<Li> 1541--42--Francisco de Orellana sails down the length of the Amazon . </Li> <Li> 1542--43--Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo explores the coasts of modern Baja and California from Punta Baja to the Russian River, discovering the Channel Islands; after his death, his second - in - command, Bartolomé Ferrer, reaches Point Arena . </Li> <Li> 1542 or 1543--Fernão Mendes Pinto, António Mota and Francisco Zeimoto reach Tanegashima, Japan . </Li> <Li> 1543--Ruy López de Villalobos discovers three islands (Fais, Ulithi and Yap) in the Carolines and eight atolls (Kwajalein, Lae, Ujae, Wotho, Likiep, Wotje, Erikub and Maloelap) in the Marshall Islands . </Li>

What country began the era of european exploration