356 NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



Moresby remarks that the name of the island had been given 

 in commemoration of an attack on a man-of-war " in former years." 

 This vague reference is to the attack on the " Providence " and 

 " Assistant" commanded by Bligh and Portlock, in 1792. He 

 saw a " war dance " of natives. 



On the island were two teachers or MISSIONARIES, natives of 

 the Loyalty group of islands. They had been brought, with 

 others, some nine months previously, by the Revs. S. Macfarlane 

 and A. W. Murray, from Cape York and landed on Cornwallis and 

 Saibai Islands, where they were left with a small stock of " trade " 

 for the purchase of their requirements and the propitiation of the 

 native chiefs. When food and trade were exhausted, the two men 

 came to Warrior Island to beg for relief for the wives they had 

 left sick and starving at Cornwallis Island, and were fortunate 

 enough to obtain alms, first from Mr. Merriman's employees and 

 afterwards from the men of the " Basilisk" 



The " Basilisk " returned to Sydney by the inner passage, 

 calling at LIZARD ISLAND and the ENDEAVOUR RIVER. In all 

 probability the course was outside of the Dungeness Reef, and, if 

 so, this would be the first occasion on which she cleared the strait 

 now known as BASILISK PASS, between Warrior and Dungeness 

 Reefs. The pass had already been used, though not named, by 

 Bligh and Portlock, in the " Providence " and " Assistant," in 

 1792; and by Bampton and Alt, in the "Hormuzeer" and 

 " Chesterfield" in 1793 ; while Dumond D'Urville, with the 

 " Astrolabe " and " Zelee" had the misfortune to discover the 

 " MAUVAIS CANAL," on the wrong side of Warrior Island. 



Moresby took the " Basilisk" on the 5th March, 1871, to 

 the spot where COOK had landed in 1770, and found it just as 

 Cook had left it. Before he had found time to pen his narrative, 

 the discovery of the PALMER GOLDFIELD had created on this spot 

 the township of COOKTOWN, with " a population of 10,000 people, 

 three banks, a daily newspaper and all the appointments of a 

 full-grown city." 



The "Basilisk" arrived at CARDWELL on 9th March, 1871, 

 and came in touch with a tragedy which has become historical. 



Sabben, who had been left in charge of the captured " Peri" 

 reported to Moresby the circumstances attending and following 

 the WRECK OF THE " MARIA," a brig of 167 tons. Sixty-seven 

 adventurous spirits had clubbed together in Sydney, contributing 

 10 each towards the expenses of an expedition, of which the 

 chief item was the purchase of the leaky and ill-found old craft 

 in which they eventually sailed with the intention of prospecting 

 in New Guinea. Four hundred miles short of their destination, 

 they met the north-westerly monsoon and just escaped shipwreck. 

 In an almost helpless condition they drifted southward for a time 

 before they managed to steer westward through the Barrier Reef. 



