They extend in a more or less straight line from Buckingham Bay and the Napier Peninsula of Arnhem Land, and Elcho Island, to the northeast.
[1] In 1944, Australian soldier Morry Isenberg found nine coins buried in the sand one day while fishing when he was stationed on Marchinbar Island.
[2] Another coin, believed to be from Kilwa, turned up on Elcho Island where it was found by Past Masters amateur archaeologist Mike Hermes in 2018.
[4][5] The expedition used two small yachts that had been prefabricated in the Netherlands and were assembled on the Banda Islands, the Cleen Amsterdam and the Wesel.
Besides the Wesel Eilanden, named after the ship, Pietersen described the Cobourg Peninsula, Melville Island (Roode hoek), and Dundas Strait (which he misidentified as a bay).
It may have been introduced from Makassar by Makassan traders during the 1790s, though there is also evidence that smallpox spread from Sydney Cove, after 'variolous matter' was brought there in 1788 by the First Fleet.
This dried matter from smallpox scabs was used in a technique called variolation, which was used as protection against the disease prior to the development of vaccination.
The Gumurr Marthakal Rangers have managed the area since 2016, and are concerned at the waste, but need assistance and ongoing funding to get it cleaned up as the problem is so extensive.