Discovery: The Quest for the Great South Land

Estensen delivers a memorable book that seamlessly melds history, geopolitics, adventure, travel and natural history to tell of civilization's imaginative and physical forays into the mapmakers' southern Terra Incognita. For centuries, explorers and kings believed in a Great South Land, a fabled continent full of gold that reputedly encircled the lower reaches of the Southern Hemisphere and joined Africa's tip. Estensen tells the stirring story of how this myth propelled Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese, Arab and English seafarers vying for maritime supremacy and led to the discovery of Australia and Antarctica. Some elements of the story are well known: Portuguese explorers rounding Africa and reaching India; the forging of a mercantile empire from Goa to Indonesia by Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese governor of India; Magellan's 1519-1522 voyage around the world for Spain; Dutch navigator Abel Tasman's wide-arced circumnavigation of Australia in 1642; and, finally, Englishman James Cook's expedition to Tahiti in 1768-1770, during which he charted Australia's east coast. Chicago-born Estensen, who lives in Australia, draws on archival research and archeological finds in her zestful account of this historic quest, a remarkable tale of derring-do, incredible blunders, persistence, greed, mutiny and devotion to a mirage. Particularly exciting passages concern the medieval underground trade in precious maps and stolen information. Estensen's seaworthy narrative is intriguingly illustrated with maps, engravings, paintings and woodcuts. (Jan.)