So
who gave Samarai Island the name “Dinner Island”?
Captain
Luis Vaez de Torres might have as he would have been among the first European
explorers to sail past that island in the seventeenth century. Captain James
Cook would not have had as there are no records available of his venturing
anywhere near the islands of New Guinea in his time as explorer. That leaves
Captain John Moresby the key figure in the speculations that he probably was
the name giver.
A
brief quiz was conducted through a Facebook group Alotau, Milne Bay Province
with the following poser:
How
well do you know your province and your history? Assuming this were a million
dollar question, what would your answer be to this:
Who
gave Samarai the name Dinner Island?
Was it Captain James Cook in 1779 (a)? Captain John Moresby in 1873 (b)? Or Captain Luis Vaez de Torres in 1606 (c)?
Just
type a, b or c.
26
people participated in this quiz. 10 said A. 12 said B. 2 said C. 1 said “none
of the above” and 1 probability.
Those
who chose A were noted to be keen observers, often with a light-hearted sense
of humor and most important of all, overwhelming love for their home province.
They’d embraced the quiz as a worthy gesture of community service to their
province. Said one of the participants in this segment of the quiz: “I love
history… It’s better to learn from each other about the history of our
province…” These probably depended too much on popular opinion and fable as
much as oral history and further assumed that Captain Cook rhymed with Dinner
Island.
Those
who chose B were noted to be careful observers, somewhat scholarly types who
were sure of the answer they gave. Some insisted they were right, courtesy of
Google and the encyclopedias.
Those
who chose C were noted to be more than keen observers but that their
speculations depended on creativity such as when history gives one the
opportunity to let the human imagination get carried away. They would make
great historical novelists.
So
eventually, and speaking officially, that is, the answer anticipated was B. It
was Captain John Moresby who was recorded to have named the island “Dinner
Island” in 1873.
The
rest was left to speculation and the eye of that keen observer who says, “I am
rather interested in what is not there.”
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