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K-6 HSIE Visual Texts
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1: 'A view of Sydney Cove, NSW 1804' Edward Dayes
2: 'Might versus Right' ST Gill 1818-1880
3: `Travelling to the diggings'
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- From The Illustrated London News, 26 February 1853
- Reproduced courtesy of Mitchell Library
- State Library of NSW F980/1p31
- ZIP - 12.7 x 7.7cm - 393KB
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4: `Plan de la ville de Sydney' M. Lesueuer
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- The Antipodes Observed: Artists of Australia 1788-1850.
- `Plan de la ville de Sydney', M. Lesueuer.
- `Voyage de decouvertes aux Australie ... 1807' M. Peron.
- Reproduced courtesy of Mitchell Library
- State Library of NSW ZM2/811.17/1802/2.
- ZIP - 12.7 x 9.1cm - 637KB
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5: Aboriginal Australia Wall Map
6: The Dauphin Chart
Evidence in Early Maps
Kenneth Gordon McIntyre, in The Secret Discovery of Australia, argues that it was the Portuguese and not the Dutch who were the first Europeans to observe the Australian coastline.
He argues this from circumstantial evidence, since all the original copies of early Portuguese maps were destroyed in a fire resulting from the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. McIntyre argued that,
because the Portuguese were determined explorers, they would have had to have sighted or known about the large land mass not far from Timor (especially as they intermarried with the Timorese,
who were skilled in fishing and annually fished off the Australian coast).
He also argues that the Dauphin Map of the world (drawn in 1536), which was probably based on several Portuguese maps (secretly obtained or copied), shows a strangely shaped land called
`Java La Grande'. He believes that this is the earliest known map of Australia. McIntyre suggests that the Portuguese had mapped the west, north and east coasts of Australia but didn't report
their findings. It is well known that the Portuguese were highly secretive about their explorations (and most of Australia was within the Spanish half of the world). When the Dauphin Map
is redrawn to the Mercator projection, it does resemble Australia.
- Source: McIntyre, K G, The Secret Discovery of Australia: Portuguese Ventures 250 Years Before Captain Cook, Pan Books, 1982.
7: Spanish Voyages in the Pacific Northern Voyages in the 16th Century
European Explorers Before the British
Prior to 1419, European sailors had not ventured far beyond the sight of land, believing the world was flat and probably ended in a large abyss at, or just beyond Cape Bojador, Western Sahara.
Henry `the Navigator' of Portugal, who was interested in finding a sea route to Asia and the spice islands, encouraged ocean exploration. This created the need to invent a method of sailing that
allowed people to sail out of sight of the land, while still knowing their location and a methods for measuring distance at sea. The Portuguese kept their methods and maps secret. The Spanish
obtained the method in 1520, when they enticed Ruy Nunes (a Portuguese Hydrographer) and Magellan to work for Spain.
- Source: Frost, A, The Voyage of the Endeavour: Captain Cook and the Discovery of the Pacific, Allen and Unwin, 1998.
- McIntyre, K G, The Secret Discovery of Australia: Portuguese Ventures 250 Years Before Captain Cook, Pan Books, 1982.
8: Spanish Voyages in the Pacific Southern Voyages in the 16th and 17th centuries
9: The Trade Winds
Eighteenth Century Voyages of Pacific Exploration
The Trade Winds
The prevailing winds and currents put Australia in `a black hole'. Until Cook, very few ships had ventured into the South Pacific because scurvy and the prevailing winds and currents made sailing very
difficult. The Roaring Forties, or westerly winds, blew from the Cape of Good Hope across and below Australia to Cape Horn. As well, the South Pacific drift pulled ships below Australia and either up around
New Zealand or across to Cape Horn. At Cape Horn, both the winds and the current split with some going up the west coast of South America and back east just below the equator. A current runs down the east
coast of Australia and away to New Zealand. To the north, the currents run from South America along the equator north of New Guinea, or across to and through the Torres Strait, with winds blowing up from the
South Pacific to New Guinea. On the west coast, the current coming through Torres Strait draws away from Australia and the winds blow up and out to sea from the west coast.
- Source: Frost, A, The Voyage of the Endeavour: Captain Cook and the Discovery of the Pacific, Allen and Unwin, 1998.
10: Three Voyages of Captain Cook
Eighteenth Century Voyages of Pacific Exploration
Navigation in the 1700s
At the time of Portuguese exploration there was no accurate method of determining longitude or latitude. Christopher Columbus was convinced that he had reached islands just off India when he made a landfall
on West Indies islands - hence their name. To actually calculate longitude, a ship's captain needs to know not only how far the ship has travelled, but how long it has taken. Cook was the first navigator to set
off on an expedition of exploration with the necessary instruments and tables, and the mathematical ability, to accurately plot both latitude and longitude. Another advance that aided navigation was the 1760s
sheathing of the bottom of ships in copper. This copper sheathing retarded the growth of marine organisms on the ship, something that had slowed the passage of ships through the water.
- Source: Frost, A, The Voyage of the Endeavour: Captain Cook and the Discovery of the Pacific, Allen and Unwin, 1998.
11: Map of New Holland
12: Inland Exploration 1788-1815
13: Inland Exploration 1815-1828
14: Inland Exploration 1828-30
15: Inland Exploration Overview
16: Australia's Constitutional History depicted on a map
