The Commonwealth Of Australia

Even in medieval times there were stories about a large continent in the southern hemisphere. But Europeans had never seen it. They wondered what it was like and whether it was inhabited. In Latin they called this land 'terra australis incognita' or 'the unknown southern land'.Dutch sailors who were blown off the course reached the coast of Australia in the 17th century. But they were not very much impressed by the land they found. In 1642 Captain Abel Tasman was sent out to discover what lay in the east. Tasman sailed too far south and didn't see the mainland, but he visited the island now called Tasmania in his honour.