An island riddled with caves in the western Torres Strait provided sanctuary to pirates, shipwrecked sailors, and a post office.
As pictured in this 1969 photograph, names and dates of visiting ships are scrawled on the walls of the cave.On a rocky island at the western extremity of the Torres Strait lies a dark cave with a bizarre claim to fame.
"It was a pretty important place for ships leaving Sydney, travelling up the east coast, then through the Torres Strait and then on to Singapore, then India or China," he said.The jutting expanse of porphyry rock lies about 30 kilometres west of Thursday Island.It cuts a barren figure after being denuded by guano-hunting phosphate miners in the 1800s and would have been a somewhat greener sight when baptised by Cook.
Submerged reefs and shoals were a constant threat to ships passing through the Torres Strait, and quite a few came to grief. "This bird is as large as a duck. Like the noddy, it has received its name from seamen for suffering itself to be caught on the masts and yards of ships," Bligh later wrote. Other caves bear markings of a much more ancient visitor, with rock art dating back as far as 1,400 years.
Torres Strait Post Office Chris Ison Graffiti Indigenous History Pirates Captain Cook William Bligh Boobies
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