Two young sons of the Prince of Wales (one of whom later became King George V) wrote in their book The Cruise of the Bacchante, of “a strange light, as if of a phantom vessel all aglow” between Melbourne and Sydney at 4 a.m., June 11, 1881. It was seen by twelve other crewmen. Five hours later, the lookout fell from the rigging and was killed.
–Charles Fort, Lo!, p. 637 (The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover, c1974).