 Maria Island is a mecca for visitors, providing an array of interests for the daytripper or overnight visitor to the island.Lieutenant Governor Arthur established a penal settlement at Darlington in 1825 for convicts whose crimes were not of 'so flagrant a nature' that they should be sent to the notorious Macquarie Harbour settlement on Tasmania's west coast.A small party of soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Peter Murdoch, and fifty male prisoners, arrived at the island aboard the ship "Prince Leopold" in March 1825.