GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SYDNEY, IN 1802
VIEW OF SYDNEY
GOVERNOR BLIGH


"Whenever I want a thing well done in a distant part of the world;
when I want a man with a good head, a good heart, lots of pluck,
and plenty of common sense, I always send for a Captain of the
Navy."--LORD PALMERSTON.




THE NAVAL PIONEERS

OF

AUSTRALIA




CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY--THE EARLIEST AUSTRALIAN VOYAGERS: THE PORTUGUESE, SPANISH,
AND DUTCH.


Learned geographers have gone back to very remote times, even to the
Middle Ages, and, by the aid of old maps, have set up ingenious theories