Early mapping of the Australian coast
'The Great Southern Continent' and European advancement
During the fifteenth century, Ptolemy produced maps of the world showing a great southern continent near Africa and Asia. The notion that this continent existed continued through to the late seventeenth century.
In the first half of the seventeenth century, the Dutch were robust in their explorations.
During this time, they charted the northern, western and half of the south coast of Australia. Tasmania was included in these discoveries in 1642.
Early maps of the southern continent
In 1663, the first separately produced English map of the great southern continent was displayed in M Thevenot’s Travel Study - 'Relation de Divers Voyages Curieux'.
During the period 1651 to the middle of the next century, French cartographers produced some wildly imaginative maps of their impression of the possible shape of the missing east coast of the continent.
A dutch map of 1753 showed a remarkably accurate coastline of western and northern Australia, but was devoid of knowledgeable structure along the eastern coast.
Cook's expedition
In 1766, Captain James Cook was commissioned to sail the Pacific Ocean in the Endeavour, primarily to observe the celestial transit of Venus.
Having achieved this, he then set sail for New Holland after circumnavigating both of New Zealand's main islands.
He proceeded to chart two thousand miles of the east coast of Australia in the name of King George III, utilising only the most basic navigational equipment.
He had named more than 80 features that still carry the same names today.
This early chart below, of far north Queensland mapped by Cook, shows uncharted coast protected by the dangerous shoal reefs, then referred to as the labyrinth.
Last updated: 29 September 2009