First European Discovery
The French navigator Binot Paulmier de Gonneville claimed to have landed at a land he described as "east of the Cape of Good Hope" in 1504, after being blown off course. For some time it had been thought he discovered Australia, but the place he landed has now been shown to be Brazil (which is north-west of the Cape).
The first undisputed sighting of Australia by a European was made in early 1606. The Dutch vessel Duyfken, captained by Willem Janszoon, followed the coast of New Guinea, missed Torres Strait, and explored perhaps 350 km of the western side of Cape York, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, believing the land was still part of New Guinea. On 26 February 1606, the Dutch made one landing, but were promptly attacked by Aborigines and abandoned further exploration.
A Spanish expedition commanded by Luís Vaz de Torres charted the southern coast of Papua, and possibly sighted Cape York in late 1606.
Read more about this topic: History Of Australia Before 1788
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