Emma

On 3 March 1867, the schooner Emma set sail for Fremantle from Port Walcott. She was never seen again. Almost ten years later Charles Tuckey, a well known identity in the North West and in the pearling industry told the Inquirer newspaper of a story he had heard from an Aboriginal. It was said thatfollowing a shipwreck about ten years previously in the vicinity of North West Cape, a number of survivors took to the ship’s boats and landed on the shore. Here they were taken captive by a group of natives who then killed and ate all of them. There is no proof whatsoever of this incident, except the word of Charles (Captain) Tuckey, who, like a large number of the northwest settlers were notorious for their bad behaviour toward Aboriginals. It is included in this database as an example of European legend. It may well be that there were survivors from the Emma and they met with Aboriginal groups, but any interaction is unknown at this time. The sighting of a stone cairn was reported around 1930’s in the area where the wreck may have been, along with a small cannon on the beach nearby. No one has since found this cairn or the cannon to see if ithey are connected to the Emma or some other lonely survivors.