Swan

The Swan went missing in 1883 when on a journey to the Lacepede Islands and King Sound from Beagle Bay. Aboard were Isaac Doust and two Aboriginal crew. The surviving crew later told their story. The Swan struck a reef at Stewart’s Island and after Doust refused to leave his cabin for a few days the crew swam off to the mainland and left him. However, there was another story. Other Aboriginals said the Swan sank near Sunday Island in King Sound and a dinghy bearing the name Swan had been found floating in the sound. The boat had bloodstains on the rowlocks. Local Aborigines said that three Aborigines had landed in the dinghy with guns, and that they had killed Isaac Doust. The men were arrested but they were eventually discharged due to insufficient evidence.