Local historian Peter Forrest was sceptical Portuguese explorers reached Northern Australia in the 1500s, but if the find was a genuine
swivel gun from that period it would be grist for the mill for people that believed the theory, he said.
Also found was some buckshot, musket balls and a small cannonball, perhaps from a
swivel gun, indicating that the ship was most likely armed against pirates, some of whom lurked in the New Jersey marshlands, he said.
Sub-aqua members have now discovered copper drift pins, large pieces of twisted metal, a
swivel gun and three cannons - the largest about eight feet long.
``Other finds include a
swivel gun, stone and lead shot, a priming tool and blocks and pulleys.