These photos brought to mind a new documentary series, the first episode of which screened here in Oz on ABC TV last night: 'Blue Water Empire', about the history of the Torres Strait between Australia and PNG, its islands, and their mostly-Melanesian inhabitants.
There were stories of headhunting, massacre of shipwreck survivors, and inter-tribal warfare, including a number of dramatic reenactments. One of these was an animation of the fight between Captain Bligh and his men and a fleet of warrior-filled war canoes.
The best known tribal leader, Kebisu of Tudu, or Warrior Island (as Bligh named it), got a good bit of coverage, but there was no mention of the legendary white renegade Wini (or Wongai, according to Ion Idriess, who wrote a number of 'faction' stories about the Strait). There was also no mention of the involvement of the Jardines of Somerset settlement at the tip of Cape York; according to legend, Magistrate Frank Jardine was responsible for the death of Wini during an attack on Tudu.
The next episode will apparently mainly deal with the 'civilising' of the Strait from the late 19th century onward. I'll probably give it a look.
bases more of his German artillery tractors.
