The wreck of the Fiji from Wreck Creek [picture] / Joseph Jordan

The Fiji arrived in Australian waters from Hamburg carrying a crew of 26 and a cargo of engraved wine glasses, toys, pianos and dynamite; European goods carefully packed for middle class Australia.

On the morning of 7th September 1891, a sailor reached the shore at Moonlight Head on Victoria’s west coast to raise an alarm - overnight, the Fiji had been dashed against the rocks.

Lifesaving equipment was sent for – but only part of it arrived rendering it useless. It is unclear what happened, but it was suggested in the press that camera equipment may have taken its place on the transport. This left the Fiji’s sailors stranded, but it meant their last hours were captured in this image. Unable to swim in the rough waves, the sailors can be seen crowded onto the bowsprit. Whether this was in an attempt to be as far away from the dynamite in the cargo as possible or to avoid the huge waves breaking over the ship is unclear. Twelve sailors never made it to shore.

The beaches near the Fiji wreck were littered with toys of all descriptions after the ship broke up on the rocks: rocking horses, dolls, rubber balls and miniature ships that sailed on the waves, and “the sea was strewn with fancy goods”, according to The Argus – Sept 11 1891. Cases of gin, brandy and schnapps were also washed ashore.

Local filled their pockets with all the toys and cargo they could and the drowned sailors were buried in coffins made from the ship’s timbers.