▁what ▁we ▁would ▁call ▁today ▁the ▁free ▁flow ▁of ▁ge ographical ▁information . ▁As ▁Dutch ▁ships ▁reached ▁into ▁the ▁unknown ▁corners ▁of ▁the ▁glo be , ▁Dutch ▁cart ograph ers ▁incorpor ated ▁new ▁discover ies ▁into ▁their ▁work . ▁Instead ▁of ▁using ▁the ▁information ▁themselves ▁secret ly , ▁they ▁published ▁it , ▁so ▁the ▁maps ▁multip lied ▁freely . ▁The ▁Dutch ▁were ▁the ▁first ▁( non - n atives ) ▁to ▁und is put edly ▁discover , ▁explore ▁and ▁map ▁many ▁unknown ▁isolated ▁areas ▁of ▁the ▁world ▁such ▁as ▁S val b ard , ▁Australia , ▁New ▁Zealand , ▁T ong a , ▁Sak hal in , ▁and ▁E aster ▁Island . ▁In ▁many ▁cases ▁the ▁Dutch ▁were ▁the ▁first ▁Europe ans ▁the ▁n atives ▁would ▁encounter . ▁Australia ▁( origin ally ▁known ▁as ▁New ▁Holland ), ▁never ▁became ▁a ▁permanent ▁Dutch ▁settlement , ▁yet ▁the ▁Dutch ▁were ▁the ▁first ▁to ▁und is put edly ▁map ▁its ▁coast line . ▁The ▁Dutch ▁navig ators ▁chart ed ▁almost ▁three - quarters ▁of ▁the ▁Australian ▁coast line , ▁except ▁the ▁east ▁coast . ▁During ▁the ▁Age ▁of ▁Ex pl oration , ▁the ▁Dutch ▁expl or ers ▁and ▁cart ograph ers ▁were ▁also ▁the ▁first ▁to ▁system atically ▁observe ▁and ▁map ▁( chart ) ▁the ▁largely ▁unknown ▁far ▁southern ▁sk ies ▁– ▁the ▁first ▁significant ▁scientific ▁addition ▁to ▁the ▁cel est ial ▁cart ography ▁since ▁P to le my ' s ▁time ▁( 2 nd ▁century ▁AD ). ▁Among ▁the ▁I AU ' s ▁ 8