40 Notes on the Discovery of some Keys in the 



inadequate to produce so great results under present known 

 conditions ; and admitting the statements made as within 

 the range of possibility, I do not see any alternative 

 but to extend the period for from 200 to a little over 

 300 years back, during which period the Buccaneers 

 had made their presence felt in the Pacific ; we know 

 that some of them visited Australia in their wanderings, 

 and it is almost a certainty that many of them left little 

 trace of their presence, except in traditions of lost ships and 

 ruined towns. 



It may appear visionary to travel so far on mere conjec- 

 ture for a cause, but the whole of the circumstances are so 

 exceptional, that suggestions may be hazarded which could 

 not be tolerated under other conditions, and in doing this 

 I beg to remind the members of Hamlet's warning to his 

 friend — " There are more things in heaven and earth than is 

 dreamt of in our philosophy." 



In New Zealand, not far from Hokitiki, there has been 

 seen the decaying remains of a ship's keel, with a tree 

 growing through it, and evidences of copper fastenings found 

 in the vicinity, but no trace of its origin, or how it came 

 to be embedded in an inland basin far away from the 

 sea. Whether the ill-fated bark was driven in on an earth- 

 quake wave, or on one of the more terrible rollers which at 

 times break against Tristan da Cuna, and in the bay of 

 Panama, coming in like a wall 20 to 30 feet high, and tearing 

 ships from their moorings, rolling them over as if but a child's 

 toy-boat, who can tell ? Some such fate has been the closing 

 scene doubtless of many a gallant expedition in an unknown 

 sea, divided from civilisation by half a world ; and the 

 discovery of the lost keys on the old Corio beach is full of 

 suggestions as to their possible history, and that of their 

 adventurous owners. 



Since writing the above it has come to my knowledge 

 that the subject matter of the discovery of the keys was 

 communicated to the proprietors of the Argus many months 

 ago ; but even with this knowledge I yet think the records 

 of the Royal Society the proper storehouse for narrations 

 such as the foregoing. 



2nd November, 1874. Thomas. E. Rawlinson. 



In a personal inspection made of the shore of Corio Bay 

 since the above notes were penned, and after an inspection 

 of the geological maps of the district, I incline to the opinion 



