The Ring of Stones, also known as the Circle of Stones, is a stone arrangement which may have been constructed by some of the 68 marooned passengers and crew from the , a ship of the Dutch East India Company that was wrecked in 1656 about north of today's Perth, Western Australia. The Ring of Stones was reportedly first seen in 1875 by Admiralty surveyor Alfred Burt, and his companion Harry Ogbourne on the coast of Western Australia. No official report was made of the discovery at the time, however, and it was not until 1930 that the sighting was reported to the Commissioner of the Western Australia Police by Burt. Burt identified the Ring of Stones as being on the central west coast of Western Australia, between Woodada Well and the coast, about "half a mile" from the coast.
Burt’s discovery
Alfred Earl Burt was the son Sir Archibald Burt, first Chief Justice of Western Australia. Alfred Burt ultimately rose to become Registrar of Titles and Deeds in Western Australia.
On 3 November 1930 Burt wrote to the Commissioner of the Western Australia Police to report his discovery of the Ring of Stones in 1875:
Burt indicated on the mud-map accompanying his letter that the Ring of Stones was in diameter, in a circular clearing in diameter. He had wanted to return to the site to investigate further, but Captain Archdeacon refused permission. Prior to his death, Ogbourne confirmed that there were no other stones nearby, and so it would appear that the Ring of Stones was not a natural formation but one that was man-made.
Burt had informed of the Commissioner of Police of his discovery of the Ring of Stones because he had just been made aware of a document in J. E. Heeres 1899 publication, The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia, 1606 – 1765, reporting the loss of the Dutch ship Vergulde Draak on the coast of Western Australia on 28 April 1656. His attention had been drawn to this record by journalist Dircksey Cowan, daughter of Edith Cowan. She had been interviewing Burt in regard to the Deadwater Wreck, north of Busselton, which he had also seen in 1876 in company with Captain Archdeacon, while still engaged in the Admiralty survey. The Vergulde Draak had been carrying 78,600 guilders, which went down with the ship, not being recovered until after the wreck was located in 1963. Burt, however, believed the Circle of Stones may have marked the location of a 'Treasure Trove', the specie from the Vergulde Draak, and it would seem that this was his reason for informing the Commissioner of Police.
The Commissioner of Police took no immediate action. However, the discovery by two boys, Fred and Alister Edwards, of 40 coins dating from 1618 to 1655, including Spanish reales, in sandhills north of Seabird early in 1931, triggered a frenzy of speculation, mostly relating to the wreck of the Vergulde Draak, and its treasure. Consequently, in May 1931 the police instigated a search for the Ring of Stones. The expedition was led by Constable Sam Loxton from Dongara and included Burt, local landowner Mr A. R. Downes, and another local, a Mr Parker. Between 8 and 11 May the members of the expedition endeavoured to re-locate the Ring of Stones in the area identified by Burt. However, this part of the coast is dominated by dense scrub, mostly wattle, rocky limestone-strewn ground and steep sand ridges. Burt commented that in places the scrub was so impenetrable that "even a bullock could not penetrate it". The expedition failed. Questions were raised about the accuracy of Burt’s recall. But in the end it was decided to make another attempt after firing the area, to make movement and searching easier. And so in late February 1932 another search was undertaken.
The 1932 expedition was again led by Constable Loxton and included Downes, but not Burt. It had been arranged for local Aboriginal people, the Yuat, to fire the country prior to the commencement of the expedition. Some of the Yuat were also recruited to guide the expedition and to burn off parts of the country missed by the earlier fires. For almost a week the party trekked up and down the coast and through the bush, again with no result. Loxton noted that the 'Sand Drift Hills' as he called the dunes, "increase in size so quickly I would think it quite possible that the Spot may have been covered up years ago".