Pope Alexander VI advised the two countries not to make trouble and decided to divide the territory for business.

So, Alexander VI pointed at the map and waved his hand, saying that everything east of the meridian should go to Portugal, and everything west of the meridian should belong to Spain. Stop making trouble!

In fact, the Portuguese still took advantage. When going to Southeast Asia to do spice business, they could just go directly along the west coast of Africa.

The places in Spain were not good, and the New World of America was not rich yet.

Not long after, Magellan led his people from Europe to the west, bypassing the Americas, entering the Pacific Ocean, and reaching the legendary Molucca Islands and Spice Islands.

At that time, this place was the territory of the Portuguese, but the Spaniards were here, and they would definitely not just pat their butts and go home.

As a result, both sides argued endlessly, both wanting to monopolize this good place, make a lot of money, and start another war...

Both sides knew nothing about Australia, not far to the south, and had no intention of exploring it.

After all, the Spice Islands are already super profitable, so who wants to run around!

In the end, Portugal and Spain shook hands and made peace. Portugal paid Spain a sum of money and obtained jurisdiction over the Spice Islands.

As for the Spaniards, they took the money and went back to America.

But the Spaniards have not forgotten the legendary southern continent. Although they don't know whether it exists or not, since they are all in America, they might as well go out and look for it.

At that time, according to Western bandit logic, whoever found the place could own it.

Therefore, the Spanish governors in the Americas often sent people out to find new territories, and they did not deliberately look for Australia. They just went wherever they went.

Many years later, a man named Alvaro led a team on an expedition and discovered the Solomon Islands east of New Guinea.

Just look at the globe and you will know that the Spaniards came across the entire Pacific, aiming directly at the Portuguese Spice Islands. They were not looking for Australia, but wanted to find another spice producing area.

This time, we are very close to Australia. Further west from the Solomon Islands is New Guinea, and to the south of New Guinea is Australia.

However, when the explorer named Alvaro led his team on an expedition again, he actually forgot where the Solomon Islands were...

What to do?

Later, the baton was passed to a Spanish navigator named Pedro, who also firmly believed that there should be a vast continent near the Solomon Islands.

King Philip III felt that this young man was very ideal, so he gave him three ships and asked him to be the commander-in-chief to search for him.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! As a result, Pedro's skills were so bad that his men rebelled and were directly driven home...

At this time the Dutch went to sea...

During the struggles caused by the Reformation, the relationship between the Netherlands and Spain was very bad. The Dutch were not strong enough and they were pinned to the ground for a long time.

The Netherlands is the leader in the European shipping industry, specializing in transporting goods from Lisbon to Europe for sale and making a profit on the price difference.

The Dutch slowly saved money and trained a large number of outstanding sailors.

A look at Spain:

"Oh, let me go, the Dutch are still mixing up, that's not good, we can't let them make money anymore."

While Philip II was in control of Portugal, he directly banned Dutch ships from entering Lisbon.

The Dutch were stunned for a moment. This move was cruel and would destroy people's financial opportunities...

As a result, the two sides started to fight. The Dutch, who were well-equipped, beat up the Spanish and walked away coolly, leaving only one sentence:

“If I don’t go to Lisbon to pick up the missing items, I’ll go directly to the East to purchase them!”

There were so many outstanding sailors from the Netherlands that they soon came to the Spice Islands and were happily doing business here.

The Dutch like to take risks. Besides making money, they also travel around and draw maps and so on. So, they went near Australia.

In early 1606, a Dutch ship came to the Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia, wanting to replenish supplies.

As a result, the indigenous people living nearby were very brave and killed 9 crew members in three strokes, and the Dutch had no choice but to escape...

Ten years later, another Dutch captain named Dirk Hartog landed in Shark Bay, the westernmost point of Australia.
Chapter completed!