The Dutch discovered Australia. Who really discovered Australia

Legends that somewhere far to the south, beyond the single World Ocean, there should be a huge land have been known since ancient times. It is to the ancient geographers, who called this land "Terra Australis", that is, "Southern Land", that Australia owes its modern name. And although their assumptions were largely erroneous, in the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, many researchers dreamed not only of the way to India, but also of the vast southern continent.

In the 15th century, the Portuguese, under the leadership of Vasco da Gama, opened the southern route to India and founded their first colonies on the shores of the Indian Ocean. The "maximum task" was completed and many explorers rushed south in search of the "Terra Australis" continent. They managed to discover many islands of Oceania, New Guinea and, most likely, set foot on the land of Australia.

There is a version that the Portuguese Cristovan de Mendonsa was the first to find Australia in 1522. However, there is no reliable evidence of his discovery.

Who is considered the pioneer?

Today it is an indisputable fact that the Dutch were the true discoverers of Australia in the 17th century. The dominance of Portugal in the region at that time came to an end and their place was taken by Holland - one of the most developed and strong European powers of this period. In 1605, the Dutch citizen Willem Janszon set sail on the Deifken ship from the port of Bantam on the island of Java. His goal was to explore the southern coast of Guinea, but, as in the case of another traveler, Christopher Columbus, he found something completely different from what he was looking for. The unknown land that the Deifken crew stumbled upon as they rounded northern Guinea was Australia.

Melbourne is located on the territory that John Batman bought in the 18th century. However, the deal was declared invalid and the city was named Melbourne, not Batmania, as the owner of the land had planned.

Willem Janszon, like Columbus, did not realize that he had discovered a huge continent, calling the discovered Australian peninsula Cape York "New Zealand". The true scale of what was found became known later. Most likely, Willem Janszoon was not the first European to set foot on the land of the "Southern Continent". However, a large number of direct and indirect evidence of its discovery does not leave historians the slightest doubt that he should be considered the pioneer of "Terra Australis".

We present to your attention a chapter from the book "History of Australia" by K.V. Malakhovskiy, published in 1980. The original chapter in the book does not contain any illustrations, so to make the reading more imaginative, we have added a few illustrations. (Note AussieTeller)

Paradoxically, it is a fact that the Australian continent, almost equal in area to the United States of America (without Alaska), was discovered by Europeans later than the small island groups of Oceania. Although the ancient cartographers were sure of the existence of the Southern Land, or Terra Australis.

A 1570 map by Abraham Ortelius showing the Unknown South Land - "Terra Australis Nondum Cognita" - as a large continent at the bottom of the map, as well as the Arctic continent

When the Spaniards established themselves in America, they, excited by the legends of the Incas about the richest land located in the southern part of the Great Ocean, began to send their ships there. The expeditions of A. de Mendanyi in 1567 and 1595, P. de Quirosa in 1605 discovered new lands, but not the mainland, but small archipelagos: the Solomon and Marquesas Islands, New Hebrides.

Alvaro Mendaña de Neyra (Spanish: Álvaro de Mendaña de Neyra; 1541 – October 18, 1595) was a Spanish navigator. Adelantado.

One of the ships of Kyros, commanded by L. de Torres, on the way back, under the influence of the monsoons, deviated to the southwest and, bypassing the Great Barrier Reef, passed through the strait that separates New Guinea from Australia and was later named after him.

But the first Europeans to reach the Australian mainland were not the Spaniards or the Portuguese, who dominated during the 15th-16th centuries. in the Pacific, and the Dutch. It happened in early XVII centuries.
By this time, the Dutch and British had done away with the maritime colonial predominance of Portugal and Spain, including in the Pacific. By the beginning of the 70s of the XVI century. Of all the Asian colonies, Goa, Daman and Diu in India and Macau in China remained in the hands of Portugal. Spain's power South-East Asia and Oceania extended by that time only to the Philippines and the islands of Micronesia.

In 1595, the first Dutch expedition to India was organized, consisting of four ships. The Dutch lost half their ships and a third of their crews, but they were convinced that it was possible to reach the shores of India. In 1598, a second expedition (seven vessels) set off for India. It was a great success: all the ships returned with a rich cargo of spices. In the same year, the Dutch gained a foothold on the island of Java, created trading posts there, relying on which they gradually monopolized trade with the countries of South and Southeast Asia, as well as Far East. In 1601, 40 Dutch ships set off for India.
Convinced of the profitability of such enterprises, the Dutch merchants in March 1602 created a society for trade with India - the Dutch East Indies trading company. The company received such rights and privileges that it became a kind of state within a state. She not only traded monopoly with India, but also had the right to appoint officials to this country, wage war and make peace, mint coins, build cities and fortresses, and form colonies. The capital of the company was huge in terms of the scale of that time. If the British East India Company began its activities in 1600 with a capital of 72 thousand pounds. Art., which was equal to 864 thousand guilders, the capital of the Dutch East India Company amounted to 6.6 million guilders.

Willem Janszon is officially considered the first European to reach the coast of Australia on the ship "Duyfken"

From the very first steps of its activity, the Dutch East India Company energetically engaged in the search for the Southern Land. One of the company's ships, led by Captain V. Janszon, rounded New Guinea from the south and reached the coast of Australia near the peninsula now called Cape York. Sailors who landed on the shore in search of water and food were killed by local residents. Janszon hastened to leave these inhospitable shores and in June 1606 returned to Batavia (the modern name is Jakarta).

The logbook of the expedition led by V. Janszon has not been preserved. It is clear that the captain's message about the open land was not encouraging. In the books of the East India Company there is a brief but very expressive entry: "Nothing good can be done there." In the next half century, this phrase was repeated more than once by the leaders of the company.

The Gulf of Carpentaria on a Dutch map from 1859 by Otto Petri of Rotterdam

Dutch sailors began to go to their possessions in Southeast Asia in a slightly different way than the Portuguese and Spaniards, whose ships sailed from the Cape of Good Hope along the coast of Africa to the very equator, and then to the east. The Dutch took the shorter route. In 1611, Captain H. Brouwer, having traveled 4,000 miles east from the Cape of Good Hope, then turned north, which reduced the time of passage from Holland to Batavia from eighteen months to six.

The directorate of the East India Company in Amsterdam officially approved this course for their ships. This helped the Dutch discover the Southern Continent and explore its western and northwestern coasts. Feedback from Dutch sailors about the new land was discouraging.

In 1623, a Dutch ship under the command of J. Karstenz, following the route of Janszon, entered a large bay on the northern coast of Australia. Karstenz named it the Gulf of Carpentaria, in honor of the then Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies, P. de Carpenter. In the sailing report, the captain wrote: "We did not see a single fruit-bearing tree, nothing that a person could use for himself ... The inhabitants are pathetic and poor creatures ...".

In 1636, A. Van Diemen became governor-general of Batavia, who sought to expand the Dutch possessions in the South Seas. His determination and perseverance were greatly appreciated and encouraged by the leadership of the Dutch East India Company. On September 16, 1638, the board of directors of the company wrote to Van Diemen: "Your grace is acting wisely, paying great attention to the discovery of the South Land and the gold-bearing islands, which would be very useful to the company." By order of Van Diemen, two ships under the command of Captain A. Tasman left Batavia in August 1642 and set off to explore "the remaining unknown part the globe" .

Sailing southeast from the island of Mauritius, the expedition reached an unknown island, which was called Van Diemen's Land (the modern name is Tasmania). Continuing swimming, Tasman approached the shores of New Zealand. He mistook her for the southern mainland. The following year, Tasman explored the northern part of the Australian mainland, but did not find anything attractive there for the East India Company, primarily gold and silver. As a result, the company lost interest in further exploration of the South Seas.

The next European who visited the shores of Australia, or, as they said then, New Holland, was the Englishman W. Dampier.

William Dampier (1651 - March 1715) - English navigator and pirate. Considered one of the most famous pirates in history. He contributed to the study of winds and currents, publishing several books on the subject. Member of the British Royal Society. Portrait painted by Thomas Murray

In the second half of the XVII century. in three naval wars (1652-1654; 1665-1667; 1672-1674), England inflicted crushing defeats on Holland, relegating her to the position of a minor European country. Having become a powerful trading and maritime power of the world, England is firmly established in the Pacific arena.

In January 1688, W. Dampier reached the coast of Australia and stayed there for three months. The following year he was sent a second time to the Southern Continent. This time, Dampier explored the northwestern part of the continent, but the lack of drinking water forced Dampier to stop work and turn the ship to the island of Timor.

Map of part of New Holland - northwestern part of Australia, Sharks Bay, made by William Dampier in 1699

If the Europeans, in fact, did not know anything about Tasman's voyages, since the Dutch East India Company tried to keep them secret, believing that in the future the Dutch might need the lands discovered by him, then Dampier's expeditions to the shores of New Holland became widely known, because The English navigator wrote two books: A New Voyage Around the World and Voyage to New Holland. Both of them were a great success and were reprinted many times. “The inhabitants of this country,” wrote Dampier in his book A New Voyage Around the World, “are the most unfortunate people on earth ... they have no houses, clothes ... livestock and fruits of the earth ... and, outwardly resembling human beings, have little different from animals."

The beginning of British colonization in the South Seas was laid by the journey of J. Cook.

Strange as it may sound, the planet Venus played a certain role in the discovery by the British of the eastern shores of Australia and, by the way, New Zealand. The fact is that, according to the calculations of astronomers, on June 3, 1769, Venus should have passed by the solar disk. To Better Watch the Planet Royal Society for the Advancement of London natural sciences asked the British government to send south seas group of astronomers. Refused, the society turned directly to the king, who approved the plan. The leader of the expedition was J. Cook, who had just returned from Newfoundland. This man was not only an experienced sailor, but also had knowledge of mathematics and astronomy.

The king's decision to send a warship to the Pacific was not dictated by a desire to please the astronomers. This became clear to Cook when, on August 26, 1768, on board a ship sailing along the Thames to Plymouth, he opened a carefully sealed package from the Admiralty. “There is reason to believe,” the order said, “that a continent or land of enormous size is located south of the path recently traveled by Captain Wallis on His Majesty’s ship Dolphin, or from the paths of any other, earlier sailors ... Therefore, you in fulfillment of his majesty's will, you are ordered to set sail ... immediately after the observation of Venus is completed, and be guided by the following instructions.In order to effect the discovery of the continent mentioned above, you must go south until you reach latitude 40 °, and if, having done this, you will not open it ... you must continue your search to the west, between the latitude mentioned earlier and the latitude of 35 °, until you find it or meet the eastern side of the earth, open Tasman and now called New Zealand" .

First (red), second (green) and third ( Blue colour) Cook's expedition

The Admiralty ordered further: to explore the coast of New Zealand, to draw a map of the islands, to study minerals, soil, animals and vegetable world, collect samples of seeds and fruits, and also declare the land the property of the British king, having obtained the consent of the local population, and in the event that it is not found, leave "visible signs and inscriptions as discoverers and owners" .

On April 13, 1769, Cook arrived in Tahiti, and on June 3, astronomical observations of Venus were successfully made. Then Cook, following the instructions of the Admiralty, took his ship south in search of the Southern Continent.

On October 7, 1769, N. Jung, the ship's surgeon's servant, was the first to see a white cape among the waves of the ocean. The next day, the ship entered the bay and anchored near the mouth of a small river, on the banks of which the New Zealand city of Gisborne is now located. Local residents - Maori, anticipating evil, met the newcomers with hostility. In the ensuing skirmish, several natives were killed. Cook, like Tasman, was convinced of the courage of the Maori, who were not afraid of either the muskets or the cannons of the Europeans.

Despite the obvious disapproval of the inhabitants, Cook, scrupulously following the instructions of the admiralty, strengthened the staff with the English flag at the place of his landing and proclaimed New Zealand the property of the British crown. In March 1770, Cook completed his exploration of the coast of New Zealand. In April, his ship entered Australian waters.
On April 19, 1770, the shores of Australia opened up to the eyes of the British. "I called this place Hicks," J. Cook wrote in his diary, "because Lieutenant Hicks was the first to see this land." Cook walked along the coast to the north until he reached the place he named Botany Bay, since the botanists who took part in the expedition found there a large number of previously unknown species of plants, birds and animals.

Botany or Botany Bay (eng. Botany Bay, formerly sometimes Botanist Bay) is a bay of the Tasman Sea off the eastern coast of Australia, 8 km south of the center of Sydney, discovered by James Cook on April 29, 1770. J. Cook named the bay in honor of his friends - explorers and partners on the first round-the-world trip on the Endeavor ship. These are botanists Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, who studied and described many plants unfamiliar to Europeans on the shores of the bay. They also described animals, primarily marsupials.

On April 29, 1760, the sailors landed on the shore. Local residents showered them with a hail of stones and mines, the British responded with volleys from guns. “Thus,” the modern Australian historian M. Clark sadly notes, “the European began his tragic communication with the natives of the eastern coast.” Until May 6, J. Cook explored the areas of Botany Bay, and then continued his voyage. Leaving north of Cape York, he became convinced that the mainland he had discovered was separated from New Guinea by a strait. J. Cook declared it the property of the British crown. Having landed on the shore of one of the islands in the Torres Strait, called Possession, Cook hoisted the British flag on it and announced that from now on the power of the British sovereign extends to the entire eastern coast of the mainland from 38 ° south latitude to the island of Possession. At these words, the sailors standing next to him fired three volleys from their guns; from the ship they responded with cannon shots. The eastern part of Australia, named New South Wales by Cook, became the property of the British crown.

European navigators, discovering new lands and declaring them the property of their monarchs, did not particularly think about the origin and history of the peoples inhabiting them. They simply stated the fact of the presence of human beings there, who stood at the lowest level in terms of their development. Cook looked at the locals with somewhat different eyes. “At first, when I saw the natives of New Holland,” he wrote, “they impressed me as the most miserable people on earth; but in reality ... they are much happier than Europeans, because they are unfamiliar not only with excesses, but also with the necessary amenities, so common in Europe... They live in a tranquility that is not disturbed by the inequality of situation. Land and sea "supply them with everything necessary for life. They do not dream of splendid houses, domestic servants, etc.; they live in a warm and beautiful climate and enjoy healthy air ... It seems to me that they believe that they have everything necessary for life ".

James Cook declares the eastern third of Australia the property of the British Crown and gives it the name "New South Wales"

Even in the earliest period of European colonization of Australia and Oceania, bourgeois scientists put forward a "theory" about the inferiority of the natives, their organic inability to progressive development, which greatly helped in the "development" of the occupied lands, often associated with the mass destruction of the indigenous population.
In our time, science has data that allow us to assert that the lag in the development of the indigenous inhabitants of Australia before the arrival of Europeans is explained by objective socio-historical conditions. “A comprehensive study of the original culture of the natives of Australia,” writes Soviet researcher V.R. Kabo, “shows that, in general, despite the preservation of some archaic elements, it has been continuously developing for many millennia. And although the Australians ... had a chance to experience a deep cultural crisis associated mainly with catastrophic changes natural conditions, the development of their culture continued, albeit at a slower pace.

Tasmanian (the last full-blooded Tasmanian - William Lunn or "King Billy" - died March 3, 1869)

As shown by archaeological discoveries in Southeast Asia and Australia in the 50-60s of our century, the settlement of Australia began at least 30 thousand years ago, in the Paleolithic era, when the fifth continent was connected with Southeast Asia by continental bridges, Asian and the Australian continental shelves and the straits between them were not an insurmountable obstacle, even for people who possessed extremely primitive means of navigation.

The natural geographical conditions that existed at that time favored the development and settlement by people of the Australian continent, including its interior regions, which turned into a desert and semi-desert zone only during the period of thermal maximum, i.e. from 7 thousand to 4 thousand years ago. The drastic change in habitat has led to a significant regression of Australian culture. This was facilitated by the deaf isolation of the Australians from the outside world.

Tasmanian (The last purebred Tasmanian - Truganini - died May 8, 1976)

The arrival of Europeans not only did not contribute to the cultural development of the Australian Aborigines, but, on the contrary, was a new ordeal for them, which can only be compared with natural disaster great destructive power. Many thousands of natives were destroyed. The colonialists pushed the indigenous people out of the coastal regions into the desert and thus doomed them to extinction. If by the arrival of the British the total number of aboriginal population reached 300 thousand people, then after two hundred years their number does not exceed 150 thousand, including mestizos.

Some researchers suggest that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach the shores of Australia back in the 20s of the 16th century.

As the main evidence, supporters of this theory cite the following points:

• maps of Dieppe published in France in the middle of the 16th century. They depict a large stretch of land between Indonesia and Antarctica, called Java la Grande, with symbols and explanations in French and Portuguese;
• the presence of Portuguese colonies in Southeast Asia at the beginning of the 16th century. In particular, the island of Timor is located only 650 km from the Australian coast;
• various finds found along the Australian coastline are attributed to early Portuguese travelers.

In addition, the French navigator Binot Polmier de Gonneville claimed to have landed on some land east of the Cape of Good Hope in 1504, after the ship was blown off course by the wind. For some time he was credited with the discovery of Australia, but later it turned out that the lands he visited were part of the coast of Brazil.

Discovery of Australia by the Dutch

The first undeniable discovery of Australia is documented at the end of February 1606. The expedition of the Dutch East India Company, led by Willem Jansson, landed from the ship "Duifken" ("Dove") on the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Jansson and his comrades explored the coast of New Guinea. Sailing from the island of Java to the southern coast of New Guinea and moving along it, after some time the Dutch reached the shores of the Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia, believing that they were still watching the coast of New Guinea.

Apparently, for some reason, the expedition did not notice the Torres Strait, which separates the coasts of New Guinea and Australia. On February 26, the team landed near the place where the city of Waipa is located today and was immediately attacked by the natives.

Subsequently, Jansson and his people sailed along the coast of Australia for about 350 km, from time to time making landfalls, but everywhere they ran into hostile natives, as a result of which several sailors died. The captain decided to return back, without realizing that he had discovered a new continent.

Since Jansson described the coast he explored as deserted and swampy, the new discovery did not arouse any interest. The East India Company equipped its ships in search of new lands rich in spices and jewels, and not for the sake of geographical discoveries as such.

In the same year, Luis Vaes de Torres sailed through the same strait, apparently not noticed by the Jansson expedition and later named Torres. It is possible that Torres and his comrades visited the northern coast of the continent, but there is no written evidence of this.

In 1616, another ship of the Dutch East India Company, under the control of Dirk Hartog, reached the shores of Western Australia, in the Shark Bay area (Shark Bay) at about 25 degrees south latitude. The navigators explored the coast and nearby islands for three days. Finding nothing of interest, Hartog continued north along the previously unexplored coastline to 22 degrees S, after which he headed for Batavia.

In 1619, Frederick de Houtman and Jacob d'Erdel explored the Australian coast at 32 degrees S in two ships. sh. moving gradually to the north, where at 28 degrees S. discovered a strip of reefs called Houtman's Rocks.

In subsequent years, Dutch sailors continued to sail along the coast of Australia, calling this land New Holland, without bothering to explore the coast properly, because they did not see any commercial benefit in it. The vast coastline may have piqued their curiosity, but it did not encourage them to explore the country's resources. Exploring the western and northern coasts, they formed the impression of the newly discovered lands as swampy and barren. During that period, the Dutch never saw the southern and eastern shores, much more attractive in appearance.

On July 4, 1629, the Batavia, a ship of the Dutch East India Company, was shipwrecked off the Houtman Rocks. After the mutiny that happened soon after, part of the crew built a small fort for their protection - this was the first European structure in Australia.

According to some estimates, between 1606 and 1770 more than 50 European ships visited the shores of Australia. Most of of these belonged to the Dutch East India Company, including the ships of Abel Tasman. In 1642, Tasman, trying to go around the so-called New Holland from the south, discovered an island, which he called Van Diemen's Land (later this island was renamed Tasmania). Moving further east, after some time the ships reached New Zealand. However, Tasman never got close to Australia on his first voyage. Only in 1644 did he manage to explore in detail its northwestern coast and prove that all the territories previously discovered during the Dutch expeditions, with the exception of Van Diemen's Land, are parts of a single mainland.

English studies

Almost until the end of the 80s of the 17th century, practically nothing was known in England about the lands discovered by the Dutch. In 1688, a pirate ship carrying the Englishman William Dampier anchored on the northwest coast, near Lake Melville. There was not much to plunder there, and after several weeks of repairs, the ship left the inhospitable shores. However, this voyage had some consequences: returning to England, Dampier published a story about his journey, which interested the English Admiralty.

In 1699, he set off on a second voyage to the shores of Australia, on the Roebuck ship provided to him. As in the previous case, he visited the barren northwest coast and, after 4 months of research, was forced to return without finding anything worthy of attention. Since Dampier was unable to provide any facts that could interest the Admiralty, interest in new lands waned for almost three-quarters of a century.

In 1770, an expedition led by Lieutenant James Cook went to southern part Pacific Ocean on the sailboat "Endeavour" ("Attempt"). The navigators were supposed to make astronomical observations, but Cook had secret orders from the British Admiralty to search for the southern continent Terra Australis Incognita, which, according to geographers of the time, extended around the pole. Cooke reasoned that since so-called New Holland had a west coast, there must also be an east coast.

The expedition landed on the east coast of Australia at the end of April 1770. The landing site, originally named Stingray Bay, was later renamed Botany Bay due to strange and unusual plants growing there.

Cook named the open lands New Wales and later New South Wales. He had no idea about the scale of his discovery, as well as the fact that this island is a whole continent, 32 times larger than Britain itself. Among other things, Cook was the first European to visit the Great Barrier Reef. The ship that stumbled across it spent the next seven weeks under repair.

The British returned in 1778 to colonize new lands.

British colonies

It was decided to start colonization discovered by James Cook lands using convicts as the first colonists. The first fleet, led by Captain Arthur Philip, consisting of 11 ships carrying a total of about 1350 people, arrived in Botany Bay on the 20th of January 1788. However, the area was considered unsuitable for settlement and they moved north to Port Jackson.

Governor Philip issued an order establishing the first British colony in Australia. The soil around Sydney Harbor was poor. The young colony relied both on developing farms along the Parramatta River, 25 kilometers upstream to the west, and on buying food from the natives.

The second fleet in 1790 brought badly needed supplies and various materials; however, among the newly arrived prisoners there were a large number of patients, many of them were close to death and useless for the colony. The second fleet became known as the "Death Fleet" - 278 convicts and crew members died during this voyage, while the first time there were only 48 people who died.

The colony experienced many other difficulties, including a significant male preponderance of about four per woman, which had been a problem in the settlement for many years.

Several other British colonies were also created.

Van Diemen's Land

The first British settlement on the island was at Risdon in 1803, when Lieutenant John Bowen landed with about 50 settlers, crew, soldiers and convicts. In February 1804, Lieutenant David Collins established a settlement at Hobart. The colony of Van Diemen's Land was established in 1825, and from 1856 officially became known as Tasmania.

Western Australia

In 1827, Major Edmund Lockyer built a small British settlement at King Georges Sound (Albany). Captain James Stirling became its first governor. The colony was created specifically for convicts, and the first prisoners arrived in 1850.

South Australia

The British province of South Australia was founded in 1836 and became a Crown colony in 1842. Although South Australia was not created for convicts, a number of former prisoners subsequently moved there from other colonies. About 38,000 immigrants arrived and settled in the area by 1850.

Victoria

In 1834, the Henty brothers arrived in Portland Bay, and John Batman settled on the site of the future Melbourne. The first immigrant ships arrived in Port Phillip in 1839. In 1851, Victoria (Port Phillip) seceded from New South Wales.

queensland

In 1824, a colony known as Moreton Bay Settlement was established at Radcliffe by Lieutenant John Oxley, later known as Brisbane. About 19 hundred people were sent to the settlement between 1824 and 1839. The first free European settlers moved into the area in 1838. In 1859, Queensland seceded from New South Wales.

northern territory

In 1825, the land occupied by today's Northern Territory was part of New South Wales. In 1863 control of the area was given to South Australia. The capital Darwin was founded in 1869 and was originally known as Palmerston. On January 1, 1911, the Northern Territory seceded from South Australia and became part of the Commonwealth of Australia.

After the colonization of the coast, a period of active exploration began. However, until 1813, none of the expeditions were able to overcome the high mountain chain located along the east coast. After the passage was discovered, in 1815 Governor Macquarie crossed the Blue Mountains and founded the city of Bathurst on the other side. Many researchers rushed deep into the mainland.

John Oxley was the first serious explorer who surveyed the channels of the rivers Lochlan, Macquarie and several others. Charles Sturt in search of the mythical inland sea, discovers the Darling River, explores the Lochlan and Marambigee river system. John McDual Stuart explores the territories north of Adelaide, Friedrich Leichhardt crosses Cleveland and the Northern Territories, discovering many small rivers and land suitable for agriculture along the way, and in 1858-60 Robert Burke crosses the mainland from north to south for the first time. Nathaniel Buchanan finds vast pastures on the Barkley Plateau, which later became the center of Northern Australia's sheep farming.

In addition to those listed, many other researchers continued to study the mainland, discovering new lands and contributing to the further development of Australia.

50 thousand years before its discovery by European navigators. In waterless deserts, in tropical jungles and on the coastal plains of this continent, people have lived for centuries with their rich traditions of culture, religion and original lifestyle. By the time James Cook discovered Australia, indigenous people The continent had over 300 thousand people who spoke 500 languages. And now Australia, the discovery of the mainland of which took place twice before the world realized all its significance for the world economy and culture, continues to open the mysteries of its thousand-year history.

Discovery history

The discovery of Australia is the result of centuries of searching by the Portuguese, Dutch and British southern country(terra australis incognita). In 2006, archaeologists discovered ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in Australia, which gave rise to the hypothesis among some scientists that the Egyptians were the first to discover this continent 5,000 years ago.

If we take the latest history, then scientists agree that the year of discovery of Australia is 1606. It was in this year that the Dutchman V. Janszon studied the northeastern part of Australia - the Cape York Peninsula.

But the history of the discovery of Australia is a multitude of mysteries that scientists have yet to unravel. So, the cannons found by archaeologists give reason to some researchers to believe that back in the 16th century. the Portuguese visited Australia, but there is no evidence of this in documentary sources yet.

Exploring New Holland

The entire 17th century is the history of the discovery and exploration of Australia by sea travelers from the Netherlands, who first called it New Holland.

After the mentioned Janszon, in 1616 D. Hartog described part of the western coast of the continent, in 1623 J. Carstensz mapped the western coast of the York Peninsula, and in 1627 the southern coast of the still unknown mainland was explored by F. Theisen and P. Neyts.

The chief ruler of the Netherlands Indies, Anton Van Diemen, in 1642 sent the famous navigator A. Tasman on an expedition, who discovered the land named after Van Diemen (modern Tasman Island). On January 29, 1644, a new expedition set sail, led by Tasman. The expedition proved that New Holland is separate mainland.

For Holland, the discovery of Australia did not seem worthy of much attention, since it already had convenient naval bases in southern Africa and Java, and expensive oriental spices, valued on European markets, did not grow on the island itself. Nothing also indicated the presence of mineral deposits here; no other animal species were discovered that could arouse interest among the then Europeans.

Exploration of the Australian mainland by the British

More than half a century passed before the work of exploring the mainland after the Dutch was continued by English explorers and travelers. Thus, the expedition of V. Dampier managed to study the northwestern part of Australia in more detail and discover previously unknown islands in this area.

And in 1770, the "next" discovery of Australia took place - this time by James Cook.

After Cook, the discovery and exploration of Australia by the British continued: in 1798 D. Bass discovered the strait between the mainland and the island of Tasmania, in 1797-1803 M. Flinders passed the continent and made a map with more accurate outlines of its southern coast. It was Flinders who proposed in 1814 to change the name "New Holland" to "Australia", and by the 1840s F. King and D. Wicken had completed the study and mapping of the coastline of Australia.

The 19th century brought new geographical discoveries to Australia by travelers and explorers from different countries, but already within the continent. As a result, the Great Dividing Range appeared on the map of Australia with the highest point of the continent - Mount Kosciuszko; deserts, endless plains, as well as Darling and Murray - the most full-flowing.

Full map British colony, which was Australia, was compiled by British scientists already at the beginning of the twentieth century.

James Cook and his contribution to the study of Australia

James Cook was born in 1728 to a North Yorkshire farmer. But not justifying the hopes of his father, he became a cabin boy on the coal miner "Frilav" in 1745. James was fascinated by maritime affairs, and he began to study astronomy, algebra, geometry and navigation on his own, and his natural abilities contributed to career growth: already in 1755 he received an offer to take the place of captain on the ship Friendship. But James decided to enlist in the Royal Navy, where he again began his service as an ordinary sailor. Cook quickly rose to the rank of assistant captain, and already in 1757 he passed the exams for the right to manage the ship on his own.

James Cook

In 1768, Cook went on an expedition that was supposed to observe the passage of Venus through the solar disk, as well as discover new lands for the British crown. It is believed that in 1770, during this round-the-world trip on the ship Endeavor, James Cook discovered Australia. Then he was forced to make a stop on a hitherto unknown mainland due to the resulting hole. Having repaired the ship, Cook sent it along the Great Barrier Reef, opening the hitherto unknown strait between Australia and New Guinea.

But the discovery of Australia did not stop Cook in search of hitherto unexplored lands. Returning to England in 1771, a few years later he set sail again in search of southern mainland- the mythical Terra Australis (Antarctica). The conditions of this trip did not allow Cook to reach Antarctica, and upon his return to England, he convinced everyone that the southern mainland simply did not exist.