Lanterna Rally

Author: Chris Ison

Publisher:

Published: 2022-01-08

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780645348415

Our fascination with shipwrecks comes not from the loss of the vessel itself but the dramatic struggle for survival that follows. A Treacherous Coast tells the stories left by survivors of ten maritime disasters from Australia's tropical north-eastern waters. Not all ended with the loss of the ship. But all pitted the survivors against harsh and unforgiving elements and inhospitable lands far removed from what was familiar. It draws on firsthand accounts recorded in ships logs, journals, personal correspondence, and contemporary newspaper reports. The book opens with the Endeavour which ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef during Cook's historic voyage up Australia's east coast in 1770. It then moves on to the seizure of the small schooner Caledonia in Moreton Bay by escaped convicts in 1831. Then it unteases the conflicting stories surrounding the Aborigines' treatment of the Stirling Castle survivors on K'gari (Fraser Island) in 1836. A Treacherous Coast recounts the tragic struggle for survival by the crew and passengers of the Peruvian in 1846. Only one man survived to tell their story after living among the Aborigines for 17 years. In 1851 two intrepid sailors saved the Countess of Minto from being lost in a ferocious tropical storm while their shipmates were stranded on a small coral island.After running aground on the Great Barrier Reef in 1859 the crew of the Sapphire spent an agonising five months battling starvation, thirst, hostile Torres Strait Islanders and contrary winds to return to port. The Maria's calamitous voyage in 1872 is a testament to what can go wrong when you go to sea ill prepared.The loss of the Gothenburg in 1875 and the Quetta in 1890 are two of the worst maritime disasters to have taken place in Queensland waters. Those fortunate enough to live left harrowing accounts of their struggle for survival. The book concludes with the loss of the small coastal trading schooner Orete in 1918. A sole survivor was washed ashore on an uninhabited island where he spent three weeks effecting his escape.