:

[A full account.] "In laying up a store of bunyas, the blacks
exhibited an unusual foresight. When the fruit was in season,
they filled netted bags with the seeds, and buried them."

1889. Hill, quoted by J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 7:

"The cones shed their seeds, which are two to two and a half
inches long by three-quarters of an inch broad; they are sweet
before being perfectly ripe, and after that resemble roasted
chestnuts in taste. They are plentiful once in three years,
and when the ripening season arrives, which is generally in the
month of January, the aborigina&ls assemble in large numbers
from a great distance around, and feast upon them. Each tribe
has its own particular set of trees, and of these each family
has a certain number allotted, which are handed down from
generation to generation with great exactness. The bunya is
remarkable as being the only hereditary property which any of
the aborigines are known to possess, and it is therefore
protected by law. The food seems to have a fattening effect on
the aborigines, and they eat large quantities of it after
roasting it at the fire."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 377:

"The `Bunya-bunya' of the aboriginals--a name invariably
adopted by the colonists."

1892. J. Fraser, `Aborigines of New South Wales,' p. 50:

"The Bunya-bunya tree, in the proper season, bears a fir cone
of great size--six to nine inches long-and this, when roasted,
yields a vegetable pulp, pleasant to eat and nutritious."

1893. `Sydney Morning Herald,' Aug. 19, p. 7, col. 1:

"There is a beautiful bunya-bunya in a garden just beyond, its
foliage fresh varnished by the rain, and toning from a rich
darkness to the very spring tint of tender green."

<hw>Bunyip</hw>, <i>n</i>. (1) the aboriginal name of a
fabulous animal. See quotations. For the traditions of the
natives on this subject see Brough Smyth, `Aborigines of
Victoria,' vol. i. p. 435.

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 391:

"Certain large fossil bones, found in various parts of
Australia Felix, have been referred by the natives, when
consulted on the subject by the colonists, to a huge animal of
extraordinary appearance, called in some districts the Bunyup,
in others the Kianpraty, which they assert to be still alive.
It is described as of amphibious character, inhabiting deep
rivers, and permanent water-holes, having a round head, an
elongated neck, with a