FIRST CRUISE OF THE "BASILISK" 359 



named the GLADYS RIVER. l Here the bodies of two men were 

 found. Two days later, the naked body of another castaway was 

 discovered, and its condition pointed to a violent death, the skull 

 having been beaten in. " Still further search, afterwards made by 

 NAVIGATING LIEUTENANT GOWLAND, of the New South Wales 

 Government steamer * Governor Blackall, discovered six more 

 bodies further to the south, which showed that those who had 

 landed from the smaller raft had endeavoured to reach Cardwell 

 by walking along the beach, but, meeting hostile natives, had been 

 murdered." Although only nine of the twelve men on the raft 

 are accounted for, there is no reason to doubt that three more 

 met a similar fate. 



The contrast between the conduct of the natives in the case 

 of the Captain's boat and the smaller raft on the one hand and that 

 of the larger raft on the other is very remarkable. It is possible 

 that some difference in the attitude of the castaway parties may have 

 led to murder in one case and succour in the other. Or there may 

 have been different tribes of natives, actuated by different ideas. 

 It is to be hoped that the " tribe " which received exemplary 

 punishment for the murder of the captain and his three men had 

 no connection with that which saved the lives of the occupants of 

 the larger raft. 



In the course of the search for the shipwrecked men, Moresby 

 discovered the admirable little landlocked harbour which he 

 named after his Navigating Lieutenant, MOURILYAN, with the 

 MORESBY RIVER (which he named after himself) " flowing into the 

 sea at its south head." It may be noted that the country behind 

 Mourilyan Harbour was shortly afterwards surveyed by GEORGE 

 ELPHINSTONE DALRYMPLE, who pronounced it fit for the cultivation 

 of sugar cane, and that it has since become an important centre of 



the SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



The " Basilisk " returned to CARDWELL on I5th March, 1871, 

 and sailed for Sydney two days later, with the " Peri " in tow. The 

 survivors of the " Maria " were taken on board the " Governor 

 Blackall" which had been sent to Cardwell for the purpose by 

 the Government of New South Wales. 



In the course of her voyage south, the " Basilisk " called at the 

 PERCY ISLANDS and KEPPEL BAY, and the officers had the pleasure 

 of attending a ball in " the rising town of Rockhampton." MORE- 

 TON BAY was reached on 2/th March, 1871, and Moresby had an 

 interview with the Governor, Lord Normanby, and the Premier, 

 the Hon. (afterwards Sir) Arthur Palmer. SYDNEY was reached 

 on 6th April. 



1 The mouth of this river now bears the name of Gladys Inlet. In 1873, Dalrymple 

 named the river the Johnstone, after Sub-Inspector Johnstone, believing him to be the 

 first to trace it inland, and the name has stuck beyond remedy. As a matter of fact, 

 Lieutenant Sydney Smith, of the " Basilisk," had been 10 miles up the river in a boat 

 during the search for the survivors of the " Maria." 



