The message is the history of the discovery and exploration of Australia. Lesson summary “Geographical location and history of exploration of Australia. British exploration of the Australian continent

America was discovered by Columbus, and Australia by Captain Cook. Both of these statements have long been disputed many times, but they continue to live in the consciousness of the masses. Long before Captain Cook set foot on the coast of Australia on April 20, 1770, sailors from the Old World had landed here more than once.

According to some historians, the discoverers of Australia are the Portuguese. They claim that an expedition led by Cristovão de Mendonça visited the north-west coast of Australia in 1522. It is unknown whether this happened intentionally or accidentally. The details of this voyage are also unknown. The only material evidence that has come down to us are small bronze cannons with the image of the Portuguese crown minted on them. They were found in 1916 on the shores of Roebuck Bay (Western Australia) and date back to the beginning of the 16th century.

2 Willem Janszoon Expedition

The first European to visit Australia is considered to be the Dutchman Willem Janszoon. On November 28, 1605, Captain Janszon set off from Bantam on the ship Dufken to unknown lands. Having bypassed the islands of Kai and Aru from the north, he reached the southern coast of New Guinea, completely unfamiliar to the Dutch. Janszohn called it "Marshy Land" and traced the coastline for 400 kilometers. Having then rounded the island of Kolepom, Janszon turned southeast, crossed the central part of the Arafura Sea and unexpectedly saw the shore. This was Australia. In the western part of the Cape York Peninsula, near the mouth of a small river, in May 1606, the Dutch made the first documented landing of Europeans on the Australian continent.

Janszon steered his ship along the flat, deserted coast. Although unknown land, as the Dutch were convinced, stretched further to the south; on June 6, 1606, at Cape Kerver (“Turn”), the Dufken turned 180º and set off on the return journey. During the landing at Albatross Bay, the Dutch first came into contact with the Australian Aborigines. A battle immediately broke out, with several people killed on both sides. Continuing north, the sailors traced and mapped the coast of Cape York Peninsula almost to its northern tip. Total length The explored coastline of Australia, which Janszoon dubbed New Holland, was about 350 kilometers.

3 Expedition of Jan Carstens

The wreck of the English ship Trial, which occurred on May 25, 1622, on the reefs near the islands of Monte Bello and Barrow, showed that the complete lack of exploration of the waters washing the coast of North-Western and Northern Australia poses great dangers. The leadership of the Dutch East India Company decided to explore the ocean south of Java and trace the southern coast of New Guinea. To accomplish this task, the expedition of Jan Carstens set off from Batavia in January 1623 on two ships, the Pera and the Arnhem. For more than a week, Dutch sailors sailed along the southern coast of New Guinea. On the morning of February 16, Carstens saw a tall mountain range- this was the western part of the Maoke Mountains. Five days later, a group of Dutchmen landed on shore to resupply. The local population was very hostile. As a result of the skirmish, 10 sailors were killed, including the captain of the Arnhem.

On March 20, the expedition reached the southwestern tip of New Guinea. The weather worsened and a storm began. On March 28, Carstens sent a navigator on a boat with 12 sailors to explore the shore visible in the distance. They reported that the sea to the east was becoming shallower, and desert land was visible in the distance. Meanwhile, walking along the coast became dangerous: shoals and reefs began to appear more and more often. The Dutch turned to the open sea.

On April 12, land appeared on the horizon again. This was Australia. For two weeks, Carstens' ships sailed south along the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula, landing on land several times - at river mouths and in bays. The natives he met were quite peaceful. The flat and low-lying coast of North-West Australia was described by Carstens in his report as “the most barren on Earth”. The Dutch couldn't even find enough fresh water here. In addition, the expedition's flagship, Pera, was damaged. Carstens instructed Kolster, the captain of the Arnhem, to complete the exploration of the coast, and he himself turned north and safely reached the Moluccas. Kolster, moving south, managed to reach the Gulf of Carpentaria. Taking advantage of the favorable southeast monsoon, he turned northwest from here and, following this course, discovered a large peninsula, later named the Arnhemland Peninsula after his ship.

4 Abel Tasman Expeditions

By the early 1640s. The Dutch knew and mapped the following parts of Australia: in the north - the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula, the Arnhem Land ledge, the entire western coast of the mainland and the western part of it south coast. However, it was still not clear what this mysterious land was: a separate continent or a giant protrusion of the as yet undiscovered Great Southern Continent? And the pragmatic directors of the East India Company were also worried about another question: what was the potential benefit of these newly discovered lands? What are their commercial prospects? The expedition of the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman, which set out in 1642 from Batavia on two small ships"Heemskerk" and "Zehan". Tasman did not encounter any continent and only on November 24, from the board of the Zehan, they saw a high coast called Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). Tasman was never sure whether it was an island or the southern tip of Australia, and Van Diemen's Land was considered a peninsula for more than a century and a half until Bass Strait was passed. Traveling further to the southeast, Tasman discovered New Zealand, and with this the expedition practically ended, leaving a lot of unresolved problems.

In 1645, the governor of Batavia, Van Diemen, sent Tasman on a new expedition to the shores of Australia. Tasman's three ships surveyed the southern coast of New Guinea for 750 kilometers and completed the discovery of the Gulf of Carpentaria, bypassing its eastern and, for the first time, southern and western shores. Experienced sailors, the Dutch never noticed the entrance to the Torres Strait. In total, the expedition explored and mapped about 5.5 thousand kilometers of coastline and established that all the lands previously discovered by the Dutch were parts of a single continent - New Holland. However, Tasman did not find anything worthy of attention from the point of view of commerce on this continent, and after 1644 the Dutch completely lost interest in the Green Continent.

5 James Cook Expedition

In 1768, James Cook set out on his first circumnavigation. In April 1770, Cook approached the eastern coast of Australia. On the shore of the bay, in the waters of which the ship Endeavor stopped, the expedition managed to find many previously unknown plant species, so Cook called this bay Botanical. From Botany Bay, Cook headed northwest along the east coast of Australia.

A few kilometers north of Botany Bay, James Cook discovered a wide natural passage into a huge natural harbor - Port Jackson. In his report, the researcher described it as an ideal place for the safe anchorage of many ships. Many years later, the first Australian city, Sydney, was founded here. It took Cook the next four months to climb up to the Gulf of Carpentaria, to the area that bears the name New Holland. The navigator compiled detailed map coastline of future Australia.

Having not quite happily passed the Great Barrier Reef, the Endeavor finally reached the northern tip of Australia. On August 22, 1770, James Cook, on behalf of King George III, solemnly proclaimed the land he had explored as the possession of Great Britain and named it New South Wales.

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 East Coast 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.

TOP 2 articleswho are reading along with this

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 The active conquest of the mainland by Europeans began.

It is known for certain that Cook went on a voyage around the world 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.

What have we learned?

From historical information we found out who first visited the lands of the distant continent. The time period when exactly these lands were developed by man has been established. The names of the first seafarers are mentioned, who for the first time found themselves near Australia without even suspecting that they had made a major geographical discovery.

Test on the topic

Evaluation of the report

Average rating: 4.2. Total ratings received: 195.

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;
  • presence of Portuguese colonies in South-East 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 that he landed on certain lands east of the Cape 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. Perhaps Torres and his comrades visited north coast 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. Extensive coastline, may have aroused their curiosity, but 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. At that time, the Dutch had never seen the southern and eastern shores, which were 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 wasn't 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 set out to southern part Pacific Ocean on the sailing ship "Endeavour" ("Attempt"). The navigators were supposed to make astronomical observations, but Cook had secret orders from the British Admiralty to search southern continent Terra Australis Incognita, which, according to geographers of that time, 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 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 the strange and unusual plants growing there.

Cook named 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

The decision was made to begin 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 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 people, 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 Moreton Bay settlement 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 east coast. After the passage was discovered, Governor Macquarie crossed the Blue Mountains in 1815 and founded the city of Bathurst on the other side. 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 the Northern Territories, along the way discovering many small rivers and lands suitable for Agriculture, and in 1858-60 Robert Burke crossed the continent for the first time from north to south. 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.

Australia is the most small continent of our planet. In the Middle Ages, there were legends about it, and Europeans called it “the unknown southern land” (Terra Australis Incognita).


Any schoolchild knows that humanity owes the discovery of the continent to the English sailor James Cook, who visited the east coast of Australia in 1770. But in fact, the mainland was known in Europe long before Cook appeared. Who discovered it? And when did this event happen?

When did the first people appear in Australia?

The ancestors of the current indigenous population appeared in Australia approximately 40–60 thousand years ago. It is from this period that the most ancient archaeological finds discovered by researchers in the upper reaches of the Swan River in the western part of the mainland date back.

It is believed that humans arrived on the continent by sea, making them the earliest sea travelers. To this day, it is unknown where the Australian Aborigines came from, but it is believed that at least three different populations settled in Australia at that time.

Who visited Australia before the Europeans?

There is an opinion that the discoverers of Australia were the ancient Egyptians, who brought eucalyptus oil from the continent.


During research on Australian territory, drawings of insects that looked like scarabs were discovered, and during archaeological excavations in Egypt, scientists found mummies embalmed with oil from Australian eucalyptus trees.

Despite such clear evidence, many historians doubt this version, since the continent became famous in Europe much later.

Who was the first European to visit Australia?

Attempts to discover Australia were made by navigators back in the 16th century. Many scientists believe that the first Europeans to visit the continent were the Portuguese. It is believed that in 1509 they visited the Moluccas, from where in 1522 they moved to the northwestern coast of the mainland.

At the beginning of the 20th century, cannons made in the 16th century were found in this area, which presumably belonged to Portuguese sailors.

This version has not been conclusively proven, so today it is indisputable that the discoverer of Australia was the Dutch admiral Willem Janszoon.

In November 1605, he set out on his ship "Dyfken" from the Indonesian city of Bantam and headed towards New Guinea, and three months later landed on the northwestern coast of Australia, on the Cape York Peninsula. As part of his expedition, Janszon explored about 320 km of coastline and compiled a detailed map of it.

Interestingly, the admiral never realized that he had discovered Australia. He considered the found lands to be part of New Guinea and gave them the name “New Holland”. After Janszoon, another Dutch navigator visited Australia, Abel Tasman, who discovered the islands of New Zealand and mapped the Australian western coast.

Thus, thanks to the Dutch sailors, by the middle of the 17th century the outlines of Australia were clearly marked on all geographical maps.

Who discovered Australia according to the official version?

And yet, most scientists continue to consider James Cook as the discoverer, since it was after his visit that Europeans began to actively explore the continent. The brave young lieutenant went in search of the "unknown southern land» within trip around the world in 1768.

According to the official version, the purpose of his journey was to study the passage of Venus through, but in fact he had secret instructions to head to southern latitudes and find Terra Australis Incognita.

Departing from Plymouth on the ship Endeavor, in April 1769 Cook reached the coast of Tahiti, and a year later, in April 1770, he approached the eastern shores of Australia. After that, he visited the continent twice more. During his third expedition in 1778, Cook discovered Hawaiian Islands, which became the place of his death.


Unable to get along with the Hawaiians, the lieutenant tried to capture one of the local chiefs, but was killed in the fight, presumably by a spear blow to the back of the head.

And through a short time managed to establish their trading posts there. Simultaneously with strengthening their positions in the Moluccas, the Portuguese undertook voyages in search of the mythical “Isles of Gold”. One of them in the city ended with the first visit to the north-west coast of Australia. The discoverer's laurels are given to Cristóvão de Mendonça (port. Cristóvão de Mendonça). No details of the voyage have been preserved, but in a city in western Australia, on the shores of Roebuck Bay (18° S), small bronze cannons with a Portuguese crown, cast no later than the beginning of the 16th century, were found.

The Portuguese plotted the sections of the coast they discovered on their secret maps, which have partially reached us. On french map Dauphin (about the city), apparently compiled from Portuguese sources, shows a part of the coast south of Java called Greater Java, as part Great Australian Land, which, according to scientists of that time, surrounded the entire south pole globe. Among the clearly French inscriptions there are also Portuguese ones.

The same Great Java is depicted on a series of maps compiled in - years, definitely based on Portuguese materials, by cartographers from the city of Dieppe. Apparently, Portuguese ships before the city sometimes approached the northern and northeastern coasts of Australia. Probably, these were, although multiple, but still random voyages.

In December 1605 from the west coast South America from Callao (Peru) moved west through Pacific Ocean A Spanish expedition to the Philippines, with the hope of finding the mythical southern continent. The commander of one of the three ships was Luis Vaez Torres. After the discovery of the New Hebrides archipelago in June, Torres led an expedition of the remaining two ships. At this moment Torres was quite close to eastern shore the “green” continent and would have reached it if it had headed southwest. However, he moved west with a deviation to the north. The sailors crossed the Coral Sea for the first time and approached the southern coast of New Guinea. In his report, Torres reports that he walked along the southern coast of New Guinea for 300 leagues (about 1800 km), then “due to shoals and strong currents, he moved away from the coast and turned southwest. There were large islands, and in the south a row of them could be seen.” What Torres saw in the south was undoubtedly the northern coast of Australia with the adjacent islands. After traveling another 180 leagues (about 1000 km), the expedition turned north, reached New Guinea, and then through the Moluccas and the Philippines, proving that New Guinea- This big Island. The sailors thus became the first Europeans to pass through the dangerous strait strewn with coral reefs, separating Australia from New Guinea. The Spanish government kept this great discovery, like many others, under the strictest confidence. Only 150 years later, during the Seven Years' War, the British temporarily captured Manila, and Spanish government archives fell into their hands. A copy of Torres' report fell into the hands of the English cartographer Alexander Dalrymple, who proposed calling the passage between New Guinea and the Cape York Peninsula the Torres Strait.

Dutch discoveries

The unfortunate outcome of the expeditions of Kennedy and Leichhardt suspended the exploration of the country for many years. Only in Gregory went with two ships to north shore, to the west of Arnhemsland, to explore the Victoria River flowing into the sea there. Following the course of this river, Gregory turned southwest, but returned, being stopped by an almost impassable desert. Soon after this he again undertook a journey westward to find, if possible, traces of Leichhardt, and returned to Adelaide without achieving his goal. At the same time, it was decided to carry out an immediate exploration of the area of ​​​​salt lakes lying north of Spencer Gulf. Harris, Miller, Dullon, Warburton, Swinden Campbell and many others rendered great services in this research. John McDuel Stewart made three trips to the region of the salt lakes and drew up a plan for an expedition across the entire continent, in the direction from south to north. He walked to the middle of the mainland and planted the English banner on the mountain of the Stuart Bluff ridge, which is 1000 m in height. In June, due to the hostile attitude of the natives, he was forced to abandon his enterprise. On January 1, however, he renewed his attempt to cross the mainland from south to north and penetrated 1.5° further inland than the first time; but in July he had to return without achieving his intended goal. The third attempt was made by him in November of the same year and was crowned with success: on July 24, 1862, Stuart hoisted the English banner on the northern shore of Arnghamsland and returned almost dying to his compatriots.

In order to cross Central Australia from south to north, on August 20, 1860, an expedition set out from Adelaide under the command of Robert O'Hara Burke, accompanied by astronomer William Wills, consisting of about 30 people, with 25 camels, 25 horses, etc. The travelers were divided into two groups, of which the second was supposed to back up the main one. Burke, Wheels, King and Gray reached the marshy shore of the Gulf of Carpentaria in February 1861, but were unable to reach the sea coast. In April, Gray died; the rest reached the camp of the second party on April 21, but found it abandoned. It turned out that the support group, having waited much longer than the agreed time, left the camp on April 20. There was no longer any strength to catch up with those who had left. Burke and Wheels died from exhaustion. Only King survived, who in September 1861 was found in a native camp by an expedition sent from Melbourne; he was as thin as a skeleton. Two expeditions, later sent to find Burke, managed to successfully cross the mainland. On the initiative of the Melbourne botanist Miller, the ladies' committee in the colony of Victoria in 1865 gathered cash on a new journey, the immediate goal of which was to clarify the fate of the missing Leichhardt expedition. Duncan Max Inteer, who saw traces of the said expedition in the upper reaches of the Flinder River, became the head of the new enterprise and set off in July; but such a terrible drought prevailed within the country that half of the total number of participants had to be sent back to the colony. Soon Max Intir died of a malignant fever, and the same fate befell his companion Sloman. W. Barnett, who after them took command of the expedition, returned to Sydney in 1867 without collecting any new information about Leichhardt. An expedition was sent for the same search from the colony of Western Australia, which managed to learn from the natives in one area (at 81° S and 122° E) that several years before they had been killed 13 days away from there to the north, on the dry bottom of a lake, two white people with three horses that were with them. This story was repeated in another area. Therefore, in April, an expedition was equipped to the mentioned lake, which, although it did not achieve its goal, penetrated further into the interior of the country than all previous expeditions sent from the west. Already from 1824, the British government made various attempts to occupy the northern coast of Australia. For 4.5 years it maintained a military post (Fort Dundas) on the western shore of Melville Island, for 2 years another post (Fort Wellington) on the Cobourg Peninsula and a garrison at Port Essington. But since the hope of benefits from trade relations between Australia and East Asia did not materialize, these attempts were abandoned. It was only after Stuart in the colony of South Australia passed through the mainland to the northern shore of Arnhemsland that the Northern Territory was placed under the control of this colony, the latter taking up the issue of settling the country.

McKinlay's Expedition

In April 1864, a naval expedition of geometers under the command of Colonel Finnis, who was soon replaced by McKinley, left Port Adelaide to the north. The latter began exploring Arnhemsland in 1866, but the rainy season and floods did not allow him to carry out his intention, and he returned to Adelaide. Then in February 1867, the South Austrian government sent Captain Cadell to the northern shore, who discovered the significant Blyth River, and the chief of surveyors, Goyder, who surveyed an area of ​​2,700 square meters in the vicinity of Port Darwin. km. Colonization progressed more successfully in northern Queensland, especially towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, since cattle breeding needed new pastures, which private enterprise began to find. At the beginning of the forties, in all of what is now Queensland, only the vicinity of Moretonbay was populated, and then very weakly. Since then, settlements have expanded north to the Gulf of Carpentaria. When subsequently, in the city, telegraph communication between Australia and Asia and through it with all other countries of the world was established, the exploration of the interior of the Australian continent made enormous progress. Already during the laying of the telegraph wire, small settlements began to appear along its route, from which expeditions were then undertaken to explore the country. So, in 1872, Ernst Gilles, setting off from the Chambers Pillar telegraph station, followed the Finke River to its source, where he discovered an extremely fertile country Glen of Palms. From the telegraph station Alice Springs in 1873 the geometer Gosse went and discovered under 25°21′00″ S w.  131°14′00″ E. d. John Forrest reached the Murchison watershed, where it begins barren desert

, which he explored at a distance of 900 km.

Gilles' achievements In 1875-78 Gilles undertook three further journeys into the barren steppes of inland Australia. On behalf of the government of the colony of South Australia, the course of the Herbert River was explored, trigonometric measurements were made, and, in addition, an expedition was undertaken to explore completely unknown areas lying on the seashore. This expedition discovered Moubre, which falls in three waterfalls up to 150 m in height. Sergison discovered excellent arable land near the banks of the Victoria River in November 1877. John Forrest returned in 1879 from a journey he had taken to the completely unknown north-eastern part of the colony of Western Australia, during which he discovered beautiful alluvial plains on the banks of the Fitzroy River. His second voyage led to the discovery in Western Australia of 20 million and in South Australia about 5 million acres of good pasture and arable land, a significant part of which was suitable for growing sugar cane and rice. In addition, the interior of the country was explored by other expeditions in 1878 and 1879, and John Forrest, on behalf of the Western Australian government, made a trigonometric measurement between the Ashburton and De Gray rivers, and from his reports it turns out that the area there is very convenient for settlements.

Townsend (2241 m), as highest peak chains. In 1886 Lindsay crossed the country from the great telegraph circuit (crossing the mainland in a meridional direction) to the MacArthur River, and Giles and Lowry to the Kimberley District.

Geologist Tenison Wood explored the mineral wealth of the northern territory, Lindsay, Brown and East - in the same respect - the central parts of Australia. Most researchers studied the country from the point of view of its suitability for agriculture and cattle breeding. In 1886-90. The Norwegian Lumholtz studied the life of the natives of Queensland. In 1888-89 naturalist Gaddon lived on the Torres Strait Islands.

In 1890, a number of researchers studied the MacDonel mountain range (in the center of the mainland) and the southern part of the outskirts of the Kimberley. In 1894-98, a scientific expedition led by Winnecke studied central Australia.

 

It might be useful to read: