Adolphus Island is an uninhabited island located in the Kimberley region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is situated in

Cambridge Gulf Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Many rivers flow into the gulf, including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the Forrest River, making the environment an ...

approximately north of Wyndham and covers an area of about . The island has a maximum height of approximately . The island, the gulf and many other features surrounding the gulf were named by

Philip Parker King Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Jos ...

who visited the area in 1819 aboard the survey cutter HMS ''Mermaid'' but left after spending eleven days charting the gulf, being unable to find supplies of freshwater in the mudflats, rivers and hills that surround the Cambridge Gulf. King named the island after the

Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...

at the time, Prince Adolphus. One of the earliest European burials in Western Australia occurred on Adolphus Island at Nicholls Point, ten years before the foundation of the Swan River Colony, during King's time in Cambridge Gulf. The following passages from King's journals start on 27 September 1819.

I have this day to record the death of one of the crew, William Nicholls, who, for some time past, and particularly during the last three days, had been suffering from a dropsical complaint; his death was occasioned by suffocation, having very imprudently laid down with his head to leeward while we were under sail: this poor fellow had been for nearly three months on our sick list; he was a native of Norfolk Island, and, when in health, had been one of my most useful and attentive men.

September 28.

He was interred the next morning on shore; in memorial whereof the north-west point of the island was named after him.

King later mentions the death on 30 September, after they had left Cambridge Gulf.

...we had only lost one man; and this from a complaint which even medical assistance might not, perhaps, have cured; and by an accident which could not have been prevented, for our people were at the moment so busily employed in working the vessel through a dangerous navigation that the unfortunate man's situation was not known until the vital spark was nearly extinct, and too far gone for any human means to save his life.

The island is home to endangered flora such as ''Brachychiton incanus'' and a variety of birdlife such as rufous night heron,

little eagle The little eagle (''Hieraaetus morphnoides'') is a very small eagle native to Australia, measuring 45–55 cm (17–21.5 inches) in length and weighing 815 g (1.8 lb), roughly the size of a peregrine falcon. It tends to inhabit open wo ...

, brown falcon, whimbrel,

tawny frogmouth The tawny frogmouth (''Podargus strigoides'') is a species of frogmouth native to the Australian mainland and Tasmania and found throughout. It is a big-headed, stocky bird, often mistaken for an owl, due to its nocturnal habits and similar colo ...

great bowerbird The great bowerbird (''Chlamydera nuchalis'') is a common and conspicuous resident of northern Australia, from the area around Broome across the Top End to Cape York Peninsula and as far south as Mount Isa. Favoured habitat is a broad range of fo ...

and

rainbow bee-eater The rainbow bee-eater (''Merops ornatus'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. Taxonomy The rainbow bee-eater is the only species of Meropidae found in Australia and is monotypic. Its closest relative is most likely th ...

. The

agile wallaby The agile wallaby (''Notamacropus agilis''), also known as the sandy wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the most common wallaby in north Australia. The agile wallaby is a sandy colour, beco ...

is commonly sighted on the island.

References

{{reflist Islands of the Kimberley (Western Australia) Uninhabited islands of Australia Cambridge Gulf