Álvaro Teles Barreto's Voyage of Discovery

By John Hewitt

Who was the first European to sight the coastline of Australia? And when was the discovery? These two questions have exercised the minds of history scholars for more than a century.

In lvaro Teles Barreto's Voyage of Discovery, author and historian, John Hewitt, provides the answers.

According to conventional wisdom, the first sighting was by Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon, on the Duyfken, in 1606. But was there an earlier Portuguese discovery as some writers have suggested?

After years of researching the Portuguese records, Hewitt has unearthed a little-known voyage by Portuguese captain lvaro Teles Barreto, who was part of an expedition that sailed from Lisbon in 1506 for India. Barreto became separated from the fleet by a wild storm which took his ship way off course to the southeast Indian Ocean. There he encountered the arid west coast of an unknown Great South Land, Terra Australis Incognita.

With its fascinating collection of maps and charts from the sixteenth century, this engaging, well-researched book is highly recommended to those interested in the Portuguese voyages of discovery and Europe's first encounter with Australia.

Barreto was part of Trist o da Cunha's expedition that sailed from Lisbon in April 1506 for India. While deep in the South Atlantic Ocean, da Cunha's armada was hit by a storm which scattered the fleet. Barreto's ship got caught in the strong westerly winds, the Roaring Forties, found between 40 S and 50 S, which took him hundreds of kilometres off course to the southeast Indian Ocean. By the time he extracted his vessel from the westerlies, he was lost. He sailed north reaching the Indonesian islands of Enggano and Sumatra - the first Portuguese to do so. He then crossed the Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa, eventually rejoining da Cunha's fleet. Sixteenth-century Portuguese historian, Antonio Galv o, said Barreto 'discovered many islands, sea, and land never seene (seen) before that time of any Portugall (Portuguese)' on his journey.

Hewitt describes Barreto's 1506 to 1508 odyssey and reviews the evidence, concluding that when sailing north out of the Roaring Forties towards Enggano and Sumatra, Barreto sailed within sight of the west coast of Australia - then an unknown Great South Land, Terra Australis Incognita. The conclusion is supported by contemporary reports and map evidence.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1764934008
• ISBN13: 9781764934008
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: John Hewitt
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"