![The Un-Discovered Islands by Malachy Tallack.](/web/20170211020931im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/v/r/e/q/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gu4940.png/1486354379405.jpg)
The Un-Discovered Islands
Mallachy Tallack
Polygon, $34.99
Beyond the north-west horizon from the Torres Strait islands lies the island of Kibu, inhabited by the spirits of the dead. With the arrival of missionaries in the 19th century, traditional beliefs were suppressed and Kibu was replaced with Heaven. While Kibu never appeared on any map, many of the mysterious islands featured in this entertaining work were noted by cartographers, only to be "un-discovered" later. Some, like the Auroras, were not the product of one-off reports but an accretion of convincingly detailed sightings. Others again were fraudulent islands created by mariners. We might assume that such mistakes or hoaxes could no longer occur but as recently as 1961, Australian Phillip Law, director of the Antarctic Research Expeditions, "discovered" the Terra Nova Islands off East Antarctica. Except that they don't exist. It is thought that what he saw were icebergs.