Ateday,

Columbus sailed on all the eastern Atlantic seas from Iceland and the Baltic down to the Gulf of Benin, and it's possible that he sailed across to Brazil and back to Spain.

As for the Portuguese sailing along Australia's southern coast: somewhere in the archives (I've typed it up but can't locate the reference), there is mention in the 1850s of ruins found on the Narrung Peninsula, alongside Lake Alexandrina. Of course, they could have been ruins built originally by marauders before 1830 based on Kangaroo Island.

Or of course, ruins of Aboriginal farming towns.

Joe

Steele, it's not what the french may have done or how late they did it Hypotheritically?

But rather what use the Germans would, could have made of this land and her resources as the midterm blitzkrieg victors and one wonders how long the Brits would have lasted without their southern larder and our pilots etc

. As a French colony, one wonders how far the brits would have gone to save us from the excesses of the Nazis and Nippon? I mean how much did they value the indigenous population back then, the average white Aussie?

Galen: Oh yes mate, we do have unbeatable space age lie detection and it can be deployed covertly! And that's where you and yours get your comeuppance! And can't come too soon, if it hasn't already? Heh, heh.
Alan B.

Alan again you have failed to provide any evidence to support your claims. As far as I can tell this is just further evidence of your inability to back up your wild claims, vis just another lie from you and more evidence of your dishonesty. You should be ashamed of yourself.

To the subject at hand there are claims Chinese mariners sailed the waters of Australia up to 1000 years ago! Here is but one link worth reading http://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/08/12/did-chinese-mariners-reach-australia-before-the-europeans/%3foutputType=amp

It was also mentioned somewhere else the same fleet also visited New Zealand.
Galen

Galen,

Given the earlier massive expansion of the Indian Saka empire after about 70 AD, all across south-east Asia to the Philippines, is it also possible that Indian traders/sailors sighted Australia a thousand years before the Chinese ? There is an old Hindu temple near what is now Manila.

Come to think of it, Cheng Ho visited a mosque in Canton before his voyages, around 1420: mosques in southern China - does this mean that the Arabs discovered China ?

And before them, the Austronesians, the ancestors from what is now south-eastern China and Taiwan of the Polynesians, perhaps four thousand years ago ?

Joe

"A common feature or all Portuguese exploratory voyages was to establish a 'wintering post' or some sort of temporary settlement with a fort and storage facility, close to the next geographical segment of their mission. They did this at Bittangabee Bay...."

I'm very familiar with Bittangabee. I used to camp there in the national park every Christmas and Easter for about 20 years. Proper camping - no fresh water, no toilets, no shower, open fire, collect your own fuel. Walk about 2km to a fresh water creek to have a bit of a bathe. Nothing like the glamping they do these days.

Anyway, I've visited the so-called Portuguese ruins. Its origin is in the eye of the beholder but the locals know it was built around 1844. But it is possible that it was built using stones worked by previous visitors.

I'm sure the author is utterly convinced about the story of Portuguese visitors but it is highly disputed and his essay would have been a lot better if that was at least acknowledged.

There's lots about it around if you want to ferret it out. Most of it was pre-digital so is in hard copy. I have a couple of printed essays and I'm sure the local libraries would source things for you. But Wikipedia has a reasonable summary of the problems with the theory.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_the_Portuguese_discovery_of_Australia#Bittangabee_Bay

I'm not saying its definitely wrong. Its one of those things you'd really like to be true, but probably isn't. The consequences either way are nil so just fun to speculate.

Whether Cook was the first on the east coast or 15th is really by-the-by. He was the first to bring back usable data that was used. The first non-aboriginals to see Botany Bay may have been Portuguese or Spanish or Dutch or Chinese or Indonesian. But the first to see it and have their observation acted on was Cook. That's his legacy vis-a-vis this nation.

Early Portuguese & Spanish charts appear to show more detail of NE Australia than mere guesswork !