The Argus at KellyGang 4/8/1880
THE TALLAROOK MYSTERY
The re-appearance on Thursday of the mysterious individual who for a series of years has haunted the Tallarook Ranges, and the subsequent discovery of his caves, created quite an excitement in the neighbourhood. On Sunday upwards of 50 persons visited the gully and examined the caves. So identified had the stranger become with the place where his habitations have been found, that it was popularly known as "The Wild Man's Gully."
Mr Mullavey, the boundary rider, who had a good look at the fellow some12 months ago, describes him as a short thick set German, between 40 and 50 years of age, with long hair and long beard. When last seen he wore a sleeved waistcoat and a dirty blue cap. The mystery has, of course, been so far solved by the discovery of the caves, for the large quantity of sugar, peas, &c, found in them seems to show that the man must have been carrying on an illicit whisky still. No trace of him, however, has yet been found. The gully is situated in the Tallarook Ranges, about five miles south of the township. Until recently it was a most unfrequented place, but six months ago a man named Kerby took up a selection in the centre of it, and is now living there with his family.
The ranges on each side are steep and rocky, and pretty thickly timbered. Ascending the range on the east side for about a quarter of a mile you reach a large sloping rock, with a small stream of water flowing from a fissure at its foot. By scrambling up through this fissure dropping into a hole at the end, and then ducking under a jagged lodge, the explorer finds himself in a rude passage of an irregular character. Striking off at a tangent is a lofty space about the width of a man, and about 20ft. in length. The walls are of solid granite and ascend to a height of between 20 and 30 feet. This cave had evidently been used as a storeroom, for here were found a barrel of brown sugar, a quantity of peas, large slabs of bark (used, apparently, for laying things on), a box of chaff, and a quantity of canvas or tarpaulin cloth, as also bones of pigs, fowls &c. There are several other passages in this cave, which have not yet been explored. Some thirty or forty yards further south there are three huge boulders of white granite. They rest upon or rise out of the face of the range, and are very conspicuous objects. They stand close to each other, almost touching, and enclose a small triangular area of pretty level ground.
To a casual observer everything about the spot would appear perfectly natural, and any one might perch on the boulders, or walk about on the ground between them, without ever suspecting that underneath lay an artificial cave in the form of a small but substantially made and comfortably furnished room. Yet it is just underneath the sward here, and between these boulders, that the mysterious man spent a great deal of his time. The circumstances under which Mr Mullavey discovered this place, by raising a slab and hearing a noise inside, have been already explained, and need not be repeated. A few further details about the cave or underground hut may, however, be interesting. Entrance is obtained by removing a granite slab, which lies in the angle formed by two of the boulders, You descend underneath about 4ft, by means of two steps like the rungs of a ladder, and pass to the right round the foot of one boulder Pushing aside a slab of granite and a bark door, which fits into the passage very exactly, a comfortable little cabin is reached. The apartment measures about 9ft or 10ft, by about 6ft, and is between 7ft and 8ft high. On the left hand stands a stretcher with bedding. On the right hand there is a fire place and oven, and further on a recess, built of masonry and attacked with wood. The walls are substantially built of masonry, and lined on the inside with weatherboard. The roof is also formed of weatherboard, and elopes to one side. From the rafters iron hooks are hanging. The roof, as has been previously indicated, is covered over with two or three feet of soil and turf. Everything in the interior of the hut is black with smoke, the stones at the entrance are worn smooth, and altogether it seems to have been m use for many years. A great variety of articles were found inside, including clothing spoons, cans, a devotional book entitled the ‘Tent and the Altar,’ and a railway timetable, with the name " Henncke Nelson' written in pencil on one leaf. Yesterday a small shot-bag con taming powder and angular slug, was found in the natural cave. No part of a whisky still has as yet been discovered, but the search is being continued
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