Better so than lying
inert under foot on the deck of the barque thrashing through the cold
grey seas of the Baltic, or scudding before the unscrupulous billows of
Biscay.
Moreover, what notable and precise information this derelict timber gave
as to the strength and direction of ocean currents. The wreck took place
on the 26th October 1900 in 18 deg. 43 min. S. lat., 147 deg. 57 min. E.
long., 72 1/2 miles in a direct line from the port of Townsville, and
about 200 miles from Dunk Island. She broke up, after a11 the cargo had
been salvaged, early in January 1901, and on Tuesday, 5th February, at
10 a.m., the seas landed the first of the broken planks in Brammo Bay.
Then for a few days the arrivals were continuous. For over 50 miles along
the coast the wreckage was scattered, very little going farther north.
Nothing goes south on this part of the coast. Yes, there is one exception
during my experience. A veritable cataclysm coincided with a stiff
north-easterly breeze, and hundreds of bunches of bananas from
plantations on the banks of the Johnstone River--25 miles
away--landing-stages and steps, and the beacons from the mouth of the
river, drifted south.
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