26 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



on the 19th June 1818. He named and landed on Goold 

 Island, and sailing north on the 21st, anchored off Timana, 

 where he went ashore. " Dunk Island," he writes, " a little 

 to the northward, is larger and higher, and remarkable for 

 its double-peaked summit." 



Those natives who are versed in the ancient history of 

 the island, tell of the time when all were amazed by the 

 appearance of bags of flour, boxes of tobacco, and cases of 

 goods drifting ashore. None at the time knew what flour 

 was ; only one boy had previously smoked, and the goods 

 were too mysterious to be tested. Many tried to eat flour 

 direct from the bag. The individual who had acquired the 

 reputation of a smoker made himself so sick that none 

 other had the courage to imitate him, and the tobacco and 

 goods were thrown about playfully. In after years the 

 inhabitants were fond of relating how they had humbugged 

 themselves. 



The next ensuing official reference of particular interest 

 is contained in the narrative of the voyage of H.M.S. 

 Rattlesnake, by John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S., naturalist of 

 the expedition. The date is 26th May 1848, and an 

 extract reads — " During the forenoon the ship was moved 

 over to an anchorage under the lee (north-west side) of 

 Dunk Island, where we remained for ten days. The 

 summit of a very small rocky island, near the anchorage, 

 named, by Captain Owen Stanley, Mound Islet (Purtaboi), 

 formed the first station. Dunk Island, eight or nine miles 

 in circumference, is well wooded it has two conspicuous 

 peaks, one of which (the north-west one) is 857 feet in 

 height. Our excursions were confined to the vicinity of 

 the watering-place and the bay in which it is situated. 

 The shores are rocky on one side and sandy on the other, 

 where a low point runs out to the westward. At their 

 junction, and under the sloping hill with large patches of 

 bush, a small stream of fresh water, running out over the 

 beach, furnished a supply for the ship, although the boats 

 could approach the place closely only at high-water. 

 Among the most interesting objects of natural history are 



