Beacons of hope : an early history of Cape Otway and King Island lighthouses /Donald Walker.

"The last and most formidable obstacle on the passage under sail from Europe to the eastern states of Australia was the entrance to the Bass Strait: to the north, Cape Otway; to the south, King Island. This book by Donald Walker traces the discovery of the Strait - at first hailed for the saving of time it promised - and continues to the disastrous succession of shipwrecks that ensued as masters, beset by storms, failed to find the entrance to it. It moves to the urgent efforts made from Melbourne to penetrate the unknown Otway Ranges in order to establish a landfall lighthouse at Cape Otway itself, then covers the daily life of the keepers at this remote station - especially the life of Henry Bayles Ford, its superintendent for thirty years. The book turns then to the establishment of the Cape Wickham light on the northern tip of King Island - one of the tallest lighthouses in the world. Despite these safeguards, wrecks were still to continue. Donald Walker quotes evidence given by some of Britain's leading masters in sail concerning the hazards that still existed at the western entrance - evidence that ultimately led to the establishment of a lighthouse at Currie Harbour, on King Island's notorious west coast.[...]."--Provided by the publisher.