He circumnavigated and completely charted the North and South islands before continuing west. In April he sighted the east coast of New Holland (now called Australia) and sailed north along the coast before anchoring in what he named Botany Bay. He then continued north to Cape York and on to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (Jakarta, Indonesia). During the four month voyage along the coast Cook charted the coastline from Point Hicks (Victoria) to Cape York (Queensland) and proclaimed the eastern part of the continent for Great Britain.
Cook was not the first person nor the first European to "discover" Australia, but he was the first to accurately chart a substantial part of the coastline and to fix the continent in relation to known waters. His explorations have also been given significance because, due to a variety of circumstances, they were followed up within a few years by a British expedition to settle the "new" continent. For these reasons Cook is considered a major figure in Australia's modern history. Numerous places in Australasia, particularly on the eastern Australian coast and New Zealand, have been named after him or his vessel, and many of the names he gave to parts of the Australian east coat in 1770 are still used (eg Cape Tribulation, Botany Bay, the Whitsundays).
Cook's 1768 to 1771 voyage in Endeavour is also considered to be of general historical importance because of its great contributions to the world's knowledge of seafaring and navigation, as well as geography. On this voyage, Cook became the first captain to calculate his longitudinal position with accuracy, using a complex mathematical formula developed in the 1760s. He is also the first to substantially reduce scurvy amongst his crew, a serious and sometimes fatal result of dietary deficiency on long voyages. Cook is considered to be one of the greatest explorers and is ranked with Vasco da Gama and Columbus.
