Essay+-+Yoana

Many Australians are under the impression that Captain James Cook –English explorer, navigator, cartographer and member of the royal navy – was the first foreigner to have sighted and set foot on Australia. Although this is not the case, he was however the first to have claimed the land. There are many theories, and even evidence as to why he did this, but what we do not often consider is why the explorers before Captain Cook did not also gain legal rights over Australia. One major theory is that many of the early explorers such as Dirk Hartog, Able Tasman and William Dampier – having sighted some of Australia’s most barren land – where very unimpressed by the scenery. There were no woolly mammals from which they could harvest fur – like in snowy Canada, no suitable trees for ship building as in New Zealand, and unlike the Asian tropics – there was no lush greenery which could broaden their knowledge of Botany. It is believed that the very first European group to have landed in Australia was that of Dirk Hartog and his crew. On the 25th of October 1616, after being blown too far east, Hartog landed on a small island (now called Dirk Hartog Island) near Australia’s west coast. He then went onshore and named the island Eendrachsland, after his ship, and nailed a pewter plate to a post. On it was an inscription which read:" 1616 25th October arrived here the ship Eendracht of Amsterdam; the supercargo Gilles Mebais of Luick; Skipper Dirk Hartog, of Amsterdam, the 27 ditto set sail for Bantam. Subcargo Jan Stins; Upper-steersman Pieter Doores of Bil. Dated 1616". This plate remains the only record of his visit. Hartog expressed no liking towards this unclaimed, infertile land and he never returned again. Upon the ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen were Abel Janzsoon Tasman and his crew – the first Europeans to set foot in Tasmania. Tasman was a Dutchman appointed by Anthony Van Diemen – Governor General of the Dutch East Indies – to lead an expedition to the Great Southern Land. Abel hoped to find many riches and trade opportunities but had no such luck. After leaving Mauritius on the 8th of October 1642, he and his crew spent weeks battling heavy seas, fog, hail and snow, before finally reaching the south-west coast of Tasmania at 4pm on the 24th of November, only to find that the land was rugged and useless. He anchored on the Forestier peninsula in Tasman bay and named the newly discovered land Van Diemen’s Land in honour of his Governor. Two years later he once again set sail to the Great Southern Land, this time travelling along the northern coast all the way from Cape York to Shark Bay, again failing to find agreeable land. Tasman’s voyages resulted in the abandonment of the name Zuid Landt (South Land), and the Dutch – who considered the explorations unsuccessful – began calling Australia, New Holland. Another very important explorer to have documented and charted Australia (or New Holland as it was now known) was William Dampier. On the 4th of January 1688 Dampier’s ship, Cygnet, became beached somewhere at King Sound near Buccaneer Archipelago, Western Australia. While the ship was being repaired over the duration of two and a half months, William took notes about the voyage and things he had seen, later publishing them when he returned to England. His book sparked interest, and he was back ten years later after the British Admiralty commissioned him to chart the north-west coast, hoping to find a strategic use for New Holland. In July 1699, onboard Roebuck, Dampier reached Dirk Hartog Island near Shark Bay in Western Australia. During his time there, he met with the ‘blacks’ and became well acquainted with them, describing them as “the most miserable wretches in the universe, having no houses nor garments. They feed upon a few fish, cockles, mussels and periwinkles. They are without religion and without government. In figure they are tall, straight-bodied, thin with small long limbs”. The country itself, he says, is “low and sandy with no fresh water and scarcely any animals, except one which looks like a racoon and jumps about on its long hind legs”. He says the only pleasure he had had on his voyage was the satisfaction of having discovered “the most barren spot on the face of the earth”. Therefore in need of water, he continued north, but unable to find any he was forced to head for Timor. William's negative reports on New Holland delayed British colonisation of the continent for many years. In conclusion I believe that the colonisation of Australia all depended on luck. If these three men had happened to have sighted the fertile east coast, then maybe our way of life today would have been very different. Maybe we would be speaking a different language, or following a very different government system. Maybe the entire population of our Aboriginals would have been annihilated or forced off the land. Thanks to Captain James Cook we’re able to call ourselves lucky in the country we live in. We’re able to speak our mind and fight for justice, but most importantly, we have the assurance and knowledge that times will only get better.
 * Early European Explorers **

By Yoana Doleva 9M2 (881 words)