Site Name | The 'Sapphire', Torres Strait |
Aboriginal Place Name | Keriri Island |
Language Group | Gudang? |
Present State/Territory | QLD |
Colony/State/Territory at the time | QLD |
Police District | Port Curtis |
Latitude | -10.568 |
Longitude | 142.202 |
Date | Between 1 Dec 1859 and 31 Dec 1859 |
Attack Time | Day |
Victims | Colonisers |
Victim Descriptions | Sailor(s) |
Victims Killed | 18 |
Victims Killed Notes | Men |
Attackers | Aboriginal People |
Attacker Descriptions | |
Attackers Killed | 1 |
Attackers Killed Notes | |
Transport | Boat |
Motive | Reprisal |
Weapons Used | Waddies/Nulla-nulla(s), Spear(s) |
Narrative | Eighteen survivors of the shipwreck, Sapphire, were slaughtered by Gudang warriors on Hammond Island also known as Keriri Island, in Torres Strait. See full account in Moreton Bay Courier, March 24, 1860, p 2. |
Sources | MBC March 24, 1860, p.2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3716608; Mullins, 1994, p 22; Bottoms, 2013, p 126. (Sources PDF) |
Corroboration Rating | *** |