Biyaygiri
From their territory on Hinchinbrook Island, the Biyaygiri supplied nearby mainland areas with trade goods (Nautilus necklaces and Melo shells) that came to be known by one of the Hinchinbrook group's ethnonyms, bandjin. They spoke Biyay, a dialect of Warrgamay. Another group of Biyay speakers in the area around Lucinda Point may have also counted themselves as Biyaygiri but called themselves Biaigin. Norman Tindale regarded the two groups as a single entity and estimated their combined territory as encompassing about 5,200 square kilometres.
European settlers moved into the area after George Elphinstone Dalrymple established the settlement at Cardwell in 1863, and the Reverend E. Fuller reputedly attempted to establish a mission on Hinchinbrook seven years later. During a five-month stay, the Biyaygiri seem to have kept their distance. Alternatively, Fuller may have undertaken his mission in 1874, two years after Native Police Sub-Inspector Robert Johnstone led a group that beat a cordon across the island and cornered most of the Biyaygir on a headland. Those who attempted to escape the massacre were reputedly shot as they tried to swim away. As a result, Fuller's three-week stay on the island in 1874 failed to locate a single survivor.
Links to add:
Biaigin
Biyay
Cardwell
Hinchinbrook Island
Reverend E. Fuller
Sub-Inspector Robert Johnstone
