MAGNT RESEARCH REPORT NO. 8
December 2000

ASHMORE REEF; A PRELIMINARY SURVEY
FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES.

PAUL CLARK

Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory

MAGNT RESEARCH REPORT No. 8, December 2000

ASHMORE REEF; A PRELIMINARY
SURVEY FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SITES.

PAUL CLARK

No part of this unpublished report may be reprodueed without the written
permission of the Director, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory.

The Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory Research Report
series is a medium for the dissemination of the results of research undertaken
by MAGNT staff in the fields of Natural Sciences, Histoiy and Culture. All
contributions are reviewed internally by staff of the MAGNT.

First printed 8 December, 2000

© 2000 Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory. No part of this
unpublished report may be reproduced without the written permission of the
Director, Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory.

Arts & Museums

ASHMORE REEF; A PRELIMINARY SURVEY
FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES.

PAUL CLARK

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
GPO Box 4646 Darwin NT 0801, Australia
paul. cIark@,nt.go v. an

INTRODUCTION

This report discusses history, contact and some of the archaeological evidence of visitation that
survives on three small sand islands known as Ashmore Reef (also known as the Ashmore shoals
and more recently as the Ashmore Islands). It examines the evidence left by two groups of
visitors, Indonesian fishers and European guano diggers and provides an explanation for the
origins of the material culture discussed. The information presented in this report was collected
during a short visit to Ashmore Reef in September 1996.

Ashmore Reef is one of several reef structures that lie on the north-western edge of the Australian
continental shelf, in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean (12° 13' S and 123° 05' E). Although
Australian territory, Ashmore Reef and nearby Cartier Island are strategically located on the edge
of Australia’s maritime boundary with Indonesia (Fig. 1). They are much closer to the Indonesian
island of Rote (approximately 78 n miles or 145 km) than to mainland Australia (approximately
190 n miles or 350 km). Known as Pulau Pasir (sand island) in Bahasa Indonesia, the area
contains three small low-lying sand islands and several sandbanks and lagoons which are
surrounded by a fringing reef.

The three small islands named West, Middle and East or pulau satu, dua and tiga (island one,
two and three in Bahasa Indonesia) are approximately 2.5 - 3 m above the high water mark and
are covered with grasses, small herbs and several species of salt-tolerant bushes. West and
Middle Islands also have a few coconut trees, which were planted in the late 1970s and early
1980s (Pike and Leach 1997: 21). West Island, the largest of the three, is approximately 1 km
long by 440 m wide.

The fringing reef is approximately 28 km long by 15 km wide and encloses an area of
approximately 239 km 2 (Pike and Leach, 1997: 2). The reef is unbroken on the southern and
eastern sides but broken and irregular on the northern side providing entrance to two lagoons.
Each of the islands has a lens of potable fresh water contained within the coralline sands. The
vegetation on each of the islands is strongly affected by a wet and dry season climate and the
potable water on West Island can become a little brackish (although still drinkable) towards the
end of the dry season, during October and November (Steve Tester, pers. comm., 1996).

Ashmore Reef has seen numerous arrivals and departures over the years. Fishers from the eastern
part of Indonesia were probably the first, visiting the islands and fringing reef prior to European
discovery in the early 1800s. Generally referred to as ‘Malays’ by the Europeans in the 19th

l

Paul Clark

century, these people visited the northern coast of Australia in order to collect a variety of marine
products, mainly trepang (holothurians), but also turtle shell, pearls and dried fish (Crawford
1969, Macknight 1976). Their activities, on the northern and north-west coast of Australia, in the
Indian Ocean and the Timor Sea during that time was recorded by a number of people including
Flinders (1814), Baudin (Cornell 1974), King (1827) and Searcy (1909). More recent
archaeological and ethnographic studies by Crawford (1969) and Macknight (1976) have
provided further information regarding the activities of these early visitors.

10*

15*

120 *

125 "

130

135'

IRIAN JAYA

V*'akif

TanimLxir

blonds

Arafura S&a

Ashmore

O' AiSjKJbe*.

f.Wo., 1291

U*iK»rU ol TO* ■rrt% O’

i c 130*

Area tubjacf fo 1974 MOU
regarding the operations of
Indonesian traditional fiihermen
within the Australian fishing zone

Agreed extension of the seabed
boundary in the area between
confnentol Australia and the
Indonesian archipelago (Article 1)

Agreed exclusive economic zone
(water column) boundary in the
area between continental Australia
and the Indonesian archipelago
(Article 2)

Agreed seabed and water column boundary
between Christmas Island and Java (Article 3)

Area of overlap between Australian seabed
jurisdiction and Indonesian exclusive economic
zone (water column) jurisdiction
Indonesian exclusive economic zone boundary
Australian exclusive economic zone boundary

Zone of Co-operation
(Timor Gcp Treaty)

Previously agreed seabed
boundaries (1971 and 1972)

Map 5 - Consolidated depiction of all Australian-lndonesian
maritime boundaries after entry into force of the Treaty

Fig. 1. Ashmore Reef location map and Australia-Indonesia maritime boundaries
(Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 1996)

Descendants of these maritime peoples, particularly those from Rote, Madura, and the
Tukangbesi Islands, but others also from Sulawesi and Buton, continue to visit the islands today
for the same purpose of collecting marine produce as their forebears some 300 years earlier.
Access to these resources are permitted under an agreement known as the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU), which was agreed to between the Governments of Australia and the
Republic of Indonesia in November 1974 (ANPWS 1989: 10).

Others, such as American whalers and guano diggers, are also been known to have visited and
have left their mark on the islands by way of altered landscapes and discarded items of material
culture (Woodward 1917: 10; Fairbridge 1948: 213-214). In addition at least one group of
shipwrecked sailors from the ill fated Magda, wrecked off Melville Island in 1858, is also known
to have reached Ashmore Reef in the mid 19th century (Sydney Morning Herald 20 July
1858 p. 4).

Ashmore Reef Archaeology Survey

In 1945 the Royal Australian Navy vessels HMAS Tiger Snake and HMAS River Snake are
believed to have visited the islands with the purpose of placing survival equipment in caches for
downed airman and shipwrecked sailors (ANPWS 1989: 13). Petroleum exploration companies
(Crawford 1969) and personnel from the Bureau of Meteorology have also spent time on the
islands (ANPWS 1989: 13).

In August 1983 Ashmore Reef was made an Australian National Nature Reserve, under the
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1975 (ANPWS 1989: 12-14). Today, Environment Australia
manages the area with regular visits by contract staff, management personnel, scientific
researchers, Australian Customs and the Australian Navy. The most recent group of visitors to
the region (the first arriving in March 1995) have however, been boat people seeking entry into
Australia (Steve Tester, pers. comm., 1996). Also known in the Australian press as refugees,
illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, these people have come from countries as far afield as
Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka.

DISCOVERY AND SOVEREIGNTY

In February 1803, while surveying the north coast of Australia, Matthew Flinders was surprised
to discovered a number of Malay vessels to the west of Cape Wilberforce at a place he
subsequently called Malay Road. Flinders was astonished to discover that the boats and crews
had come from Makassar (Unjung Pandang) the port in the south of the island of Sulawesi,
Indonesia. They had arrived approximately two months previously and were engaged in
collecting trepang which they processed and took back to sell to the Chinese (Flinders 1814: 229-
233).

In April two months later, while resupplying his ship in Kupang, West Timor, Flinders was given
more information about the activities of these people.

The natives of Makassar had been long accustomed to fish for the trepang amongst the
islands in the vicinity of Java, and upon a dry shoal lying to the south of Rottee (Flinders
1814: 257).

The ‘dry shoal’ to the south of Rote to which Flinders’ informants were referring was probably a
reference to Ashmore Reef and/or perhaps Hibernia Reef and Cartier Island. It could also have
been, however, a more general reference to include others such Seringapatam and Scott Reef
which are much further to the south of Rote, off the coast of Western Australia.

It is interesting to note that at about the same time that Flinders was in Kupang, Nicolas Baudin,
the French explorer, also met with Malay fishers off the north Australian coast. In April 1803
Baudin sighted four canoes with several fishers of Malay origin dressed in the style of the
inhabitants of Timor (Cornell 1974: 539-540). Baudin's men, Francois Peron and Louis
Freycinet, subsequently counted 24 vessels fishing for trepang near the Holothuria Banks, which
lies just off the Kimberley coast. Western Australia, about 185 n miles or 340 km to the south¬
east of Ashmore Reef (Peron and Freycinet 1816, Vol. 2: 247).

Macknight (1976: 94-95) reports that Dutch archives give an account of a Chinese trader in 1751
seeking turtle shell from shoals south of Timor (possibly Ashmore Reef or one of the others).
After five days sailing before the wind and two days of drifting the vessel reached the north
Australian coast. Pressed for further details by the directors of the Dutch East India Company in

3

PaulClark

Amsterdam, the Dutch resident replied in 1754 that voyages (to north Australia) were made now
and then from Timor and Makassar but that only trepang and wax were obtained. Also working
from Dutch archival records Fox (1998: 118-120) believes that some Indonesian fishers, in
particular the Bajo (Bajau), were probably the first Indonesian maritime peoples to visit the
Ashmore Reef system sometime in the early 1700s. It is evident therefore that by at least the
1800s Indonesian fishers were familiar with parts of the northern coast of Australia and with
some, if not all, the reefs and shoals that run along the north-west of the Australian continental
shelf.

European discovery of Ashmore Reef was made by Captain Samuel Ashmore of the English brig
Hibernia on the 11 June 1811 (Fairbridge 1948: 209). European interest in the reef however, did
not occur until guano was discovered in the 1870s (Woodward 1917: 9-28, Fairbridge 1948: 213-
214). A dispute regarding sovereignty developed between the British Colonial Office and the
United States State Department and was only resolved when Britain annexed the Ashmore
Islands in 1878 (Fairbridge 1948: 214).

In 1934, the British transferred ownership to the Commonwealth of Australia {Ashmore and
Cartier Islands Acceptance Act 1933). Under that legislation, the Western Australian government
was empowered to administer the new territory. The Western Australians, however, feared that
the cost of controlling the islands would outweigh the benefits and returned the islands to the
Commonwealth in 1938. In that same year, the Commonwealth vested control of the islands with
the Administrator of the Northern Territory, an arrangement that continued until the Northern
Territory was granted self-government in 1978. Following self-government, the Commonwealth
re-assumed responsibility for Ashmore Reef. In 1983 the area was declared a National Nature
Reserve.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY

In September 1996, the author made a short visit to Ashmore Reef with the aim of conducting
archaeological and ethnographic fieldwork. A preliminary survey for archaeological sites was
made, but complete ground surveys of each of the islands were not possible for a number of
reasons. Access to Middle and East Islands via a small boat meant that time, tide, and weather
conditions were limiting factors. Rookeries with nesting birds (terns, boobies and frigatebirds) on
Middle and East Island also hindered survey work, as it was not possible to survey large areas of
the island without disturbing them. Consequently only the more obvious or accessible sites were
investigated and recorded. Another factor affecting the surveys, particularly of West Island, was
the lack of visibility in various places due to the vegetation cover on the ground. Although most
of the herbs and grasses had dried off during the dry season, the dry vegetation still hampered
good visibility.

West Island received the most attention, with approximately four and a half days work, most of
which was spent recording the graves near the coconut tree at the south-eastern end of the island.
Other areas examined on West Island but not recorded in detail were the remains of two old
wells, a weather station that was erected in 1962 and finally abandoned in 1973 (ANPWS 1989:
13) and a possible trepang processing site located on the south western side of the island. East
Island received the least attention with only two hours fieldwork undertaken, which enabled a
few graves, a well and a helicopter-landing pad to be located and photographed.

4

Ashmore Reef Archaeology Survey

CERAMICS

Ceramic material, glazed stoneware and particularly low-fired earthenware pottery shards are
found on all three islands. These shards are found in scatters on the islands, the beach, and in the
shallow waters surrounding the islands. At least one random collection of ceramic material has
been made at Ashmore Reef (Crawford 1969, Bums 1990) but no systematic collection, location
or analysis of the material has been made to date. On West Island there are at least two areas
where ceramic material is more likely to be found (there may of course be others). The first of
these and that with the greater concentration of artefacts, is the area adjacent to the concrete
foundation of the old Weather Station and around the old abandoned wells located near the centre
of the island. The other noticeable concentration is on the beach at the south-eastern end in what
appeared to be a natural gutter or channel running from the base of the beach slope out towards
the reef edge through sand flats (Fig. 2).

The earthenware material (cooking pots and plates) undoubtedly originates from Indonesia,
probably from the islands in the eastern provinces such as Sulawesi, Buton, Timor, Rote and Aru
and was bought to Ashmore by Indonesian fishers. Crawford (1969) also documents visits by
vessels from the island of Madura. It is interesting to speculate on how the ceramic material came
to be where it was. Shards found around the area of the wells, particularly the glazed stoneware,
are from water containers probably broken in the act of collecting water and subsequently
discarded. The material however, needs to be collected systematically and the spatial
relationships analysed before form and functional attributes can be diagnosed and a more
authoritative explanation provided. The same argument applies to the material from the gutter,
where possible events such as shipwreck could provide a plausible explanation for its deposition.

Fig. 2. Earthenware plate shard, from the area known as the ‘gutter’ south-eastern
end. West Island.

5

Paul Clark

In recent years, ceramics have generally been replaced on Indonesian perahu (boats) by
aluminium and plastic containers. During the survey period, 18 Indonesian fishing perahu visited
Ashmore Reef and anchored in the lagoon opposite West Island. All 18 vessels carried then-
water in large plastic or metal 200 L drums. These containers were stowed below decks on then-
sides rather than on their ends and had a small square hole, approximately 15-20 cm cut through
the top side of the drum to allow water to be poured in and scooped out. In addition to the 200 L
containers, the perahus also carried an assortment of plastic 20-30 L containers. Four of the
vessels however, also had a ceramic water container on board.

In each case, these ceramic jars were of the same design. They measured approximately 40-50 cm
high with a maximum body diameter at the shoulder of about 30-40 cm. Known as guci by the
Indonesian fishers, they are glazed stoneware jars which are obtained from Singapore. Imported
from China, they contained pickled vegetables which the Chinese merchants in Singapore sell to
households and restaurants. They then sell or trade the empty jars to the Indonesian fishers who
use them as water containers in their houses and on their boats (Dan Dwyer, pers. comm., 1997).
In the past it was these guci jars rather than plastic containers which were used to carry water
from the well on the island back to the boat.

In addition to the guci shards, a limited number of other stoneware shards, mainly creamware
plate, cup and saucer fragments can also be found in the vicinity of the old wells on West Island
(Fig. 3). These date to the 1870-1900s and are probably a result of activity by guano diggers. The
earliest record of guano collection from the offshore islands that run along the north-western edge
of the Australian continental shelf down into Western Australian waters is 1847; although which
island or the amount taken is not mentioned (Woodward 1917: 9-28). By 1891 all guano was
reported to have been removed from Ashmore Reef and evidence in the form of old rails and
tanks was all that remained (Fairbridge 1948: 193-218). A small isolated body fragment of blue
and white Chinese porcelain was also found on Middle Island on the south-western shore near a
rocky outcrop. It was found in association with black bottle glass. Chinese porcelain was not
found on either of the other two islands.

cm

Fig. 3. Stoneware fragment, creamware plate, near the old wells, West Island.

6

Ashmore Reef Archaeology Survey

GLASS

Black bottle glass has been found on both West Island and Middle Island. On West Island the
bottle glass is located in the vicinity of the old wells in the same general location as the ceramic
material (Fig. 4). On Middle Island the bottle glass is found in the shallows at the south-western
end of the island near a rocky outcrop (Fig. 5).

Fig. 4. Black bottle glass found near the old wells, West Island.

These bottles range in date from the 1830-40s to the early 1900s. Some of the crew of the
Swedish ship Magda , wrecked in 1858 on Melville Island, are known to have reached Ashmore
Reef in the ship’s boat, where they discarded material to lighten the vessel so as to clear part of
the reef {Sydney Morning Herald 20 July 1858: 4). The bottles however, could just as likely have
been discarded by others such as Indonesian fishers, guano diggers or American whalers, who
have been attributed with the discovery of guano on the islands.

Fig. 5. Black bottle glass, south-western end, Middle Island.

7

Paul Clark

ABANDONED WELLS

As previously mentioned, each of the three islands has a lens of fresh water contained within the
coralline sands. Consequently, there are remains of a number of old wells and possible soaks on
each of the islands. West Island has at least two, possibly three old wells located near the centre
of the island. These wells are characterised by circular depressions in the sandy soil (Fig. 6).
Middle Island has one well located beside three coconut trees near the centre of the island and
East Island has one which has the remains of a square concrete border. There may of course be
others, but further research has yet to be undertaken to determine this.

These abandoned wells offer interesting possibilities for future archaeological research as they
may contain items of material culture, which could explain the identity, and origins of the people
who constructed and used them. Undoubtedly Indonesian fishers dug wells and soaks in the past
and quite possibly European guano diggers did also. The well on East Island with the concrete
border was likely dug, or at least modified from a previously dug well, by Europeans in more
recent times.

Fig. 6. An abandoned well near the centre of West Island.

GRAVES

There are gravesites of Indonesian fishers on each of the islands. To date there has been no
systematic study of their location or possible ethnic origin. Serventy (1952a, b) was the first to
make reference to Indonesian graves in 1949 while observing birds in the region. He noted two
graves near the well on East Island. Since the declaration of the Nature Reserve in 1983, a
number of park rangers have noted at different times graves on each of the three islands, with
four located on East Island, two on Middle and somewhere between six and nine on West Island
(Des Pike, pers. comm., 1996).

8

Ashmore Reef Archaeology Survey

In the course of this investigation, seven graves were recorded on West Island. Six of them are
grouped together in an area known as the cemetery, located near a coconut tree at the south¬
eastern end of the island (Figs 7, 8). A seventh grave was found 43 m to the north-east of the
cemetery, close to the shoreline lying just in behind the foredune.

Fig. 7. Cemetery at the south-eastern end of West Island.

Fig. 8. Site plan of graves at the cemetery on the south-eastern end
of West Island

9

Paul Clark

Two of the graves at the cemetery were marked with a rectangular perimeter of coral rocks (or
beach rock resulting from cementation of coral sands) and a painted square-shaped wooden post
with a name and date marked. A third grave was marked in a similar way, but instead of a
wooden marker the grave had a flat rounded piece of coral rock as a headstone. The fourth grave
was also rectangular in shape, but was constructed of concrete and had what appeared to be two
names, one on each side carved into the cement. The remaining two graves at the cemetery site
were marked with a circular ring of coral rock, the larger of the two having two coral rock
markers. Five of the graves are approximately aligned north-south, while the smallest grave,
marked with a circle of coral rock appears to be aligned east-west (Fig. 8). The seventh grave,
located to the north-east of the cemetery at the shoreline, was aligned north-east by south-west.

On Middle Island a single grave is located at the south-eastern comer. The grave is rectangular in
shape measuring approximately 1.85 m long by 0.95 m wide (Fig. 9). The base is constructed of
small coral rocks and is coated or capped with a whitewash of lime paste to form a smooth flat
surface. The grave is aligned north south with two wooden markers at each end. This grave is
apparently that of a Madurese fisherman from the island of Tunduk (Tonduk) and is tended on a
regular basis, every two to three years (Steve Tester, pers. comm., 1996).

Fig. 9. Madurese grave on Middle Island.

In recent years, a number of older unmarked graves on East Island have been eroded exposing
skeletal material. Uncovered by wind and wave action, the bones were eventually washed away
by the sea (Des Pike, pers. comm., 1996).

TREPANG PROCESSING SITE

On the southern side of West Island, about midway along the beach above the high water mark,
there are a number of large slabs of coral rock which have been arranged in a manner that
suggests a fireplace for the processing of trepang (Fig. 10). There is some evidence that there

10

Ashmore Reef Archaeology Survey

may have been more than one bay or fire place, but damage to the site over the years, probably
from turtles digging holes in the sand around the site to lay their eggs, has destroyed the integrity
of one bay and possibly more.

Further research is needed in regard to this site, as confirmation that it is in fact a trepang cooking
site will only be established by careful excavation. The remains appeal - to be robust enough in the
short term, but thought must be given to its long-term conservation particularly in regard to
continued turtle activity. The question as to which type of trepang site it represents also needs to
be answered. Macknight (1976) describes the trepang sites found on the Arnhem Land coast,
while Crawford (1969) and more recently Morwood and Hobbs (1997) describe types found on
the Kimberley coast. Comparison of these types with that on West Island will be relevant in any
investigation of this site in the future.

Fig. 10. Trepang processing (boiling) site. West Island.

MISCELLANEOUS SITES AND RELICS

Several isolated exotic stones (ballast stones) were also noted on the reef top and near the shore
on the south eastern side of West Island. The stone is probably from Indonesian perahu wrecks,
washed inshore from the reef edge where the vessel came to grief. Several terracotta bricks
(possibly ballast bricks) have also been recorded, but the origins of these is unknown. In 1986, on
the western side of West Island, part of a large iron anchor was uncovered on the beach (Des
Pike, pers. comm., 1996). Presumably this has since been covered over again by sand and
consequently was not seen during the present fieldwork.

It should be noted that a number of shipwrecks (Indonesian perahu) on Ashmore Reef have been
noted in recent years and the remains of one was observed at the south east end of West Island.
Little of the perahu 's timbers remained and there were recent signs that the site was being used as
a source of fire wood. In addition to perahu wrecks, a number of refugee boats have been scuttled
in the lagoon at West Island.

li

PaulClark

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately the general environment of the Ashmore Reef system, with its shifting sands and
extreme climate, is not helpful to the long-term survival of cultural material or archaeological
deposits. Despite these problems, there is still a large amount of information that can be used in
conjunction with the little documentary evidence that does exist to increase our understanding of
the place. In particular, it is the history of resource use on the islands that is most interesting.
Although there is historical, ethnographic and archaeological evidence of visitation by Indonesian
fishers on a regular seasonal basis, there is no evidence today that indicates longer-term
habitation.

The history of European visitation is also one of short-term use, although it differs considerably
from Indonesian visitation in that it lacks the continuity of purpose. The 19th century European
guano exploitation was probably a very short visit in terms of time, but one which changed the
islands considerably (West Island in particular). The affect and change to the landscape caused by
the removal of the guano still remains to be quantified.

More historical research, particularly in regard to the guano industry and the activities of the
people involved, needs to be undertaken in order to form a more complete understanding of the
cultural history of Ashmore Reef. In addition, further archaeological work remains to be done in
regard to the trepang site on West Island and the wells on each of the islands. Excavation may
answer a number of questions in regard to their construction and use. Indonesian fishers past and
present have left and are still leaving, evidence of their activities today. In many cases, the
products that are sought (trepang for example) and the methods used to collect them today are
probably similar to those used in the past. The opportunity therefore exists for ethnographic
studies to augment and support the historical and archaeological evidence.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Environment Australia (previously Parks Australia North) who enabled this
fieldwork to take place and also to acknowledge the support I have received since. I would also
like to thank the Australian Customs Service and the master and crew of the ACV Sir Austin
Chapman , who transported me to Ashmore reef. I must also thank the master and crew of Aurelia
IV who provided me with accommodation at Ashmore Reef and the master and crew of Royal
Australian Navy patrol boat HMAS Wollongong PTF-206 who kindly returned me to Darwin. Dr
Mickey Dewar, Dr Barry Russell and Dr Dirk Megirian read and commented on a previous draft
of this paper for which I am very grateful. Silvano Jung drew the artefact drawings in figures
2,3,4 & 5. Steve Tester (master of the Aurelia IV) and Des Pike (Parks Australia North) deserve
special thanks for sharing the knowledge they have in regard to Ashmore Reef. Finally I would
like to thank Dr Natasha Stacey and in particular Dan Dwyer for their support and thought
provoking discussions on Indonesian maritime culture.

12

Ashmore Reef Archaeology Survey

REFERENCES

Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service (ANPWS). 1989. Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve;
Plan of Management. Commonwealth of Australia.

Bums, T. M. 1990. National survey for the register of Macassan/Indonesian earthenware pottery shard
collections from the northern Australian coast: basis for the study of historical links between
Australia and south-east Asia. Unpublished report for the Western Australian Heritage Committee.
Geology Department, University of Western Australia, Perth.

Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 1996. Map 5 Consolidated depiction of all
maritime boundaries after entry into force of the Treaty (AUSLIG Map 96/523.25). Australia-
Indonesia: Historic Maritime Boundary Agreement. Canberra

Cornell, C. 1974. The journal of Post Captain Nicolas Baudin Commander-in-Chief of the Corvettes
Geographe and Naturaliste. Assigned by order of the Government to a voyage of discovery.
Adelaide Libraries Board of South Australia, The Griffin Press, Netley, South Australia

Crawford, I. M. 1969. Late prehistoric changes in Aboriginal cultures in Kimberley W.A. Unpublished
PhD thesis. University of London.

Flinders, M. 1814. A voyage to Terra Australis. Vol: II. G. and W. Nicol, Pall-Mall, London.

Fairbridge, R. W. 1948. Discoveries in the Timor Sea, north-west Australia Royal Australian Historical
Society Journal & Proceedings 34 (IV): 193-218.

Fox, J. J. 1998. Reefs and shoals in Australia-Indonesia relations: traditional Indonesian fishermen. In:
Milner, A. and Quiity, M. (eds) Australia in Asia: Episodes. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.

King, P. P. 1827. Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia. John Murray,
London (facsimile edition, Libraries Board of South Australia, 1969, Adelaide).

Macknight, C. C. 1976. The voyage to Marege; Macassan trepangers in northern Australia. Melbourne
University Press: Melbourne.

Moorwood, M. and Hobbs, D. 1997. The Asian connection: preliminary report on Indonesian trepang sites
on the Kimberley coast, N.W. Australia. Archaeology in Oceania 32: 197-206.

Peron, F. and Freycinet, L. 1816. Voyage de Decourertes aux Terres Australes. Vol.2. Paris.

Pike, G. D., and Leach, G. J. 1997. Handbook of the vascular plants of Ashmore and Cartier Islands.
Parks Australia: Canberra.

Searcy, A. 1909. In Australian tropics. George Robertson & Co.: London.

Serventy, D. L. 1952a. The bird islands of the Sahul Shelf. The Emu 52: 33-59.

Serventy, D. L. 1952b. Indonesian fishing activity in Australian seas. The Australian Geographer 6: 13-
lb.

Woodward, H. P. 1917. The phosphatic deposits of Western Australia Western Australia Geological
Survey Bulletin, No. 74 Miscellaneous Reports series V (61): 9-28.

13