have terms like "bunyip aristocracy", used in 1853 to denigrate the idea of an hereditary peerage for Australia. Across the 20th century, the bunyip continued its transformation from fearsome monster to a wise and friendly creature used to impart wisdom to children - a far cry from the terrifying beast used to deter small children from wandering off into the bush or drowning in rivers and waterholes.

Nor was it only the Wathaurong who claimed to have seen bunyips in the Geelong region. William Buckley, the escaped convict who lived with the Wathaurong around the Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula during the first decades of the 19th century also claimed to have seen a bunyip on several occasions. In his 1852 memoirs he recounted that bunyips were to be found in Lake Modewarre (no doubt terrifying the poor musk ducks after whom the lake is named) and that they were common in the Barwon. Whilst he never saw a complete bunyip he claimed on several occasions to have seen the back of one in the water which was covered in dusky grey feathers.

Bunyip Pool, Barwon River

The local connection to bunyips was also reflected in the name of the last full-blooded man from the Barrabool clan of the Wathaurong. Waurn Bunyip who was also known as King Billy, died in 1885. He was named for the bunyip seen by his father on the day of his son's birth. In more recent times, the renaming of the "Devil's Pool" at Buckley's Falls to the "Bunyip Pool" after consultation with the local Wathaurong community also reflects the indigenous connection to the bunyip legend.

Whilst the bunyip was very real both to the Wathaurong and to the white inhabitants of Geelong during the 19th century, this was also true of the wider community and is reflected in place names across the country. The towns of Bunyip and Tooradin, the BunyipWaa in New South Wales all reflect this belief.

A Murder on the Barwon

As I walked my way around the river on Tuesday I was witness to a murder - a murder of crows. Well, to be more precise, they were probably Australian Ravens.

There are three species of crow (the Little Crow, the House Crow and the Torresian or Australian Crow ) and three species of raven in Australia - the Australian Raven, the Little Raven and the Forrest or Tasmanian Raven. Not all of them are found in Victoria but all of them are similar enough to make telling them apart difficult.

Various sources inform me that the base of crows' feathers are white whilst those of ravens' are grey. I can't say I've ever been close enough to a crow or a raven to study the base of their feathers, but perhaps next time I come across a stray feather I'll investigate.

Australian Raven

I am no expert, but I believe those on the Barwon are most likely Australian Ravens. On any given day, there are ravens (commonly called crows) here and there, often flying overhead or calling from the trees. Everyone knows their call - loud, coarse, common. But listening more closely, you notice other aspects like the tailing note which dies away with a long, continuous creak which I find quite intriguing, or the short "creak-creak" which sounds very much like a squeaky door being opened.

Their behaviour is likewise interesting to observe. Generally as I said, they call from trees or scavenge at ground level, but occasionally - and this was definitely the case on Tuesday - they will congregate in a large group of a dozen or more and circle overhead, calling loudly. It is at times like these, or when walking past a tree full of the birds that the collective noun "murder" makes sense. They can be quite ominous in large numbers, circling and calling. I have no idea why there were so many on this occasion, or what had set them off, but they along with various other species were particularly active this time.

Australian Raven

Crows and ravens are considered quite intelligent birds, showing signs of communication, the use of simple tools and the ability to mimic human speech. Perhaps because of this, crows and ravens have  often played a part in the mythology of various cultures. The Norse peoples considered them a symbol of wisdom whilst the ancient Greeks considered them a sacred bird. Several pre-Christian deities were associated with crows. Many European cultures associated the crow or raven with death and doom. Other legends involve the transmogrification of humans into the form of these birds. Such stories have even been associated with the legend of King Arthur. To various Aboriginal tribes the crow was considered a trickster and as an ancestral being.

In modern times, they are often viewed with distaste due to their tendency to eat carrion or prey on weak animals such as sick lambs. Whilst their diet is predominantly carnivorous, also including insects, other small animals, eggs and human rubbish, they also consume grains and fruit, placing them further in the bad books of many farmers whose crops can be damaged.

Murder of the other kind is not completely unknown on the Barwon either. A glance at newspapers from bygone eras will reveal several stories. One of the very earliest reports talks of a white woman who was killed on the river at South Geelong. The murder on this occasion, was attributed to the mythical bunyip, but little more is mentioned.

The next mention in the media of murder on the Barwon River was in July, 1946 when the murdered bodies of William Stewart Sheargold and Ernest Frederick Dew were pulled from the river. They had been shot and dumped in the river downstream of the current Princes Bridge (at that time a timber bridge named for Prince Albert located further downstream), with Dew's body being disemboweled after death. Two men were arrested and charged with murder, however this charge was reduced to one of wounding with intent to murder and an inquest concluded in September, 1946 with an open finding.

Princes Bridge, Newtown

In August, 1953, the grizzly remains of a dismembered human body were found in the Barwon River. The victim was Donald Brooke Maxfield, a Colac man who had disappeared some months earlier in May. Two other Colac men it was alleged, had beaten Maxfield, dismembered his body and dumped it into the river from the Prince Albert Bridge, the various parts contained in bags and a kerosene tin. Another tin containing Maxfield's clothing was eventually located about half a mile down river the following February. Maxfield and the others were believed to have been involved in an earlier shop breaking incident. Fearing Maxfield would give evidence against one of the offenders, it was decided to silence him. Like all well scripted murder trials, the co-accused, laid the blame on each other with one offender claiming police coercion. 

The pair was found guilty of Maxfield's murder and sentenced to death, however these sentences were commuted to a sentence of life with no parole and one of twenty years imprisonment.
In recent years, there have fortunately been no further reports of murder.