Dutch navigator Abel Tasman visited Australia in 1642, the first European to do so. Capt. James Cook was the next visitor, in 1770, when he charted part of the coastline and took possession of the eastern half of Australia for Britain. Cook's excellent timing aided the British government, which was seeking an alternative penal settlement to the North American Colonies that were lost in the American Revolution. Arthur Philip was dispatched to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay, landing on January 26, 1788. He built his settlement at Port Jackson, now Sydney. Philip also opened a second post for transported convicts on Norfolk Island.