despite its reputation as a pioneering institution for the new, enlightened view of imprisonment, port arthur was still in reality as harsh and brutal as other penal settlements. some critics might even suggest that its use of psychological punishment, compounded with no hope of escape, made it one of the worst. some tales suggest that prisoners committed murder (an offence punishable by death) just to escape the desolation of life at the camp. the isle of the dead was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps. of the 1646 graves recorded to exist there, only 180, those of prison staff and military personnel, are marked. the prison closed in 1877.