Notable Māori inhabitants on the island included Kāi Tahu chief Tūhawaiki and John Topi Patuki.

The island is covered mainly with stunted trees, but also has open scrub land and some low-lying marshland.

[1] The eastern coast is dominated by two long, generally straight beaches to the north, and a series of smaller coves to the south.

Between the longer beaches and smaller coves lies an inlet, the mouth of the only river system on the island.

[5] Exposed basement igneous intrusion rocks are found on this rather flat island that are Longwood Suite granitoids in the Median Batholith that bisects Zealandia dividing its Western and Eastern Provinces.

One exception was the collision of the cutters "Annie" and "Deveron" during a storm in April 1894, which resulted in the loss of two lives.

[1] The island and its surrounding rocks and reefs are still a hazard to the fishing vessels which ply Foveaux Strait, itself a notoriously dangerous stretch of water.