My Science School

            Abel Janszoon Tasman was born at Lutjegast, near Groningen, in the Netherlands. He was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen’s Land, which is now known as Tasmania, and New Zealand. He was also the first to sight the Fiji Islands.

            In 1642, the Governor General of Batavia, Anthony Van Diemen, decided to send out an expedition to explore the South Seas. The main purpose of the voyage was to explore unknown lands, and to claim new discoveries. The second aim was to find a faster passage to reach Europe from Batavia by sailing. Abel Tasman was ordered to command the expedition.

            He set out on a voyage with two ships, and 110 men. At first he sailed through already explored routes. Then he voyaged into unknown waters. For many months, there was no sign of land.

            Finally, he came across a land which he called Van Dieman’s Land after the governor general of Batavia. This was later named as Tasmania.

            He stayed there for only 10 days but in that time, he managed to chart a fragment of the coastline.

 

                The Portuguese, Spanish and the English were the dominant navigational powers. During the 17th century the Dutch overthrew everyone else, and became the mightiest seafarers. They flourished in the spice trade. They even started a trading company called Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, abbreviated to VOC.

               They realized that the route around the Cape of Good Hope was more suitable to reach the Far East. They had a base on the island of Jakarta, which they called Batavia. By the 1620s the Dutch were well established in Indonesia.

               Later, there had been sightings of a land to the south. Many Dutch seafarers tried to locate the land. Willem Jansz, a Dutchman became the first European to discover Australia, but he remained unaware of his achievement.

               Later, Dirk Hartog made landfall on an island off the coast of Shark Bay, Western Australia. The island was later named the Dirk Hartog Island after him. But the Dutch made no claim to the land, and they made no attempt to colonize it unlike the other European explorers.

 

            Drake’s hostility towards the Spanish began in 1568. He was on an expedition and their fleet was anchored in a Spanish port in Mexico. Drake and his crew was negotiating to resupply and repair their ships. Meanwhile they were attacked by Spanish warships. He escaped from the attack. But he was vengeful towards the Spaniards from that day.

            For that reason, when he was commissioned to set out on a sail to attack Spanish colonies, he was very much happy and willing. Thus he went on his next expedition in 1585. He first attacked Vigo in Spain, and held the place for two weeks. He then attacked Santiago in the Cape Verde islands. While returning, he looted the Spanish fort of San Augustin in Spanish Florida.

            When he finally reached England, he received a hero’s welcome. Later in 1587, he went on another expedition. This time, Drake patrolled the Iberian coasts between Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent. He also destroyed thirty seven naval ships, and attacked Spanish supply lines.

            He was promoted to vice-admiral in command of the English fleet on 1780. 

            In 1577, Francis Drake was secretly commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I to set out on an expedition, intended against the Spanish colonies on the American Pacific coast.

            He sailed with five ships. On the way, the ships were hit by a terrible storm. By the time he reached the Pacific Ocean in October 1578, only the flag-ship ‘Pelican’ survived. Drake became the first Englishman navigated the Straits of Magellan to reach the Pacific. He travelled up the west coast of South America. On the way he attacked Spanish ships and settlements for food and treasures. He continued north, and sailed further up the west coast of America than any European.

            During the voyage, he covered the Moluccas, Celebes, Java, and then round the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived back in England in September 1580.

            He brought back spices and Spanish treasures. Francis Drake gifted Queen Elizabeth I, a composite jewel token made with rare materials gathered from around the globe. This pleased the Queen very much. 

               Sir Francis Drake was a British explorer. He was born in Devon, as the eldest of the twelve sons of a farmer named Edmund Drake. Some problems made the Drake family flee from Devonshire to Kent. Young Francis first developed his seafaring skills on the river Medway.

               Francis Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580. He was the first to complete the voyage as the captain throughout the entire circumnavigation. Though Magellan was destined to captain the first voyage around the world, he cannot complete it as he was killed in the ‘Battle of Mactan’.

               Drake’s circumnavigation began in 1577, with five ships. They sailed to Brazil, and through the perilous Strait of Magellan. Then they sailed by Panama, where he attacked Spanish ships and settlements for food and treasures.

               With his entry into the Pacific Ocean, he claimed what is now California for England, and inaugurated an era of conflict with the Spanish on the coasts of the American continents.

               Drake’s exploits made him a hero to the English, but the Spanish branded him as a pirate. 

               Pedro Fernandes de Queiros was born in Portugal. He became a subject of the King of Spain when the two countries were dynastically united in 1580.

               After returning from his first expedition, which reached till Santa Cruz, he petitioned the king to send him on another expedition into the Pacific. In March 1603, Queiros was authorized to undertake another expedition to extend the Spanish dominions.

               While on this voyage, he cited an island that he called ‘Australia del Espiritu Santo’. He was hopeful that finally, he had found the much anticipated continent Terra Australis, but soon, he registered that there was no such continent.

               Queiros’ fleet ran out of supplies, and had to return. But on the way back, his ships were hit by a storm, and got separated from each other. The wind forced him to sail south of New Guinea. This was how he accidentally discovered the Straits of Torres, located between Cape York in Australia and the island of New Guinea. Though he did not ‘discover’ Australia, his findings proved that the great southern continent, if it existed was away from New Guinea. 

               Alvaro de Mendana’s failed attempt to discover the southern continent disappointed the Spanish Empire. But Mendana did not lose hope, and for many years he planned for another expedition. But his proposal got constantly rejected. Later, stories of many successful explorations around the globe made the Spanish rethink their decision.

               Twenty eight years after his first expedition, in 1595, Mendana was at last given command of a second expedition to the Solomon Islands. Pedro Fernandes de Queiros was assigned as his second-in-command. It was a much larger and costlier expedition, with 378 men, women and children.

               During his second voyage, Mendana discovered the Marquesas Island. The initially cordial relationship with the islanders deteriorated later, and Mendana and his men killed around 200 islanders before leaving the island.

               Later, the fleet created a settlement on Santa Cruz Island. The settlement did not survive for more than two months. It began to fall apart due to the outbreak of malaria and internal conflicts. Mendana himself died on 18th October 1595. Queiros took over the command, and he managed to get the ships back to Manila with a hundred famished survivors.

 

               Alvaro de Mendana, a Spanish navigator, was born in Congosto in El Bierzo Region. He was the nephew of Lope Garcia de Castro, viceroy of Peru.

               After discovering almost all the land masses around the globe, there was one left- the continent ‘Terra Australis’. Alvaro de Mendana is best known for the two voyages of discovery he led into the Pacific in search of Terra Australis.

               He set out on the first voyage on 20th November 1567 with two ships. The expedition did not sight land for many months.

               Later, on 7th February 1568, they reached an island, which they named the Solomon Islands. They named it after the wealthy biblical King Solomon, because they thought, mistakenly, that the island had great riches.

               The Solomon Islands were mountainous islands. Mendana was convinced that he was nearing the continent Terra Australis. He explored three neighbouring islands, which he named Guadalcanal, Malaita and San Cristobal. Gradually, Alvaro de Mendana realized that he had discovered an island group, and not a continent. And the Terra Australis was yet to explore. 

               Much of the Pacific Ocean wasn’t explored at the beginning of the 16th century. Magellan’s discovery of the strait that cuts through the southern tip of South America, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, had motivated the Spanish to explore more of the Pacific Ocean.

               An expedition left Spain in 1525, under the command of Garcia de Loaisa. Their mission was to explore the Pacific Ocean from the Strait of Magellan.

               Unfortunately, with seven ships in the convoy, three did not make it through the passage and the rest became separated by the time they reached the Pacific. Only the ship named Victoria continued sailing.

               Miguel Lopez de Legazpi from New Spain arrived in the Philippines in 1564. Thus he claimed the wealthy island for Spain.

               The Spanish were slowly gaining understanding of the winds and currents of the Pacific. In 1668 the Spanish founded a colony on Guam as a resting place for west-bound galleons.

               For a long time this was the only non-coastal European settlement in the Pacific.

               Spanish settlements raked in much wealth by digging for gold in Mexico, and silver in Peru. The natives were completely dominated by the Spaniards, and were forced into slavery. They had to do gruelling work day and night in the gold and silver mines. Every bit of the gold and silver they unearthed was shipped back to Spain in regular convoys of galleons from the Americas. The monopoly of Spain in this field was greatly envied by other nations such as England, France and Holland.

               Spain created two viceroyalties in the new world of America. The first in the Central America was New Spain, and the second, in South America, was Peru.

               After conquering the Aztecs, Hernan Cortes started working on the construction of Mexico City. He destroyed the Aztec temples and buildings. Soon the place became the most important European city in the Americas. All these new settlements strengthened Spanish authority in South America. Thus, Spain became a mighty sea power. 

               The Spanish colonization under the leadership of Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro is often cited as one of the reasons behind the destruction of great civilizations like the Aztec and Inca.

               At the time of Cortes’ arrival, in Mexico, Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire was at the height of its splendour. In the palace of the Aztec king, Moctezuma, the Spaniards saw much gold and silver, and this intensified their greed.

               Cortes attacked the Aztec king. His men behaved so disgracefully towards the Aztecs that they raised in revolt. Soon, the Spaniards managed the destruction of Tenochtitlan. With the fall of the capital city, the Aztec civilization, with its staggering sophistication, especially in the field of engineering, was slowly destroyed.

              Then came the turn of the Incas. Just as the Aztec Empire fell, following the death of its king, the Inca Empire too, was doomed when its empire was captured by Francisco Pizzaro another Spaniard, and his followers. Thus by the end of 1533, the Inca Empire with all its skills had vanished.

               Even though the voyage of Hernan Cortes to Mexico is considered to be great, it is infamous in the pages of history, for the destruction of these two great civilizations. 

               Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. His expedition caused the fall of the Aztec Empire in the early 16th century. He claimed Mexico for Spain.

               Cortes was born in 1485 in the village of Medellin, Spain. He chose to pursue a livelihood in the New World. He went to Hispaniola and later to Cuba, where he received a commission and, for a short time, became magistrate of the second Spanish town on the island. He joined an expedition to Cuba led by Diego Velazquez in 1511.

               In 1518, Cortes was to command his own expedition to Mexico, but Velazquez cancelled it. Cortes ignored the order. In 1519, Hernan Cortes left Cuba with about 600 men, and set out for the Yucatan region of Mexico. After reaching the land, Cortes executed a successful strategy of allying with some indigenous people against others.

               After he overthrew the Aztec Empire, Cortes was awarded the title of Marques del Valle de Oaxaca. Herman Cortes returned to Spain, where he died in 1547.

 

               The King was unhappy with Jacques Cartier for abandoning the Roberval and the colonists. Cartier was personally disappointed about not finding the treasure in Canada as he had been ordered to. Jean-Francois de Roberval also returned from Canada, with no better results than Cartier.

               There was a huge disappointment at these fruitless attempts. After these setbacks, France didn’t show any interest in these new lands for half a century, and Cartier’s career as a state-funded explorer came to an end.

               He spent his remaining years attending to his business affairs at his estate near Saint Malo. He was guilty of disobeying orders and leaving Roberval to fend for himself in Canada.

               However, Cartier was credited with initiating French authority in Canada. Though it happened by accident, the fact that he named Canada was also recognized by the world. Without his expeditions, the French language would probably not have been spoken in Canada. And he opened up the greatest waterway for the European penetration of North America.

          In May of 1541, Cartier departed on his third voyage as the chief navigator. The goals now were to find the ‘Kingdom of Saguenay’ and its riches.

          A few months after he started, a group of colonists followed him, under the command of Jean-Francois de Roberval, whom the king titled the first lieutenant general of French Canada. Jacques Cartier made landfall on the present-day Cap-Rouge, Quebec. He built a fort there, and it became the first French settlement.

          They explored the land and collected quartz crystals and iron pyrites, which they thought were diamonds and gold. For many months, Cartier waited for the colonists. Finally, he left for France. He encountered the colonists along the Newfoundland coast. Despite Roberval’s insistence that he accompany him back to Saguenay Cartier sailed back to France, still convinced his vessels contained a wealth of gold and diamonds. He arrived at France in October. Only after returning to France did he realize that what he and his men had collected were not diamonds and gold.