the first fleet arrived in australia on 26 january 1788.
the first fleet arrived in australia on 26 january 1788.
where did the first fleet arrived in australia?
26 january 1788
in 1787, the "first fleet" of convict ships departed from england to establish the first british settlement in australia, as a penal colony. the fleet arrived at port jackson (sydney) on 26 january 1788, a date now celebrated as australia day. norfolk island was a convict penal settlement from 1788–94, and again from 1824-47. the first fleet included boats containing food and animals from london. the ships and boats of the fleet would explore the coast of australia by sailing all around it looking for suitable farming land and resources. in 1803, van diemen's land (modern-day tasmania) was also settled as a penal colony, followed by the moreton bay settlement (queensland) in 1824. the other australian colonies were "free settlements", as non-convict colonies were known. however, the swan river colony (western australia) accepted transportation from england and ireland in 1851, to resolve a long-standing labour shortage. until the massive influx of immigrants during the australian gold rushes of the 1850s, the free settlers had been outnumbered by english and irish convicts and their descendants. however, compared to america, australia received many more english prisoners.
penal transportation
the "xia xiyang" provides valuable information, as described hereafter, about the dates and itinerary for this voyage. the fleet embarked from longwan (lit. "dragon bay") in nanjing on 19 january 1431. on 23 january, the fleet made a stop at xushan, a currently-unknown island in the yangtze, where the crew hunted animals. on 2 february 1431, the fleet sailed through the fuzi passage (present-day baimaosha channel) to the estuary yangtze river before arriving at liujiagang the following day (3 february). on 14 march 1431, the liujiagang inscription was erected there. on 8 april 1431, the fleet arrived at changle, where they remained until mid-december. the changle inscription, dated to the 11th month of the 6th year of the xuande reign, was erected during the end of their stay there. on 16 december, they traveled to the fu tou shan, possibly near fuzhou. the treasure fleet sailed through the wuhumen on 12 january 1431. on 27 january 1432, the fleet made a call at the capital city vijaya (near present-day qui nhon) of champa before departing on 12 february. on 7 march 1432, the fleet arrived at java, where they made port at surabaya. the fleet remained in the region before departing on 13 july. on 24 july 1432, the fleet arrived at palembang before departing on 27 july. from palembang, the fleet sailed down the musi river, through the banka strait, passing the lingga and riau archipelagos. the lingga and riau archipelagos had a considerable pirate population that posed a threat to passing ships, but these pirates posed no threat to the treasure fleet. on 3 august 1432, the treasure fleet arrived at malacca. the fleet departed from malacca on 2 september 1432. they traveled to semudera and arrived there on 12 september. on 2 november 1432, the fleet departed from semudera. on 28 november 1432, the fleet arrived at beruwala on ceylon. the fleet departed from beruwala on 2 december. they arrived at calicut on 10 december. the fleet departed from calicut to hormuz on 14 december 1432. they arrived at hormuz on 17 january 1433. the treasure fleet remained in hormuz for almost two months before traveling homeward on 9 march 1433.
ming treasure voyages