In 1699 William Dampier makes a second voyage to Australia for the British. He sails along 1600 kilometres of coastline and gives the fullest description of Australia to that time, but he was so critical of the land and its people that several decades pass before interest is shown again.

The Dutch captain Roggeveen sails across the Pacific Ocean in 1721-22. He charts Easter Island, home of the giant stone statues, Samoa and the Solomon Islands. All these places had been unknown to the Europeans before. The Frenchman Bougainville sails around the world between 1766-68 and explores the Polynesian and Melanesian islands.

The most famous of all the scientific explorers was Captain James Cook. He made three main voyages through the Pacific, in 1768-71, 1772-75 and 1776-80. Cook charted the east coast of Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Tonga and the Sandwich Islands (later called Hawaii). On the last voyage, Cook was killed in Hawaii during a dispute with a group of local natives in 1779, although he was usually on good terms with the islanders. (Click here to see Cook's home, originally in England, it was moved and rebuilt in Melbourne, Australia.)

Cook claimed Australia for Britain, but it was not until 1787, that a fleet of 11 ships set sail. The expedition arrived at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788 with 1530 people aboard, 736 of whom were convicts. The original landing at Botany Bay is disastrous due to poor soil and water, and the colonists relocate to the superb harbour of Port Jackson, which later grows into the city of Sydney.

When the British first settled at Botany Bay, it is believed there were about 300,000 Aboriginals living in Australia. The clan-based nature of their society, with no kings or queens or ruling class, meant an organized resistance to the Europeans was not possible. Because the Europeans did not recognize any political system among the Aboriginals, or any system of land ownership that they were familiar with, they felt they could take any land they wanted. Most Aboriginal clans were nomadic, but others lived in permanent settlements. Remote tribes were linked by trade routes which crisscrossed the country. Along these trade routes, large numbers of people would often meet for "exchange ceremonies". Not only goods were traded, but songs, stories and dances were passed along as well.

The effect of European settlement was disastrous. Many Aboriginals were driven off their land by force and many more died from the unknown diseases brought by the newcomers. Sheep and cattle ranching destroyed natural habitats and waterholes. Aboriginal attacks on settlers were met with vicious reprisals. Aboriginals were sometimes hunted for sport. On the island of Tasmania, the Aboriginals were wiped out completely. On the mainland, traditional Aborginal society only survived in remote desert or rainforest areas.