The Wallanthagang hairy manbeasts of the far south coastal tribes were described as small human-like creatures that inhabited the tea-tree scrub and forest of the Cambewarra Mountain area, which lies slightly north of the Shoalhaven River, at the southern end of the Kangaroo Valley.

From here to Port Hacking they were known as the Waladhegarra or 'little hairy people'. They shared the region with the Mumuga, hairy men of great strength. They were smelly creatures, defecating all the time, and would chase Aborigines who approached thier rock lairs with loud cries and throwing large stones.

On the northern side of the Grose Valley, deep in the Blue Mountains, extending northwards through the vast reaches of the Wollongambie Wilderness, the Darkinjung tribespeople feared a malevolent hairy manbeast called by them Ghindaring. His body hair was said to be reddish, and he was associated with volcanoes (still active hereabouts a few thousand years ago). These creatures wandered the mountainside, and Aborigines kept clear of them lest they became the next cannibal meal of one of these monsters.

Throughout north-western New South Wales aborigines feared primitive hairy hominids of smallish stature, called by them 'Winembu'. There are places still inhabited by these creatures into which Aborigines refuse to go, particularly on the Gwydir River at Moree and along the namoi River around Walgett.

On into Queensland we find yet many more names of the 'hairy people'; both normal height to giant-size. The cave-dwelling 'bundja bundja ganja' beings, preserved in the folklore of the Wangkumara aborigines, lived near Coopers Creek and over a wide area of the rocky country of the border ranges in north-western New South Wales. They were of average human height, made fire and used crude stone and wooden implements, and were of course cannibalistic, eating Aborigines at every opportunity. As will be shown, the various types of 'hairy man' often overlapped on one another's habitat.

For example, although the Aborigines of far north Queensland believed in these ferocious creatures, they also believed in the 'little hairy red men', or 'Junjdy' that inhabited the rainforests of Cape York, Cairns, Tully, and elsewhere thereabouts; and similar beliefs in the existence of 'little hairy men' were entertained in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales tribal folklore.

Described as shy, timid little people less than half the height of an Aboriginal, they were said to live in tribal groups, making crude shelters and stone or wooden tools. Obviously the Aborigines of Queensland and northern New South Wales were describing the negrito pygmy-sized natives discovered by anthropologist Norman B Tindale and Professor Joseph Birdsell in 1938.

These forest-dwelling natives often possessed reddish hair and the secretive lifestyle gave them an aura of mystery in the Aboriginal psyche. These little natives were ruthlessly hunted down and killed by the Aborigines at every opportunity. The Yowies, however, were generally treated with much more respect. Although the Yowies were just as secretive in their wanderings as the unfortunate Negrito pygmy folk, they were far more dangerous.

I have said that early Aborigines feared the Yowies as very dangerous creatures, avoiding them as much as possible. Sometimes however, the 'hairy man' became a problem, attacking Aboriginal camps, forcing the tribespeople to defend themselves; as in the case of the Turramulli giants of Cape York, in Queensland's north. Hereabouts the Yalanji people and other tribes recognised two forms of 'hairy man'; the Turramulli and the Imjim.

The Imjim were a much smaller manbeast answering to the general description of the Yowie, and were often confused with their much larger counterpart.

According to the Yalanji people, although the Imjim were big and strong hairy creatures, they were nowhere near the height and strength of the Turramulli. Yalanji elders say that, while the Imjim were from 2 to 2.3m tall, the Turramulli giants were a good 3m in height and very ferocious.

The Aborigines also spoke of what they called the 'Jingra' or Jimbra', a mysterious race of male and female creatures which, according to thier description, resembled (of all unlikely creatures in that desert environment) a huge gorilla-like beast, and which they said, was very fierce, and never failed to attack an Aboriginal if they ever found one on his or her own.

The white men, conversant with many of the local Aboriginal dialects, and thinking the Aborigines might have confused names, enquired if they might be speaking of the Ginka, the local word for devil. However, the Aborigines were emphatic that this was not so.

The Ginka, they pointed out, could never be seen, whereas the Jimbra or Jingra could be both seen and felt, especially if one of them caught you, and they said, nobody had ever been known to have escaped from a Jimbra once they had been caught in its grip.

Aborigines of Groote Eylandt, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, which was formely joined to nearby Arnhem Land during the last ice-age, preserved traditions of another Gigantopithecus-type monster similar to Turramulli. This giant was known as Gurumuka.

The Gurumuka's were described as a race of upwards 3m tall, powerfully built, hairy male and female creatures with big teeth. They were omnivorous in their eating habits so ate flesh

They aslo ate Aborigines and were most active at night, and heaven help and Aboriginals caught by one of these prowling giants! Gradually however the Groote Eylandt Aborigines summoned up enough courage to stand up to the Gurumukas, eventually killing them off.

Noted explorer/journalist, Mr Allan Robinson, some years ago in Darwin, learnt that Aborigines of the 'top end' (Arnhem Land) believed that a race of 3m tall giant tool-carrying people called the Dingabbie, once migrated up from the southern end of the continent, to spread out into Western Australia and pass through the Ayres Rock(Uluru)Alice Springs district, eventually settling in Arnhem land.

Perhaps the Dingabbie were the same giant tool-making manbeasts known in Victoria and South Australia as the Lo-An, and also the Ngurunderi of the Murray River region of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Aborigines of the Kulin tribe of the Yara Flats region of Victoria, feared the Lo-An who drove them (the Kulin Aborigines) from their hunting grounds thereabouts, to enable the Lo-An to live on eels and other aquatic life of the area, which their females (who were somewhat smaller than the males) cooked in their earth ovens. According to legend, the Lo-An eventually followed migrating swans to the Western Port area, then followed the coastline until they reached Wilson's Promontory where they made their home.

Some of the most important myths and legends of the Aborigines of the Murray River region concerned those of the Ngurunderi. These giant people lived upon the Murray cod fish, as well as the giant kangaroos and other 'megafauna' that inhabited the surrounding countryside in ancient times.

The first Ngurunderi giant was said to have been responsible for the creation of the Murray River. These giants made huge stone implements, including knives with which they cut up and skinned the giant marsupials they killed. The Ngurunderi people also knew the use of fire for they cooked all the food they captured

One myth says that the first Ngurunderi giant had two wives, which he had obtained in the course of his travels along the Murray River. The women eventually ran away from him and he pursued them all the way down to the South Australian coast, from where the wives were attempting to cross over to Kangaroo Island, at the time still joined to the mainland.

Ngurunderi caused the sea to rise, drowning the women. He then crossed over to Kangaroo island where he lived for a time.

Note: The first 'megatools' (giant-sized stone implements) to be identified by scientists were recovered from Kangaroo Island in 1948 by archaeologist Dr a Gallus. At the time they were linked to an early Aboriginal stone tool culture, labelled 'Kartan' after the original Aboriginal name for the island.

Could the Ngurunderi tradition be a race-memory of the former presence there of a much larger form of hominid?

The Aborigines of the Northern Territory also fear another race of hairy giants, the dreaded Pankalanka People, of which more will be said later in this book. "Giants from the Dreamtime -The Yowie in Myth & Reality". Also called the Pungalunga by some tribes, there are many European inhabitants of the "Red Centre" who share the Aborigines belief in their existence.

Sightings claims describe male Pankalankas as being between 2.6 and 3 m in height, while their females are somewhat smaller in build. Central Australian myth depicts them as gigantuan beings, with big hands and powerful jaws and teeth for tearing up and devouring their human prey.

A retired jackaroo, Christian Edwards, who claims to have found the huge footprints of one of these man-giants near Tennant Creek in 1981, informed me in 1990: "There was a time long ago when the Pankalankas were so numerous that they lived all over the Northern Territory, chasing off Aboriginal people wherever they found us, catching and eating us at every opportunity."

"You could see them walking across the country in large groups and at night they lit their way with big fire sticks." ""But eventually our ancestors increased in numbers and were able to stand up to the Pankalankas.

Many Pankalankas were killed in fights, so that today they are not so numerous. They still live in the more remote areas, and some folks have seen bands of Pankalanka men, women and children moving across the country at night in the ranges hereabouts, lighting their way with big fire sticks."

19th century Blue Mountains settlers were informed by Dharuk tribesmen, that the monolithic formation rising up out of the Jamieson Valley south of Katoomba[ itself the scene of fierce battles with the Jogung giants in the dream-time], and now known as Mt Solitary, was in reality a sleeping giant male ancestral being.

These dream-time giants were said to have been huge, powerful manbeasts, terrifying to look upon. They were so strong that they could smash huge rocks into small stones and they made massive stone weapons and big wooden clubs, with which they hunted the giant animals that roamed the land in those times. Their voices were so powerful that the sounds of their roars echoed up the valleys. They raided Aboriginal camps, killing warriors and stealing their women.

Many myths and legends have come from Tasmania, where the word 'Yowie' surprisingly turns up among other ancient Aboriginal names for these hominids. The monsters would attack forest camps with terrifying howls and screams, hurling massive rocks upon the tribespeople.

The Great Western Tiers was one wild mountainous region to be avoided as much as possible, for traditions said these forests were a favourite haunt of the giants. Here lies the Great Lake, where savage battles were said to have been fought between Aborigines and Makoron Koro, or "hairy giants of the forest" in remote times.

The Arnhem Land tribes have since the 'dream-time', populated their country with all manner of spirit beings that inhabit the forests, swamplands and mountain ranges. However, these beings are not necessarily mythical, for they are man-like in appearance, similar to the Aborigines themselves, only more primitive; giants, pygmies, beast-men reminiscent of Java Man or something even older; and there is also a Gigantopithecus-like monster known across Arnhem Land by the local name Garkain. The Aborigines were terrified of these beings, and were on a constant state of alert against surprise attacks by them.

The Garkains inhabited caves and rock overhangs up in the high plateau country. They wandered the swamps, feeding upon water-lilies and searching the string-bark forests for insectivorous food. Although largely vegetarian in their eating habits, the Garkain were, or still are, said to cause great problems for the tribespeople, attacking them wherever they encroached on their habitat.

"Garkain hairy people do not know how to make fire and have no tools or weapons. They have to catch living creatures with their bare hands. They are big, ape-like, powerful beings with big feet. They are dumb and stupid. They inhabit the Liverpool river where they roam the jungles along the river banks", more than one modern-day native Arnhem lander has said. Garkains can be up to 2.6 m tall, some Aborigines say 3 m.

Central Australian Aborigines preserve myths and legends of other giant people. One of these are called the Numbakulla, who were believed to inhabit the shores of salt lakes., They made huge stone tools and used large stone knives, with which they cut up and ate any Aborigines they had captured.

The Aborigines often confuse both types of gigantic beings [ie primitive Gigantopithecine-types and more intelligent tool-making, fire-making creatures] as "great hairy men", but they are emphatic upon two points; namely, that while some giant hominid beings had always existed on this continent, others entered Australia from somewhere across the sea, walking here in the long-ago 'dream-time'. In other words, across a former land-bridge.