History:The written history of Australia began when Dutch explorers first sighted the landmass in the 17th century.In command of the ship Duyfken,Willem Jansz, Dutch,sailed along the southern coast of New Guinea before he turned south and sighted Cape York Peninsula on Australia's northern coast.Jansz named the land New Holland and explored the Gulf of Carpentaria on the cape's western shore.The western coast was first visited in 1616 by the Dutch,Dirk Hartog.The first recorded European sighting of the South Australian coast was in 1627 when the Dutch ship the Gulden Zeepaert,captained by Francois Thijssen,examined the coastline. History: The written history of Australia began when Dutch explorers first sighted the landmass in the 17th century. In command of the ship Duyfken, Willem Jansz， Dutch，sailed along the southern coast of New Guinea before he turned south and sighted Cape York Peninsula on Australia’s northern coast. Jansz named the land New Holland and explored the Gulf of Carpentaria on the cape’s western shore. The western coast was first visited in 1616 by the Dutch, Dirk Hartog. The first recorded European sighting of the South Australian coast was in 1627 when the Dutch ship the Gulden Zeepaert, captained by Francois Thijssen, examined the coastline