Shipwreck and historical survey: Chilcott Islet, Coral Sea

23 Pages·1992·6.4 MB·

by  R A Coleman

SHIPWRECKANDHISTORICAL SURVEY; CHILCOTTISLET, CORALSEA
R.A.COLEMAN
Coleman,R.A. 1y920629;Shipwreckandhistoricalsurvey;ChilcottIslet,CoralSea.Memoirs
oftheQueenslandMuseum 32(1 .; 31-53. Brisbane. ISSN0079-8835.
Many Coral Sea reefs appearing on modern charts were first discovered by unsuspecting
sailingshipsthatstruckthereefsandwerewreckedinthe 18thand 19thcenturies,[n 1845the
teak, India-builtbarque, Coringa Packet, was totally wreckedon a reefsurrounding a small
sandisletsubsequently namedChilcoti Isletafterthe ship'sCaptain.
In the late 1870's. Chllcott Islet was briefly mined forguano (phosphate) by F.E. Beaver&
fMelbourne.During 11-12December, 1991. theauthorlocatedwreckagebelievedtobe
the remains of Coringa Packet and conducted a brief preliminary survey The wreck is
considered to be archaeological!}' significant because ofits potential to illustrate technical
detail of a poorly-documented vessel type ('Country vcssdVQOpium Clipper) and ofIndian
shipbuildingpractice duringthefirsthalfofthe 19thcentury. shipwreck, Indianshipbuild-
ing, guano mining, archaeology, history. CoralSea.
R.A. Coleman, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South t>r\sbane, Queensland 4101,
Australia; 14January, 1992.
The Connga Islets, comprised ofChilcoet btel England, Arrmdale. Dr Charley obtained the
and South West Islet, lie respectivelv in 16°57*S necessary permit to conduct scientific research
by 150oO0'E and 16°59'S by 149°53'E in the within the Reserve. The charter vessel, TSMV
Coral Sea. Kanimbla was to visit a number of reefand islet
The group is named after the sailing barque systems in the area including Lihou, Tregt'
Coringa Packet, which was wrecked there in Diamond, Magdelaine, Coringa and Herald for a
1S45. Chilcott Islet, where the wreck actually total voyage time offourteen days.
occurred, is named after the ship's Captain, F. Although itwasintended tolocateandexamine
BiggarChilcott. two nineteenth century wrecksites at the eastern
The Coringa Islets are within the Connga- end of Lihou Reef, whilst there bad weather
Herald National Nature Reserve which was caused the abandonment of that part of the pro-
proclaimedundertheNationalParksandWildlife gram. However, the position ofa recent, uniden-
Conservation Act 1975 on 16 August, 19S2. The tified wreck was noted but persistent rain squalls
Reserve is managed by the Australian National prohibited our approaching the site with safety.
Parksand Wildlife Service (ANPWS). Only its two masts and central stack arc Irisible
TileQueenslandMuseumadministerstheCom- abiiue ivaterand it appearstobeacargo vesselor
monwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 in the bulkcarrierofapproximately 120-150minlength.
monwcalth Coral Sea Territory on behalfof The condition of the mast tops suggest that the
the Department of Arts, Sport, Environment, and wreckoccurred within the past 10-20years
Territories(DASET). An essential administrative Whilst ashore at Turtle Islet. Lihou Reef.
duty ofthe Museum, under the Act, is to locate, material was discovered on the beach near the
identify and assess the Australian maritime watcrlsne atthenorthern end, whichmay warrant
heritage resource and make recommendations to aninvestigation ofthe surrounding reefwhen the
theMinister forits betterappreciation,protection opportunitypresentsitself.Thematerialconsisted
and preservation. of a stone (suggestive of ship's ballast), a lip
On the basis of archival research, it was deter* fragmentofanineteenthcenturybottle,anuniden-
mined that the Coringa Packet wreck had the tified small circular copper attachment plate and
potential tomeet criteria foradditional protective several .small pieces ofiron (which were sul
measures and warranted preliminary field inves- live ofhoopiron fromwooden cask:-:).
tigation. Our main objective was to locate and examine
Anopportunitywaspresentedfortheauthorand the wreckofthe CoringaPacketat ChilcottIslet.
a volunteer assistant to join a multidisciplinary Due- to the constraints of a very tight schedule,
scientific charter organised by Dr James Charley (inly one and one halfdays could be spent there,
of the Botany Department, University of New one thirdofwhichtimewasonlypartiallyproduc-
MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
32
I
145°E 150°E 155°E
\CORAL
15°S-
i
CORINGA-HERALD NATIONAL
I
\ NATURE RESERVE
^i
LIHOU REEF NATIONAL
V NATURE RESERVE
-N ISLANDS
TERRITORY
Gladstone i
—
25°S
200 400km
INSET
FIG. 1. LocationofCoringa-HeraldNationalNatureReserve.
CHILCOTTISLETSHIPWRECKANDHISTORICALSURVEY 33
C3
c
5
U
§
'i
I
34 MEMOIRSOFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
live due to hazardous sea conditions on the reef For reasons explained later in this report, it is
flat. importanttodiscoverwheretheshipwasbuiltand
archival research will need to continue into the
HISTORY OF CORJSGA PACKET problem.
When Caringa Packet departed Sydney bound
Today,littleisknownofthe earlyhistory ofthe forCeylon and Madras with a mixed cargo and a
\ga Packet. However, shortly after the consignment of mail on 26 April, 1845, she was
British Expeditionary Force was sent to resolve listed as a 230 ton barque. Four passengers were
the opium issue in China in 1840 (an actionnow officially recorded as being onboard; lieutenant
generally referred to as the 'Opium Wars'), she Blackball,EnsignBloomfield,MrE.Lord,andMr
was foraperiodengaged in the Opium Trade. At HenryVan Deerlin. Alargepartofthecrew weie
that time she was described as being rigged as a Indian seamen or 'Lascars' making a total com-
bra.1 plementofforty.Lyall,Scott,andCompanyacted
The vessel, under the command of F. Biggar asheragents in Sydney.
Chilcotr,arrivedinSydneyon 1 1 March, lS45and Chilcott, upon his arrival in Sydney, had been
anchored offCampbell'sWharfhaving departed the bearer of correspondence addressed to the
Calcutta the 11th December, Madras the 5th prominent pastoralists and horse breeders James
January, Trineomalee the 14th January. *tod and William Macarthur of Camden from their
Hobart Town the 2nd March. She carried twelve agent in Calcutta, G.A. Plaistoweandthe auction
passengers andageneralcargo/ house, Cockerell and Company. The Macarthurs
Advertisements in the SydneyMorning Herald had foundaready market forgood horses among
during March. 1845 announcing her availability theofficersoftheBengalArmyandotheraffluent
for cargo for Ceylon and Madras described the Europeans in India and had recently sent a ship-
vessel as TeakBui3t\ ment to Calcutta on the East Indiaman Blundcll
Theseitemsofinformationsuggestthatshewas Plaistowe reported, '.there appears a great
builtandregisteredinIndia,probablyCalcutta,as demand forthese horses, andthey havebeen ex-
pected aiKJ talked of, three months before our
PQH CEYLON AND MADRAS arrival, and Ihope they maygooffwell. Auction
r%A h H TtA K \ :-'H L sales appear the best and most fair way of each
1 CORWG4 PACKET. horseattainingitsvalue,anditisarrangedthatthe
CftpUha bib &tl mi\ »*- 16ihand21siDecember,bethedaysofsale-half
iht that l pari* about ni« l«i eachday Icouldsellseveral privately, well,butI
ApriL Parfreight or p««tfe*e «r>v>\V tu die find that would prejudice the remaining ones at
auction, wherein purchasers would say the best
1014 L"V ALL. SCOT I , MSil a Irmadmbeaednvitsaekde,n,aalsnodf tfhreocmullCso.,ckoenrlye,lls'osldHpouubslei,clyt.o
such acourse/
FIG. 3. Advertisement in the Sydney MorningHerald 'Gixxi horses will sell well here, but itis great
during March 1845 folly in shippers sending unbroken horses. The
a^Country Vessel' (India based,underEuropean, first question1 amasked here, speaking ofhorses
American, or Parsee ownership: a concession - What kind ofcattle? Are they broken to saddle,
begmdgingly given by the East India Company, side-saddle,harness,doubleorsingle?Ihavehor-
which had earlier held the monopoly on East In- ses that are not broken upon the Catalogue; then,
they say. What a pity - you should always bring
dian trade). Correspondence subsequent to her
islshere,thoroughlybroken,andtheywillmeet
ki and thequantityofreturncargobelonging rI eady saleandrealisegood prices.*4
10 ChiIcon, suggests thaifihe wasownedby Chil- i'l'ilet>tlwasnotslowtorealisethepotentialfor
coltandpossiblyunderchartertothe Honuuiah!.- profit and when Caringa Packet finally cleared
East India Company as an 'Extra Ship'. This Sydney Headsthereweretiireehorseson boarda?
wouldexplain why she was not listed in Lloyd's part of the cargo consigned under the Captain's
Register. The H.E.I. Co. maintained its own in- name. His speculation may have been influenced
surance. Phipps 3 lists most ships built in, and by one of his passengers. Lieutenant Blackhall,
operating from. India up to 1S39. He makes no who had been sent to Australia to investigate the
mentionofCoring**Packetswhichmayhavebeen potential supply ofhorses and other livestock to
built in 1840-1 the Britishmilitary in India.
s
CHUjCOTTislet shipwreckandhistoricalsurvey 35
Whatthen tookplace is bestdescribedby Chil- theHydrabadwhichhadbeen wreckeda lew
cotthimself: earliernearMurray Island andwhohadarrivedat
*On the 5th May, passedWreck Reef; the Wind iheday before.
j
hanging far io the eastward prevented us from ItwasimmediatelyobvioustoChilcottandCap-
weathering Alert Reefand shoals in the vicinity; Cain Robertson ofHydraixui that although a ship
boreawaytothewestwardtoclearthesedangers might be expected to call into the island al
'May 7. Passed through ihe group of islands time, thehugenumberofpeoplewhomustSUI
known by the name of Tregosss Islands on the limited supplies in the cave could not
[Diamond Islets in the Tregrosse reef system], remainthereforlong. Also, Chilcottknewthat to
shapedacourse N.W. by W. with theintentionof notify the authorities ofhis remainingcrewonthe
sighting Lizard Island, and at 9:45 P.M. islet, he must quickly convey the news to a port
sailing at the rate ofeight knotsan hour,the ship from which ships sailed to Sydney. Chilcott and
struck with a tremens h, on a reef, and hisgroup wereexhausted aftereleven daysin the
slewed broadside on; sounded the well, found boats. Writh a volunteercrew and several
sevenfeetwater-oil away themastandletgothe passengers, Captain Robertson immediately set
anchor, for fear the ship might beat out intodeep out forPort Essington in theirlongboat.
. aterandsink,aswccouldno*makeoutanything Inthem rhetwenty-fourLascars lefton
iilnvji us but a foaming sea: the vessel continued Chilcott Islet had reached a decision. The con-
striking violently,and the seamakingacomplete structionofaraftfrommaterialssalvagedfni r1 111:
breachoverall,and,asyoumaysuppose,daylight wreck had begun before Chilcott and the others
was most anxiously looked for; and to our great haddeparted intheboats. Havinglittlefaithinthe
joy, a small island or sand bank was observed to boals' chances til 5, twenty-one of |
\V. distanceabouthalf-a-milei (fortunately decidedtoattempttoreachthemainland.They set
.
die mast had goneoverthe side without injuryto outtwo daysbehindChilcott,on Uie23rdofMay.
the boats) We then rigged a pair of shears, and leaving threeless venturous men on U*eIslct.
with great difficulty got the long boat out; all Two days after Robertson's long bom left
bands next employed in procuring water and Booby Island, on 2nd June, the schooner Sham-
provisions, and landing it onthe island.* rock. Captain G. Browning,calledin and took i
4Atnight, all hands left thewreck, and slepton board Chilcott and the fifty remaining survivors
shore; at daylightwentagaintothe wreck, which ofthe twowretiCS, TheirfirstportofcallwasPort
\vt' foundhadsufferedmuchduringthenight, and Essington where, on the 7th June, they found
gotthewaterand provisionsout; remainedon the Robertson had safely arrived. Chilcott had left
tio.lemnadnunttihlethtehr2e1estboofatMsaya,ndwhpernocweeedthefonrdeTcoirdreeds lHetMteSrsFaltyBoadovbiysiInsglaonfdtfhoerCwraepctkasi,n Bthleacskurwvoiovodrso'f
Straits,inthehopeoffallinginwithHerMajesty' progresstoPortEssington, and ofthe situationof
ShipFly, orseeking somemeans forthe rescue of theLascars left atChilcott Lslct.
theremainderofthecrew lefton the island,com- The Fly with her small tenders Prince George
posedoftwenty-foursouls. We kit on the island and Midge had been conducting surveys off the
8(M3gallonsofwater,andprovisionssufficientfor south coast of New Guinea and had becoflte
four months; and I trust, ere that time expires, separated from the Midge and the ship's second
somemeasures willbe taken toremove them gig. Captain Blackwood dispatched the Prince
We
1 had a boisterous passage in the boats, George to Booby Island for intelligence, as that
fromthewrecktotheBarrierReef,andIamsorry was theiremergency rendezvous, and on 2 June
tosay,wetostthe gig,which upsetonthenightof the Fty ivejghed anchorand followed.
ihe 23rd, and Mr. E- Lord, passenger, was J. Beete Jukes. Naturalist Oil Fh recorded, 'On
drowned: the remainderofthe crew were picked nearingBoobyIsland[onthe8thofJune], wcsaw
up by myselfand the cutter, under the charge of the appointed signal for good news (lying, and
thechiefofficer '' foundthatourboats,havingmissedusonthi-
Chilcott and his group of fourteen sailed the ol New Guinea, after a vain attempt to reach
remaining two boats through the Barrier Reefto Caedha, or Bramble Key, had run for this little
Booby Island, on the western side ofthe Torres islet. We hadleftprovisionsherein theearlypari
Strait, arriving on the ;1** There, they not only oftheyearforanyship-wreckedpeoplethatought
found sustenance in the cave laterknown as the come in their boats [the N.S.W. Government
'Post Office cave*, but another group of n nutaincd supplies in the "Post Office cave").
.shipwreckedpeople. These werethe survivorsof Availing themselves of these, and procuring a
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36 MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
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CHILCOTTISLETSHIPWRECKAND HISTORICALSURVEY
fresh supply of water near Port Lihou, in En- John Hews oftheMaidofAthens, Painpicked up
deavour Strait, fabay on the south side ofPrince the surviving Lascars on the 15th of Juno And
of Wales Island, twelve miles to the cast. The Painvarieshisfiguresinsubsequentreportstosay
CoringaPocketand Hydrabodsurvivorx hadevi- that he rescued ten, not eleven men. that eleven.
dentlyusedallthecaskwaterinthecave.Theonly not ten had died, and that they had been in die
irtber water on the inland is in a small n>ck ealch- Home islands sixteen, notfifteen days.,,J
ment which is difficult to locate and few knew Captain Pain had been busy. On the 31st of
about its existence at that time], our people had May, hehad picked upthe survivors ofthe Maid
left the second gig on Booby Island, and gone on ofAthens, which had been wrecked, just after
in the Midge to Port Essington. We also found midnight on the 30th. southeast of Sir Charles
intelligence that two large vessels had been HardyIslands,whichareacouple ofmilesc-
wrecked - onethe Hyderabad,in theCumberland Home's Islands.11 His delay of several days in
Passage,nearMurrayIsland,anothertheCoringa picking up the Lascars a few miles away must
Packet: havebeenoccasionedbyhisstandingbytheM
"The crewsand passengers of these, consisting ofMaidofAthens tosalvage what he could.
altogether of seventy or eighty people, had also Arriving at Booby Island on the 17th of June,
visited Booby Island, and gone on to Port Es- PainfoundthatChilcott'sgroupandtheHydrabod
sington, partlyin theirboats and partly in a small survivors badalreadydeparted forPortEssington
schooner [Shamrock] that happened to pass by, andthatFlyhadproceededafterthem. Pain left a
Among the passengers by the Hyderabad were letter at the Booby Island Tom Office' advisiiu;
some ladies from Van Diemen's Land, on their of his rescue of eleven of the Lascars and the
way to India, whose acquaintancewehadhadthe wreckofMaidofAthens. Acopyofhisletter was
pleasureofmaking when in Hobaxton ,7 entrusted to the Captain of the brig Joseplt
The Fly immediately sailed to Port Essington Whetler. then anchored at Booby enroutc to
arriving on the 12th of June. They found that Manila. Spy then proceeded with herpassengers
Shamrock had already sailed on the 10th for direcdv to Coupang arriving there on the 4th of
r
Ceylon with Chilcott, his mates,andtwoorthree July.' Asaconsequence, thoseatPortEssington
hands. The remaining shipwreck survivors, were unaware thatonlythree menremained at the
'., amounting to nearly 70 person* were now CoringaPacketwreck.
residing [there], and as it was impossible for the Prince George, with some of the survivors on
garrisontosupportthisnumbermuchlonger, and board,partedcompanywith Flyat PortEssington
therewasnoprobabilityofanyothervesseltouch- on the ISth ofJune and proceeded to Sydney by
ing for some months, the *'Fly" was under the the westernroute.ThecutterarrivedatSydneyon
necessityoftakingthemtoSincaporc.... the 13th of August bringing news of the ship-
Port Essington was out of the way and of no wrecks and the mistaken advice thattwenty-four
commercial interest to merchantmen coming CarhigQ PacketLascars wereawaiting rescue.'1
through Torres Strait. Most sailed directly GovernorGippsimmediatelycalledfortenders
northwest from Booby Island for Coupang in for a vessel to proceed to the reef, \~aiKl a
Timoror through one oftheIndonesian straits to schoonercalledthe^Frolic"waschartered forthe
Singapore. purpose. "Die Government howeverrequired that
l6n the 1 Ith ofJune*, Captain J.B. Pam ofthe she should be commanded by a competent
brig Spy reports, *...! took elevenofhercrew [all navigator and Mr. Yule (Commander of the
thai remained of Coringa Packet's Lascars who vey vessel HMS Bramble which Wa£ ftl
had sailed on the raft] offthe nethermost [north- undergoing a refit] was requested toexamine the
ernmost] ofSirEvcrardHome'sIslands[atthetip candidates: the former master of her. fWilluwn
of Cape Grenvillc]. where Ihey had been for fif- Pilfold), broke down at once, and out of 6
Im, subsisting on sbeU-listi and what linle othersexaminedonly oneunderstoodhowtowork
waterthey could find in the cavitiesofthe rocks; out a common set ofsights for lime!: theowners
threedied themorningI fell inwith them, and the were also very anxious for the master of the
others were in a dreadful state of exhaustion. "Frolic"whohadbeenalongtimein (heiremploy
These are the only survivors of twenty one men to continue in her, but this Mr. Yule would not
who left die wreck on a raftonthe23rd ofMay.,y consent to unless a competent '"navigator' went
It would appearthata mistake in dates was made with him, and the only one who had passed a
here andthattheLascarshad arrived ul the Home satisfactory exatttinatfofi objected i> .. nA
Islandsonthe30thofMay. AccordingtoCaptain ordinatecapacity:allthisoccasionedconsiderable
3S MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
BoobyIs.
-.-.•;
'--.-. --."''.:.',.--.'- ,'.'.'-'':--:'-.*'v.-'. .\
- '".."'.. '•:-': '".>';'VV.^'"^v'."-"'':--.v/."'".-.-7J-'
FIG. 5. ChartshowingrelativepositionsofChilcottIslet, Home Islands, BoobyIsland, andPortEssington.
delay but at length a person [Mr G. Levian] was rescue when they finally arrived at Chilcott Islet.
found who proved fit & willing to go as "mate & Captain Pilfold's log book explains what took
navigator" with the former Skipper and on the place:
19th ofAugustthe "Frolic" sailed.'14 'Saturday,6thSeptember, 1845.-At9:30A.M.,
"In the mean time however the "Heroine" ... sightedthewreckofthe CoringaPacket, onChil-
whose master, McKenzie [Martin MacKenzie], a cottIsland,asandkey,bearingS.W.,distantthree
very clever enterprising little fellow had also ap- leagues.At 10:15landedontheisland(northend),
plied, tho' invain,forthecontract, sailedforJava and saw the place where a tent had been erected,
and in her passage touched at Chilcott's Bank butnotrace ofthe shipwreckedcrew. Ithen sear-
[Islet] a fortnight before the "Frolic"....115 Mac- ched forthe mails and property saidto have been
KenzietookthethreeremainingLascarsonboard, buried about ten paces from the tent (no parts of
dug up a chest ofsilver plate and other valuables which were left), but I found a large hole, about
which Chilcott had buried, recovered the mails, that distance, in which I supposed them to have
and, as was his habit, planted severalcoconuts so beenburied;inthisholemanypiecesoftarpauline
thatinfuture,unsuspectingmarinerscouldseethe werestrewedabout, whichboretheappearanceof
low-lyingislet,beforesailingontoPortEssington havingbeen latelydug up, as did thehole itself. I,
where (it is presumed) he lodged a claim for Mr. G. Levien [the mate], and three of my crew,
salvage.16 In fact, MacKenzie was an excellent then searched the island throughout, to see if we
navigator and must have derived a great deal of could find any letter, mark, or notice, by or
satisfaction from having shown the bumbling throughwhatmeansthesemenlefttheisland; and
bureaucrats in Sydney, and particularly afterafruitlesssearchofnearthreehours,gaveup
Lieutenant Yule, who had insulted his sen- all hope ofgaining any clue oftheir destination,
sitivities,athingortwo.Henowhadadouble-axe andreturnedonboard.TheCoringaPacketisnow
to grind. Enroute to Port Essington with the men lying withherheadtotheeastward, andbyall the
and goods he had rescued, Heroine struck a rock appearances, in which I am borne out by the
inthemiddleofEndeavourStraitwhereYulehad opinion ofmy crew, thecopperhas been stripped
surveyed previouslyanddeclaredfreeofdangers. off on the starboard side, and the whole of the
Now who was the incompetentnavigator? rigging, masts, and everything moveable, have
Ofcourse, the Frolic found no one or thing to been taken or carried away. There is a derrick
1
CHILCOTTISLETSHIPWRECKANDHISTORICALSURVE\ 39
rigged out ofthe main hatchway, and the hatches Tonnage - 230
alloff.Ontheislandeverythingvaluablehasbeen Formerlyengagedin Opium Trade
taken away; nopart oftheraft, spars, orcasks, of Coppersheathed, apparently iron-fastened,
any description are remaining - saving a piece of Captain - F. Biggar Chilcott
one of the lower masts [probably the one which Sydney Agents - Lyal!, Scott & Company
was cut away shortly after the wreck] and an old Insurers - Apparently, H.E.I. Co.
SCtitUe butt a few rags ofcanvas, andclothing of Departed Sydney - 26 April 1845 [after a depar-
the crew/ ture on 14 April aborted due to adverse wil
Checking at the Raine Island beacon for the Destination-Ceylonand MadrasviaTorresStrait
missingsurvivors,Pilfoldfoundaletterwhichhad Wrecked - 7 May 1845, Chilcott Islet, Coringa
been left by Mackenzie with theconfusing news Islets, Coral Sea
thatHeroinehad rescued the mails and goodsbut Cargo consigned by J.['?] B. Chilcott [was this ;
only three Lascars Frolic then proceeded to miss-print, ot did Captain Chilcotthave a rela-
Booby Island where he found Captain Pain's ac- tiveas a partner?]
count of the rescue of all that remained of the 500bags flour
twenty-one on the raft and letters explaining the 30logscedar
others' departure for Port Essington. He then 20kegsbeef
sailed on to Port Essington where he found two 1 casebird skins
Lascars (one had joined the crew of Heroine). 3 horses
ChiIcon's valuables, and the mail which he sub- 9 rams
sequentlytookon toSingaporeinaccordancewith 30 sheep
bis charter with the New South Wales Govern- 25 tonscoal
ment.18 CargoconsignedbyJohnLord
Governor Gipps advised the Secretary of State, 200bags flour
WJLGladstone,in adispatchdatedJune 16, 1846, Cargoconsignedby JLC. Lvall
thathecharteredtheFrolicfor£294/19/11.Hehad 12 case.s cigars
every reason to believe, he wrote, that the East Mails consisting of 249 letters for London; 400
IndiaCompanydirectorswouldgratefullytake the Sydney, and 118 foreign letters, and 415
chargeupon themselves,andhesentGladstonethe newspapeis for Calcutta. 124 letters, and 152
charter documents and the details of the Frolic's papersforMadras;66 lettersand 102paperslor
services; a letter from the Resident Councillor at Bombay; 26letters and 35 papersforCeylnn, 1
Singapore reporting the Frolic's arrival; a certifi- letter forMauritius; and 1 letterfortheCape oi
cate thatthe menandtheFrolic'sownershaddone Good Hope
(heir work satisfactorily; and a declaration by die Passengers
treasurerandauditorofNew SouthWales thatthe Lieutenant Blackhall
chartercost the N.S.W. Government £249/19/1 ign Bloomfield
i
The East India Company responded that itheld Mr E. Lord [drowned when the gig over-
itself accountable for £240 for the hire of the turned]
Frolicandconsideredthaithebalance,£54/19/11, Mr Henry Van Deerlin [some confusion
was the value ofprovisions shipped on boardthe here Francis Stewart, Chief Officer of
Frolic and intended for the Lascars at the wreck. H\drabad reportedthatChilcott,twopas-
T
But since the provisionswere not applied for this sengers, and a Miss Beech arrived at
purpose, but were landed at Port Essington and Booby Island along with eleven of the
retained there, it was clear that the East India ship'shands ].
Company was not accountable for them. Earl
Gray,whohadbecomeSecretaryofState,thought GUANO MINING ON CHILCOTTISLET
that the outstanding £54/19/11 might be con-
sideredchargeable toPortEssington ^
I did not have die opportunity to examine the
SUMMARYDETAILS OF entireisletduringourDecember 1991 visit. How-
ever, Dr Charley reported having seen two
CORINGA PACKET
prepared blocks of guano on top of the islet
themiddle ofthe southeasternside The ANPWS
Barque Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve: Pian
Teak built [probably India, possibly Calcutta of Management (p.8) briefly states, Reb
c.1840-41] guano mining during the 1860's remain on Chil-
40 MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSF.L'M
ooii blet'.bm does notsay whatthe 'relics' might gun. He was not informed by Lord Carnarvon's
be. My research indicates that, olftciuJly. guano PrivateSecretaryofhis successfulapplicationfor
miningdidnot commence mi Chileou Island until a license to mine guano on Chilcott and Herald
1£77andthatitprobablydidnotcontinueforvery Cays until he received a letter dated 5 February
long. 1877*
.
A MrGilbertCarverRobertsclaimed inaletter *In order to obtain a favourable wind the
to the Earl of Derby (then British Secretary of Douglas went south as far as Flinders Passage.
State for Foreign Affairs), dated 9 March, 1878, anchoringontheway underDrink [Dunk] Island,
that he had been the firstdiscoverer ofguano on near Cardwell. While there a canoe with three
Chileou Island during a voyage sometime sub- blacks came offandwere invited onboard. They
sequent to 1871."1 were supplied with tobacco,pipes, &c, andgiven
Theonlyofficial licensetomine guanoatChil- to understand that they were wanted to get some
cottwas issued toRE. BeaverofMelbourneby a companions, and to go with the vessel on her
letterdated 5 February 1877 The license was for voyage. They apparently agreed, went back and
a period ofsevenyearsandcostBeaver£100. He brought another man The new comerhad such a
hadinitiallyappliedtominetheWilli*Isletstothe disagreeable appearance that the captain refused
north. This was ob\riously a speculative applica- totakehim,anil Irli with the three first. On arriv-
tion as he shcfflh aftciwards wrote that he had ingatChile*[7February],asmalldetachedisland,
beenmisinformedas lo the potentialofthe Willis about a mile and a-half long by one broad, they
Islets and he wished to change his application ro found theAlexandra, brig,belonging to the same
includeChilcottand the Herald Cays/2Obvious- firm,halfloaded.Mr. Beaver,oneofthefirm,who
ly,hehadvisitedtheWillisIsletsafterhisapplica- -n board the Douglas, not having enough
tion, and prior to its approval, and had colored labor lo screen the guano fast enough,
subsequently discovered apotentially richer har- determined to go back by the Alexandra, half
vest atChilcottandthe Heralds. loadedas shewas, and lo fill upwithcedar at the
A Story, which appeared in the Cooktown Dainlree.Thehrigaccordinglyleftonthemorning
:er of 28 February, 1877 entitled 'The ofthe 10th. and - the fact is worth noticing - she
Douglas Tragedy' andin theCooktownHeraldof took nearly all the firearms of the Douglas, and
the same dale entitled 'Mosl Horrible Murdersat the blacks were present when the transfer was
Chilcot Island*, gives usa graphic description of effected.*
an incredible occurrence at Chilcott islet. (Later, 'Thatevening [actually the 14th] night fell with
(he Courierx\or< appearedin theBumlabcrgStar an over-cloudy sky, boisterous wind, and every
and BurnettRiver Timesof23 March, 1877 from appearanceofrain.Twowhitemen.Cochraneand
which the following isquoted). Mcintosh, were on shorein a hut which had he. i.
It is interesting to note herethat Cooktownwas erected, and which was stored with water and
then the centre ofgovernment administration in rations; twoof(he blacks werealso with them h
north Queensland due to its proximity to the Pal- the early part of the night, while the white men
mer goldficlds. Cairns had no hospital nor weresittingintheirhut, theblacksseemedtohave
newspaper and its most senior policeman was killed them by simultaneous and treacherrjus
eant Armstrongwhosubmittedareporttohis strokes, the attitude ofthe bodies indicating that
superior. Inspector Clohcsy, at Cooktown. The they could hardly have been aware of the death-
CoofWWn Courterjournalist writes: stroke.Then, armed with thehalfaxes which had
'TheBlackJyird[steamer],whicharrivedhereon served for the murder, the two blacks swam
SaturdayfromCairns,landedthreewoundedmen, through thetempestuous sea off to the vessel.*
whoweresenttothe[CookDistrict] Hospital,and Noone on the schoonersuspectedevil, and all
who appeared to be hacked and art in a most the whitesseemtohavebeenasleep; probably the
terrible manner. The story U>ey tell is one which black was waiting for his comrades. Softly they
can hardly be equaled by the most imaginative stoleabouttheirmurderouswork.Twowhite men
writeroffiction,* were asleepon thedeck, and both were struckso
Tt appears that theDouglas, schooner, belong- thattheymadenosound. One(Shaw) saysthathe
ingtoMessrs.F.E. BeaverandCo.,ofMelbourne, knew nothing till he came lo hissensestwohours
landed a general cargo in Cairns, and ihen nfiLiwards, waking in a sort of dream finding
proceeded on the 18th January to Chilot [sic] himselfone mass of clotted blood, and chopped
fsland.lyingabout200milesdueeast,andworked allovertheheadandarm.Whatsavedhimwasbe
for guano by that firm/ (Beaver hadjumped the had wrapped a rug and thick flour bag over his