Reports of the Wild/Hairy Man
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The natives of Australia have, properly speaking, no idea of any supernatural being ; at the same time, they believe in the imaginary existence of a class which, in the singular number, they call YAHOO, or, when they wish to be anglified, Devil-Devil. This being they describe as resembling a man, of nearly the same height, but more slender, with long white straight hair hanging down from the head over the features, so as almost entirely to conceal them ; the arms as extraordinarily long, furnished at the extremities with great talons, and the feet turned backwards, so that, on flying from man, the imprint of the foot appears as if the being had travelled in the opposite direction. Altogether, they describe it as a hideous monster, of unearthly character and ape-like appearance.

The dread of this spectre deters them from venturing abroad after sunset, unless in numbers, and having fire with them, which they conceive intimidates the fiend ; and it is probable that from this circumstance arises the fact, that settlers and travellers are seldom disturbed at night by even the most daring tribes.

Of the many evil endowments which the natives attribute as belonging to this fanciful creature, that of carrying off children and females, no traces of whom are afterwards found, appears to be most prominent and dreaded. They also affirm, but with less apprehension, that it occasionally attacks men when single-handed and in the dark ; but they do not consider it as equal to one of themselves in an encounter by day, and say that it flies from them, only gaining a victory over the enfeebled by cunning and stratagem. The supernatural agency of the YAHOO is very limited, and confined chiefly to such occurrences as follows:--Appearing suddenly and unaccountably, pouncing upon and destroying the defenceless, and maintaining certain baneful influences over human life. The latter is considered the most prominent of its attributes, regarding it in some measure to be intended as the destroyer of man. Beyond this the YAHOO has no sort of prevalence, nor, indeed, has any other demon, spectre, or deity, for here ends there idea of the supernatural agency, without a thought or fear of future existence. Indeed, excepting this bugbear in some few powers, they neither know of nor can conceive any being more exalted than man.

The following narrative will afford some notion of their ignorance or apprehension of a future state.

In 1839 two natives were sentenced to be hanged for murder at Adelaide, and the interpreter was requested by the clergy to endeavour to make them acquainted with a future state of existence ; but so utterly incapable were they of comprehending immortality, that they could only conceive it as a change from one country to another, and were very curious to learn from the interpreter what kind of place it was, if it contained plenty sheepy, plenty bullocky, plenty kangaroo, plenty pishy (fish), plenty whale, plenty flour, plenty bickety (biscuit), plenty bacca, plenty grog, &c. &c. ; but what appeared very extraordinary was, that they made no enquiry after Lubra (females), although every other sensual gratification within their limited range of knowledge was alluded to. This anecdote serves in some measure as an illustration of the bluntness of their susceptibility, and preponderance of their sensual appetites, and likewise helps us, by comparison with the notions of the American Indians, Africans, and aborigines of most other parts of the world, to estimate the mean and limited capacity of their ideas. The Indian delights in the prospect of boundless plains stocked with an infinitude of game of every description, with the pleasures of the chase, and the never-tiring delight afforded by his bow and arrow ; while the Negro revels in the idea of joining his fathers and his kindred, and of welcoming those who will follow him,--of continued sunshine, of endless palm groves and crystal streams. On the contrary, the New Hollander feels no pleasure in the chase, and follows it only to satisfy his appetite. His numerous Lubras (females) have no place in his affections, and society is only of account to him while it yields him protection or profit. Hence, he passes on through life actuated solely by selfishness and individual enjoyment, and dies unregarded and uncared for.

Reverting to our subject, the following is a story related by Mungaroke, a native of a tribe near Adelaide, of a YAHOO. A gentleman, who required to travel from Encounter Bay to Adelaide at the first settling of the colony, took with him some natives for guides. The party continued onwards very satisfactorily, and passed the Onkaparinga, when it rested for a short period in a strangely formed hollow among the sand hills at the mouth of the river. Listless and inactive from fatigue, the whole of them remained, with the exception of Koteragee, who, upon being questioned as the cause of his restlessness, with evident circumspection informed them that he once had a very serious adventure upon the spot on which they were with a Yahoo. Curiosity being awakened by his statement, he was requested to detail the circumstances, which he did to the following report. He, Koteragee, accompanied by two males and one female, were returning from a visit to the tribe resident near Adelaide, when they arrived at the banks of the Onkaparinga, when Munchee Munchee, one of the party, proposed that they should halt and kindle a fire, by which they could cook their lizards, &c., and refresh themselves, as they would meet with no more water on their journey for a long distance This being agreed to, the males proceeded accordingly to the bottom of the dell for water, when, to their great surprise and dismay, they espied something lying beside the spring apparently in a sound sleep, which they immediately recognised to be a Yahoo, or one of the natives’ arch enemies. After a little deliberation the trio wound up their courage, and determined at least to rid the world of one monster. Accordingly, stepping up to the object of their hate and fear as noiselessly as shadows, they simultaneously discharged a shower of blows on the head of the intended victim, notwithstanding which, the semi-incarnate being sprang upon its feet and attempted resolutely to escape ; but finding itself hemmed in on every side, it darted at Bidjoke (one of the trio) with its fiendish talons, who, however, eluded the monster by a backward leap ; upon which Munchee Munchee flew at the demon, and with a terrible stroke on the temple brought it to the ground ; and then, with Bidjoke, fell upon and held the Yahoo fast, while Koteragee drove his waddie through the skull from ear to ear. Being determined to leave no chance of reanimation, they threw the carcase into the river, and stood a few moments to observe the issue. The body, although apparently motionless, by some unaccountable means floated to the opposite side of the stream, and to their utter consternation and amazement started at once into life, and bounded off into the furze that grew on the opposite bank.

This story, which was subsequently confirmed by Bidjoke, Munchee Munchee, and Koteragee, evidently cost poor Mungaroke a great deal of pain ; for while he doled it out, the furtive glances that he occasionally cast over his shoulder too plainly told the apprehension he felt of the Yahoo’s reappearance, although the native superstition teaches that it will not approach the presence of the white man.

The preceding narrative, although no doubt an exaggerated statement, suggests the possibility that this object of terror to the natives might possibly have been either a man or an animal of lower grade. It would certainly by no means appear improbable that the unfortunate object just alluded to, against which the vengeance of the natives was so fearfully directed, might have been some unfortunate castaway sailor, runaway convict or sealer from Kangaroo Island, unshaven and unshorn for weeks, months, or years. In favour of this suggestion, it should be known that Old Bon, a native near Adelaide, tells his white friends that when captain Sturt first visited Lake Alexandrina, he and his party were taken by the natives for Yahoos.

On the other hand, a contested point has long existed among Australian naturalists whether or no such an animal as the Yahoo existed, one party contending that it does, and from its scarceness, slyness, and solitary habits, man has not succeeded in obtaining a specimen, and that it is most likely one of the monkey tribe. In favour of this assertion they bring the united testimony of the natives and settlers to support their opinion ; from the latter the two following instances of its appearance have been obtained, by the first of which it appears that a few years ago a Yahoo exhibited itself in the government domains of Sydney before several persons, but quickly effected its escape upon their approach. The second account is from a man named Thompson, who for many years lived upon Kangaroo Island ; he being questioned upon the subject, gave the following anecdote. Being out one day in a boat along with two or three others he landed at a creek (which he still points out), and to his astonishment observed a being, exactly corresponding to the description given by the natives of the Yahoo, sitting upon a point of a high isolated rock, viewing him very unconcernedly. Levelling his musket he fired, when the being, shrieking wildly, disappeared among the contiguous recess. The appearance of this creature, and the peals of agony that burst on his ear after firing, have left such an impression upon this man’s mind that at times both are conjured into existence by the bare recital, and not unfrequently by the moaning breeze.

These statements created a great deal of public discussion on the subject, but only tended the more to divide public opinion. The opposite party maintain very firmly that the existence of such a being is purely an imaginary fabrication, and is no more connected with reality than ghosts, goblins, fairies, or such like at home.

It is sincerely to be hoped that this latter opinion in the correct one, and that the onslaught made on the Yahoo, whether man or monkey, is of an equally imaginary character.
SUPERSTITIONS OF THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES: THE YAHOO.
 
Australia and New Zealand Monthly Magazine
Date: February, 1842
Page Number: 92-96



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Yowieocalypse wishes to advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors that this article contains names of deceased people.
May 11, 1839   APPREHENSION OF THE NATIVE MURDERERS.
 
May 29, 1839   SUPREME COURT--CRIMINAL SIDE.
 
June 1, 1839     EXECUTION OF THE TWO NATIVE MURDERERS.
 
Yowieocalypse wishes to advise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors that the above articles contains names of deceased people.
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Encounter Bay is located on the south central coast of South Australia, some 100 km south of Adelaide, South Australia. It is named after the encounter on 8 April 1802 between Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin, both of whom were charting the Australian coastline for their respective countries (Britain and France). The encounter between the scientists was peaceful, even though their countries were at war at the time.
 
Traditionally the land of the Ramindjeri clan of the Ngarrindjeri people, the bay is a wide curve of coastline extending from Newland Head along the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula and southeast to Cape Jaffa, a distance of 180 km.
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"...it should be known that Old Bon, a native near Adelaide, tells his white friends that when captain Sturt first visited Lake Alexandrina, he and his party were taken by the natives for Yahoos."
 
The earliest documented non-Indigenous habitation in what is now known as South Australia was the overwintering in 1803 at American River, Kangaroo Island, of the American brig Union. Captain Isaac Pendleton and the crew were sealing. Within a few years, a small number of sealers, and others, including deserters from ships and possibly runaway convicts, were living on Kangaroo Island.
 
Kangaroo Island Before 1836
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"... a contested point has long existed among Australian naturalists whether or no such an animal as the Yahoo existed"
 
1. "...  it appears that a few years ago a Yahoo exhibited itself in the government domains of Sydney before several persons, but quickly effected its escape upon their approach."
 
See The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) July 12, 1843
 
 
2. "... to his astonishment observed a being, exactly corresponding to the description given by the natives of the Yahoo, sitting upon a point of a high isolated rock, viewing him very unconcernedly. Levelling his musket he fired, when the being, shrieking wildly, disappeared among the contiguous recess."
Who or what did Thompson shoot? Note that no description is offered other than the same as the native's Yahoo.
 
Kangaroo Island was a wild place in the early 1800s:
 
An unofficial community of sealers and others existed on Kangaroo Island from 1802 to the time of South Australia's official settlement in 1836. The sealers were rough men and several kidnapped Aboriginal women from Tasmania and mainland South Australia. The women were kept prisoner as wives and virtual slaves. Three Aboriginal women tried to escape and swim back to the mainland; one is on record as having survived the journey. The first ship to arrive that brought official settlers was the Duke of York commanded by Captain Robert Clark Morgan in 1836.
 
 
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Both of the above accounts exist only as poorly documented anecdotes of the time. Various tales may have been swapped orally and local naturalists may have long discussed whether such a creature as the Yahoo could be real but that is folklore rather than biology. Essentially, the debate about the Yahoo in 1842 seems to one of two sides: "
 
"from its scarceness, slyness, and solitary habits, man has not succeeded in obtaining a specimen, and that it is most likely one of the monkey tribe"
 
versus
 
"the existence of such a being is purely an imaginary fabrication, and is no more connected with reality than ghosts, goblins, fairies, or such like"
 
It is interesting to note that some 170 years later the question of the Yowie has progressed no further... 
 
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This early report is noteworthy. It says that the Yahoo has its feet turned backwards, and leaves reverse-direction footprints. It was the function of the devil boots, the emu-feather shoes of the kadaitcha man or the featherfoot, to conceal his identity. He walked backwards in these shoes, that were rounded at both ends, so that his people, all excellent trackers and able to identify individuals easily by their walk, would not pick his identity. So the yahoo is most likely the kadaitcha man, as no animal on this planet naturally walks backwards. This backwards walking is not a popular point with the early-hominid research crowd, as they can find no reason for it. So this otherwise classic yowie report tends to get skipped. If you also selectively carry off women and children, and no traces are afterwards found, you are probably a fully-fledged (male) human. Again, the aborigines were superb trackers. Why did they not find remains? No other predatory animal goes to such trouble to both avoid adult male humans and then to conceal the remains of its kills.
 
-Peter Ravenscroft Nov 11, 2009.
 
Source.
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These shoes are made of emu feathers stuck together in a solid mass with human blood and so shaped that there can be no distinguishing toe from heel and thus the direction of the Kurdaitcha cannot be traced. Before they are attached to the feet the little toe of the left foot must be dislocated and cut. A small blood-sucking lizard collects this blood which is highly magical and stores it in readiness for the making of other shoes. Well made Kurdaitcha shoes have an opening on one side to accommodate the disjointed toe. Chanting accompanies this procedure. The shoes are bidden to cling well to the feet of the Kurdaitcha and to leave no trace behind them.