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十八世纪时,欧洲人对南太平洋仍然非常陌生。许多人根本不相信它是一个海洋,反而认为那儿有一片广阔的南方大陆,一直延伸过南极,向北延伸到热带。所罗门群岛、新西兰,甚至澳大利亚,都被看做是这块辽阔大陆的一部分。英国和法国率先派人前往南太平洋探险,但彻底揭开南方大陆之谜的人却是英国人詹姆士·库克船长。从1了68到1779年间,库克三次航行到南洋。他的航海图上标示出所罗门群岛、新西兰的北岛和南岛、澳大利亚东海岸,证实它们是各自独立的地区,而不是一整块大陆。库克从未见过南极洲,但他的船只曾航行到十分接近的地方,足以认出那是真正的南方大陆。
In the eighteenth century Europeans were still very strange to the South Pacific. Many people simply do not believe it to be an ocean. Instead, they think there is a vast southern continent stretching all the way to the Antarctic and northward to the tropics. Solomon Islands, New Zealand and even Australia are seen as part of this vast continent. Britain and France took the lead to send people to explore the South Pacific, but the man who opened the mystery of the South China continent was captain James Cook of Great Britain. From 1 68 to 1779, Cook sailed to Nanyang three times. His chart shows Solomon Islands, New Zealand’s North Island and South Island, Australia’s east coast, confirming that they are separate areas, not a single continent. Cook had never seen Antarctica before, but his craft had sailed very close enough to recognize that it was the real southern continent.