Australia was discovered by itself. History of Australian exploration

The name of the English navigator James Cook is inextricably linked with Australia in the minds of most people. Some are sure that Cook is its discoverer, others, recalling the humorous song of Vladimir Vysotsky, are sure of the sad connection between the local population and the death of Captain Cook. The beloved bard of the entire post-Soviet space, indeed, caused great confusion, being right in only one thing - James Cook was killed by Aborigines, but not Australians and not for the purpose of cannibalism.

By the time Captain Cook set out on his first voyage around the world (1767–1771), during which he passed between the east coast of Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, the Australian continent had already been partially mapped on geographical and nautical charts. The western shores were roughly indicated and partially described, but, of course, there were still many blank spots, and all East Coast was completely unexplored.

The Search for Terra Incognito

Looking into history, I remember the expression “Terra Incognita”, or rather “Terra Australis Incognita” - Unknown Southern Land, as medieval geographers of the Roman Empire called a part of the land that, in their opinion, should be located somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere. This hypothesis existed for quite a long time and was the reason for numerous marine explorations not only by scientists and travelers, but also by adventurers from different countries. In search of this mythical Southern land, the islands of Oceania, Australia and New Zealand were discovered.

The first information about the sighted outlines of an unknown land came from the Portuguese. It is known that they secretly searched for islands with gold and rare spices; in one of these voyages in 1522, the first landing on the shores of the northwestern coast of Australia was carried out. And although reliable evidence has not survived, ancient maps of Portuguese origin that have survived to this day show part of the coast of the Great Australian Land.

Later, in 1605-1606, a Spanish expedition with captain Luis Vaez Torres, in search of the unexplored southern land, having discovered the New Hebrides archipelago, rounded the coast of New Guinea from the south and passed by a number of large islands, unable to land due to strong currents and numerous shoals. During this voyage, Spanish navigators proved that New Guinea is an island, and became the first Europeans to navigate the strait, dangerous due to coral reefs, separating it from Australia. For 150 long years, the Spanish government managed to keep its discovery secret, until, during the Seven Years' War, documents with maps fell into the hands of the British.

At the same time, in 1606, the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed on the most northern point Australia, Cape York Peninsula. The discovered lands were named New Holland and declared possessions of the Netherlands. Having followed the coast to the south, in one of the bays the team first met the Australian aborigines. The expedition's cartographer mapped a detailed image of the discovered coast and some of the nearby islands.

In 1616, the Dutchman Dirk Hartog discovered west bank Australia and walked along the coast for about 300 km. In 1619, the coastline off modern Perth and further north was explored. In subsequent years, Dutch ships regularly visited the shores of the new land they discovered, described and mapped bays and bays, and replenished supplies. drinking water on their ships, but all the time they noted the inhospitability and etherealness of the coast of Australia. One day, a whole tragedy unfolded when one of the ships, traveling with passengers to the island of Java, was severely damaged during a storm, and about 300 surviving people were able to escape on one of the islands. Not finding enough water and food there, the captain swam on a boat to the coast of Australia, walked along 250 km, but could not find drinking water. He had to sail for help to the island of Java, and when he returned to those remaining on the island, more than half of those who had escaped the shipwreck were killed by several rebellious sailors who wanted to leave the island and become pirates. This story became the basis of many books and plays.

Secret mission of the British Kingdom

But let's return to James Cook and his contribution to the discovery of Australia. The British Admiralty, equipping an expedition to the Southern Hemisphere to the island of Tahiti, officially announced its goal as astronomical observations of the movement of Venus, while in secret orders Captain Cook's primary task was to move south and find the Southern Continent. The British Kingdom urgently needed new colonies. After completing the official assignment, Cook headed to New Zealand, discovered a previously unknown strait between its islands, which was called Cook Strait, and in 1770 discovered east coast Australia. Parking in one of the bays of the coast, the botanists who were part of the expedition discovered and described many unknown and unusual plants, and for this occasion the bay was named Botanical.

Moving to the northwest and finding ourselves sandwiched between the shores of Australia and a huge ridge of coral reefs that did not allow access to open ocean, James Cook discovered a strait between Australia and New Guinea, until then considered part of Australian land. The main most important task of the leadership, the discovery of new lands of the elusive Southern continent, was never completed. I must say that neither the second nor the third circumnavigation Captain Cook never found Antarctica. This was done in 1820 by Russian navigators Mikhail Lazorev and Thaddeus Bellingshausen.

Death of James Cook

In 1776, Great Britain equipped a third expedition led by Captain James Cook, whose task was to open a passage through North America connecting the Pacific and atlantic oceans. During this voyage, a group of new islands was discovered, which he called Sandwich, and subsequently the name Hawaiian was assigned to them. The first acquaintance with the local population took place, offerings and gifts were exchanged. When Cook went ashore, the natives prostrated themselves and showed increased signs of respect and attention, as if he were one of their gods.

After a little rest the team moved to the shores North America, to continue research on instructions from the Admiralty, and then returned to Hawaii again for repairs, rest and replenishment of supplies. It should be noted that in those days Cook was one of the rare European explorers of new lands who sought to establish relationships with the aborigines through negotiations, exchange of goods and establishing communication. While most other sailors unceremoniously massacred entire villages if they were refused to supply food supplies to their ships for free.

As in his previous travels, the captain filled his ships with gifts and goods for exchange, and was determined to establish friendly communication with the indigenous population. But this time everything went differently. After a short stop to repair ships on one of the islands, the aborigines, who initially joyfully greeted the Europeans, began to change their attitude towards them. Conflicts and misunderstandings began, as did the theft of things and tools. James Cook decided to urgently complete repairs and leave the islands.

Sailing from Hawaii, the crew was caught in a storm, the ship was severely damaged and was forced to return. But they were not welcome at all, and clashes continued. During the next conflict, the British were forced to use weapons; in the ensuing turmoil, Cook was killed with a spear and his body was carried deep into the island.

Last honors to the captain

Legends and numerous stories that arose after the death of the great navigator are certainly based on information about the cruelty and bloodthirstiness of the aborigines of Oceania, the Pacific Islands and other corners of the earth remote from civilization. Many tribes of warm latitudes practiced cannibalism, obeying their culture and religion. On Hawaiian Islands the religion was based on the worship of living nature and the spirits of ancestors; the aborigines revered many gods. There were complex rituals of worship and strict religious rules, and human sacrifices were performed. The second captain of the expedition, after unsuccessful negotiations to return Cook's body back to the ship, carried out a punitive operation, destroying coastal settlements. The captain's body was returned in separate fragments, the severed head missing its jaw. What exactly the aborigines wanted to do—eat their enemy or use his remains in rituals according to their laws—one can only guess. The remaining members of the expedition buried the great traveler in the waters of the bay, which was later called sacred.

Australia - amazing place on the ground. Its nature is unique. Animals live here that you won't find anywhere else. This is the most small continent and at the same time a country with one of the leading economies in the world. The state of Australia came into being through the unification of the British colonies into the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. And after 30 years it gained complete independence in external and internal affairs. Who discovered Australia? More on this later.

Who discovered Australia and in what year?

Australia may be far away, but attractive place for life. But who was the first to discover this land and move it from the category of legends to reality? All school history textbooks say that the discoverer of the fifth continent is James Cook, the famous navigator and cartographer.

In the middle of the 18th century, Captain Cook explored the southern waters of the World Ocean. After an unsuccessful attempt to discover Antarctica, the ship Endeavor approached the shores of Australia in 1770. After this, James Cook visited the continent twice more. He proved that New Zealand is an archipelago and does not belong to Antarctica. Then the active development of the new land began.

However, the first explorer of Australia was the Dutchman Willem Janszoon. This happened 165 years before Cook's expedition. In 1605, the ship of the Dutch fleet "Dyfken" set sail from the port of Bantam to the shores of New Guinea.

Without knowing it, Admiral Janszoon landed in northwestern Australia. In total, he mapped 320 km coastline. The explorer decided that this was part of New Guinea, and declared these lands the property of the Netherlands.

Some scientists believe that before the Dutch, the fifth continent was secretly explored by the Portuguese in the early 20s of the 16th century. In 1916, in northwestern Australia, scientists found Portuguese cannons from that era. This theory is also supported by maps that partially depict the shores of the continent south of the island of Java. However, no documents exist about Portuguese expeditions to this region.

Australia: the first people on the mainland

The ancestors of the indigenous population of Australia appeared on the mainland about 70 thousand years ago. This is evidenced by fossils found at the bottom dry lake Mungo and in the Swan River area.

It is believed that the first people arrived by sea when New Guinea was adjacent to the continent. It is unknown where they came from. However, archaeologists believe that at least three different nationalities settled on the mainland at that time.

East of the city of Darwin is National Park Cockatoo. Here you can see the oldest rock paintings. Ancient drawings are at least 30 thousand years old. Images of beetles resembling scarabs have also been found in Australia.

In this regard, some scientists think that the Egyptians visited the mainland during the era of the pharaohs. Presumably they came this way for the sake of eucalyptus leaves. They were used to make embalming oil.

Today, to visit Australia, you need to travel a long way. Even by plane, a flight with transfers will take 15–20 hours. It is difficult to imagine what kind of tests the discoverers of the fifth continent were subjected to. One can only envy their courage and ambitions. They went down in history, and we expanded our knowledge about the world. Would you like to visit Australia?

We present to your attention a chapter from the book “History of Australia” by K.V. Malakhovsky, 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. (Approx. AussieTeller)

It is paradoxical, but 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 ancient cartographers were sure of the existence of the Southern Land, or Terra Australis.

1570 map by Abraham Ortelius showing the Unknown Southern 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 Inca legends about the richest land located in the southern part of the Great Ocean, began to send their ships there. The expeditions of A. de Mendaña in 1567 and 1595, P. de Quiros in 1605 discovered new lands, but not the mainland, but small archipelagos: the Solomon and Marquesas Islands, the New Hebrides.

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

One of the ships of Quiros, 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 separating New Guinea from Australia and subsequently named after him.

But the first Europeans to approach the Australian mainland were not the Spaniards or the Portuguese, who dominated during the 15th-16th centuries. on the Pacific Ocean, and the Dutch. This happened at the beginning of the 17th century.
By this time, the Dutch and British had ended the maritime colonial dominance of Portugal and Spain, including in the Pacific Ocean. By the beginning of the 70s of the 16th 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 were convinced that it was possible to reach the shores of India. In 1598, a second expedition (seven ships) 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 already set off for India.
Convinced of the profitability of such enterprises, Dutch merchants in March 1602 created a society for trade with India - the Dutch East India Trading Company. The company received such rights and privileges that it became a kind of state within a state. She not only had a monopoly on trade 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 company's capital was enormous by 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 equaled 864 thousand guilders, then the capital of the Dutch East India Company amounted to 6.6 million guilders.

Willem Janszoon is officially considered the first European to reach the shores of Australia on the ship "Duyfken"

From the very first steps of its activity, the Dutch East India Company energetically began searching for the Southern Land. One of the company's ships, led by Captain V. Janszon, circled New Guinea from the south and reached the coast of Australia near the peninsula now called Cape York. Sailors who landed on 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 ( modern name- Jakarta).

The ship's log of the expedition led by V. Janszon has not survived. It is clear that the captain's message about open ground 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.” Over the next half century, this phrase was repeated more than once by company leaders.

The Gulf of Carpentaria on a Dutch map of 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 Good Hope along the coast of Africa to the equator, and then to the east. The Dutch chose a shorter route. In 1611, Captain H. Brower, having traveled 4 thousand 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 its 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. Carstenz, repeating Janszoon's route, entered a large bay on the northern coast of Australia. Carstenz named it the Gulf of Carpentaria, in honor of the then Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies, P. de Carpenter. In the report on the voyage, the captain wrote: “We did not see a single fruit-bearing tree, nothing that a person could use for himself... The inhabitants are pitiful and poor creatures...”.

In 1636, A. Van Diemen became governor-general of Batavia, who sought to expand Dutch possessions in the South Seas. His determination and perseverance were highly valued and encouraged by the leadership of the Dutch East India Company. On September 16, 1638, the company's board of directors wrote to Van Diemen: "Your Lordship is acting wisely, paying great attention to the discovery of the South Land and 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 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 his voyage, Tasman approached the shores of New Zealand. He mistook it for the Southern Continent. The next year, Tasman explored the northern part of the Australian mainland, but did not find anything attractive there for the East India Company, especially gold and silver. As a result, the company lost interest in further exploration of the South Seas.

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

William Dampier (William Dampier, English 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 this topic. Member of the British Royal Society. Portrait painted by Thomas Murray

In the second half of the 17th century. in three naval wars (1652-1654; 1665-1667; 1672-1674), England inflicted crushing defeats on Holland, reducing it to the position of a minor European country. Having become a powerful trading and maritime power in the world, England is firmly establishing itself in the Pacific arena.

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

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

If the Europeans, in essence, knew nothing 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 they had discovered, 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 “A Voyage to New Holland.” Both of them were a great success and were reprinted many times. “The inhabitants of this country,” wrote Dampier in the 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 voyage of J. Cook.

Strange as it may sound, the planet Venus played a certain role in the discovery of the eastern coasts of Australia and, by the way, New Zealand by the British. The fact is that, according to astronomers’ calculations, on June 3, 1769, Venus was supposed to pass by the solar disk. To better observe the planet, the Royal Society for the Advancement of Natural Sciences of London asked the British government to send South Seas a group of astronomers. Having received a refusal, the society turned directly to the king, who approved the plan. J. Cook, who had just returned from Newfoundland, was appointed leader of the expedition. 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 Ocean was not dictated by a desire to please astronomers. This became clear to Cook when, on August 26, 1768, while 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 lies south of the path recently traversed by Captain Wallis on His Majesty’s ship the Dolphin, or from the paths of any other, earlier sailors... Therefore, you execution of his Majesty's will is ordered to set sail... immediately after completing the observations of Venus, and to be guided by the following instructions. To effect the discovery of the above-mentioned continent, you must sail south until you reach the latitude of 40°, and if, having done so, you will not discover it... then you must continue your search to the west, between the latitude previously mentioned and the latitude of 35 °, until you find it or meet the eastern side of the land discovered by Tasman and now called New Zealand."

First (red), second (green color) And third (blue) Cook's expedition

The Admiralty further ordered: to explore the shores of New Zealand, draw a map of the islands, study minerals, soil, animals and vegetable world, collect samples of seeds and fruits, and also declare the land the possession of the British king, having obtained the consent of the local population, and if it does not exist, 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 carried out. Cook then, following orders from the Admiralty, sailed his ship south in search of the Southern Continent.

October 7, 1769 N. Jung, the ship's surgeon's servant, was the first to see among the waves of the ocean white cape. 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. The local Maori residents, sensing evil, greeted the newcomers with hostility. In the ensuing battle, several Aborigines were killed. Cook, like Tasman, was convinced of the courage of the Maori, who were not afraid of either the muskets or cannons of the Europeans.

Despite the obvious disapproval of the residents, Cook, scrupulously following the instructions of the Admiralty, strengthened the staff with the English flag at the site of his landing and proclaimed New Zealand 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 to the eyes of the British. “I named this place Hicks,” J. Cook wrote in his diary, “because Lieutenant Hicks was the first to see this land.” Cook walked north along the coast until he reached a place he called Botany Bay, because the botanists who took part in the expedition discovered there a large number of previously unknown to them species of plants, birds and animals.

Botany or Botany Bay (English 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 gave the name to the bay in honor of his friends - explorers and partners in the first trip around the world on the ship Endeavor. 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 shore. Local residents showered them with a hail of stones and spears, and the British responded with volleys of gunfire. “Thus,” the modern Australian historian M. Clark sadly notes, “the European began his tragic communication with the aborigines of the eastern coast.” Until May 6, J. Cook explored the areas of Botany Bay, and then continued his voyage. Coming north of Cape York, he became convinced that the continent he had discovered was separated from New Guinea by a strait. J. Cook declared it the property of the British crown. Having gone ashore on one of the Torres Strait islands, called Possession, Cook hoisted the British flag on it and announced that from now on the power of the British sovereign extended to the entire eastern coast of the mainland from 38° south latitude to Possession Island. At these words, the sailors standing next to him fired three volleys from their guns; The ship responded with cannon fire. East End Australia, called 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 were at the lowest level in their development. Cook looked at local residents with slightly different eyes. “At first, when I saw the natives of New Holland,” he wrote, “they impressed me as the most pitiful people on earth; but in fact... they are much happier than the Europeans, because they are unfamiliar not only with excesses, but also with the necessary amenities, so common in Europe... They live in peace, which is not disturbed by the inequality of their situation. The land and sea “supply them with everything necessary for life. They do not dream of magnificent houses, domestic servants, etc.; they live in a warm and wonderful 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 aborigines, their organic inability for progressive development, which greatly helped in the “development” of occupied lands, often associated with mass destruction indigenous population.
Nowadays, science has data that allows us to assert that the lag in the development of the indigenous people of Australia before the arrival of Europeans is explained by objective socio-historical conditions. “A comprehensive study of the original culture of the aborigines of Australia,” writes Soviet researcher V.R. Kabo, “testifies that in general, despite the preservation of some archaic elements, it has continuously developed over many millennia. And although the Australians ... had the opportunity to experience a deep cultural crisis associated primarily with catastrophic change natural conditions, the development of their culture continued, although at a slower pace."

Tasmanian (last purebred Tasmanian - William Lunn or "King Billy" - died 3 March 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, the Asian and the Australian continental shelves and the straits between them were not an insurmountable obstacle even for people who had 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 internal regions, which turned into deserts and semi-deserts only during the period of thermal maximum, i.e. from 7 thousand to 4 thousand years ago. The dramatic change in the environment led to a significant regression of Australian culture. This was facilitated by the profound isolation of Australians from the outside world.

Tasmanian (Last purebred Tasmanian - Truganini - died 8 May 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 and difficult test for them, which can only be compared with a natural disaster of enormous destructive power. Many thousands of Aborigines were killed. The colonialists forced the indigenous people out of the coastal areas into the deserts and thereby doomed them to extinction. If by the arrival of the British the total number of the aboriginal population reached 300 thousand people, then two hundred years later their number does not exceed 150 thousand, including mestizos.

History of discovery. Man appeared in Australia 40 thousand years ago. These were newcomers from South and Southeast Asia, the predecessors of modern aborigines. Having settled in the eastern part of Australia, people also entered Tasmania. The fact that Tasmanians are descendants of ancient Australians is confirmed by recent archaeological finds on Hunter Island in Bass Strait.

Assumptions about the existence of the mysterious Terra incognita Australis - “Unknown Southern Land” south of the equator were expressed by ancient geographers. A vast area of ​​land in the southern hemisphere was depicted on maps in the 15th century, although its outline did not resemble Australia in any way. The Portuguese had some information regarding the northern coasts of Australia back in the 16th century; they came from the inhabitants of the Malay Islands, who visited the coastal waters of the mainland to catch sea cucumbers. However, until the 17th century, no Europeans managed to see Australia with their own eyes.

The discovery of Australia has long been associated with the name of the English navigator James Cook. In fact, the first Europeans to visit the coast of this continent and meet scattered Aboriginal tribes here were the Dutch: Willem Janszoon in 1605 and Abel Tasman in 1642. Janszon crossed the Torres Strait and sailed along the coast of the Cape York Peninsula, while Tasman discovered the southwestern part of Tasmania, which he considered part of the mainland. And the Spaniard Torres in 1606 sailed through the strait that separates the island of New Guinea from the mainland.

However, the Spaniards and Dutch kept their discoveries secret. James Cook sailed to the east coast of Australia only one hundred and fifty years later, in 1770, and immediately declared it an English possession. A royal “penal colony” was created here for criminals, and later for exiled participants in the Chartist movement in England. Representatives of the English authorities, who sailed to the shores of Australia with the “first fleet” in 1788, founded the city of Sydney, which was subsequently proclaimed the administrative center of the British colony of New South Wales, created in 1824. With the arrival of the “second fleet,” the first free migrants appeared. The development, or rather the seizure of the mainland, begins, accompanied by the most brutal extermination of the indigenous population. A hunt was organized for the aborigines, and bonuses were given for those killed. Often the colonists staged real raids on the indigenous people of Australia, killing them without distinction of gender or age, scattering poisoned food, after which people died in terrible agony. It is not surprising that after a hundred years most of the indigenous population was exterminated. The remaining aborigines were driven from the land of their ancestors and pushed into the interior desert regions. In 1827, England announced the establishment of its sovereignty over the entire continent.

The end of the 18th and the entire 19th century for Australia was a time of geographical discoveries. In 1797, the talented English hydrographer M. Flinders began exploring the coasts of the continent, whose work is rated as highly by Australian geographers as Cook's discoveries. He confirmed the existence of Bass Strait, explored the shores of Tasmania and South Australia, the entire eastern and northern coast of the mainland, mapped the Great Barrier Reef. Flinders proposed giving the continent the name “Australia”, replacing the previously accepted designation on maps “New Holland”, which was finally superseded in 1824.

By the 19th century, the outlines of the mainland were largely mapped, but the interior remained a blank spot. The first attempt to penetrate into the interior of Australia was made in 1813 by an expedition of English colonists who discovered a passage through the Blue Mountains and discovered magnificent grazing lands to the west of the Great Dividing Range. A “land fever” began: a stream of free settlers poured into Australia, seizing huge areas where they organized sheep farms of many thousands. This land grab is called “squatterism.”

The prospecting parties moved further and further to the west, south and north, crossing the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers. In 1840, P. Strzelecki discovered the most high peak mainland, which he named Mount Kosciuszko in honor of the national hero of Poland.

More than a dozen large expeditions were equipped to explore the Australian Interior, and attempts were made to cross the continent. Significant discoveries in the interior of the continent belong to Charles Sturt, who first discovered the Darling River and the Simpson Desert. Significant discoveries in the southeast were made by D. Mitchell, in the west by D. Gray; W. Leichgard traveled from the Darling Range to the northern coast, but three years later, while trying to cross the continent from east to west, his expedition went missing in the endless deserts of Central Australia.

For the first time, R. Burke managed to cross the continent from south to north, leading a well-equipped expedition in 1860–1861. Burke walked from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, but on the way back he died along with his companion W. Wills. D. Stewart managed to cross the continent twice, passing through the hottest places in the central deserts.

By the end of the 19th century, the exploration of inland Australia was completed.

At the very beginning of the 19th century, a convict colony was founded in Tasmania; free settlers appeared on the island later, only in the 20s of the 19th century, and then extermination campaigns against the Tasmanian aborigines began. Just a decade later, most of the Tasmanians were exterminated. The last Tasmanian woman died in 1876.

The period of discovery in Tasmania lasted until 1843. By this time, not only the coasts, but also the central regions had been surveyed, work began on a continuous large-scale survey of the territory, and in the 70s large deposits of tin, gold and rare metals were discovered on the island.

The first settlers who arrived in Australia did not find anything similar to the landscapes of England. They perceived neither the beauty of the malga (acacia bushes) nor the splendor of the eucalyptus forests. The colonists did everything to ensure that the landscapes they found themselves in became as similar as possible to the parks and pastures of England.

Until the mid-19th century, the development of Australian territories was slow. The exiles who arrived on the first ships brought with them seeds and plant seedlings, which they began to grow in the poor sandy soils around the first settlement on the site of modern Sydney. Agriculture was slash-and-burn; organic fertilizers were not used, since there were no livestock. During the year, two crops were harvested - wheat and corn; when the harvests fell, the plot was abandoned.

Gradually, farmers began to move from the areas of initial development on the southeast coast, following pastoralists inland, north to the tropical coast, changing old crops and introducing new ones. From 1850 to 1914, Australian farmers mastered best lands on the continent. The most fertile soils were almost completely occupied by wheat, and sugar cane began to be grown further north, on the alluvial plains near the Tropic of Capricorn.

At the same time, cattle breeding began to move into the interior of Australia, first to the relatively water-logged areas of the open forests of the southeast, and then to the arid regions of Central Australia.

An important milestone in the development of the country was the middle of the last century, when gold was found in several places at once - first in the states of Victoria and New Wales, and then in Western Australia. At this time, a stream of settlers, mainly English and Irish, rushed to Australian soil.

The “Gold Rush”, as well as the spread of extensive sheep farming over large areas of land, led to rapid economic development, population growth and administrative registration of the colonies. In the 70s, there were already six separate colonies in Australia: New South Wales, Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland, which fought for self-government. Between 1873 and 1883, negotiations were held between the colonies to create a federation, which culminated in 1889 with the development of a draft constitution.

Abel Tasman- Dutch navigator, explorer and merchant. He received worldwide recognition for the sea voyages he led in 1642-1644. He was the first among famous European explorers to reach the shores of New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. The data collected during his expeditions helped prove the fact that Australia is a separate continent.

Abel Janszoon Tasman was born in 1603 in the village of Luttegast near Groningen (now the municipality of Grotegast in the province of Groningen) in the Netherlands. The exact date of his birth is unknown. The first documentary mention of him dates back to 1631, when he, already widowed by that time, married again. As follows from the surviving church record, his wife was illiterate and came from a poor family, which indirectly confirmed the validity of the assumptions of researchers of his biography about his low social status at that time.

Presumably at the same time, Abel Tasman entered the service of the Dutch East India Company as a simple sailor, but already in the records of 1634 he appears as the skipper (captain) of one of the company's ships. The main occupation of the company's sailors at that time was servicing the transportation of spices and spices, which were expensive and valuable goods for the European market.

In 1638, Tasman, commanding a ship, sailed to India.

In 1639, Tasman led one of two ships (together with M. Quast) equipped by the East India Company to explore shipping areas in the region of Japan and trade opportunities with the local population. In general, this expedition was not successful and after 6 months spent at sea, Tasman's ship, having lost almost 40 of the 90 crew members, returned to the Dutch fort Zealand on the island of Formosa (Taiwan). During this voyage he discovered the island of Bonin.

In 1640, Tasman again led one of 11 Dutch ships heading to the shores of Japan. This time he spent about three months in the Japanese port of Hirado.

In 1642, Tasman was appointed commander of a detachment of two ships of the East India Company, sent to explore the southern and eastern waters of the Pacific Ocean. According to the hypotheses of geographers and navigators of that era, it was these waters that should have washed the shores of the mythical Unknown Southern Land, the possible wealth of which was told for several generations. During this voyage, on November 24, 1642, Tasman discovered a large island (Tasmania) off the coast of Australia and named it Van Diemen's Land in honor of the governor of the Netherlands East Indies. Having followed several dozen miles along the coast of the island, Tasman turned east and on December 13 saw the outlines of another unfamiliar land. This was the South Island belonging to New Zealand. While staying near this island, Europeans first met the Maori, the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand. The meeting ended tragically: the Maori attacked the landing Dutch, killed several sailors and disappeared. Annoyed by this incident, Tasman named this place Killer Bay (now Golden Bay).

Continuing along the western coast of the North Tasman Island, he reached its tip and turned northeast. On January 21, 1643, the expedition reached the Tonga archipelago, discovering several previously unknown islands here. Having replenished Tonga's supplies of water and food, on February 6 Tasman's ships approached the islands of the Fiji archipelago. Further, leaving the Fiji islands to the south, Tasman walked along the northern coast of New Guinea and on June 15, after almost a ten-month journey, arrived in Batavia.

In 1643, Tasman led a detachment of three ships of the East India Company that sailed along the western coast of New Guinea and the northern coast of Australia. As a result, much of the coast of northern Australia was mapped for the first time.

From the point of view of the leadership of the East India Company, the voyages of detachments of ships under the command of Tasman in 1642-1644 ended in complete failure - new trading areas were never discovered and no new sea passages were found for navigation. Until the travels of the British navigator James Cook almost 100 years later, Europeans had not begun to explore New Zealand, and visits to Australia were sporadic and most often caused by shipwrecks. After the expedition returned to Batavia, Tasman was given the rank of commander and his salary was raised, and he himself was appointed a member of the Legal Council of Batavia. In 1647, he was sent as a representative to the King of Siam, and in 1648 he led a detachment of 8 ships that opposed the ships of the Spanish fleet

Around 1651, Abel Tasman retired and began trading in Batavia.

Relief. Australia is the flattest continent. Most of it is a plain, the edges of which are raised, especially in the east. Mountains occupy only 5% of the continent's territory. The average height of the continent is 340-350 m above sea level. In the structure of its surface three areas are clearly expressed: the Zahidno-Australian plateau with a height of 400-500 m, the Central Lowland, where the most low point mainland (-12 m below sea level), and the mid-altitude Great Dividing Range in the east with the highest point of the mainland (Mount Kosciuszko, 2228 m).

The geological structure of Australia is the simplest in comparison with other continents. The continent consists of ancient Precambrian and young

Epihercynian platforms, occupying the western and central territory, and a much smaller folded belt of Liznoproterozoic and Paleozoic age in the east.

The Australian platform is one of the largest on Earth. A distinctive feature of its structure is the alternation of protrusions of the ancient foundation and depressions. Protrusions of metamorphosed and volcanic rocks of the folded basement form three shields - Zahidno-Australian, Pivnichno-Australian and Shvdenno-Australian. Within the first of them, the oldest rocks were found, formed more than 3 billion years ago.

“The eastern part of the continent from the Cape York Peninsula in the north to the island of Tasmania in the south has the Shidno-Australian folded region.

Geological structures determined the differences in surface shapes of the western and eastern parts of the continent.

The Central Lowland is located in the zone of the meridional trough of the Australian Platform. Here the relief is dominated by lowlands, confined to areas of greatest subsidence of the platform foundation - the Lake Eyre basin, the Murray basin and the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Mountainous types of relief are almost not common in Australia. In the southeast, the Western Australian Plateau is bordered by the low (700 - 900 m) blocky mountains of Flinders and Mount Lofty. Flat-topped rises are broken by grabens, which go under water and form the Gulfs of Spencer and St. Vincent. There are mountains in the center of Australia - McDonnelly and Musgrave,

The mountain belt of Eastern Australia is formed by the Great Dividing Range and the mountains of Tasmania. These low folded-block mountain structures were formed as a result of Neogene tectonic movements. The eastern slopes of the mountains are steep, the western slopes are gentle. A feature of the Great Dividing Range is the displacement of the main watershed from the higher eastern

ridges to flat-topped low-mountain plateaus in the west.

Australia is rich in mineral resources. The crystalline rocks of the platform's foundation contain iron, copper, lead-zinc, uranium ores, and gold. Minerals of sedimentary origin include deposits of phosphorites, rock salt, hard and brown coal, oil, and natural gas. Many deposits lie at shallow depths, so they are mined by open-pit mining. Australia ranks among the first in the world in terms of reserves of iron ores, non-ferrous metal ores (bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel) and uranium.

Climate. Australia is the driest continent on Earth; three quarters of its surface has insufficient moisture. The climatic conditions on the continent are determined by its position near the equator, on both sides of the tropics. It was the hot tropical sun that caused the formation of extensive deserts on the continent.

Compared with South Africa and South America, south of the equator, Australia is more “stretched” from west to east. With a weakly dissected coastline, this causes constantly high temperatures in the interior and gives the right to consider it the hottest part of the land in the southern hemisphere.

The main territory of Australia is located in three climatic zones - from the subequatorial in the north, in the tropical for the main part, in the subtropical in the south, and climatologists classify the island of Tasmania as a temperate zone.

From December to February (summer in the southern hemisphere), the continent warms up greatly, especially its central parts; This is the hot season of the year. In the Alice Springs area (center of Australia) and in the adjacent deserts, average daytime air temperatures are about 35-36 degrees, and on some days even above +40. In winter, daytime temperatures here are almost two times lower - about +20 degrees, in the Great Victoria Desert - up to +10 degrees, and in some years night frosts are possible.

In inland areas, the influx of moist air from the north leads in summer to rare rains, which, in general, are of little effect. South 19-20o S. w. precipitation falls no more than 300 mm, and semi-deserts and deserts dominate.

On the West Coast - in Perth, the climate is somewhat milder due to the influence of the ocean - in summer there is usually thirty-degree heat, in winter the air cools to +18...+20 degrees during the day and +6...+8 at night.

The most inhabited region of Australia, the southeast coast, has a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and rainy, mild winters. So, in Melbourne in summer, on typical January days, the thermometer usually stays around +25..+27 degrees, and in winter it drops to +10...+12, at night to +5.

In the coolest part of the country - on the island of Tasmania - a typical British climate reigns - in summer the daytime temperature is +20...+22, in winter it is ten degrees cooler. In winter, night frosts occur, but a stable snow cover does not form here - throughout the region, snow falls steadily only on the tops of the mountains.

James Cook was born in 1728 on October 27 in the town of Morton, located in Yorkshire. At the age of 18, while working in a grocery store, he unexpectedly became interested in sea travel. Cook joined a cargo ship as a cabin boy, transporting coal. And 20 years later he is entrusted with management scientific expedition in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1770, the clumsy and heavy ship Endeavor stopped in the waters of one bay. Among the members of Cook's team who went in search of the unknown southern continent, in other words, Australia, was the scientist and botanist of the Royal Society, Joseph Banks. Who was so amazed by the picture of plants that appeared to him, until then unknown to science, that he was able to persuade Cook to rename the already named bay. From then on, it began to be called Botanical.

It must be said that this was the first time that an expedition with such a number of scientists on board went to the Pacific Ocean. In addition to Banks, naturalists from Sweden Spering and Solander, 2 artists, and assistants - 11 people in total - were also on board the ship. In addition, Cook himself was an excellent astronomer and cartographer. The main reason for the expedition was precisely to observe from Tahiti how Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun.

Endeavor sailed from Plymouth in 1768. The following year in June he reaches Tahiti, where the planetary observations took place. It seemed that the task was completed, but Cook had a secret package instructing him to sail further south. There the expedition team had to search for a previously unknown southern land.

In search of the mainland, James Cook brought the Endeavor to the coast of New Zealand, which was discovered by Abel Tasman back in 1642. Just as in the case of the Dutch researcher, the reaction of the local Maori population was extremely unfriendly. However, the British were ready for this hostile reception; there were no losses among the expedition, but several islanders were still killed during the skirmish. Cook decided to carefully explore the coast of New Zealand. As a result of a four-month study near North Island and seven weeks later, an accurate map of this continent appeared near the South.

In 1770, on April 1, Endeavor departed from New Zealand and headed for New Holland. A month later, the ship reached the bay, which soon became known as Botany Bay. In the ship's log, Cook defined the land as pleasant to look at, fairly calm and varied. The Endeavor remained in the harbor for eight days. During this time, Joseph Banks made many descriptions of new plant species, as well as the character of the local inhabitants, whom he could not classify as either blacks or Polynesians. The Aborigines were at first hostile to the travelers, but several shots in the air calmed them down. Then there were no disagreements with the indigenous people.

A couple of kilometers from Botany Bay, Cook found a large natural passage into a huge harbor - Port Jackson. In the report he described it as a good place for mooring many ships. The report was not forgotten, and many years later the first city, Sydney, was founded here.

It then took Cook four months to sail to the top of the Gulf of Carpentara, to an area called New Holland. Traveler makes up accurate map coast of future Australia. A dozen new names appear - bays, harbors, capes, bays, receiving new English names. Kings and ministers, lords, provinces and cities of Britain - they all acquire Australian counterparts.

Having not successfully passed the large barrier reef, the ship eventually reaches the northern edge of Australia. More than once the Endeavor was on the verge of death, but the experience of the crew and captain helped prevent serious problems. Only once did luck turn away from the discoverers. On June 17, the ship hit a reef and nearly sank. This event took place near the city of Cooktown. The ship's repairs took seven weeks. And today this place, in memory of past events, is called Cape Tribulation, which translates as Cape of Misfortune. It is famous throughout the world for its forest. This is the only place on earth where the Rhine Forest goes into the ocean. A tropical forest grows with its roots from the reefs.

In 1770, on August 22, James Cook, on behalf of George 3, proclaimed the land he had solemnly explored as the property of Britain and called it New South Wales. This name probably came about because the area here reminded the traveler of the coast of Glamorgan in South Wales. With a proud sense of duty, Cook sent the Endeavor to Batavia, and then to Great Britain, where universal recognition, an audience with the king and an increase in rank awaited him. In 1771, on July 13, the ship reaches Plymouth.

Surprisingly, Cook was unable to find fresh water in New South Wales. Most likely, because the researcher did not go deeper into the mainland. However, this was the reason to write in the report that he made upon returning to Great Britain that this territory was uninhabitable. This was a rare case when a traveler made a mistake. Fresh water there was, but it fell to another person to find it. This was done by Arthur Philip, captain of the first fleet, who came here with prisoners 18 years later.