AustLit

Dedication: in Memory of John Manifold

Author's note: This wreck, observed many times between 1830 and 1890, lay among coastal sand-dunes near Warrnambool. It was in the tribal lands of the Yangery, among whom Europeans thought they saw Caucasian alongside Aboriginal physical characteristics. The ship's remains have disappeared, though good bearings were taken on it and several expeditions have tried to locate it. The Portuguese Grand Expedition of 1536, led by Cristóbal de Mendonça, is a possible origin of the wreck. The voyage, coasting eastern Australia, was in 'illegal' longitudes (on the Spanish half of the globe) and therefore secret. K. G. McIntyre's The Secret Discovery of Australia (1977) and J.K. Loney's pamphlet The Mahogany Ship (1974) are my sources.