Two nineteenth century copper ingots from waters off Mabuyag, Torres Strait

Abstract

In February 2006 two copper ingots were recovered from shallow waters near Mabuyag (Mabuiag Island) in Torres Strait and deposited in the Queensland Museum’s Townsville branch, the Museum of Tropical Queensland. Elemental analysis and archival research strongly suggests that the ingots originate from the jettisoned cargo of the ‘country vessel’ Hercules, which ran aground on or in the vicinity of the Orman Reefs in June 1822 en route to Calcutta from Chile, with a load of copper ingots. Many of the ingots were subsequently recovered by Goemulgal in 1887 and their sale funded the erection of the first modern church building on Mabuyag.