Basilaki Island (Moresby Island) is an island in the Louisiade Archipelago in

Milne Bay Province Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Alotau. The province covers 14,345 km2 of land and 252,990 km2 of sea, within the province there are more than 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited. The province has ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. It is located at the eastern end of the

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

mainland.

History

First recorded sighting by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Luís Vaez de Torres on 18 July 1606, that charted it as ''San Buenaventura'' (after Saint Bonaventure). A party of French naturalists was believed to have been murdered in James Bay in October 1880. This island was the scene of the murder of two sailors by natives in Hoopiron Bay, July 28, 1885. The men were Captain John Friar and John Watkins, a carpenter of ''Lallah Rook'', a

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

registered in Saint John,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. The vessel anchored in the bay to take on fresh water. After the murders, the crew sailed away. The murders were revenge taken for two unpaid-for deaths of natives in Friar's employ. Despite a two-day search of the island on October 16, by the crews of ''Governor Blackall'', and and , the murderers were not found, although the skulls of Friar and the carpenter were recovered and given a burial at sea. Later ''Diamond'' returned and burned all the villages nearby. Three planes were ditched off the island in 1943, a P-38H Lightning, a P-38F Lightning, and a B-24D Liberator "The Leila Belle".

Administration

The island is part of the following Wards: * Hamama, on the western part. * Buairi, which is on Buairi island, includes a small portion of the western part. * Habani, on the south-central area. * Gigia, on the north-central area. (with Bwanadalu island) * Bedauna, on the southeast area (with Kitai islands) * Yokowa, on the northeast area. All Wards belong to Bwanabwana Rural Local Level Government Area LLG, Samarai-Murua

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

, which are in

Geography

Basilaki is located on the east of Samarai Islands of the Louisiade Archipelago. The island is part of the Basilaki group. Mount Kova Sina (Fairfax) reaches a height of , and is located at the center of the island. Mount Baiaule is , and is located at the center of the island. Mount Salawie is , and is located at the south of the island.

Demographics

The population of 1883 is living in 37 villages across the island. Yokowa, where the school is located, is the largest village. although, the main dock is at Habani, at the other side of the island. List of villages: Hoopiron Bay, Gaiogaiokawasi, Baiaule, Hilomai, Habani, Halahalawuwu, Salewai, Wetoa, Dauyai, Hiliki, Towina, Kawalolo, Bedauna, Mwahui, Kalotau, Taladio, Agarauna, Huba, Yokowa, Dahidahina, Siu, Pihigole, Gigia, Doba, Tanubuibuina, Delina, Tutuila, Hewoli, Hamama, Duiauna, Nuanuatieu, Gogolabia, Hakalihi, Bogala, Kalamadau, Yahala.

Economy

The islanders, are farmers as opposed to eastern Louisiade Archipelago islanders. they grow

Sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

Taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

, and Yams for crops.

Transportation

There is a dock at Habani.

References

* http://islands.unep.ch/IHD.htm#840 {{Islands of Papua New Guinea, state=collapsed Islands of Milne Bay Province Louisiade Archipelago