All through my public school education my classmates and I understood our great country Australia was discovered by Captain Cook... and that was that. Not until I travelled abroad, and found myself pulling pints behind a bar at (the coincidentally named) The Pilgrim, did I realize I knew jack-shit. I rapidly became used to the term Antipodean, and learned all sorts of amazing things from the 'life experienced' regulars who drank there. Bemused by my lack of knowledge about the discovery and colonization of my homeland I decided to do some reading... this is what I discovered........
Australia was first colonized by Homo Sapiens at least 50 thousand years ago. During the last Ice age, the coldest period being about 20,000-22,000 years ago, there actually was an ice barrier across the southern part of the continent where the snowy mountains are located. Once the Ice thawed it was only then colonization of Tasmania and bass straight islands was possible. Aborigines that survived the Ice age managed to form a kind of primitive stone-age culture, but did not have access to seed bearing plants or animals suitable for domestication in order to build a civilization. While in the Asia's inhabitants were taking advantage of the natural resources there to graduate from hunter-gatherer societies to civilizations.
The Malays began their first invasion of Indonesia about 2000 BC, but never reached Australia. Then sometime afterwards in the first century AD the Indian Hindu-Buddhists began to colonize the Indonesian islands for its gold, spices and to spread the word of their religion. Before they were able to venture further south towards Australia Northern India was invaded by Muslims in the 15th century who had destroyed the Hindu states in Indonesia by the end of the 16th century.
The Chinese also began settling on the Indonesian islands by the 9th century, and by the 15th century were trading with Sumatra, Java, Timor and Macassar in the Celebes. Interestingly their interest in Sea Cucumbers (or Trepang) let them further south to the north coast of Australia, which they named "The land of the Trepang (or Marege)." A revolution in China in 1432 saw the end of Chinese exploration and discovery till the 19th century as fleets were disbandoned, and ship logs lost forever, essentially erasing the epic history of their conquests into the unknown. Muslim merchants from the west coast of India temporarily took over the trading routes after the Chinese vacated, until the Europeans rocked up at the beginning of the Sixteenth century.
The expansion of all 3 - Hindu, Chinese and Muslim came to a halt at the line between Indonesia and Australia, or as they saw it.. where civilization ended and primitive societies began. Inferior ships, ideas of the world and manmade stories and myths of 'giant holes in the sea' and the like from the Hindu, Chinese and Muslims deterred from sailing into unknown seas while the vastly superior European ships, navigational equipment, overwhelming confidence, material greed and religious zeal saw them scoff at these stories & superstitions. Hindu stories of Gold flourished and it was in search of this wealth that European first bumped into the north coast of Australia.
By 1520 the European had discovered 2 routes to the wealth of the Far East. The first was via the Southern tip of Africa (ie Cape Town) & up past India & Jakarta to the 'Spice Islands.' The second was across the Atlantic and down the east coast of South America through the straights of Magellan and across the northern route to the Philippines and the 'Spice Islands.' Those searching for the unknown Southland were driven north by heavy swells, winds and absence of islands, protecting the east Coast of Australia from discovery for more than 250 years after Magellan aboard the Vittoria first sailed into the Pacific.
From 1515 to 1607 the Catholics searched for the mythical islands of Gold to the South of Java, and the unknown Southland. The Portuguese sent many expeditions and boast that they first discovered Australia however there is no conclusive evidence to support their claims as they had not discovered any of the other neighboring islands in the process.
In the second half of the 16th century the Spanish also had a crack at discovering Oz dispatching expeditions from Peru. In 1606 'Torres' sailed through the straight that now bears his name but made no reference to seeing land from the south. By 1607 Muslims, Catholics and Protestants had all made it to the Northern gateway of Australia but no closer..
The first Dutch ship arrived in Jakarta in 1596. In 1606 Captain William Jansz aboard the Duyfken sailed east from Banda in search of the islands of Gold and reached the west coast of Cape York Peninsula at Cape Keer-Weer, and then returned reporting "There was no good to be done there." This was the first ever reported description by a European about Australia. Then in 1623 Dutch seaman again sailed into the Gulf of Carpenteria in search of gold, spices and souls for their Calvinist Jahova, but found instead a "land of exceedingly black barbarian savages.' In the mean time in 1616 Dirk Hartog while following new sailing directions from the Southern Tip of Africa to Java bumped into an island off the entrance to Shark bay on the West Coast of Australia, in fact between 1616 and 1640 many Dutch sailors had touched parts of the west coast of Australia. One in particular Peter Nuyts was blown so far off course he reached the islands of Peter & Paul at the eastern end of the Great Australian Bight. In 1642 the Dutch East India company decided to explore the remaining unknown territory in the South since they believed it would contain many fertile regions and was rich with mines of metals and other treasures. So they sent Abel Tasman off on 2 voyages, the first in 1642-3 where he discovered Tasmania and New Zealand which he named Van Diemans Land and Staten Landt respectively. The second in 1644 he charted the coast from Cape York to the Willems River in the center of the West Coast. By the end of Tasmans voyages the Dutch possessed charts of the Australian Coastline from Cape York west and south to the east end of the Great Australian Bight and the Southern part of Tasmania. They had hoped to hit on Gold & Silver mines to signal the honor of first discoverers, but had instead met with "naked beach-roving wretches, destitute of rice, excessively poor, and of a very malignant nature." The council in Batvia stating "He who makes it his business to find out what a land produces must walk over it" decided no profit was to be made in such a vast country so impatiently bailed on Australia in search other lands rich with mines..
Forty years later in 1688 English Vagabond William Dampier rocked up at Shark Bay also recoiling in horror noting "The land was dry, sandy, destitute of water, and there were no trees that bore fruit or berries." As for the inhabitants, they were "the miserablest people in the world, setting aside their human shape they differ but little from brutes." He wrote about his experiences in 'New Holland' which influenced literature on the primitive people of the South Seas until the myth of the 'Noble Savage' metamorphosed them into a people who had discovered the secrets of human happiness.
Australia was first colonized by Homo Sapiens at least 50 thousand years ago. During the last Ice age, the coldest period being about 20,000-22,000 years ago, there actually was an ice barrier across the southern part of the continent where the snowy mountains are located. Once the Ice thawed it was only then colonization of Tasmania and bass straight islands was possible. Aborigines that survived the Ice age managed to form a kind of primitive stone-age culture, but did not have access to seed bearing plants or animals suitable for domestication in order to build a civilization. While in the Asia's inhabitants were taking advantage of the natural resources there to graduate from hunter-gatherer societies to civilizations.
The Malays began their first invasion of Indonesia about 2000 BC, but never reached Australia. Then sometime afterwards in the first century AD the Indian Hindu-Buddhists began to colonize the Indonesian islands for its gold, spices and to spread the word of their religion. Before they were able to venture further south towards Australia Northern India was invaded by Muslims in the 15th century who had destroyed the Hindu states in Indonesia by the end of the 16th century.
The Chinese also began settling on the Indonesian islands by the 9th century, and by the 15th century were trading with Sumatra, Java, Timor and Macassar in the Celebes. Interestingly their interest in Sea Cucumbers (or Trepang) let them further south to the north coast of Australia, which they named "The land of the Trepang (or Marege)." A revolution in China in 1432 saw the end of Chinese exploration and discovery till the 19th century as fleets were disbandoned, and ship logs lost forever, essentially erasing the epic history of their conquests into the unknown. Muslim merchants from the west coast of India temporarily took over the trading routes after the Chinese vacated, until the Europeans rocked up at the beginning of the Sixteenth century.
The expansion of all 3 - Hindu, Chinese and Muslim came to a halt at the line between Indonesia and Australia, or as they saw it.. where civilization ended and primitive societies began. Inferior ships, ideas of the world and manmade stories and myths of 'giant holes in the sea' and the like from the Hindu, Chinese and Muslims deterred from sailing into unknown seas while the vastly superior European ships, navigational equipment, overwhelming confidence, material greed and religious zeal saw them scoff at these stories & superstitions. Hindu stories of Gold flourished and it was in search of this wealth that European first bumped into the north coast of Australia.
By 1520 the European had discovered 2 routes to the wealth of the Far East. The first was via the Southern tip of Africa (ie Cape Town) & up past India & Jakarta to the 'Spice Islands.' The second was across the Atlantic and down the east coast of South America through the straights of Magellan and across the northern route to the Philippines and the 'Spice Islands.' Those searching for the unknown Southland were driven north by heavy swells, winds and absence of islands, protecting the east Coast of Australia from discovery for more than 250 years after Magellan aboard the Vittoria first sailed into the Pacific.
From 1515 to 1607 the Catholics searched for the mythical islands of Gold to the South of Java, and the unknown Southland. The Portuguese sent many expeditions and boast that they first discovered Australia however there is no conclusive evidence to support their claims as they had not discovered any of the other neighboring islands in the process.
In the second half of the 16th century the Spanish also had a crack at discovering Oz dispatching expeditions from Peru. In 1606 'Torres' sailed through the straight that now bears his name but made no reference to seeing land from the south. By 1607 Muslims, Catholics and Protestants had all made it to the Northern gateway of Australia but no closer..
The first Dutch ship arrived in Jakarta in 1596. In 1606 Captain William Jansz aboard the Duyfken sailed east from Banda in search of the islands of Gold and reached the west coast of Cape York Peninsula at Cape Keer-Weer, and then returned reporting "There was no good to be done there." This was the first ever reported description by a European about Australia. Then in 1623 Dutch seaman again sailed into the Gulf of Carpenteria in search of gold, spices and souls for their Calvinist Jahova, but found instead a "land of exceedingly black barbarian savages.' In the mean time in 1616 Dirk Hartog while following new sailing directions from the Southern Tip of Africa to Java bumped into an island off the entrance to Shark bay on the West Coast of Australia, in fact between 1616 and 1640 many Dutch sailors had touched parts of the west coast of Australia. One in particular Peter Nuyts was blown so far off course he reached the islands of Peter & Paul at the eastern end of the Great Australian Bight. In 1642 the Dutch East India company decided to explore the remaining unknown territory in the South since they believed it would contain many fertile regions and was rich with mines of metals and other treasures. So they sent Abel Tasman off on 2 voyages, the first in 1642-3 where he discovered Tasmania and New Zealand which he named Van Diemans Land and Staten Landt respectively. The second in 1644 he charted the coast from Cape York to the Willems River in the center of the West Coast. By the end of Tasmans voyages the Dutch possessed charts of the Australian Coastline from Cape York west and south to the east end of the Great Australian Bight and the Southern part of Tasmania. They had hoped to hit on Gold & Silver mines to signal the honor of first discoverers, but had instead met with "naked beach-roving wretches, destitute of rice, excessively poor, and of a very malignant nature." The council in Batvia stating "He who makes it his business to find out what a land produces must walk over it" decided no profit was to be made in such a vast country so impatiently bailed on Australia in search other lands rich with mines..
Forty years later in 1688 English Vagabond William Dampier rocked up at Shark Bay also recoiling in horror noting "The land was dry, sandy, destitute of water, and there were no trees that bore fruit or berries." As for the inhabitants, they were "the miserablest people in the world, setting aside their human shape they differ but little from brutes." He wrote about his experiences in 'New Holland' which influenced literature on the primitive people of the South Seas until the myth of the 'Noble Savage' metamorphosed them into a people who had discovered the secrets of human happiness.
In 1768 Capt James Cook was instructed by English Admiralty to observe the transit of Venus at Tahiti and search for the unknown Southern Land. During the voyage he discovered the 'Noble Savage' at Tahiti, circumnavigated both islands of New Zealand and then by chance, chose to return to England via the East Coast of 'New Holland,' Java and the Southern Tip of Africa. The rest of course is history... Cook landed at Botany bay near Sydney in 1770, and 3 more times on the East Coast before taking possession of the country for George III under the name of New South Wales. The east coast he found was not the barren and miserable country others had described the west coast to be, and was certain grain, fruits, roots etc would flourish there, and was ideal for cattle and domesticated animals. He also wrote fondly about the Natives of New Holland, stating that although they may appear "the most wretched people upon the earth, they are far happier than Europeans & live in tranquility not disturbed by inequality, but provided with all the necessary's of life and that they have no superfluities."In a bizarre twist Cook returned to London and was ridiculed and mocked for his enthusiasm about the 'Noble Savage,' and modestly reported to the Admiralty that he did not find the Great Southern Land and that perhaps it didn't exist. So in 1774 they sent him again with 2 ships were he underwent incredible hardships pretty much battling it out in the Icy Southern seas around Antarctica. Only then in 1776 when he returned to England did geographers finally recognize that despite the human effort by the Hindus, Chinese, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants and men of enlightenment like Cook, the stories of islands of Gold were a lie.
3 years later in 1779 Sir Joseph Banks who travelled with Cook on the Endevour on the first voyage proposed a colony be founded at Botany Bay, and recommended it be a 'Thief Colony' as a solution of where to dump people sentenced to transportation from the British Isles (who were usually sold to the planters and workers in Southern North America until the revolt of the colonies in 1776.) 750 odd convicts embarked on the First Fleet for Botany bay, with a government designed to ensure law and order and subordination by terror, for men living in servitude rather than for free men. The protestant religion was also pumped down their necks by Reverend Richard Johnson who recognized its social usefulness in a convict society for it preached in favor of subordination against drunkenness, whoring and gambling. Behind the scenes of course, Military and Civil officers (from Catholic states originally) mocked their religion in private as a false mythology, while in public they supported it for its social utility.
In 1802 & 1803 Flinders did a full lap of Oz and demonstrated New South Wales was not separated from New Holland by sea. This however didn't stop the French trying the sly dog tactic, sneaking up late and start exploring the South Coast of Australia. In order to stop the French from building any settlements the British government sent an expedition of convicts, soldiers and settlers in 1803 to occupy Port Phillip, the settlement now known as Hobart.
The first convicts were described by Chaplain Johnson "to have indulged themselves in mere sloth and idleness, engaged in the most profane and unclean conversation, and committed abominations that would defile his pen to describe." This included "gambling and scenes of debauchery and dissipation by spendthrifts, rakes and giddy young men in pursuit of criminal pleasures. Profligate, loose and dissolute characters, who vitiated themselves and indulged in the daily practice of seducing others to intemperance, lewdness, debauchery, gambling and excess... strolling mistrels, ballad singers, showman, trumpeters and gypsies."
hahahaha.. now I understand why they (the pommy regulars at the Pilgrim) get so irate when we kick their asses at every sport they ever invented.......
Unbeknownst to many of us Aussies who idolize the European cultures of our ancestors, or the American cultures of the media that’s rammed down our necks everywhere we look, our country actually has a fascinating history and culture of it's own...... if only we would tear ourselves away from the god damn television to read about it!
Bib- A short History of Australia, by Manning Clarke
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