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The fever ship at Quarantine
The fever ship at Quarantine

The fever ship at Quarantine

Maker
Date23 November 1867
Object number00017878
NameEngraving
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 175 x 204 mm, 0.001 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
Collections
DescriptionThe front page of The Australian Journal, [No. 117 - Vol. 111] featuring an engraving titled 'The fever ship at Quarantine'. The accompanying article is titled 'King Yellow Jack - A Ghost Story' and tells the tale of a ship, the TICONDERAGO, suffering an outbreak of yellow fever on board. Guards were posted on the coast at Port Nepean to ensure no remaining passengers or crew escaped. HistoryThis tale, although fictional, features the real ship TICONDERAGO. This vessel became known as the 'Plague Ship' after it arrived in Victoria in 1852 suffering an outbreak of typhus and scarlet fever on board which had killed an estimated 100 people. The arrival of the ship at Port Nepean hastened the creation of the quarantine station there known initially as the 'Sanitary Station’. 'The Australian Journal - A Weekly Record of Amusing and Instructive Literature, Science and the Arts' was a long running publication that included short stories and longer tales that ran over several issues. This print from the 23 November 1867 issue accompanied chapter XXV of the continuing ghost story 'King Yellow Jack'. In the previous chapter, the ship TICONDERAGO was introduced at the start of its voyage. There is much joy and excitement amongst the immigrants on deck as they are unaware that in the hold of the ship is a number of unclaimed bundles being stowed which carried the strains of yellow fever or 'King Yellow Jack'. Barely a fortnight from shore and "the pestilent monarch took up his spectre and donned his fatal crown and walked on deck to assume his sovereignty, throw off the robe that had disguised him, and reveal himself in all his terrors." King Yellow Jack goes on to claim "This ship, and all in her, are my subjects, owning my sway, bending down before me. My reign is begun." And so it does with 150 crew and passengers dying from yellow fever in the next two weeks. By the time the ship arrives off Port Nepean it flies the yellow flag of disease and is forced to be anchored off shore. Those still alive on board are not allowed ashore and "on the beach are posted mounted sentinels to prevent their doing so, and to keep the yellow Monarch within his floating kingdom." This image depicts the guards watching the silent TICONDERAGO and the accompanying chapter talks of the experience of these shore guards. One writes that nothing he has ever experienced was "so desolate, so deservedly sad, as that ship with her yards unsquared and the rigging in disorder, lying in the very track of a moon beam on the placid silvery water. My companions must have felt the same, for up and down we walked for nearly a quarter of an hour and no man spoke." SignificanceOne of the greatest fears of long distance travel at the time was the outbreak of disease on board the ship. Such confined spaces were breeding grounds for illness and it was almost impossible to stop the disease from spreading. Experiences such as those of the TICONDERAGO in 1852 only added to fear and even once ashore, survivors could expect weeks or months in remote quarantine stations.