Who explored the continent of Australia. Who discovered Australia? Cook's last voyages
What is the history of Australia? Let us briefly consider the events associated with its discovery. Some researchers have expressed their assumptions that the first Europeans to reach the shores of Australia at the beginning of the seventeenth century were the Portuguese.
What is the history of discovery and exploration of Australia? This information is briefly presented in encyclopedias, but they do not contain interesting moments, which confirm travelers’ interest in this territory. Among the evidence that it was the Portuguese who became the discoverers of Australia, the following arguments can be cited:
- The Dieppe maps, which were published in mid-16th century France, show a large area of land between Antarctica and Indonesia called Java la Grande. All explanations and symbols on the map are in Portuguese and French.
- At the beginning of the sixteenth century in South-East Asia Portuguese colonies were located. For example, the island of Timor, which is located 650 kilometers from the Australian coast, was attributed specifically to Portuguese travelers.
French "trace"
What else Interesting Facts contains the history of the discovery of Australia and Oceania? Let us briefly tell you that the French navigator Binot Polmier de Gonneville said that it was he who landed on unknown lands near the cape Good Hope in 1504. This happened after his ship was blown off its intended course by the winds. Thanks to this statement, it was this traveler who was long credited with the discovery of Australia. After some time, it was found out that he ended up on the coast of Brazil.
Discovery of Australia by the Dutch
Let's continue the conversation about the history of the discovery of Australia and Oceania. Let us briefly dwell on the first indisputable fact documented in the winter of 1606. The expedition of the Dutch East India Company, led by Willem Janson, managed to land on the coast with his comrades aboard the ship "Golubok". After sailing from the island of Java, they went to the southern part of New Guinea, moving along it; after some time, the Dutch expedition managed to reach the shores of the Cape York Peninsula, located in the northern part of Australia. The crew members were confident that they were still off the coast of New Guinea.
It is the history of the development of Australia that is briefly discussed in the school course on geography. The expedition did not see which divides the coasts of Australia and New Guinea. On February 26, team members landed near what is now the city of Weipa. The Dutch were immediately attacked by the aborigines. Later, Janson and his people explored about 350 kilometers of the Australian coast, sometimes making landings. His crew constantly ran into hostile natives, so several Dutch sailors were killed during brutal battles with the natives. The captain decided to return. He never realized that he and his team managed to discover a new continent. Since Janson, in describing his exploration of the coast, described it as a swampy and deserted place, no one attached much importance to his new discovery. The East India Company sent expeditions in the hope of enriching themselves with jewelry and spices, and not at all for serious geographical discoveries.
Luis Vaez de Torres
Briefly describing the history of the exploration of Australia, we can also talk about how this traveler moved through the same strait through which Janson’s team first passed. Geographers have assumptions that Torres and his comrades managed to visit the northern coast of the continent, but written evidence of this hypothesis has not been found. After some time, the strait began to be called Torres Strait in honor of Luis Vaez de Torres.
Notable expeditions
The history of the discovery and exploration of Australia is also of interest, briefly telling the story of the journey of another ship of the Dutch East India Company, captained by Dirk Hartog. In 1616 the ship managed to reach west bank Australia, near Shark Bay. For three days, the sailors explored the coast and also explored the islands located nearby. The Dutch did not find anything interesting, so Hartog decided to continue sailing, heading north along the coastline, which had not been explored before. The team then headed to Batavia.
Where is the history of the discovery of Australia described? Briefly 7th grade is studying information about expeditions here from Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, teachers talk about how in 1619 Jacob d'Erdel and Frederic de Houtman set out on two ships to explore the Australian coast. As they moved north, they discovered a strip of reefs called Houtman Rock.
Continuing research
After this expedition, other Dutch sailors repeatedly found themselves on these shores, calling the land New Holland. They did not even try to explore the coast, since they did not find any commercial interest here.
Beautiful coastline even if it aroused their curiosity, it clearly did not stimulate them to explore what useful resources Australia has. The history of the country briefly describes the exploration of the northern and western coasts. The Dutch concluded that the northern lands were infertile and unsuitable for use. Sailors did not see the eastern and southern coasts at that time, so Australia was undeservedly considered uninteresting for use.
First buildings
In the summer of 1629, the East India Company ship Batavia found itself at Houtman Rocks due to a shipwreck. Soon there was a mutiny, as a result of which part of the crew was lined up small fort for guard. It became the first European building in Australia. Geographers suggest that at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, about fifty European ships reached the territory of Australia.
The history of the development and settlement of Australia briefly tells about the discoveries made by ships. In 1642, he tried to go around the New Holland, while discovering an island called Van Diemen's Land. After some time it was renamed Tasmania. With subsequent advancement to the east, after some time, the ships ended up near New Zealand. Tasman's first voyage was not successful; the travelers failed to get closer to Australia.
The history of Australia briefly tells us that only in 1644 Tasman was able to study the north-west coast in detail, to prove that all the lands that were discovered and analyzed in earlier expeditions were parts of one continent.
English Studies
The history of Australia briefly notes the English contribution to its research. Until the second half of the seventeenth century, there was practically no information in England about the lands that were discovered by Dutch travelers. In 1688, a pirate ship carrying the Englishman William Dampier found itself on the northwest coast, near Lake Melville. This fact has been preserved by the history of Australia. Briefly, the surviving records say that after repairs the ship returned to England. Here Dampier published a story about the journey, which aroused genuine interest among the English Admiralty.
In 1699, Dampier set out on a second voyage to the coast of Australia on the ship Roebuck. But during this trip he did not find anything interesting, so the Admiralty decided to stop funding the expedition.
Cook's Expedition
When telling the history of the discovery of Australia, one cannot ignore the expedition of 1170, led by Lieutenant James Cook. On the sailing ship "Attempt" his team went to southern part Pacific Ocean. The official purpose of the expedition was to make astronomical observations, but in fact Cook received tasks from the Admiralty to study the southern part of the continent. Cook believed that since New Holland has a western coast, it follows that there must be an eastern one.
At the end of April 1770, an English expedition landed on the eastern coast of Australia. The landing site was first called Stingray Bay, then it was renamed Botany Bay because of the unusual plants that were found there.
The discovered lands were named New Wales by Cook, and then the New Englishman did not even realize how large-scale the discovery he had made was.
British colonies
They decided to colonize the lands that Cook had discovered, using them as the first colonies for convicts. The fleet, led by Captain Arthur Philip, included 11 ships. He arrived in Australia in January 1788, but, recognizing the region as inconvenient for settlement, they moved north. Governor Philip issued an order that created the first British colony in Australia. The soils around Sydney Harbor were not suitable for farming, so farms were established near the Parramatta River.
The second fleet, which arrived in Australia in 1790, brought various materials and supplies here. During the voyage, 278 convicts and crew members died, which is why history calls it the “Deadly Fleet.”
In 1827, a small British settlement was built at King Georges Sound by Major Edmund Lockyer. He became the first governor of a colony created for convicts.
South Australia was founded in 1836. It was not intended for convicts, but some former prisoners moved here from other colonies.
Conclusion
It was developed almost fifty thousand years before its official discovery by European travelers. For centuries, people with their own unique culture and religion lived in the arid deserts and tropical jungles of the continent. After the colonization of the Australian coast, a period of active exploration of the territory began. Among the first serious researchers who managed to study the beds of the Macquarie and Lochlan rivers, geographers call John Oxley. Robert Burke became the first Englishman to cross the mainland from north to south. The discovery of Australia was the result of centuries-long searches by the Dutch, Portuguese, and British of the southern country.
In 2006, archaeologists discovered ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in Australia. This fact led to the formulation of an original hypothesis about the opening of a contingent by the Egyptians.
Scientists have agreed that the most likely time for the discovery of Australia can be considered 1606. It was then that the famous Dutchman V. Janszoon explored the northeastern part - the Cape York Peninsula.
The history of the settlement of Australia is briefly outlined in this material. Until now, it is associated with numerous mysteries that scientists have yet to solve. For example, cannons discovered during archaeological excavations suggest that the Portuguese visited this territory in the fifteenth century. Full map The British colony that was Australia was only compiled by scientists at the beginning of the last century.
The material presented in the article is aimed at forming an idea of who is the discoverer of the continent. The article contains reliable historical information. The information will help you obtain true information from the history of the discovery of Australia by sailors and travelers.
Who discovered Australia?
Every educated person today knows that the discovery of Australia by James Cook occurred when he visited the east coast of the mainland in 1770. However, these lands were known in Europe long before the famous English navigator appeared there.
Rice. 1. James Cook.
The ancestors of the indigenous population of the mainland appeared on the continent approximately 40-60 thousand years ago. The ancients date back to this historical period archaeological finds, which were discovered by scientists in the upper reaches of the Swan River at the western tip of the mainland.
Rice. 2. Swan River.
It is known that people ended up on the continent thanks to sea routes. This fact also indicates that it was these pioneers who became the earliest sea travelers. It is generally accepted that at that time at least three heterogeneous groups settled in Australia.
Explorers of Australia
There is an assumption that the discoverers of Australia were the ancient Egyptians.
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From history we know that Australia was discovered several times by different people:
- Egyptians;
- Dutch admiral Willem Janszoon;
- James Cook.
The latter is recognized as the official discoverer of the continent for humanity. All these versions are still controversial and contradictory. There is no clear point of view on this issue.
During research carried out on the Australian mainland, images of insects similar in appearance to scarabs were found. And during archaeological research in Egypt, researchers discovered mummies that were embalmed using eucalyptus oil.
Despite such clear evidence, many historians express reasonable doubts about this version, since the continent became famous in Europe much later.
Attempts to discover Australia were made by the world's navigators back in the 16th century. Many Australian researchers assume that the first Europeans to set foot on the continent were the Portuguese.
It is known that in 1509, sailors from Portugal visited the Moluccas, after which in 1522 they moved to the northwest of the mainland.
At the beginning of the 20th century, naval guns that were created back in the 16th century were found in this area.
The unofficial version of the discovery of Australia is the one that states that the discoverer of the continent is the Dutch admiral Willem Janszoon. He was never able to understand that he had become the discoverer of new lands, because he believed that he was getting closer to the lands of New Guinea.
Rice. 3. Willem Janszoon.
However, the main history of Australian exploration is attributed to James Cook. It was after his travels to unknown lands that the active conquest of the mainland by Europeans began.
It is known for certain that Cook went to circumnavigation and ended up in “distant lands.” In 1770, his expedition reached the coast of the mainland. Officially, this date of the discovery of Australia is recognized as historically accurate. Total ratings received: 107.
There is still debate in the world about who discovered Australia. Some claim that this is James Cook, a navigator from England. Others believe that the discoverers of the continent were the Danes, looking for a way to their colony in Java.
In general, they appeared here long before the Europeans. More than forty thousand years ago, this continent was chosen by people from the southern regions of Asia. The mysterious terra incognita australius (unknown southern land) - ancient geographers still knew about it. Already in the fifteenth century, they marked a mysterious continent on maps. True, the outlines of this vast land area on them do not in any way resemble the real Australia.
The Portuguese also enter into the debate about who discovered Australia, claiming that Portuguese sailors received information about the new continent back in the sixteenth century from the aborigines of the Malay Islands, who caught sea cucumbers in the coastal waters of an unknown continent. But the first European set foot on Australian soil only in the seventeenth century.
The history of the discovery of Australia has long been associated with the name of Cook, but still the Dutch are considered the first inhabitants of Europe to visit the green continent (as Australia is sometimes called). It is not for nothing that the western part of this amazing continent later became known as New Holland.
In 1605, Willem Janszoon from Holland, who crossed sailed along the Cape York Peninsula. A year after this, Torres from Spain discovered the strait that separates the island from the continent. In 1642, the Dane visited the southwestern part of Tasmania, considering it part of Australia. Both Janszon and Tasman met Aboriginal people on the mainland.
And the Dutch, and the Spaniards, and the Danes did not publicly announce the discovery of a new continent. It is precisely because of the secrecy of the discoverers that the question of who discovered Australia is now disputed by the British, who came to this land 150 years after the first Europeans.
In 1770, the ships of James Cook landed on the east coast of Australia, who immediately proclaimed the new lands as English possessions. Soon a royal “penal colony” was created here for criminal elements, and a little later for English political exiles.
In 1788, the British, who arrived with the “first fleet” on Australian soil, founded the city of Sydney, which later became the center of the British colony. The first free settlers arrived with the “second fleet” and began to energetically explore the expanses of the green continent.
The continent, originally called “New Holland”, by the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, with the light hand of the English hydrographer Flinders, began to be called “Australia”. The Aborigines by this time had been brutally exterminated by the colonialists. There were raids and hunts, the natives were poisoned, and bonuses were paid for those killed. Already a hundred years after the appearance of the British on the mainland, most local residents was exterminated, and the survivors were driven into the central regions of the continent, lifeless and deserted.
More recently, new facts have become known. So, even before James Cook, another Briton visited this southern continent - William Dampier. And in 1432, the Chinese navigator Zeng He visited Australia.
Yet none of the modern world powers can be considered the country that opened the green continent to the world. They were the first to visit here, long before the Europeans. They used eucalyptus oil for mummification, a tree that grew only in the northeast of Australia. And on the rocks of this continent you can find ancient images of scarabs - sacred beetles Ancient Egypt.
So, the question of who discovered Australia is a very controversial issue, which historians are still struggling with.
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 mid-16th century. They depict a large area of land between Indonesia and Antarctica, called Java la Grande, and the symbols and explanations are 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 discovered on the Australian coastline have been attributed to early Portuguese explorers.
In addition, the French navigator Binot Polmier de Gonneville claimed to have landed on certain lands 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 it was later discovered that the lands he visited were part of the coast of Brazil.
Discovery of Australia by the Dutch
The first indisputable discovery of Australia was documented at the end of February 1606. The expedition of the Dutch East India Company, led by Willem Jansson, landed on board the ship "Duifken" ("Dove") on the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Jansson and his comrades explored the shores of New Guinea. Sailing from the island of Java to south coast New Guinea and moving along it, after some time the Dutch reached the shores of the Cape York Peninsula in the northern part of Australia, believing that they were still observing the shores 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 Weipa is located today and was immediately attacked by the aborigines.
Subsequently, Jansson and his people sailed along the coast of Australia for about 350 km, making landings from time to time, but everywhere they came across 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 jewelry, and not for the sake of geographical discoveries as such.
In the same year, Luis Vaez de Torres sailed through the same strait, which, apparently, was not noticed by Jansson’s expedition and was later named Torres. It is possible that Torres and his comrades visited the northern coast of the continent, but no written evidence of this has survived.
In 1616, another ship of the Dutch East India Company, led by Dirk Hartog, reached the shores of Western Australia, in the Shark Bay area (Shark Bay) at approximately 25 degrees south latitude. The navigators spent three days exploring the coast and nearby islands. Having found nothing of interest, Hartog continued sailing north along the previously unexplored coastline to 22 degrees S, after which he set course for Batavia.
In 1619, Frederic de Houtman and Jacob d'Herdel explored the Australian coast at 32 degrees south in two ships. w. moving gradually north, where at 28 degrees S. latitude. discovered a strip of reefs called Houtman 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, since they did not see any commercial benefit in it. The extensive coastline may have aroused 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 had never seen the southern and eastern shores, much more attractive in appearance.
On July 4, 1629, the Dutch East India Company ship Batavia was shipwrecked off the Houtman Rocks. After a mutiny that occurred shortly after, some of the crew built a small fort for their protection - it was the first European structure in Australia.
By some estimates, between 1606 and 1770, more than 50 European ships visited the shores of Australia. Most of them 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 (this island was later renamed Tasmania). Moving further east, after some time the ships reached New Zealand. However, on his first voyage, Tasman never came close to Australia. Only in 1644 did he manage to explore in detail its northwestern coast and prove that all the territories previously discovered during Dutch expeditions, with the exception of Van Diemen's Land, are parts of a single continent.
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 Pirates' ship, carrying the Englishman William Dampier, dropped anchor on the northwestern coast, in the area of Lake Melville. There was not much to plunder, and after several weeks of repairs the ship left the inhospitable shores. However, this voyage had some consequences: upon 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 ship "Roebuck" provided to him. As in the previous case, he visited the barren northwest coast and after 4 months of exploration was forced to return without finding anything worthy of attention. Since Dampier was unable to report any facts that could interest the Admiralty, interest in the new lands faded for almost three-quarters of a century.
In 1770, an expedition led by Lieutenant James Cook sailed to the South Pacific Ocean on the sailing ship Endeavor. The navigators were expected to make astronomical observations, but Cook had secret orders from the British Admiralty to search for the southern continent of Terra Australis Incognita, which geographers of the time believed extended around the pole. Cook reasoned that since the so-called New Holland has a western coast, it must also have an eastern one.
The expedition landed on east coast Australia at the end of April 1770. The landing site, originally named Stingray Bay, was later renamed Botany Bay due to the strange and unusual plants growing there.
Cook named the open lands New Wales, and subsequently New South Wales. He had no idea of the scale of his discovery, or that this island was an entire continent, 32 times larger than Britain itself. Among other things, Cook was the first European to visit the Great Barrier Reef. The ship that chanced upon it spent the next seven weeks undergoing repairs.
The British returned in 1778 to colonize new lands.
British colonies
It was decided to begin colonizing the lands discovered by James Cook, using convicts as the first colonists. The first fleet, led by Captain Arthur Philip, consisting of 11 ships carrying a total of about 1,350 people, arrived at 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 orders establishing the first British colony in Australia. The soil around Sydney Harbor was poor. The young colony relied both on the development of farms along the Parramatta River, 25 kilometers upstream to the west, and on purchasing food from the indigenous people.
The Second Fleet in 1790 delivered desperately needed supplies and various materials; however, among the newly arrived prisoners there were a large number of sick, many of them were close to death and useless for the colony. The Second Fleet became known as the "Deadly Fleet" - 278 convicts and crew died on this voyage, compared to just 48 deaths on the first.
The colony experienced many other difficulties, including a significant numerical superiority of men - about four men per woman, which was 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 established at Risdon in 1803, when Lieutenant John Bowen landed with about 50 settlers, crew, soldiers and convicts. In February 1804, Lieutenant David Collins founded a settlement in Hobart. The colony of Van Diemen's Land was created in 1825, and in 1856 it 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
British province South Australia was founded in 1836, and in 1842 it became a Crown colony. 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 in what would become Melbourne. The first immigrant ships arrived in Port Phillip in 1839. In 1851, Victoria (Port Phillip area) separated from New South Wales.
Queensland
In 1824, a colony known as the settlement of Moreton Bay was established at Redcliffe by Lieutenant John Oxley, which later became 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 separated from New South Wales.
Northern Territory
In 1825, the land now occupied by the 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 1 January 1911, the Northern Territory separated 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, not a single expedition was able to overcome the high mountain range located along the eastern coast. After the passage was discovered, Governor Macquarie crossed over in 1815. Blue Mountains and on the other side founded the city of Bathurst. Many explorers rushed deeper into the continent.
John Oxley was the first serious explorer to explore the beds of the Lochlan, Macquarie and several other rivers. Charles Sturt in search of the mythical inland sea, discovers the Darling River, explores the Lochlan and Marumbidgee river system. John McDouall Stewart explores the territories north of Adelaide, Friedrich Leichhardt crosses Cleveland and Northern Territories, simultaneously discovering many small rivers and lands suitable for agriculture, and in 1858-60 Robert Burke crossed the mainland from north to south for the first time. Nathaniel Buchanan finds vast pastures on the Barkly Plateau, which later became the center of sheep farming in Northern Australia.
In addition to those listed, many other researchers continued to study the mainland, discovering new lands and contributing to the further development of Australia.
His travel journal led many to believe that somewhere to the west of the southern tip of South America there might be a large southern continent (Australia). In 1606, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a Portuguese captain serving Spain, reached the shores of what he mistook for the continent. Quiros named it "Australia" in honor of the Spanish king, who was also the Grand Duke of Austria. However, in fact, the land discovered by Quiros turned out to be one of the islands of the New Hebrides archipelago.
Discovery of a new continent
At the end of the 16th century. Holland became a powerful maritime power. In 1606, the Dutch captain from Amsterdam, Billem Jantszoon, was the first European to reach Australia. He sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria off its northern coast. In 1642, another Dutchman, Abel Tasman, saw the island (now the island of Tasmania) and named it Van Diemen's Land - in honor of the manager of the Dutch East India Company, where Tasman served. He then headed towards New Zealand and reached the islands of Tonga and Fiji. After this, the Dutch lost interest in geographical studies. Further exploration of Australia was resumed only more than a century later.
Captain Cook
James Cook (1728-1779) was born in Yorkshire (England). He was the son of a farmer and received only an elementary education at a local school, and at the age of 12 he already went to work: first in a shop, and then in a ship company. In 1756 Cook entered the navy. He was an extraordinary man, with a strong character and great intelligence. He became a skilled navigator and astronomer, and in 1768 received the rank of lieutenant and took command of the ship Endever. The ship Endever was built in Whitby (Yorkshire, England) and was intended to transport coal to the ports of the British coast.
Disease Control
In the 18th century on long voyages, out of every 100 sailors, an average of 60 people died, and 50 of them died from various diseases. To reduce the incidence of disease, Cook introduced strict rules. Crew members had to bathe every day, their clothes and beds were aired twice a week, and the entire ship was regularly fumigated with smoke. Cook always carried a large supply of fresh fruit with him to prevent scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C in the body. Scurvy was perhaps the main cause of high mortality among sailors. He also took care of purchasing fresh meat and vegetables. These measures had a beneficial effect on the health of sailors.
Man and his purpose
Imbued with the scientific ideas of his time, Cook did not miss the opportunity to send his ship to the shores of Tahiti to observe the planet Venus: in 1769 it passed between the Earth and the Sun. Along with Cook, a naturalist, a botanist and two artists took part in the expedition. Cook carried with him a special package, which was to be opened only after the observations were completed and described. The package contained a secret order to try to find the fifth continent, with the help of scientists to study its flora and fauna, as well as the life of the native population, and declare these lands the possessions of Great Britain. In April 1769, the expedition reached the island of Tahiti. On June 3, scientists made observations of Venus, and 10 days later the ships continued sailing. Two islanders went with the expedition as guides to help explore the small islands. The ships were heading towards New Zealand. There the Maori natives met them with hostility. A real battle broke out: the Endever was attacked by more than a hundred warriors in canoes.
Landing on the continent
In April 1770, the ships entered the bay on the east coast of Australia, Cook landed on shore. He named the bay Bothnic - in memory of the large botanical collection that was able to be collected here. Sailing north along the coast of the continent, the ship encountered the reefs of the Great Barrier Reef and was wrecked. After lengthy repairs, the expedition set course for its homeland and in July 1771 returned to England.
Cook's last voyages
Cook carried out two more expeditions and made important discoveries. He set out on the first of them in July 1772 from Plymouth on two ships. In January 1774, Cook's ships crossed latitude 70, the southernmost latitude hitherto reached by Europeans. 
The sailors visited Easter Island. In 1778, Cook sailed to the Commonwealth Islands (now - Hawaiian Islands). At first, the Hawaiians took him for a god, but very soon they became disappointed in their guests. Cook hastily sailed from Hawaii, but six days later was forced to return, as his ship, the Resolve, was caught in a storm and was thoroughly battered. A fight broke out, during which Cook was killed.
Settlements on the continent
In January 1788, a French expedition arrived in Australia under the command of Captain Jean Francois La Perouse. He expected to declare Australia a possession of France, but was too late: just a day earlier, the British had created their colony on the continent. On Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean there are huge stone statues. The height of some of them reaches 12 m.