But the Europeans made other things less obvious but no less important, such as bringing to the new territories animal and plant species that kept the forced colonizers alive. Therefore it was common to find goats, sheep, cows and other domestic animals in the holds of the boats. The same was also done with vegetables and wheat and corn traveled from one continent to another to feed the malnourished settlements and of course, expert gardeners who kept the species alive and then selected the best farmland.
Leaving behind these species, the Europeans also exported the vine to the ends of the planet, because wine was and still is a hallmark of European identity. From the first crops in Mesopotamia, then in the Mediterranean and finally in the European nations, the wine accompanied the Spanish, French Portuguese and British culture and of course this value always accompanied the explorers.
The island of Tenerife actively participated in this export of values, not only with Spanish America but also with Oceania. And not only because the exploration trips had loaded wines on the island, something that is perfectly documented but because of this island were taken cuttings to plant in Australia and New Zealand.
The information is provided by Philips Gidley King, who after embarking on the first fleet [First Fleet] in 1787 as second lieutenant of HMS Sirius and directing the settlement on the island of Norfolk then returned to England. There he married again to return on a second trip aboard the HMS Gorgon to become lieutenant governor of the island. During his stay Tenerife obtained some small fig trees, orange and pear lemons, with some vine cuttings and two or three plants of Guinea grass, which indicates that Tenerife wines were introduced in Australia. The letter where he mentions it was written to Joseph Banks, director of the Royal Society of London. Gidley King became in 1800 in the third governor of New Wales of the South.