A clam found on the Atlantic seabed is final proof that Captain James Cook did not discover Australia, experts said yesterday.

They have confirmed that pirate and privateer William Dampier visited the continent 80 years earlier.

Dampier charted Australia's northwest coast in 1699, packing his ship HMS Roebuck with geological treasures. But his ship sank in the Atlantic on the return voyage.

Dampier survived and wrote several diaries about his trip but the artefacts were only found on the Roebuck's wreck this year.

Experts at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth have examined the clam, the ship's bell and pieces of ceramics.

Museum spokeswoman Jackie Shaw said: "The finds are of major historical significance. The clam is of a kind only found in the Indo-Pacific region.

"It proves Dampier visited Australia's West Coast 80 years before James Cook sailed for the continent in the Endeavour."

Ex-naval commander John Bingeman, who searched for the Roebuck in the late 70s, said Dampier received less attention than Cook because his maps were not as precise.

The artefacts will remain in Britain as property of the Ministry of Defence.

•Story originally published by:
The Mirror, London / England | Lucy Hagan - Oct 22.01

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