Spencer Gulf

(map)

Spencer Gulf was once filled with a line of fresh-water lagoons, spanning a hundred miles or more. Each lagoon belonged to a particular kind of water bird; the trees belonged to the eagles, crows, and parrots, and the open country between was home to the emus, curlews, and mallee fowls. The dingos and many kangaroo-like animals lived further out, and in the thick grass by the water lived snakes, goanna, and lizards. For a long time, they all lived in harmony. But the birds, because of their greater numbers, brighter colors, and ability to fly, felt superior to the rest, and they prohibited the animals and reptiles from drinking in the lagoons. That began a long conflict in which many were killed and many died of thirst.

The kangaroo grieved over the fighting and, after much thought, decided to destroy the lagoons which the creatures were fighting over by opening the isthmus to the south which held the sea back from the valley. He pointed the thigh bone of a mythical ancestor at the isthmus, and slowly the isthmus opened. The sea poured through, flooding the entire valley, and the birds and animals were then forced to live together in peace.

Charles P. Mountford and Ainslie Roberts, The Dawn of Time (London: Angus & Robertson, 1969), 18; Mountford, Charles P. and Ainslie Roberts, The Dreamtime Book (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973), 72.