Expert closing in on mystery shipwreck[Australia] {Possible Before Cpt. Cook}

News.Com ^ | 17 June 2007 | Lucy Carne

[BGHater]

The mystery of a galleon believed to be buried in a North Stradbroke Island swamp could be solved within months.

For a century, rumours have circulated that the remains of a 16th or 17th-century Spanish or Portuguese vessel lie in the snake-infested 18 Mile Swamp at the southern end of the Moreton Bay island.

Tales persist of Aborigines finding gold coins and amateur explorers stripping the ship of its anchor, fastenings and planks.

Brisbane archeologist Greg Jefferys has been searching for the wreck for nearly 20 years and is confident he is closing in.

Last week he found three metal artefacts - a brass button, a sword blade and a fishing weight - that point towards the presence of other mariners on the Australian east coast well before Captain Cook make his voyage of discovery in 1770.

Boosted by his latest findings, Mr Jefferys has accepted an offer from geophysics company UltraMag to do a free spectral analysis of the swamp.

The scan, which normally would cost about $20,000, should detect the presence of any metals in the swap's vegetation.

"I really think there is a strong possibility of uncovering where it is. I think I will find it this year," Mr Jefferys said.

He hopes the ship was carrying treasure.

"I've spoken to quite a few people over the years who have told me they've seen gold Spanish coins circulating in the Stradbroke Island community," he said.

Aborigines "knew of shipwreck"

[Sacajaweau]

I saw the Johhny Depp movie "pirates...last might. It was a fun show with a good story line. Even at my age (63), I got a kick out of it.

No swearing! No Porn! No blood and gore!! Imagine that in 2007!!

[LibLieSlayer]

The entire series is fantastic. Depp is a fine actor... a leftist loon... but a fine actor nonetheless.

LLS

[DManA]

The mystery to me is how did they get it into a swamp?

[DManA]

The mystery to me is how did they get it into a swamp?

[ForegoneAlternative]

Remember, the Portuguese had mapped the whole west coast of Australia centuries before Cook got there. He went there to map the *east* coast, and succeeded mostly because he got inside the Great Barrier Reef and spent quite a while trying to find his way back out. :-).

His official mission was to go to Tahiti to chart a transit of (Venus? Mercury?) across the sun. After that, he unsealed secret orders that sent him south to find “the southern continent” that everyone knew was there. He found New Zealand. Not thinking that was good enough, we cut over to Australia to do the west coast mapping thing. Discovered Sydney (”Botany Bay”), and went north from there.

[Dave Elias]

“Remember, the Portuguese had mapped the whole west coast of Australia centuries before Cook got there”

It was the Dutch not the Portuguese

[eggory]

If you check out the maps on his website www.stradbrokeislandgalleon.com he has got Cook’s maps posted and they show that the swamp was open to the ocean when Cook went past and so before that too I guess

[eggory]

though actually if you check out the Dieppe maps (also known as the Dauphin maps) you will see that the Spanish mapped the east coast of Australia well before Cook. I have a Spanish mate who tells me in Spain it is taught that Cook used stolen Spanish maps to find Hawaii and Australia

[Calvin Locke]

Probably a tsunami.

I think I read that plot line in a Clive Cussler novel, albeit in South America.

[DManA]

Thanks. It always amazes me how newspaper writers always fail to ask the most basic questions.

[SunkenCiv]

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