In April 1712 the 700 ton VOC ship the Zuytdorp, Captained by Marinus Wijsvliet, was wrecked on the Western Australian coast (New Holland) crashing onto rocks at the bottom of cliffs just south of Shark Bay. The cliffs are now called the Zuytdorp Cliffs. 

It had 286 people on board when it left its home port in Zeeland (Netherlands) on 1 August 1711. It lost 112 persons on the way to the Cape. Another 22 left the ship there. About 130 new crew members (replacing those that died and left the ship) may have been brought on board for the trip to Batavia.

Unlike the four other Dutch and English East India Company vessels known to have wrecked on or off the WA coast, no survivors from the Zuytdorp ever reached Batavia to report the disaster.

But there were survivors, their numbers unknown. It is quite possible, however, that as many as 200 could have survived, considering the ship wrecked on the shore.

In 1927 a stockman discovered the survivor's campsite at the top of the cliffs. He found silver coins and some artifacts but no signs of human remains.

It was another 30 years before it was realised that this was indeed the wreck site of the Zuytdorp.

Again, what happened to those 200 or so survivors? Did they leave some signs behind? Check out the YouTube film (on the left).