Putting Australia On The Map
Australian Geographic Magazine|September - October 2019
Dutch navigators had accurately charted some two-thirds of the Australian coastline in the 170 years before Captain Cook’s arrival in 1770.
Nick Burningham
Putting Australia On The Map

It’s well known that Dutch mariners visited Australia long before Cook charted the east coast in 1770 for Great Britain.

However, the myth persists that early Dutch knowledge of Australia – which has been home to Aboriginal Australians for tens of thousands of years – was merely the result of clumsy navigation, with Dutch ships accidentally blundering onto the west coast while en route to Indonesia. That certainly wasn’t the case. Indeed, European exploration of Australia began with a deliberate voyage by Duyfken, a small Dutch ship captained by Willem Janszoon.

In 1606 Janszoon and his crew made the first authenticated European sightings of Australia when they reached the western coast of Cape York Peninsula, in far north Queensland. In the decades that followed, more than 40 Dutch ships sailed to Australia’s shores, with their navigators accurately charting much of Australia’s northern, western and southern coastlines, including parts of Tasmania. The legacy of these explorers remains with us today in place names such as the Swan River, the Gulf of Carpentaria, Dirk Hartog Island, and Cape Leeuwin.

Duyfken was a small, relatively fast armed ship known as a “jacht” – the term “jacht” comes from the Dutch verb “jagen”, meaning to hunt. (During the 17th century, the Dutch invented what we now call yachting-using vessels known as “spiel-jachten” (play-jachts), from which the term yacht is derived.) Duyfken was tasked by the Dutch East India Company, or Vereenigde Oostidische Compagnie (VOC), to explore what lay beyond the Spice Islands of eastern Indonesia.

This story is from the September - October 2019 edition of Australian Geographic Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September - October 2019 edition of Australian Geographic Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINEView All
DESERT DELIGHT
Australian Geographic Magazine

DESERT DELIGHT

The Great Victoria Desert, Australia's largest, defies expectations. Visibly rich in biodiversity, it challenges preconceptions about how a desert should look.

time-read
10+ mins  |
March - April 2024
A NEW BROOME
Australian Geographic Magazine

A NEW BROOME

New experiences with First Nations people on Country are transforming \"flop-and-drop\" tourism in this tropical getaway.

time-read
10+ mins  |
March - April 2024
THE BREAKFAST CLUB
Australian Geographic Magazine

THE BREAKFAST CLUB

For six days last autumn, a ragtag band of walkers came together to tackle the famed Overland Track and explore central Tasmania's spectacular flora, from the tiniest fungus to its towering King Billy pines.

time-read
5 mins  |
March - April 2024
BACK FOR THE FUTURE
Australian Geographic Magazine

BACK FOR THE FUTURE

Bathurst is one of several regional inland cities holding historic-trades fairs, tapping into growing enthusiasm for a slower, more sustainable way of living and of making things..

time-read
7 mins  |
March - April 2024
HELPING HANDS
Australian Geographic Magazine

HELPING HANDS

These bizarre, shy fish that walk instead of swim face a precarious future in the waters of southern Australia.

time-read
6 mins  |
March - April 2024
COMMEMORATING BROTHERS IN ARMS ON COUNTRY
Australian Geographic Magazine

COMMEMORATING BROTHERS IN ARMS ON COUNTRY

The military service of two First Nations World War II soldiers, long overlooked by history, is celebrated annually on an outback pilgrimage by an Aussie music legend.

time-read
10 mins  |
March - April 2024
UNEXPECTED PACIFIC PARADISE
Australian Geographic Magazine

UNEXPECTED PACIFIC PARADISE

Visiting Micronesia's islands and atolls offers an unexpected rare glimpse into remote communities steeped in centuries-old cultural traditions.

time-read
8 mins  |
March - April 2024
THE PATRIOT CONVICTS
Australian Geographic Magazine

THE PATRIOT CONVICTS

A little-known group of political prisoners, transported from Canada to the Australian colonies, had far-reaching effects.

time-read
7 mins  |
March - April 2024
NEW SPACES FOR OCEAN LIFE
Australian Geographic Magazine

NEW SPACES FOR OCEAN LIFE

In an alliance between Australian marine ecologists and industrial designers, science and art meet to restore ecological function at some of the world's most altered coastal landscapes.

time-read
5 mins  |
March - April 2024
RESCUING AN EMBLEM
Australian Geographic Magazine

RESCUING AN EMBLEM

Nothing says an Aussie Easter quite like the bilby, but this symbol of the outback is facing a tough struggle for survival.

time-read
5 mins  |
March - April 2024