Bligh’S Voyages.

T.I. Lecture on Torres Straits Explorers.

From Our Own Correspondent.

Thursday Is., March 17.

THE February meeting of the R.G.S.A. took the form of an open evening.

The Rev. W. H. MacFarlane gave the final portion of his lecture on “Captain William Bligh and His Relationship to Torres Strait Discovery.”

On his second voyage through the Strait, Bligh discovered and named prac tically all the Islands, and had the ex perience of being attacked by the na tives in their big war canoes sixty or seventy feet long, on at least two occa sions. It was because of having to beat them off with grapeshot that Warrior Island, where one affray took place, re ceived its name. At Darnley Island, close to where Bligh was also attacked, there are still a number of breadfruit trees growing close to the springs, and as Bligh watered his boats there, it is more than probable that these are one of the connecting links with the expedition. He named the island after his kinsman, the Earl of Darnley.

Future meetings of the Society should provide some very interesting evenings.

Thursday Island and neighbourhood has plenty of historic and other material upon which to draw for subject matter.

The Society is performing a very useful function in collecting and preserving local historic records: and it is still hop ing that a building will come into being in order that there may be a suitable place for housing relics and records of the past. A committee has the matter in hand, and representatives of all the in stitutions in Thursday Island are to meet shortly to see whether it will be possible to go on with the project, a sum towards which is in hand.