H. Hello and welcome to another post...

H.

The letter H has different pronunciations depending on where you come from. In Argentina the sound of the letter H is silent. In Spanish, when people laugh using text, one types in:

"Jajajajajajajajajajajajajajajaja"

in English, it is:

"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha"

The letter "J" in 'español' has the same sound as the letter "H" sound in 'ingles'. The word "hola" is "hello" but one pronounces it "orlah" and not "Horlar". 

When it comes to the indigenous language of the Indigenous Australians or the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Aboriginals), the language has a complete "Englishnasation" applied to it (Is there such a word?). I don't believe this has been a fair process, but since the British conquered this country and took over it despite the efforts of the Aboriginals first here, imagine if the Spanish or the Portuguese had arrived here first? What a disaster that would have been. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-l2-Q7vODc

Apparently, the Portugues and the Spanish had decided not to venture into New Holland as it was known at the time when Capitan Torres discovered the channel between Australia and New Guinea connecting the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The Dutch had called it Arnamland after the city in The Netherlands but there are no records of this that I can find. I did find, however, that the first English navigator to arrive in New Holland was William Dampier many years before James Cook did. In fact, Cook used maps obtained from Dampier as well as the Portuguese and may have had maps of the East Coast as a guide. Not to take anything away from Cook, but when he claimed Australia for the King of England, he was a Lieutenant and may not have had the authority to do so. 

On 24 January 1788, the French arrived at Botany Bay using maps Cook had provided La Perouse and Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle. They set out to explore the "new New World" on the other side of the Pacific Ocean in 1785 and their travels are well documented. This is an extract from the internet:

The expedition's aims were to complete the Pacific discoveries of James Cook (whom Lapérouse greatly admired), correct and complete maps of the area, establish trade contacts, open new maritime routes and enrich French science and scientific collections. His ships were L'Astrolabe (under Fleuriot de Langle) and La Boussole, both 500 tons. They were storeships reclassified as frigates for the occasion. Their objectives were geographic, scientific, ethnological, economic (looking for opportunities for whaling or fur trading), and political (the eventual establishment of French bases or colonial cooperation with their Spanish allies in the Philippines). They were to explore both the north and south Pacific, including the coasts of the Far East as well as Australia, and send back reports through existing European outposts in the Pacific.

The concern that I have is how in Australia all reference to anyone but the British has been omitted from the history we teach the children at school. Imagine if the French had participated in the colonisation of Australia and they hadn't had the French Revolution? The Napoleonic Wars of 1803–1815 as we all know were a series of major conflicts between the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, who was defeated by none other than the British Wellington in the battle of Waterloo. 

Also in 1788, the American War on Independence had taken hold of North America and it was logical for the British to begin their quest to invade New Holland while everyone else was preoccupied in the conflicts experienced there. Check out this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_American_Revolution

I am beginning to suspect the English had a lot to do with the wars and political issues in Europe, to include perhaps the fires in Portugal after the massive earthquake that destroyed Lisbon on 1 November 1755. Ironically on 26 January 1531, Lisbon had experienced another earthquake that almost destroyed the city then but was not as severe as the one 1755 that cause a tsunami of huge proportions. Had the Portuguese not experienced such destruction, they may have been in a better position to also explore New Holland better. It is well documented that the Spanish wanted to concentrate their efforts solely in America and showed no interest in this Great Southern Land. 

Can you imagine, considering the utter destruction of Africa and The Americas by the Europeans what would have happened to Australia had they not killed each other enough during the wars against the all-mighty Napoleon? Had the conflict in Europe gone the other way, the Americans may not have been able to buy the territories they obtained from the French in 1803 for $15,000,000 and Napoleon would never have sold it to Jefferson: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Purchase

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fontainebleau_(1762)

Had Europe not been in such a mess, the Americans would never have had the opportunity to take matters into their own hands and "The U-S of A" would not have ever evolved as it did and Australia may not have had the complete dominance by the British over the Aboriginal people in the way they have over the past 200 years.