Page 8 - eMuse Vol.9 No.02_Classical

Lizard Island

The heart wrenching tragedy
of a lonely pioneer woman

Mary Watson (1860 – 1881)

Ignorance of the law is no North Direction islands in hol-
excuse. Throughout history lowed-out canoes.
few cultures or races have ever Their garden of Eden was a
been tolerant of anything less. reliable, constant source of wild
Lt. Cook’s famous conflict yam, wild arrowroot, clam shell,
when he landed at Botany Bay sea gull eggs and where they
is a prime example. What he hunted turtle, fish, dugong and
interpreted as resistance to his pigeons.
arrival was most likely a very vo-
cal protest at him ignoring local European Arrival mer operation at what is now
protocols and customs for one When Lt Cook came on the called Watson’s Bay. They modi-
wishing to enter their country. scene in 1770, in addition to fied the old stone building for
Sadly, such misunderstand- noting available variety of food their living quarters and estab-
ings all can end with fatal con- sources, he couldn’t miss see- lished gardens.
sequences — like events that ing the sand monitors almost Like McGilvray before them,
happened on Lizard Island in everywhere he looked. Their John McGilvray Watson and his partner failed
1881. For a better appreciation numbers were so great he By the time John McGilli- to realise local inhabitants saw
of the tragedy, let’s rewind a bit named the place Lizard Island. vray visited the island in 1861 this location as a sacred site . . .
to check out the region’s history While there he climbed to in the bêche-de-mer brig, the
to that point in time. the island’s high point to get a Julia Percy, other bêche-de-mer Mary Beatrice Oxnam
better view of the dangerous fishermen had been operating Meanwhile, back in England,
Lizard Island Dreamtime routes he had to pass through. there in vessels from Sydney, on 17 January 1860, at Fiddler’s
Traditional custodians of That point is now called Cooks Singapore and Hong Kong for at Green outside St. Newlyn East
the island are the Dingaal peo- Look. least 15 years. near Truro, Cornwall, Thomas
ple who believe that the group Both Cook and Joseph Banks With typical European ar- Oxnam and his wife, Mary (nee
of islands was created in the (and later in 1848 Capt. Owen rogance and disregard to indig- Phillips) became the proud par-
Dreamtime. They knew the is- Stanley) recorded the presence enous land rights and beliefs, ents of a baby girl, Mary Bea-
land as “Jiigurru”, which means of “huts” on the islands promi- McGilvray’s party established trice.
“stingray”. nent hilltops. a settlement of several ‘grass’ Due to financial failure, the
For them, Lizard Island is a They had good exposure to huts and a large stone building family migrated to Marybor-
sacred site and, for untold gen- south-easterly winds. Canoes, for storage and drying bêche- ough, Queensland in 1877.
erations, it was used for the piles of shellfish, turtle shells de-mer at Watson’s Bay. Young Mary attempted to start
initiation of young males and and meat drying on trees were Granite for this was quarried a private school which was not
as a meeting place between also observed on Lizard and from an outcrop close to the the success she hoped.
neighbouring clans. Sacred neighbouring islands. settlement site, and beach sand
places there were forbidden to Bêche-de-mer and burnt coral (as lime) were French Charlie
women and children. The highly profitable bêche- used to make the mortar. So she found employment as
Although tribal residence de-mer (sea cucumber or sand McGilvray’s enterprise fail- a governess with the family of
on the island was not perma- slug) also lives in the waters ed. After his departure, the Cooktown’s infamous Monsieur
nent, visits could last for several near and to the North of Lizard site remained abandoned until Charles Bouel.
months during initiation. Island. 1879. Known as “French Charlie”,
Indigenous people found the It is regarded as a delicacy legend or hearsay tells that M.
island was an important food by Asians, and so attracted en- Capt. Robert F. Watson Bouel was in Cooktown to avoid
source. The Guugu Yimidhirr trepreneurial Malay fisherman Rebuilding McGilvray’s sta- making contact with “Madam
tribe from around Cooktown to Australian shores — most tion, Capt. Robert F. Watson Guillotine”.
and Cape Flattery accessed it likely many generations before and his partner, Percy Fuller, His establishment has been
via Rocky, South Direction and Cook’s time. established another bêche-de- described as both a house of ill

8 eMuse February 2020