Last year it was 400 years ago that Europeans discovered Australia and by 1650 over 70 per cent of its coastline had been accurately charted by Dutch sailors, mostly accidently blown off course on their way to Java, but also in a few well-planned expeditions which led to the discovery of Tasmania and New Zealand. It was, however, only in 1770 that Captain Cook discovered the Eastern Coast of the continent and claimed it for Britain. How did it come about that Australia was discovered and why did it take so long before Europeans got really interested in this continent?