In 1768, the British government sent an expedition to find the mysterious southern continent. Its leader was James Cook, and his ship was a small but tough vessel called Endeavour. After visiting the island of Tahiti, Cooked sailed southwards and then west until he sighted an unknown land. It turned out to be New Zealand. The Endeavour sailed on, searching for the east coast of Australia. By 1770 Cook reached the coast of what he knew to be Australia. He followed it northwards until he found a suitable place to land. He called this Botany Bay.
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Fact File: In 1776, Cook set sail to find a sea passage from the Pacific round the north of America to the Atlantic, he blocked his way. He was the first European to reach Hawaii, where he was killed in 1779. |
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