During the period of exploration, Aborigines had inhabited Australia for an extensive period and during their time there, firm evidence suggests several countries visited. However Europeans did not settle Australia until 1770. This leads us to ask various questions. Did these countries actually come across Australia and if so why didn’t they stay?
Portugal is one of many countries that is believed to have discovered Australia. We presume this because Timor was often used as a trading base, which was only 620 kms form Darwin, therefore it would be likely if they incidentally came about Australia. Also the mahogany ship spotted near Warrnambool seems to largely resemble a Portuguese caravel. Furthermore, through the treaty of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal divided the world between them. Although it was not known at the time, this line of division passed through Australia. Nevertheless people from both countries wandered onto each o
ther’s territory. It is likely that the Portuguese did not colonise here because by doing so Spain would have realised they hadn’t followed the rules consequently causing a war.
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