The Aborigines and Lady 



bv I nMi'M) D. Cm i 1 



Proni C^P 6 Ke.unui. I lie C'rcnjB'i. 

 hi the lop pt the dunCS ill Yatuhuk. 

 west 0( Pt>fi fairy. WflStBnl Yictoii.i. 

 ,ni island can Hi! seen live miles off 

 the coast, li is n'ui'.iiiv trfungulih m 

 milline. iiver a mile long and l>V<!l 

 holt .1 mile Udde, With veitieal cliffs. 



ii s t .,inK i (Hi to 150 feel out at iKe 



slj (Sec Plate I I When seen I rom .i 

 distance, it IfttfigUW people liy reason 

 itl its high steep u .ills ami ll.it top, 

 Ihe usual reaction is to y.a/e in sur- 

 prise anil ask "What i>n cailh is 

 that '" lust as our curiosity is arouseil 

 by the sight ol the islaiul. so was that 

 of the Aborigines. It held an impor 

 taut place in their mvtliologv. ami 

 we now have evidence in the t'oim 

 ol a Hint scraper thai A hoi lenii-s 

 may have visited the island 



I adv Julia Perey is the mime of 

 Ihis uiimhahiteil island. Only seals 

 and seabirds laud mole recently 

 rabbits) live there. Ihe seas ure 

 commonly lough in the vicimh. 

 which, combined with the lack ol 

 water and sandv beaches, and the 

 presence of steep cliffs, makes it 

 rather inhospitable I ieutenam James 

 Grant named the island in ISSO, 

 f linders eharlcd it in I Sl)2 (com- 

 menting on its chlTs and Hat mp). 

 and Ihe frenchman Haitdin sighted it 

 in the same year irefening to its 

 treeless condition, being 'covered 

 onlv with low heath"). Si\i\ \cais 

 later. Surveyor Allan described the 

 thick scrub as an impediment to his 

 sunk, but this has .>l| gone now due 

 to the rabbits. In the I 800s the island 

 had a large colony of seals. However, 

 Ihe sealers Who worked this crust 

 almost wiped out the seal popula- 



$4 



Julia Percy Island, Victoria 



AND At. AN I.. Wf=ST* 



nniis, and had to leave when tli w | 

 inilustrv became unprofitable. IL 

 established no settlement on Ju|j. I 

 Peicy, but it is recorded that 

 uctc bin icd thete in the tfclte. \ 

 small amount ol guano was COlleCtil 

 Ho re and Ihe island Was used bngft 

 tW pfe turning Probably the lonpv 

 psriod lor which Ihe island w» 

 inhabited was in 1935, when fa 

 thtee mouths the McCoy Society err 

 ncd out scientific research Itat, 

 (Wood loius el al. IM7). 



Ihe Met 03 Society report descrik-, 

 ihe island as a volcanic complex of 

 boulder lull and some six lava flow 

 I he headland called Pinnacle I'miv 

 is the neck of a volcano wheie Ihe 

 la\a conceded to form solid bwsdi 

 Ihe flatnos ol Ihe island is due to 

 lava flows, while the sleep cliffs art 

 ilue to marine erosion ol Ihe bouldc 

 lull causing vertical breakaways of 

 ihe oveilvmg basalt. The tuffs ano 

 included ejected rocks are evkfcott | 

 ol an explosive volcano, while 1h< 

 lava flows ,ire eviilenec of a siiIm- 

 quent milder phase of activity in the 

 form of an effusive vent. It is intei 

 estiiU' to enquire whether Abonyim. 

 saw ihe island volcano in eruption 

 Quite possibly ihev did 'Ihe V1c(> 

 researeheis noted the shallow soil en 

 the island and the lack ol a dramatic 

 pallet n, concluding from Ihis that the 

 island is soiiuk. The lava flow mi 

 which Pott I aitv is built is IVnul 

 umatc Glacial m age (dill 1067). 

 while the 'lower Hill volcano north- 

 east ol Port Fairy k ubom T3B 

 yeaiN old on the latest datine I 0 lit 



•NitimU Muwuui ut Vl. tiirln 



Vict. Nat Vol Si 



