156 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



and a westward course was set for the " PANDORA PASSAGE " in the 

 Barrier Reef (ADMIRALTY CHART, No. 2422), which was cleared in 

 lat. 9 58' S. and long. 144 46' E. on the i8th, and before noon 

 of that day the anchor was dropped off Murray Island. 1 



In the absence of all information, Captain Lewis' obvious 

 course would have been to commence his search for survivors at 

 the Sir Charles Hardy Islands, where the wreck took place. But 

 the meeting of the captain of the " Mangles " with a white boy on 

 an island in Torres Strait indicated that survivors might be searched 

 for further to the north, and therefore MURRAY ISLAND was selected 

 as the starting-point. 



Natives of Murray Island came out in canoes and made known 

 by signs that a white man was with them. This man, who proved 

 to be JOHN IRELAND, two years older than when he shipped as 

 Steward's Boy on the " Charles Eaton" was ultimately brought out 

 to the " Isabella " and exchanged for tomahawks. Later on, 

 WILLIAM, the younger of the D'OYLEY boys, was also produced and 

 ransomed, the chief difficulty being his reluctance to part with his 

 black foster-mother. He did not understand English, but spoke 

 the Murray Island language fluently. 



On 2^th June, the " Isabella's " launch was sent to WYER 

 ISLAND, south of Murray Island, where the men saw a string of 

 HUMAN SKULLS in a hut. There was no reason to suppose that the 

 skulls were those of white men, but they, no doubt, gave Captain 

 Lewis a hint. 



Four days later, the " Isabella " left for Darnley Island, steering 

 north-west, but grounded on Canoe Key, where she was detained 

 for a week. On the $th July, she sailed round the reefs east and 

 north of DARNLEY ISLAND, and anchored on the north side of the 

 island. The natives recognised the two boys. The island was 

 searched for survivors of the wreck, but without avail. On 21 st 

 July, the low woody islands west of Darnley Island, viz., STEPHEN'S 

 and CAMPBELL'S, were searched, and also (by parties in the two 

 whaleboats) islands lying to the windward, known by the native 

 names of MASSEED and CADDOW (presumably the two YORKE 

 ISLANDS designated on the modern chart MASSIK and KODALL).' 

 The inhabitants, who were apparently in a state of great alarm and 

 anxious to get rid of their visitors, came down to the beach, offering 

 gifts of coco-nuts, shells, etc. Ireland believed that they had 

 skulls hidden in the bush, but they denied the imputation and fled. 



On 2$tb July, the " Isabella " anchored at AUREED ISLAND, 

 which was carefully searched. No natives were met with, but in 

 a hut there were found a great number of SKULLS, many of them 

 having marks of violence, lashed with rope of European make to a 



1 The route is plotted in ink, with notes in Captain Lewis' own handwriting, on a 



copy of Flinders' Chart, PI. XIII of the Atlas to Terra Australis, in the Mitchell Library. 



8 Such variations are only natural when Europeans spell foreign words phonetically. 



