who made in the cutter mermaid a running survey of these coasts between the year 1818 and 1822, and who was the first to indicate that “Mount” Hinchinbrook was probably separated from the mainland, arrived in Rockingham Bay 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 two birds, one a new and handsome fly-catcher (MONARCHA LEUCOTIS), the other a swallow, which Mr Goold informs me is also an Indian species.  Great numbers of butterflies frequent the neighbourhood of the watering-place; one of these (PAPILIO URVILLIANUS) is of great size, and splendour, with dark purple wings, broadly margined with ultramarine, but from its habit of flying high among the trees I did not succeed in catching one.  An enormous spider, beautifully variegated with black and gold, is plentiful in the woods, watching for its prey in the centre of a large net stretched horizontally between the trees.  The seine was frequently hauled upon the beach with