A tale of two chemists (with apologies to Charles Dickens) or a scrupulous* pair (*scruple: an archaic weight of the apothecaries system roughly equivalent to 1.3 grams.).

On 25 January 1872, the 167 ton brig Maria passed through Sydney Heads, carrying 76 adventurers to the Fly River and the goldfields of New Guinea. After a painfully slow journey north in the unseaworthy and leaking vessel, squalls drove the ship onto Bramble Reef about 50 kilometres east of Cardwell on February 26. Using hastily constructed rafts and whatever else would float, the survivors eventually came ashore some 10 kilometres north of the Johnstone River in North Queensland. After many trials and tribulations 34 survivors were rescued and returned to Sydney aboard the HMS Basilisk (Capt Moresby RN). Among those on this ill-conceived quest for riches was Thomas Ingham, a chemist.