The terrifying monster of Moruya 1788

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Samuel Atkins, Endeavour off the coast of New Holland.... Source: National Library of Australia.

1. Fairy tale, not fact

An historical account was published anonymously in the Moruya Examiner, Thursday, 26 January 1888, which purports to tell the story of one of the first encounters by Aboriginal people of the Moruya district with an English sailing ship. They supposedly reacted with utter terror, viewing it as a 'monster' and running for miles into the bush to escape. This is obviously an English fairy tale. Why does the writer say this? Because of the following line therein which denies the true nature of Indigenous society over the millenia on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia:

These poor people 1ived entirely to themselves, they had not knowledge of any place except a very few miles north and south of Tuross Heads, and inland to them was indeed a "dark continent," inhabited only by the bloodthirsty "Waddy-men." of whom they lived in constant dread.

That is rubbish. The Aboriginal people of Australia travelled far and wide as part of their normal, everyday existence, over at least 130,000 plus years, according to recent archaeological revelations regarding their presence on the continent. They travelled for cultural, ceremonial and sustainability reasons. They travelled across their specific Country and beyond. This statement reveals the ignorance of the writer - Wolrab / Barlow - in regards to the complex nature of Australia's Indigenous civilization - its antiquity and diverse history. This unfortunately persists throughout the article, and is an example of the inherent racism and ignorance of the British settlers who participated in the invasion from January 1788 onwards.

The so-called terror upon sighting a monster at Moruya in 1788 - presumably one of the vessels of Captain Arthur Philip's First Fleet - contrasts with the ambivalent behaviour of the Aboriginal people of the Illawarra when Lt. James Cook and his crew attempted to land at present-day Woonona on 28 April 1700. On that occasion, and the following day at Botany Bay, the local people sat quietly on a nearby rock platform observing the bark Endeavour and Cook's failure to land his small boat due to rough seas. They eventually got up and casually walked off into the bush. At Botany Bay they lined the shore as the ship came into the bay and shouted "Go away!" Later Cook noted how they ignored them. So, the story by Wolrab of the Moruya people fleeing in terror from a sailing ship does not ring true. In fact, it is belittling of those people and more a reflection of the bias, ignorance and arogance of the British invaders.

Despite the above, the article is presented herein as it also contains elements of heritage significance, especially regarding location and aspects of Indigenous culture. Such records are rare, in part due to the obvious indifference by local settlers to that culture and its complex nature which was in stark contrast to that of the British and Western culture at that point in time.

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Moruya, Past and Present.

Written expressly for the Moruya Examiner

By Wolrab.

One hundred years ago [1788] this fair district of Moruya was the home of a race now all but extinct. The writer once heard from the lips of Coorall (father of the well-known Kian), who died about twenty years since at over eighty years of age and is buried at Mynora, that when he was a very small boy the tribe were camped at Tuross Point, when one morning on the camp awaking what was the dismay of it's inhabitants at seeing about a mile from the shore — what, what could it be? The oldest inhabitant had never seen such a sight before. There was a general stampede inland; mothers picked up their little ones - young and old fled for dear life, for who could tell how soon the monster with great white wings might not rise out of the water and and pitch down in their midst, for though they had not given themselves time to scarcely look twice there was but one feeling and that was that the visitor was a monster bird of some unearthly kind.

It may be pretty surely affirmed that the happy families, who had lately been living in peace and quietness, did not stop until they had put a few miles between them and this dreadful creature, for the aged darkie related how they went back and back until they hid themselves in some of the gullies off the Stoney Creek at Coila, and then what was their dismay when after taking their first breath they found themselves utterly destitute of everything except their lives. In that awful moment when they saw the white wings stretched ready as they thought for flight, and for certain towards them, what horror must they not have felt to think that such a monster might sweep down upon them and pick them up like the hawk does it prey.

No wonder they did not stay to carry or get away with their 'possum rugs, dilly bags, spears, shields, or any single weapon - all left behind, but the mother did not forget her offspring, her love, for it no unearthly monster could destroy; and we may feel sure that when at last after a good five miles run they sank down exhausted in the cool shades of Stoney Creek, their situation was one of unmitigated terror, for who could tell but that the dreaded bird might not then be hovering overhead looking out for his quarry and they had nothing to defend themselves with, even had they had the courage to do so.

The consultations that took place were of a deeply affecting nature, for such natures the merest object not known becomes at once magnified into the supernatural. These poor people 1ived entirely to themselves, they had not knowledge of any place except a very few miles north and south of Tuross Heads, and inland to them was indeed a "dark continent," inhabited only by the bloodthirsty "Waddy-men." of whom they lived in constant dread.

As an instance of their ignorance of all outside their own immediate circle, the writer was much amused many years ago when standing at their camp fires one evening - now the sight of the Bodalla Cemetery - and around which were gathered upwards of sixty of the tribe, to see the look of utter contempt with which they answered his question as to where the pelicans laid their eggs. The question was repeated from one to another, and contempt for the ignorance was evidently running higher and higher when one of the party kindly threw light upon the subject by saying:

"Fool you! pellow no lay'em egg - no young pellow bellican, old pellow altogether, thousands of years old."

For as the pellican lays away from these districts they knew nothing of its habits. So no wonder that the morning's sight seen on their beloved deep sea had filled them with awe and consternation.

It must be remembered that the tribes on the coast were then very large, and doubtless our frightened friends numbered several hundreds. Over one thousand Aboriginals have been seen camped around the Moruya Lagoon, then famous for its eels, whilst the scrub literally swarmed with bronze-winged pigeons.

When the first feeling of fright had somewhat passed away the Chiefs proposed that a look-out should be made, and some of the strongest-hearted took a different track from that by which they had come, and went around by Bingie Bingie and came into the coast just under what we now call the Springs, and this spot is in all probability the first one within many miles north or south on which a white foot trod. It may be taken for granted that a very keen look-out had been kept from the start and the waters of Coila Lake received a fair share of attention, for who could tell if the big bird had not alighted for a feed of black swan or whatever might come in its way.

Arriving at the point mentioned, but carefully concealed from view (as only an Aboriginal knew how to do), the horizon was scanned most minutely, but there was nothing whatever to be seen, except solitary Montague Island. The monster had flown, but whether far away or - oh, dreaded thought ! - inland, none could say. Was it safe to come from under cover to expose oneself to the possibility of being seen in some mysterious manner by this unearthly object? No doubt this was a debatable matter, and took some to settle, but as nothing unusual could be seen courage came back, and it was settled by the braves to walk along the beach to Tuross and so re-visit - with caution - the camp, that they might report to their anxious friends how things looked there and whether or not the monster had visited it.

With cautious steps the beach was reached, and hasty steps were, made towards Tuross, when suddenly the leader of the party sprang back with terror depleted in his face; every nerve in his body strung to the utmost, for now here seemed to be another terror possibly more dreadful than the first. What was going to happen? Had the sea given up their dead brothers who had years ago been lost in passing backward and forward to Montague Island in their frail bark canoes, and brought with them too some strange animal, the like of which they or their fathers had never heard tell of?

For there on the sand were the prints of human feet, and beside them also others so strange, so unlike any they had seen before, but whose stride the Aboriginal intellect quickly told him was the same as their own, still the foot marks did not all show toes and were totally different to any animal's they had ever seen, and upon closer examination they found unmistakable signs of a landing having been made in some kind of a canoe - it was the mark of a boat's keel.

At first sight of these terrifying objects, they forgot all except the marks themselves, but upon second thought they naturally asked each other which way had they gone, and they too quickly noticed that the tracks led towards Coila Lake. Stupefied with fright they did not notice the canoe was gone away again or that the tracks led back again to the water's edge. The one thought that possessed their minds was that some dreaded monster or monsters had come amongst them, but how or whence from they knew not, and so with all the speed they could make they hastened back to Stoney Creek to tell their affrighted friends the fresh wonders they had seen.

The terror of the whole tribe can be easier imagined than described when the look-outs told their tale. The camp was breathless, its inhabitants dare scarcely breathe for very fear, for now not only had they the dread of the great monster sweeping down into their midst at any moment, but also the fear of mysterious beings, and especially the toeless ones, suddenly appearing. Added to all this misery there was the fact that they had nothing to eat, and no weapons with which to obtain food. All had been left behind in their camp and there was not one amongst them with courage enough to go back and fetch a single article.

The day passed and night came on, no fire, no food, no warm possom rug, and a dread expectation of any moment either being caught up in the fangs of that terrible bird, or else attacked by those visitors from the deep. The poor little children caused the greatest trouble, for their constant cries for food awakened such fear in the breasts of their parents that the cry would indicate to their dreaded enemies their exact location, and then in the thick darkness what hope had they of escape. Surely it was a trying night, and no wonder that in long after years one of their number, then over his four-score years, could recount with picturesque minuteness each incident of that terrible time. Doubtless they procured food of some sort by means we would little think of, but it must have been scant indeed for such large numbers.

At last hunger and cold drove some of the number to go towards the camp; and one can almost fancy he sees the careful dodging from tree-to tree, or tussock to tussock of the nimble black, as he proceeded, with his eye ever upwards, in dread expectation of seeing those monstrous white wings spread over him. But at last the camp was reached, and nothing seemed to have been meddled with - the very provisions still hung on the brambles, and our dark friends quickly satisfied the inner man with juicy bear [koala] or kangaroo, and then hastened back to report the good news. It was with much trepidation the return journey was made, and then the camp moved to another part altogether, and as time passed on the big bird with its white wings passed away as mysterious reports would reach the tribe of other awful sights of a like nature having been seen by people living far away to the north, and that black men had returned from another world, now quite white, who had tomahawks made of some hard stuff, so sharp that they would cut like the keen edges of an oyster shell.

The poor black who had thus been frightened by the sight of one of the first ships to Australia have all passed to the silent land, and the last of a noble race stand now on the brink of eternity. Whatever we have to boast of having done during the past hundred years, it certainly is not in having done our duty to the Aboriginals. In those days the Aboriginals of our district lived generally a peaceful life, but they had some deadly enemies in the Waddymen of Bellowra, who appear to have been savages in the extreme.

Their life was one of pleasure, not only in the bush as bushmen, or on the rivers and lakes as fishermen, but they had many and various games which they could play with much dexterity. The boomerang was as much a toy as it was a useful but dangerous weapon. A game they played with much skill was with a piece of gum bark cut into the form of a wheel, which they set into motion and speared it, but by reason of its rather peculiar form the motion was so irregular that it took the utmost skill to strike it. But in corroborrees the Aboriginal was seen to perfection in those extra-ordinary scenes, where nature in every form was evinced to perfection.

To the present day they have a wonderful power of memory, and can see the slightest peculiarity in any person they meet. They have, too, a name for every one after some animal or plant; for instance, a policeman they call after the native name of the octopus or bloodsucker: "policeman just likem that fellow, get'em finger on blackfellow no get away again," is the common description of this very useful individual.

They were then free from disease of any kind. The "fire water" [alcohol] had not taken a grip upon them, as fortunately there was none to he had. They had a regular system of diet, very different from what we possess, and their marriage laws were simply perfection, and the consequence was they were a fine upstanding race. One singular antidote they had for snake-bite, a very rare thing happening to them. The party bitten ran with all possible speed along the beach or river bank until copious perspiration had set in, when suddenly a plunge was made into the water, and then the running was again commenced, and so on until the venom was supposed to be expunged through the pores of the skin.

Though undoubtedly the former occupiers of this district were of a low type of society, there was still no excuse to treat them the way they have been. We came amongst them for our own advantage; there was not a shadow of pretence that we intended to improve them religiously or morally, and physically we certainly could not. It was but just and natural that they should resent our coming, especially as they saw as time advanced what our real object was, namely taking from them the land which the All-Wise had given them for a home. And at the present time when we are thanking and praising that same All-Wise Being for having done so much for us during the past century, might we not also ask him to pardon the tremendous sins we have committed not only in having taken from the Aboriginals their lands with [not] one iota of compensation, but also with having debased them in every manner conceivable. Depend upon it, those who believe that the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon their children to the third and fourth generation, the time will come when we in Australia at large shall pay heavily for our shameful treatment of a race which we have supplanted.

The locust of Egypt seemed but a small insect, but we see what terrible havoc it made. The rabbit in Australia is becoming such a nuisance, 'eating up all the herbs in the land,' taxing man's ingenuity how to get rid of it, and that ingenuity, too, seemingly directed in a way that if followed out may leave behind it a worse evil, falling upon "man and beast" alike. Had ordinary humanity been used towards the blacks, had they been taken in hand and taught, even had a tittle pressure been put upon them to compel them to fall in with civilized customs, had their lands been honestly purchased from them, giving them in return such things as would have suited their advancing civilization, is it to be doubted but that in time they would have began to see that the life of civilization was after all better than that of their own with its many vicissitudes.

In speaking some years since to Jacky Barrattt, the Aboriginal, as to which he would prefer, the old mode of life - and he was old enough to remember it - or the present one with the white man amongst them, his answer was quick and decided - 'The white man to sit down liket now.' And why? Because 'not afraid now to lay down in camp and go'sleep, no waddy man blackfellow dare come and killem now.' Here is a proof that they are able to notice that life is safer under our system than under theirs, and so had they only been brought under such influences from the first, it may be supposed that instead of dying out a poor, degraded race - poisoned, shot down, and driven off - we might have had them amongst us; a useful race, assisting to reclaim the wilderness. The subject is painful and very humiliating to think upon, and more especially at the present time, and who can tell what another hundred years may do for us.

As the poor blacks saw with dismay the shoed footmark of a man on the Tuross beach, and supposed it to be that of some terrible animal, our children may some morning wake up with the terrible reality before them that the foot prints they see on the beach are those of the Northern Bear [i.e., Chinese], or some other fierce and warlike nation who have come to dispossess us of our ill-gained lands.

It is just possible that Bass and Flinders may have put in at Broulee Bay and though the name is not quite distinct, it is pretty well certain that they did so on their way south, during their first exploration in 1798. By degrees as population increased ... it does not appear our district attracted any notice until about the year 1825 when stragglers who had mixed with the blacks reported good land on the banks of the broad river south of Broulee....

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Acknowledgement

Thank you to local Illawarra historian Kerrie Anne Christian of Thirroul for bringing this article to the attention of the present writer.

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Last updated: 29 August 2025.

Michael Organ, Australia

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