The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes.
Illustration of a Bunyip by J. Macfarlane (1890)
Bunyip (1935), by Gerald Markham Lewis, from the National Library of Australia digital collections, demonstrates the variety in descriptions of the legendary creature.
An 1882 illustration of an Aboriginal man telling the story of the bunyip to two white children
The purported bunyip skull
Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology
Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology is the sacred spirituality represented in the stories performed by Aboriginal Australians within each of the language groups across Australia in their ceremonies. Aboriginal spirituality includes the Dreamtime, songlines, and Aboriginal oral literature.
The Djabugay language group's mythical being, Damarri, transformed into a mountain range, is seen lying on his back above the Barron River Gorge, looking upwards to the skies, within north-east Australia's wet tropical forested landscape.
Australian carpet python, one of the forms the 'Rainbow Serpent' character may take in 'Rainbow Serpent' myths
Statue of Captain James Cook at Admiralty Arch, London
