Australia :: History

AustraliaThe Portuguese were the first to take heed the East Coast of AustraliaIn Australian history books, it has been popular opinion for hundreds of years that Captain Cook from Eng stain was the first to discover the east coast of Australia on 28th April 1770. However latest evidence shows that this historic event is inaccurate. A number of relics and remains have been found which indicate the Portuguese arrival at Australia in the early to mid 1500s, 200 years before Cook. These clues acknowledge the Mahogany institutionalise, a Portuguese caravel that was shipwrecked six miles west of Warrnambool a stone house at Bittangabee Bay the Dieppe map, a secret map drawn by the Portuguese a cannon and five keys found in Geelong. The shipwreck of Mahogany Ship remains Warrnambools first shipping disaster. The Mahogany Ship is believed to be a Portuguese caravel lost in 1522 in Warrnambool under the command of Cristovao de Mendonca. Prince Henry, the ruler of Portugal at that time, h ad sent Mendonca and his crew to Australia in order to discover unfound land on the other side of the world that he had located on the French Map, the Dieppe Map that the Portuguese had stolen and copied. Many people believed that the world was a flat saucer but Prince Henry believed that the world was a sphere. Prince Henry wanted to find out if there was in fact such land over the other side of the world as Australia, if it was inhabited and if there was any treasure or valuable things there. This journey had to be kept a secret because the Portuguese were breaking an agreement that they had made with the Spanish. The agreement stated that the Spanish and Portuguese had half of the world each to explore but they could non explore past their boundaries. Mendonca and his crew set out from Portugal in the 1500s to find out about this new territory. Unfortunately the Mahogany ship was shipwrecked at Warrnambool in Victoria, Australia. Twenty-seven people reported that they saw the Ma hogany Ship sink however no one ever found the remains of the caravel. It has been believed that a great storm last century had buried the ship in sand, under sand dunes, but also the last timbers might have been burnt by whalers and locals who were in need of firewood.In July 1999, Mr. Des Williams discovered some wood buried three metres underneath the sand dunes between Warrnambool and Port Fairy.