THREE GOOD AUSSIE MATES BONGAREE, MATT AND a CAT

There have been many ways of spelling and saying the name Bongaree or Bungaree, usually pronounced BUNG-a-REE with a hard accent on the “G”. People who knew the man at the time may have said BOUN-GARRY, and there at least 30 other documented spellings of the name including BUNAGRE, BONGARRY, BONJARI, BOUNGARI, BUNGGARY, BUNGARI, BUNGERI and BUNJAREE.

With no written language, indigenous names were documented as phonetic sounds by people with different accents, so it is not surprising that there were so many spellings. However, what is very consistent is the high regard that Bongaree was held in by all who knew him.

He was variously described as flamboyant, intelligent, and shrewd, he was an explorer, a go-between, a joker, and a mimic. Physically he was strong. lean and active, brave, alert, and adventurous, skilled at finding water and tracking humans and animals.

Just the sort of person you would want to go exploring with.

He was well respected in early Sydney and invited by Governors to accompany explorers to communicate and establish contact with indigenous people. He would often shed his clothes to approach menacing groups and stand naked and unarmed between opposing whites and blacks. Bongaree was skilled with shield and spear in trials of strength and punishment, and in his later life he had enough cunning to use humour and mimicry as his weapons. He spoke his own unique style of English and visitors to Sydney could not miss his cheerful grin and proud bearing, and his dress set him apart from others.

He managed to have a foot in both black and white society and came into early Sydney as the respected Chief of the Broken Bay tribe. In his lifetime he saw his people dispossessed of their land and hunting grounds and the freedom to live their traditional lifestyle. He proudly wore a brass Gorget or “King Plate” around his neck, given to him by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1815, in recognition of his many years of service.

Bongaree was thought to be slightly younger than 25-yearold Matthew Flinders when they sailed on the Sloop Norfolk in 1799 to be the first “visitors” to come to Bribie Island and explore Moreton Bay and Pumicestone River.

BONGAREE would be the first to be called “Australian” after circumnavigating the entire continent with Matthew Flinders aboard the “Investigator” in 1802/3, when the name AUSTRALIA was first proposed for the continent.

Bongaree sailed around the continent again with Phillip Parker King in 1817, after Matthew Flinders had been a prisoner of war of the French on Mauritius for 7 years and died in England in 1814. Governor Brisbane presented Bongaree with an old military uniform, complete with sword and cocked hat, which he wore with pride. He was a great mimic of Governors mannerisms, but never the current Governor. Military personnel saluted him in the street, and he was thrilled when in later life the navy invited him to live at Garden Island on full rations and pay. When visiting ships came into Sydney Harbour he would go aboard and welcome them to his country with remarkable courtesy. He died at Garden Island in 1830 aged about 55 and buried at Rose Bay by his sixth wife “Gooseberry” who survived him by 20 years.

Flinders came to Australia

The much-travelled cat TRIM was born on a ship between Cape Town and Sydney when Flinders first came to Australia in 1795. He called his cat “the most affectionate of friends who could run up the ships rigging faster than any sailor”. Bongaree were dramatically interrupted when Flinders and Trim were sailing back to England and visited Mauritius, not knowing that England was a War with France. They were taken prisoner and held for 7 long years during which time the cat went missing, but Flinders finally got back to England in 1810 in failing health. Flinders struggled to complete his book “Voyage to Terra Australis”, which was finally published one day before his death on 19 July 1814 at age 40.

I sat down to write one short article to tell you interesting things about Bongaree, Flinders, and Trim. I now realise that there is so much more to tell about their remarkable friendship and achievements, and specifically their time on Bribie Island. I will continue with their story in the next issue.

Historical Society monthly meetings are second Wednesday of each month at 6;30 pm at the RSL Club but with no meeting in January the next will be February 8th. See more stories and photos of Bribie history on our Web Site Bribiehistoricalsociety. org.au and Blog Site http:// bribieislandhistory.blogspot. com or contact us on bribiehistoricalsociety@gmail.com

Flinders was a very accomplished cartographer and navigator, and in 1802/3 with Bongaree and crew of Investigator, were first to sail right around the lands named New Holland by early Dutch explorers, and later New Wales by James Cook when he first claimed the east coast in 1770. Flinders and Bongaree confirmed it was one huge island Continent to which he gave the name AUSTRALIA which was officially adopted some years later.