1907

Sydney, January 10.
A mysterious animal, supposed to be the long-sought bunyip, is reported to have been found this week in a lagoon near Tumut. A solictor, a well known prominent resident or the city, declared that he had a good view of the creature several times. It measures about 4 ft in length, has a tail like a kangaroo, a head like a seal, cries like the latter, and swims very fast, with the head out of water. The discoverer wrote to the New South Wales Zoological Society, who have no officer to spare, but someone from the Sydney Museum is going to catch tae animal alive, if possible, and if not to shoot it and keep the body as a curiosity.

Tumut has discovered an unknown something that is likely for a while, at least, to take the place in the public mind of the Tantanoola tiger or the hairy man from the Jingeras, neither of which at present disturbs the peace of the continent (says the "S. D. Telegraph"). A leading resident of Tumut has written to the council of the Zoological Society acquainting them of the presence of the mysterious animal in a lagoon a short distance from his house. The Tumut correspondent, apprehensive of the reported find being regarded as the creation of a severe attack of nightmare or an hallucination, refers the Zoological officials to a well-known Sydney medical man and a metropolitan lawyer for endorsement of his sanity. Local people call the creature a bunyip, so the Tumut man tells the gentlemen of the Zoo. The creature has a cry like a seal, and very much resembles this well known amphibious specimen about the head. The tail is described as being like that of a kangaroo running from a fair thickness at the root to a taper at the point. The bunyip swum rapidly and is it glides along keeps its head above water. Its length from the tip of the nose to the extremity of the tail has been set down at about 4ft and the colour of the creature is reported to be black. The "animal" does not appear to have ears "but if it has they an very small. The discovery has caused considerable commotion in Tumut and the old residents are now reminded that a similar animal was seen in the same lagoon fifty years ago. The lagoon is 400 yards long, but as portion is overgrown with reeds the bunyip is confined in a space about 170 yards by 100 yards. "No one who has seen it," the letter goes on to say "can make it out."
The description furnished baffles zoologists, and upon the available data they hesitate to venture a name. The Zoo logical Society's council, however, are so seized with the belief that something uncommon has been seen by the Tumut residents that they have conceived the idea of capturing it. Just at present none of the officials at the gardens can afford the time to go up country and await the convenience of the amphibious creature, but the council will ask the Museum authorities to send a man along. It is intended to capture the specimen, dead or alive. If alive, so much the better, as it will be added to the collection at the Zoo; if it has to be destroyed, its carcass will be placed in the Museum. In either case the Zoological Society will bear the cost of the expedition.

From the South we have recently had reports of a mysterious animal supposed to be the long sought bunyip which has been seen in a lagoon near Tumut (N.S.W.) It is described as about 4ft in length has a tail like a kangaroo, a head like a seal and cries like a seal. A man learned in natural history was to go to Tumut from Sydney to endeavour to secure the animal alive or dead.
"Nulla" writes thus : "When a little chap away back in 1869 I was travelling with some older brothers by the coach road from Sydneyside to Riverina. Owing to an accident we were camped at what was then known as the tumut turn-off a few miles beyond Gundagai. One of my brothers went to a lagoon on the Tumut road to shoot ducks and got rather a scare upon seeing a strange animal swimming towards him. He was, however, too much of a sportsman to shoot it and we saw it on several occasions afterwaids It was much as described above and we made inquiries from scientific friends at various times, and were assured that the so-called bunyip was a freshwater seal. It certainly showed no sign of ferocity, indeed its appearance was quite benign. Thus thirty-five years ago there were animals in the Tumut road lagoons which are now described as mysterious."