Islands of Gold
While notions of Islands of Gold and Silver in the vicinity of Australia are often credited to Marco Polo, references to these fabulous locations go back at least as far as Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE).
Although Pliny placed Chryse and Argyre (chrysos = gold and argyros = silver in ancient Greek) beyond the Indus River's mouth, he was disinclined to believe some of the purported detail.
Isidore of Seville's Etymologies repeated the notion.
Marco Polo's influence ensured that the legends persisted into the Age of Discovery.
However, their purported location gradually shifted farther and farther east as the fringes of the known world extended into the Pacific.
Abel Tasman participated in an unsuccessful venture into the northeast Pacific before his better-known Australian voyages.
As late as 1787, the islands' possible existence was enough to persuade la Perouse to divert from a direct course to investigate British activity at Botany Bay.
