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The disappearanceof the Zuytdorp while en route to the EastIndies in the early 18thcentury was one of WestemAustmlia's most baffling seamysteries. It was almost250 yearsbefore the vessel'sfinal resting placebeneath the spectacularZuytdorp Cliffs, south of SharkBay, was finally discoveredand identified. lL 1992 the land surroundingthe wreck (apart from a small Museumsite) was amalgamatedwith a nearby naturereserve, to form the ZuytdorpNature Reserve. by Mike Mccarthy

hespices and trade goods of theEast swivelguns) and other materialon the Indies (now )attracted cliff top and reef platform below.It was EuropeanandAmerican merchanti long apparentthat oneor two campshad been beforeAustralia was discovered by the madeby survivorsof a then unknown British.The usual route to theIndieswas wreck.The only clueswere the dateson north-eastfrom the CapeofGood Hope. the coins,the latestbeing 1711. But in 1611seafarers realised that by TomPepper finally told authoritiesof stayingin the beltofwesterly winds and the discoveryover a decadelater. The first the southernIndian Oceanand then expeditionin 1941was ill-equipped and headingnorth, a much fastervoyage was membersonly spenta short time at the possible,with fewerdeaths on board. sitebefore being forced to leavethe harsh Theonly problemlay in decidingwhen andremote area. fu a result,the loc2tion to alter courseand head north (the of the wreckremained a mystery. chronometerwas not yetinvented) and, DISCOVERY! In 1954,Phillip Playford, a geologist as a result, many East Indies-bound In 1927,a wreck,later identified as exploring for petroleum, befriended vesselsfound themselves in difficulties theZugtdorp ,wasfound by the stockmen Pepperand received good directions to alongthe shoresof WA. andwomenwhowerefencingandtrapping thesite.After examiningthe remains, he Oneof these,the Zugldo4p,was lost dingoeson a remote cliff top between returnedto Perthand identifiedthe area withouttrace in winter1712 whilst on a Tamalaand MurchisonHouse stations. as the camp of the Zugt/orp suwivors. voyagefrom Hollandto Batavia(now One of the group, tlre late Tom Pepper Playfordhad studied records housed in ).Thewreck lies on thecliffs just senior,a well-knownstockman, reported Holland,and discoveredthat only two southof SharkBay. SevenEast India evidenceoflarge campfires, broken bottles, vesselscarried 1711 coins to Batavia. shipsare knownto havebeen wrecked coins,cooking pots, masts, rolls of lead, One,the Beluliet, sailedin convoywith off the WA coast;the olhers are Triol, breechblock (for firing small bronze the ZuAtdorp and arrived at its 1622;Batnia, 1629i VerguldeDraeck, destination, while the Zuutdorp 1656;Zeeuijk, 1727;Rapid, 1811; and disappearedfor over two centuries the Correode Azia,1816. TheZugtdorp without trace. Subsequentefforts by I Previouspage - hindered is the only onewhose survivors never I PhotosPatrick Baker Playfordto findthe wreckwere reachedBatavia to tell their tale. The I by the ruggedconditions. The areais remainson the seabedand the nearby usuallysubject to a dangerousswell, ResearcherRosemary HaYper with shore hold the only clues to the I evenon relativelycalm days. I silvercoins and other artefacts circumstancesofthe wreckand the fate I recoveredfuom the Zuatdory. In 1964,almost a decadeafter of the cYew. Photo - Patrick Baker Playford'sdiscovery and nearly 40 years

44 urcscopa after the wreckwas first found,the first successfuldives were made in the area. Playford'ssuspicions were confirmed: the wrecklay againstthe reefplatform oppositethe landremains. He believed thatthe ship had either crashed into the cliffbase without waming or, if thecliffs hadbeen seen, anchors were set but the shipwas still blownashore. Bothpossibilities were intriguing. If the ship had struckthe honeycombed reefsin the turbulentwaterat the cliffs basewithout warning, it waslikely that therewere few survivors.There would havebeen no time to launchboats, and anybodywho successfullydisembarked would probablyhave been crushed If the cliffs had beenseen and the Wth thediscovery of the weck ofthe againstthe reefplatform or suckedunder anchorsset, there would have been Trial, the Batauiain 1964,and then the the reefinto the blowholesbeneath. In timefor someto leavethe ship. Perhaps equallyr ichVerga lde Draeck (CiltDragonl thatcase, the onlyhope would have lain they took part of the preciouscargo of jn 1969,the Museum established its oum in scalingthe rigEing(if the mastrstill silverthat theEast India ships normally divingteam. The team recovered anumber stood)and dropping offonto dry land, or carriedon the voyage.If that wasthe of coinsand artefacts from IheZugtdorp. jumpingfrom the high poop ofthevessel case,their remainswould now lie A maritime archaeologistappointed to ontothe reefplatform. somewherebetween the wrecksite and the Museumin 1971,led a numberof Batavia. shore-baseddives on the site.The owner Theanswerto the question lay in the of nearbyMurchison House I Abot)eright: The spectacularZuytdorp station,Mr I Cliffsrise some 170 metres above sea numberof anchorson the wreckand Jah, once the Nizam of Hyderabad, I level. whethersome were lying further out to providedlogistical assistance and built a - Photo Patdck Bal€r sea.East India Company vessels of the large'flyingfox' - acable and pulley system periodcarried at least five anchors. - Maritimearchaeologist Mike Thus, that allowedthe diversand their I unlesstherewere I Mccarthyinspects one of the cannons at leastfive anchors on equipmentto descendto the water and I fromthe wreck. the wreck,the crewmay have set some haul eachother back up ontothe cliff top. Photo- Jon Carpenter to seawardprior to the ship'sloss. In Thesea soon destroyed the construction, sucha cxe, survivorscould have but the teammanaged to recovera large leftthewreck, butfailed to reach quantityofcoins and artefacts and recorded Batavia.This puzzle was not further detailsfor the site plan. Again, solveduntil earlyin 1988. only two anchorswere seen, though the positionof theanchors varied slightly on EARLYDI\ES eachof the plans. On the first dive conducted Becauseofthe large amount ofsilver on the site in 1964,a team of on the site, the Museuminstalled a Geraldtondivers led by Tom watchkeeperon the cliftop. Whenthe Bradysaw two anchors,several weatherwas good or on the mendhe ironcannons, lead ingots, ballast calledthe team,who would travel by air stonesand a numberof smaller, from Fremantle,land on a smallstrip, badly erodedbrass cannons. and preparefor a dive. Conditions Thoughunable to seeall of the changedso quickly that they often site,they began preparing a plan arrivedto find the wreckundiveable. The of the wreck.The group made Zuytdorp wasdifficult to work and the their notesavailable to the WA changeableconditions led to manyclose Museumand the wrecksite was calls. protectedon the basisof their Becauseof the dangers,the vast report. They made many other expenseof employinga watchkeeperand attemptito diveon the site,but of conductingthe excavation,and the couldnot properlyexamine the pressuresofworking on otherwreck, the steYnsection of the wreckuntil Museumhafted work on theZuytdorp in 1967.There they found a virtual 1981.The wreck was protected by aerial 'carpet ofsilver'of several square surveillance,the declaration ofa restricted metres, areaa square kilometre around thewreck,

uqnoscope45 anda part-timewarden living in a nearby shanty.In November1986, the Museum recommencedwork on the site. SANDAND SURGE 'of A number shore-based familiarisation dives revealedthat the wreckwassuffering from severeseasonal sand accretion and scouring. These factorsmade italmost impossible to view the entire site during any one dive or seriesofdives.In mid-1987, for example, the wreck was completelycovered in sand,but soonafterwards the layerhad gone,revealinE cannons, ingots, coins andother material hidden only a fortnight before. By this time, fast rocklobster boats had almost entirely replacedthe old lumberingfishing vessels of the 1960s and 1970s. Kalbarri fisherman Andrew YounE invited the teamto work from his vessel en route to his fishing Eroundfurther north. The offer was acceptedand new methodsweredeveloped forworking the site using the Museum'sfast 5.5 m aluminiumwork-boat, which tookjust over an hour to reachthe site from Kalbarri. The Kalbarri fishing community, notably Bob Mitchell and the Glassfamily, helped the Museumto recovera large number of artefactsin the 1987-88season. These included an English eight-pounder cannon, many coins,a pulley block,pipe fragments, anchors from the earlier groups' the onsetofhotweather. However, water exquisiteglassware ceramics, small arms, Although they had recordedonly two had beenfound on the coastby earlier a large pewter dish with hundreds of anchorson threeseparate site plans made Dutch parties. Charts producedby de other objectsembedded into its surface, overa decade,they had actually seen six' Maminghonly a decadebefore the lossof combs, and the largest anchor yet It waswrongly assumedthat the slight Ihe Zuytdorp showedthe areain some recoveredby the WA Museum.Local differencesthat appearedin theseplans detail and markedwater sourcesat involvementalso led to betterpolicing of were due to the effectsof the poor Kalbarri,40 nauticalmiles to the south the site. conditions.The vesselprobably struck of the wreck. Further work was done on the site the reef without anchorsset, and came Questionsabout possible interaction plan andthe questionof what happened to restclose enough to thereef platform between the two groups remain to the shipin its lastmoments. DurinE to allowsome people to byidgethe small unanswered.TheWAMaritime Museum, reasonablygood conditionsin May and gapto apparentsafety. ProfessorSandra Bowdler of the Centre June of 1988,the team found eiliht ofPrehistoryat the Universityofwestern anchorsgrouped around the vessel's bow. LANDCAMPS Australi4 andDr Playfordare examining Four of thesewere housedin the Onceitwas established that thevessel the movementofartefacb from thewreck traditional fashion, with two on each had hit the reef, virtually without to wellsand soak in the hinterland,and 'l\vo sideof the bow. more lay just aft of waming, attention swunEito the land a possiblegenetic link betweenthe the bow anchorson top of a large rock. camps,and the fascinatinEpossibility Dulchmenon lheZ u g t dorpand the local Anothertwo laytoEether some 12 metres that local Aboriginal hibes helpedthe Aborigines.This geneticlink appearsas forwardand slightly inshoreof the bow survivorsfind water. Wateris scarceat the introduced diseasePorPhgria anchors,along with two cannonsand Shark Bay in any seasonexcept winter, aariegata,a maladythat originated at othermaterial. whenthe Z ug t dorp waslost. Without the the Capeof GoodHope in 1688. The difficult conditions and the helpof localAboriEines, the unfortunate The archaeologicalevidence shows seasonalsand build-up had hidden the Dutch would probablyhave died with that the survivorsbuilt and fired huge

46 ,.n*snpe beaconsin the hope of attracting them to their fate.To make matters the wreck continues. With the help of salvationfrom passingvessels or worse,no passingvessels were lured aerial photography,all the land sites, searchingships. As the Dutchvessels of closeenough to the cliffsto investigate past and present excavations,and the Zugtdorpera were commanded to whatprobably appeared to bethe fires of artefactscan now be shown accurately sightthe WAcoast at 27 degreessouth, Aboriginalpeople. on a superimposedgrid. High-quality in almostthe exact latitude ofthewreck, Workis still underway on the land site plansare on displayat the Maritime the survivorsprobably stayed near the andsea sites. However, it will be some Museum in Fremantle. The plansofthe wreckfor as long as possible. Theirhopes time before the questionof what wreck site may also help fix the position werein vain.Having lost men and boats happenedto theZuyldorpand its crew is of any future land and sea excavations on expeditionsto locatevessels lost resolved. and help authorities to managethe earlier,the authoritiesat Batavialeft The task of recordingand plotting remainsand the generalarea.

I lef. Discoveringevidence of I suwivors'camps on the mainland. I Photo- JonCamenter lFar right: Seniordiver Ceoff excavatingin the surf I :{;#"" Photo- PatrickBaker

I Exquisiteglassware was uncovered I from the wrecksite. I Photo- PatrickBaker

I Museumstaff working at thewreck I siteencounter difficult conditions. I Photo- BrianRichards

t*-scorc 47 ZTIYTDORPNATURE lAboae left: The land sitesare now RESERVE I closedto the public.but may reopen I oncework is finished. The5900O-hectare Zuytdorp Nature Photo- JonCarpenter Reservewasdeclaredin 1992. The Nature Reserveincludes the majority of the I Aboue:The areaadjacent to the wyeck reservein 1992- permanent seasonalsoaks that the I wasdeclared a nature and I Photo- PatrickBaker strandedDutch would have had to rely on to survive.During a goateradication lThe Zuytdorp figureheadis on display program, staff from the Agriculture I at CeraldtonMaYitime Museum. I Photo- PatrickBaker ProtectionBoard, Department of Agriculture,Department of Conservation and Land Managementand local pastoralistsflew over this remote wildernesscountry locating and plotting the soaksup to 60 km from the wreck site.As part of CALM'smanagement of the Reservethe soakswill beprotected. In additionto its culturallink, the ZuytdorpNature Reservehas a high researchis finished.The Museumwill diversityof plant species. World Heritage work with CALM,in the contextof its ListingofShark Bay recognised that the landmanagementschemesforthe Shark Reserverepresented the transition zone Bayarea, to determinethe bestway for betweentwo majorbotanical provinces: the publicto viewthe locationof oneof 145species of plantsgrow here at their our most significantand baftlingsea northern limit, and 39 more at their mystenes. southern limit. Many vegetation All knowndata on the landand sea formationsare plant species only found sites is being compiledand a public in this interzonearea, and there are also informationsheet has been produced by extensivebanksia woodlands. the Museum.There is a newdisplay at Accessto the ZuytdorpNature theFremantle Maritime Museum and at Reserveandwrecksite is both dangerous Geraldton,and a small interpretive andrestricted. Management tracks are displayis plannedfor the newKalbarri hazardousand expeditionsto the area civic building. The figureheadis on generallytake two vehiclesfor safety displayat the GeraldtonMaritime reasons.Due to thehistory ofthiswreck Museum. Mike Mcqarthyis the Zwtdorp voject and the current investigations,the The problemswith th e Zuytdorp are leaderwith the MaritimeArchaeologl Museurnhas closed the immediatearea many,but solutions,though few, are Departmentof the WAMuseum. He can be contactedon (09) ,li}l 8436. surroundingthe wreckand land sites, beginningto emeyge.With luckwemay which they hope to reopenonce the oneday solve this fascinatingmystery.

48 uroscor"

CALMLIBRARY AFCHIVE ilI 5114 nor ronlom LANDSCOPE VOLUMEEIGHT NO.3 AUTUMN ISSUE 1993

WHERETHERE'S FIRE THERE'S SMOKE RICKSNEEUWJAGT AND ROGER UNDERWOOD ...,.....,..... 1O

PARRYLAGOONS CHRISDONE AND GORDON GBAHAM 17

BANKSIASAND BLACKBOYS Bonksias and blackbogsare normallg IANKEALTEY 22 associateduith the sandplafutsof the coast and wheatbelt rather than the SPIDERSOF THE STIRUNGRANGE Great Victoriq Desert- Seepage 22. BARBABAYOBKMAIN 'llhere there's fire there's smoke'- We PERTHOUTDOORS look at one of the lexer known and GILFIEI.-D AND DAVID GOUGH 35 misunderstood products of bushfires on page 10. ZUYTDoRP:THE SEARCH CONTINUES MIKEMCCARTHY 42

FLORAOF THE KIMBERTEY JUDYWHEEI.ER The mountains of the Stirling Range are a refuge harbouring mong ancient speciesof spiders. Spider ezcpert Barbara York Main shows us some of IN PERSPECTIVE them on page 28. BUSHTELEGRAPH

ENDANGEREDwESTEBN M0usE...... 4r

URBANANTICS

The disappearanceof the Zuytdorp A new book, Outdoors ar'l|s to remained a mAsterAfor mang years. sncouragepeople to get outdoors and The story of its rediscouer! and the enjog nature od to leam more aboul fomotion of the Zugtdorp Nature Perth's unique natural communities. Reseraeis on page 42. Seepage 35-

ll aglng Edilofi RooKawalilal Ealllor:David Gough Cont buting EditoB: VernaCo€tello,Grahame Rowiand, Carolyn Thomson Sclanlllic md lechnicaladvlc.: AndrcwEurDidge, Roger Underwood The palisade spider (Neohomogona Delign and producllon:Sue MaBis, Sandra Mitchell, Slacey Stickland sttulingi) is endemic to the Stirling and Flnllhed art SueMarais Porongurup Ranges.It builds a shallow Adyerli6ing:Eslelle de SanMiguel ' (0S)3199 8644 Fax 3898296 bufiou aith an opm mtrunce lll!6tnlion: lan oickinson.Kelloe Mefi . SandraMilche sunounded by a palisade,or collar of Ctdography:CAL.L,t Land Inlonnation Branch project ColourSeparalion by PrepressSeMcss Ieauesand httigs, which may Pdnledin WeslemAuslralia bv lamb P nl seueral centimetres abovethe ground or @IS,SN 0815-4465. Alllnal.dal copyight No pan olhe contentsotthe publication litter. tnayb€ r€prcdoc€d \rilhoul lhe con$nl ol lhe publhhors,

The illustrction is bg Philirya Nikulinsku. lE Publishedby DrS Shea,Executive Direclor trf Depanmentol Cons€rvalion and tand Management, W soHayman Road, como, westem Australia 6152.

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