Torres Strait

Resolving present day New Guinea and the continent of Australia was done early in the 1600's and without concern for the greatness of the issue. In fact, at the time it was resolved the issue had not yet become an issue!

Circumstances had the Spaniard Luiz Vaez de Torres on the west coast of South America in the year 1607, when he received orders from the Viceroy of Peru to sail westward and toward 20 degrees South latitude. Torres was to then turn north to Manila, then around the Cape of Good Hope and home to Spain.

On reaching New Guinea at 21 degrees South latitude, Torres attempted to pass to the north off the east coast of New Guinea, however, there was heavy weather suppressing this path. Torres recorded the situation and his action.

I could not weather the east point, so I coasted along to the westward on the south side.

This simple statement solves a great geographic question which confounded Dutch and other theoretical geographers for much of the 17th century. On his return to Europe, Torres' remarks were placed in Spanish archives, where they remained unavailable to cartographers of the time. In 1767 Dalrymple published a map showing the course of Torres and this book was used by Cook during the voyage of Endeavor through the strait in 1770.

Remarkably the Torres voyage took place only months after the Dufkyen made the first Dutch landfall on Nova Hollandia in the area.

The map at the top of this page is intended to focus the reader on the specific region of Torres Strait, however, it does not adequately indicate the difficult nature of the reefs and the shallows which Cook would later describe and it does not give a wide enough perspective on the region and the importance of the passage. For broader views see the map of the Dutch contact in the region and the view of Cook's passage.