On this day in history: Abel Tasman discovers Tasmania - Australian Geographic Tweet "IN THE AFTERNOON, about 4 o'clock...we saw...the first land we have met with in the South Sea...very high...and not known to any European nation". After months at sea, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman's diary entry for the 24 November 1642 marks the first official discovery of a land beyond the Australian mainland. He had discovered what he called Van Diemen's Land. "By 1642 the Dutch had charted the north, the west and much of the southern geographical limits of what became the nation of Australia", says historian Edward Duyker from the Australian Catholic University in Sydney. But nothing was known about the continent as a whole. Tasman was commissioned by the Dutch East India Company to investigate the rest of this mysterious Southern land, then called Terra australis incognita. Tasman is thought to have been born around 1603 in Holland. He participated in anti-smuggling raids and other governmental marine exercises before working with the Dutch East India Company.

He was commemorated with a purported likeness on a 1985 Australian stamp, and scholars agree that no fully authenticated portrait of him exists. Abel Tasman sights Tasmania On the 24 November 1642, Tasman's crew had encountered the west of Tasmania, most probably at Cape Sorell, but he decided for safety in unknown territory to take the ships further out of the bay when evening arrived. The crew spent the next week following the coastline south looking for a suitable place to land due to bad weather that ensued. On 1 December they anchored north-west of Green's Bay an hour after sunset. They explored the next day and found local plants to eat, but the day after, with the weather too difficult to row to the shore, the carpenter, Peter Jacobson, volunteered to swim across and plant the prince's flag. The crew reported hearing human voices and seeing smoke rising from several points on shore during their time in Tasmania, but not sighting people in the flesh. Tasman sailed around to the east and discovered New Zealand on 13 December.

Tasman's Pacific discoveries "Although Tasman did not meet the indigenous inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land, in ushering their island into the European imagination, he effectively shattered their 14,000 year isolation", Duyker says. He then proceeded to make the first circumnavigation of our continent. Tasman discovered New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji and other Pacific Islands after visiting Tasmania, and ironically it was only on a second trip that he located the Australian mainland. Despite all these achievements, his superiors deemed his trips as failures because he didn't establish trading posts. Tasman "effectively proved that our island continent was not attached to another land mass to the south or east", Duyker says. "It was only then than the Dutch began to call this continent Nova Hollandia (New Holland), as opposed to the unknown southland Terra australis incognita". RELATED STORIES Abel Janszoon Tasman - New Zealand in History The first European to discover New Zealand Often, for pastime, mariners will ensnare The albatross, that vast sea-bird who sweeps On high companionable pinion where Their vessel glides upon the bitter deeps.

"The Albatross" - Charles Baudelaire "Towards noon we saw a large high lying land, bearing south-east of us" Abel Janszoon Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman was born in the village of Lutjegast, in today's province of Groningen in the Netherlands, in 1603. Little is known of Tasman's early life, and no portraits of him exist. In 1632 he married Jannetje Tjaerts. He was already a widower at the time, and was recorded as being an ordinary sailor - "vaerentgesel" - and that he lived in a street in Amsterdam called Teerketelsteeg. In 1633 Tasman signed up with the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC). The East India Company was managed by a board of seventeen - "de Heeren XVII" - the Lords Seventeen - and was appointed by Chambers in the principal trading towns. Eight Chambers were situated in Amsterdam, and four Chambers were in Zealand, a maritime province of the Netherlands.

On signing up with the Company, Tasman left for the East to fulfil a three year contract. In 1638, he left the Netherlands for Batavia, (today's Djakarta, Indonesia) in command of the ship "Engel", this time on a ten year contract. His wife accompanied him. Batavia had grown to be a rich city, and here, from this good vantage point in the East Indies, the East India Company was successful and powerful - not lacking in wealth, men or ships. On 13th August 1642 Tasman received instructions to find the mysterious and supposedly rich Southern Continent, which had been eluding and tempting explorers for centuries. This unknown land, Terra Australis Incognita, was said to stretch across the Pacific. Tasman's instructions were to take possession of all continents and islands discovered and set foot on in the course of his voyage "on behalf of their High Mightinesses the States-General of the United Provinces".

Two ships were prepared for the voyage : the "Zeehaen", a flute, (a long, narrow ship - like a flute - with a rounded stern and three masts) of 100 tons carrying 50 men, and the "Heemskerck", the flagship, a small warship of around 60 tons and carrying 60 men. The celebrated pilot, hydrographer and surveyor, Frans (Franchoys) Jacobszoon Visscher accompanied Tasman. On 13th December 1642, the coast of New Zealand came into view, and Tasman noted in his journal "groot hooch verheven landt" (a large land, uplifted high). Tasman named this land "Staten Landt", which refers to the "Land of the (Dutch) States-General." The area of New Zealand which Tasman sighted was in the vicinity of the coast between modern Hokitika and Okarito, on the west coast of the South Island.

Tasman thought, but was not sure, that he may have discovered the western edge of the land discovered in the South Atlantic Ocean in 1616 by his fellow countrymen, Willem Schouten and Isaac Le Maire. (Le Maire Strait, or Estrecho de la Maire, is situated to the south of Chile, between Terra des Fuego and Estados.) At the time, this was believed to have been part of the northern tip of the Southern Continent. Tasman noted this in his journal : "To this land we have given the name of Staten Landt, in honour of Their High Mightinesses the States-General, since it could be quite possible that this land was connected with State Landt, although this is not certain. This land looks like being a very beautiful land and we trust that this is the mainland coast of the unknown south land". (Only a matter of months afterwards, it was proven by Hendrik Brouwer that Tasman's Staten Landt was not connected in any way to State Landt) At sunset on the 18th December, the Dutch anchored off the coast of Taitapu Bay (now Golden Bay) .

Here they decided to try to locate a good harbour, and then to make an attempt to go ashore. It was necessary to find fresh drinking water. A cockboat and a pinnace (a small, fast sailing Schooner) were sent to survey the area. (click here for a map (25k) showing the position of Golden Bay) The two boats returned with their report, and shortly after, as night fell, lights were seen onshore. Two canoes appeared, and the inhabitants began blowing what appeared to the Dutch as a "Moorish" instrument. The canoe people called out to the Dutch, but communication was impossible as neither the Dutch nor the canoe people could understand each other. After a while, the two canoes paddled away. The following morning, another canoe appeared, and once again the natives called out to the Dutch. Communication remained impossible. Tasman noted that the men in the canoes "had black hair tied together right on top of their heads, in the way and fashion the Japanese have it at the back of the head, but their hair was longer and thicker. On the tuft, they had a large, thick, white feather. They were naked from shoulder to waist".

The Dutch tried to tempt the M&#257ori to come on board, without success. As the group of M&#257ori appeared to be friendly, and after a council on board the Heemskerck with the officers of the Zeehaen, the Dutch decided to sail further in, and anchor as close to the shore as possible. In the meantime seven more native canoes appeared, some approaching to within a stone's throw of the ships. In order to avoid the possibility of too many natives attempting to board the ships, the skipper of the Zeehaen, who had been convening on board the Hemmskerck, sent a cockboat back to the Zeehaen with a message warning his junior officers to be on their guard. However, on returning to the Hemmskerck after delivering the message, one of the native canoes suddenly paddled swiftly and directly at the Dutch cockboat and rammed it, killing three sailors and mortally wounding a fourth. Three other sailors were able to swim towards the Hemmskerck, to be plucked from the sea and to safety.

The natives made off with one dead body, threw another into the sea, and set the cockboat adrift, which was recuperated by the Dutch. The Dutch fired on the swiftly retreating M&#257ori, but the canoes were already near the shore and out of firing range. The Dutch ships immediately weighed anchor and set sail. By this time, twenty-two native canoes were massed on the shoreline, and 11 more, "crowded with people", were swiftly paddling towards the Dutch ships. Tasman waited until the canoes were close, before firing only one or two shots at relatively close range. One M&#257ori, standing in a canoe, was hit. This immediately caused the canoes to turn and return rapidly to the shore. Because of this incident, Tasman named the bay "Moordenaers Baij" - Murderer's Bay. After this unhappy first encounter, the Dutch ships continued in a northerly direction, passing by and naming the Three Kings Islands, (in honour of the biblical Three Wise Men, as Tasman anchored here on Twelfth Night Eve) at the northern tip of the North Island, where the South Pacific Sea and the Tasman sea meet.

Tasman named the northwest tip of the North Island of New Zealand Cape Marie van Diemen, after Antony van Diemen's wife, Governor General of Batavia, before heading away, not ever having had the chance to set foot onshore in New Zealand. He returned to Batavia on 14th June 1643. A further voyage was planned for October 1643, but had to be cancelled owing to a renewed outbreak of hostilities with the Portugese. Tasman died in 1659, apparently leaving 25 guilders to the poor of his village. His property was divided between his wife Jannetje and Claesgen, his daughter by his first marriage. From the end of the 1600's onwards the Dutch began to lose their supremacy at sea. France and England became the new sea powers. However Dutch charters were still consulted by other European explorers, as the Dutch were reputed to have established the best maritime charters in the world at that time. Abel Tasman | NZHistory, New Zealand history online Abel Tasman Biography Abel Tasman is officially recognised as the first European to ‘discover’ New Zealand in 1642.

His men were the first Europeans to have a confirmed encounter with Māori. The misunderstanding and fear aroused by two such different worlds coming together soon led to violence. Born at Lutjegast, The Netherlands, Tasman went to sea in the service of the Dutch East India Company, receiving his first command in 1634. After patrolling the waters of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) searching for smugglers and rebels, in 1642 he was appointed to head an expedition to the ‘still unexplored South- and East-land [Australia and South America]’, which had been partly discovered by Dutch mariners. The company wanted to find out whether any exploitable southern lands existed or whether there was a sea passage across the Pacific to Chile. Tasman was given two small ships for the expedition: his flagship, Heemskerck, and an armed transport ship, Zeehaen. Franz Jacobszoon Visscher was appointed as chief pilot. The expedition departed from the company's base at Batavia (Jakarta) in August 1642. After sailing west to Mauritius they turned south before being forced back by the cold to the 45th parallel.

Continuing eastwards they sighted the mountains of a land that Tasman named Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) after the governor general of Batavia. They continued east on 4 December and sighted the west coast of the South Island on the 13th. They anchored at Wharewharangi Bay, near Wainui Inlet to the north of what is now Abel Tasman National Park, on 18 December. The initial meeting between European and Maori was tense but peaceful. The following day, though, the Dutch had a violent encounter with local Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri. Tasman named the place Moordenaers (Murderers) Bay before sailing east to the Manawatu coast of the North Island. Shortly afterwards they sheltered from a storm east of Stephens and D'Urville islands and celebrated the first Christmas dinner in New Zealand. The Dutch continued up the west coast of the North Island reaching Cape Maria Van Diemen (named after van Diemen's wife) on 4 January 1643.

In need of fresh water, they investigated Great Island in the Three Kings group on the 5th but were put off by a heavy surf and rocky shore – not to mention up to 35 inhabitants who shouted ‘with rough loud voice’ and threw stones from the cliff-tops. Sailing a north-east course, the expedition arrived in Tonga on 21 January. After obtaining ample supplies of food and water they sailed on, sighting but not landing in the northern islands of Fiji. After turning west the expedition reached New Guinea in April before returning to Batavia on 15 June 1643. The expedition was deemed a success although it was felt that Tasman could have made more effort to investigate more fully the lands he had discovered. Company bosses in The Netherlands rejected the idea of another expedition. Tasman and Visscher were instead sent to Australia's northern coastline. While looking for another possible passage to South America they mapped the coast from Torres Strait westward to Port Hedland. In 1648 Tasman attempted to hang two sailors who had disobeyed orders by leaving their quarters. He was drunk and one of the men almost died. Tasman was suspended without salary before being reinstated 11 months later.

By 1653 he had retired. He remained in Batavia where he owned a substantial amount of land. He captained a small cargo ship, of which he was a part-owner. Tasman died in October 1659, survived by his second wife, Jannetje, and his daughter, Claesjen. Adapted from the DNZB biography by K. A. Simpson 2. – European discovery of New Zealand – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand Golden Bay Searching for mines and treasures In the early 17th century the Dutch, fresh from winning their country’s independence from Spain, seized much of the East Indies from Portugal. They established their main settlement at Batavia (today’s Jakarta), on Java. When Malacca was captured in 1641, the position of the Dutch in the East Indies was secured and their interest in the South Pacific grew. They wanted to know if there was a southern sea route to Chile which they could use to prey on Spanish ships. They were also eager to profit from the untapped resources of the great southern continent which many firmly believed existed east of Australia and west of Cape Horn.

In the early 1640s the possibility that there might be rich mines of precious metals and other treasures in the unknown part of the globe prompted the leading men of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia to mount an expedition of discovery. The blueprint for such a voyage was sketched in a memorandum prepared in January 1642 by Franz Jacobszoon Visscher. By this time, the Dutch had already charted the northern, western, and part of the southern coasts of Australia. But how far this land extended to the east was still unknown. Tasman, Visscher and Gilsemans The man chosen to command the expedition, Abel Janszoon Tasman, was born in Holland. By 1642 he already had years of experience sailing in north-west Pacific and Asian waters in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Tasman, Visscher and Isaac Gilsemans, who also joined the expedition, had been together in Japan when the Dutch were establishing a trading post there. Working for a company which was more interested in increasing profits than knowledge, Tasman was the servant of ‘a businessman’s empire’.

But Visscher, who sailed with Tasman as his pilot-major and chief adviser, was a man of keen scientific curiosity. Gilsemans would draw the first European images of New Zealand. Tasman’s voyage Tasman sailed from Batavia on 14 August 1642 with 110 men on two ships, the Heemskerck and the Zeehaen. He first sailed south-west to Mauritius (a Dutch possession from 1598 to 1710), then south to below 49˚ (about the latitude of the Auckland Islands), before running east along about the 45th parallel (the latitude of Ōamaru). He discovered Tasmania (as it would later be called) on 24 November, naming it Van Diemen’s Land after one of the expedition’s chief instigators, the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, Anthony van Diemen. From there he sailed further east, becoming the first to cross the sea which now bears his name. New Zealand discovered On 13 December 1642 the Dutch sighted ‘a large land, uplifted high’ – probably the Southern Alps.

After sighting land, Tasman’s ships veered south, then turned north to pass Cape Foulwind and Cape Farewell. He sailed around Farewell Spit into what is now called Golden Bay, where he anchored on 18 and 19 December. What Tasman saw Which part of the South Island did Abel Tasman actually see when he first sighted land on 13 December 1642? The diary for that day reads: 'towards noon saw a large land, uplifted high, had it south-east from us about 15 miles'. At the time, the ship was located at about 42°10' latitude, which means it was opposite Punakaiki, just north of Greymouth. However, the 15 miles is misleading; a Dutch mile equals four English miles, making Tasman's actual position 60 miles (100 kilometres) offshore. From that distance, looking towards the south-east, he would probably have seen the northern part of the Southern Alps, and he may even have seen, far to the south, the peaks of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman, as they were later named.

Bloodied water One of Tasman’s small boats, passing between the two ships, was rammed by a Māori canoe. Four of Tasman’s party were killed. It is likely that the Māori, of the Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri tribe, saw these strange newcomers as threatening interlopers, an impression reinforced when the Dutch responded by shooting and hitting one Māori. Tasman named the place where he anchored Moordenaers Baij (Murderers Bay). Despite the tragic encounter, Tasman was impressed by the new country. Just days after his men had been killed he wrote that the place was ‘a very fine land’. 1 Unexplored areas After the incident, Tasman moved his ships to the northern end of D’Urville Island. Although he suspected the existence of the strait that his successor, James Cook, was to discover, bad weather prevented him from investigating it, and he sailed north. In early January 1643, while off Cape Maria van Diemen in Northland, Tasman supposed there was a passage through to the coast of South America.

That such a passage might exist did not rule out the possibility that the land he had discovered was part of a great southern continent. But he did not explore any further. After failing in an attempt to get wood and water at one of the Three Kings Islands, Tasman sailed north to Batavia by way of Tonga, the northern Fiji Islands and New Guinea. Abel Janszoon Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman the first known European explorer to reach Tasmania and New Zealand and to sight Fiji Abel Janszoon Tasman was born in Lutjegast, Netherlands , about 1603. Little is known about his early life except that he received a sufficient enough education to enable him to express his ideas clearly in writing and to become a skilled navigator. He married Claesgie Meyndrix, by whom he had a daughter. After she died, he married Joanna Tiercx (in January 1632). By 1634, Tasman was in the East Indies with the Dutch East India Company.

In that year, as Skipper of the Mocha, he had a narrow escape from death when, during an incautious landing, several of his companions were massacred by people of Ceram. As Senior Officer on the Banda, he sailed from Batavia on December 30, 1636, and arrived back in the Netherlands on August 1, 1637. He left for the East Indies again as Skipper of the Engel on April 15, 1638 (this time taking his wife with him), and arrived back at Batavia on October 11, 1638. First Voyage of Exploration On June 2, 1639, Tasman and Matthijs Hendricxsen Quast were sent by Antony Van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, on a voyage to the northwestern Pacific, in quest of certain "islands of gold and silver" supposed to lie in the ocean east of Japan. The men improved Dutch knowledge of the east coast of Luzon and discovered and mapped various islands in the Bonin archipelago, but never found the fabled islands.

On October 15 the navigators decided to return, and, after touching at Japan , anchored at the Dutch fortress-station of Zeelandia in Formosa ( Taiwan ) on November 24, 1639. Tasman was subsequently engaged in operations in the Indian seas as a merchant captain until 1642, when he set out on his first great "South Land" expedition, which was planned and organized by Governor Van Diemen, who had grand plans for extension of the Dutch colonial empire. Second Voyage of Exploration After sailing from Batavia on August 14, 1642 with two vessels, the Heemskerk and Zeehaen, and calling at Mauritius , Tasman sailed first south then east until, on November 24, he sighted the land which he named Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Although the expedition charted and explored the land's eastern and southern shores, Tasman failed to determine that it was an island.

Leaving Tasmania on December 5, Tasman steered east and, on December 13, sighted a "high mountainous country," which he called "Staten landt" ("Land of the States," now New Zealand ). Cruising up northeast along the west coast of the South Island, he anchored, on December 18, at the entrance of a wide opening, which he named Murderers Bay because several of his men were killed by natives there. Although he charted part of its southern coast, Tasman failed to realize that the bay was actually a strait separating "Staten landt" into two large islands (it is now known as Cook Strait). Returning westward, he then sailed along the west side of the North Island until, on January 4, 1643, he came to the northern extremity of New Zealand. From there, he set a course to the north-northeast. On January 19-25, 1643, Tasman discovered various islands in the Tonga group, with Amsterdam (Tongatabu), Middelburg (Eva), and Rotterdam being the most notable.

Here, the ships took on water and provisions, which they had not done since leaving Mauritius, and the crews went onshore for the first time since leaving Van Diemen's Land. From there, they headed north and west, reaching the eastern part of the Fiji archipelago, which he called Prince William's Islands and Heemskerk's Shoals, on February 6. By April 1 Tasman was within sight of New Ireland, and from there he sailed westward past the north coast of New Ireland and around New Hanover, past the western coast of New Britain, along the north coast of New Guinea, reaching the westernmost point of New Guinea on May 18. After passing through the East Indies, the voyage ended at Batavia on June 15, 1643. Third Voyage of Exploration In 1644, Tasman, in command of the Limmen, Zeemeeuw, and Brak, sailed along the southwest coast of New Guinea. Mistaking the western opening of Torres Strait (which separates New Guines from Australia), he then sailed into and explored the Gulf of Carpenteria, mapping its coastline with fair accuracy.

He subsequently charted the north and west coasts of Australia as far as 22ï¿½ S, making soundings along the way, before returning to Batavia. Later Life Tasman's achievements were received with little enthusiasm by the Dutch colonial authorities, who were disappointed that he had neither found a promising area for trade nor a useful new shipping route. He was, however, rewarded with the rank of Commander (a title he had already given himself), and, on November 2, 1644, was made a member of the Council of Justice of Batavia. He was a member of the committee appointed on April 18, 1645 to declare a truce between the Dutch East India Company and the viceroy of Portuguese India. In 1647 he commanded a trading fleet to Siam, and in 1648 a war fleet sent against the Spaniards of the Philippines. By 1653 he had left the company's service, but still lived, apparently as one of its wealthiest citizens, in and near Batavia.

His will, made April 10, 1657, seems to have but slightly preceded his death, which probably happened before October 22, 1659. Australian Dictionary of Biography Notorious Names Database Abel Tasman | Dutch explorer and navigator | Britannica.com Dutch explorer and navigator Alternative Title: Abel Janszoon Tasman Abel Tasman Dirck Hartog Abel Tasman, in full Abel Janszoon Tasman (born 1603?, Lutjegast, Netherlands —died probably before October 22, 1659, certainly before February 5, 1661), greatest of the Dutch navigators and explorers, who discovered Tasmania, New Zealand , Tonga, and the Fiji Islands. On his first voyage (1642–43) in the service of the Dutch East India Company , Tasman explored the Indian Ocean , Australasia, and the southern Pacific; on his second voyage (1644) he traveled in Australian and South Pacific waters. Abel Janszoon Tasman, wood engraving by Andrew Garran, 1886.

The Print Collector/Heritage-Images The ships of Abel Janszoon Tasman’s expedition meeting Polynesian outrigger canoes off the coast of … The Granger Collection, New York Tasman entered the service of the Dutch East India Company in 1632 or 1633 and made his first voyage of exploration to Ceram (modern Seram) Island (in modern Indonesia) as captain of the Mocha in 1634. He sailed in 1639 under Commander Mathijs Hendrickszoon Quast on an expedition in search of the “islands of gold and silver” in the seas east of Japan. After a series of trading voyages to Japan, Formosa (Taiwan), Cambodia, and Sumatra , he was chosen by the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies , Anthony van Diemen , to command the most ambitious of all Dutch voyages for the exploration of the Southern Hemisphere. By 1642 Dutch navigators had discovered discontinuous stretches of the western coast of Australia, but whether these coasts were continental and connected with the hypothetical southern continent of the Pacific remained unknown.

Tasman was assigned to solve this problem, following instructions based on a memoir by Frans Jacobszoon Visscher, his chief pilot. He was instructed to explore the Indian Ocean from west to east, south of the ordinary trade route, and, proceeding eastward into the Pacific (if this proved possible), to investigate the practicability of a sea passage eastward to Chile, to rediscover the Solomon Islands of the Spaniards, and to explore New Guinea . Leaving Batavia (modern Jakarta) on August 14, 1642, with two ships, the Heemskerk and Zeehaen, Tasman sailed to Mauritius (September 5–October 8), then southward and eastward, reaching his most southerly latitude of 49° S at about 94° E. Turning north he discovered land on November 24 at 42°20′ S, and he skirted its southern shores, naming it Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania). A council of officers on December 5 decided against further investigation, so he missed the opportunity of discovering Bass Strait.

Continuing eastward, he sighted on December 13, at 42°10′ S, the coast of South Island , New Zealand , and explored it northward, entering the strait between North Island and South Island, supposing it to be a bay. He left New Zealand on January 4, 1643, at North Cape, under the impression that he had probably discovered the west coast of the southern continent, which might be connected with the “Staten Landt” (Staten Island) discovered by W.C. Schouten and Jacques Le Maire south of South America—hence the name of Staten Landt, which Tasman gave to his discovery in honour of the States General (the Dutch legislature). Britannica Stories EU Considers Rules For Robots Convinced by the swell that the passage to Chile existed, Tasman now turned northeast, and on January 21 he discovered Tonga and on February 6 the Fiji Islands. Turning northwest, the ships reached New Guinea waters on April 1 and Batavia on June 14, 1643, completing a 10-month voyage on which only 10 men had died from illness.

Tasman had circumnavigated Australia without seeing it, thus establishing that it was separated from the hypothetical southern continent. The council of the company decided, however, that Tasman had been negligent in his investigation of the lands that he discovered and of the passage to Chile. They sent him on a new expedition to the “South Land” in 1644 with instructions to establish the relationships of New Guinea, the “great known South Land” (western Australia), Van Diemen’s Land , and the “unknown South Land.” Tasman sailed from Batavia on February 29, steering southeast along the south coast of New Guinea, sailing southeast into Torres Strait (which he mistook for a shallow bay), coasting Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria , and then following the north coast and then the west coast of Australia to 22° S. Human Exploration: From Earth to Space Although he was rewarded with the rank of commander and was made a member of the Council of Justice of Batavia, his second voyage was also a disappointment to the company because it had failed to reveal lands of potential wealth.

In 1647 Tasman commanded a trading fleet to Siam (now Thailand), and in the following year he commanded a war fleet against the Spaniards in the Philippines. He left the service of the Dutch East India Company several years later. Tasman, Abel Janszoon – Biography – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1602/1603?–1659? Mariner, explorer, landowner, trader This biography was written by K. A. Simpson and was first published in the Dictionary of New Zealand BiographyVolume 1, 1990 Abel Janszoon Tasman was born, probably in 1602 or 1603, at Lutjegast, Groningen, The Netherlands. His first wife was Claesgie Heyndrix, with whom he had a daughter named Claesjen. A proclamation of his second marriage, given in December 1631 at Amsterdam, describes him as a widower and sailor; probably on 11 January 1632 at Amsterdam he married Jannetje (Joanna) Tjaerts, aged 21.

Tasman, in service with the Dutch East India Company, was first mate of the Weesp in 1634 and later that year skipper of the Mocha, patrolling in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and engaging in skirmishes with smugglers and rebels. During one voyage three of his men were killed and others wounded by natives of the island of Ceram. In late 1636 he was senior officer on the Banda, which arrived in The Netherlands on 1 August 1637. He returned, accompanied by his wife, to the company's base at Batavia (Jakarta), Dutch East Indies, as skipper of the Engel, in which he patrolled until May 1639. Tasman was chosen for the mission on account of his reputation for leadership. The company was then enjoying great prosperity, and from 1639 to 1642 Tasman sought cargo and booty in the north-west Pacific and along the coast of Asia, including Japan, Formosa (Taiwan), Cambodia and Sumatra. A high death toll through disease was common, and the Dutch vessels were sometimes sunk.

On one voyage, commanding a fleet of three ships, Tasman's considerable skill as a navigator allowed him to return safely to Batavia after the other two ships were lost in a storm. Isaac Gilsemans, a Dutch cartographer and illustrator, sailed with Tasman in 1642-3 and drew the coastal profiles of lands visited during the voyages. On 1 August 1642 the governor general and councillors of the company resolved to send an expedition to the 'still unexplored South- and East-land [Australia and South America]', which had been partly discovered by Dutch mariners. They wished to ascertain if exploitable southern lands, or a sea passage across the Pacific to Staten Landt (Chile), existed. With the experienced hydrographer Franz Jacobszoon Visscher as chief pilot, Tasman commanded a convoy of two small ships: his flagship, the yacht Heemskerck, and an armed transport ship, Zeehaen. In accordance with lengthy instructions, on 14 August they sailed west from Batavia to Mauritius, where they stayed for one month, making repairs and taking on supplies.

They then sailed due south until unpleasantly cold conditions forced them back to the 45th parallel, which they followed eastwards until they sighted the mountains of southern Tasmania on 24 November. Tasman named this new land Antony Van Diemen's Land, after the governor general of Batavia. They skirted it from North Bay, on the east coast, to St Patrick Head, on the east, finding evidence of inhabitants without seeing them. After taking on fresh water and planting a company flag, they continued east from Tasmania on 4 December. About noon on 13 December, Tasman sighted a large, elevated land mass (the Southern Alps of New Zealand). At the time he was opposite Perpendicular Point, by Punakaiki. Tasman named it Staten Landt, thinking it the part of South America named by Jacob Le Maire. The ships sailed north past Cape Foulwind, seeing smoke from cooking fires before reaching Cape Farewell on 16 December. On the evening of 18 December Tasman and his men became the first known Europeans to encounter Maori. The ships anchored in Golden Bay; lights were seen on shore and two boats came out to inspect the ships from a distance.

A trumpet-like noise was heard, and Tasman's crew replied with a trumpet. Next day, 19 December, a boat approached with 13 men of Ngati Tumatakokiri on board, who called out. They were shown white cloth and knives as gifts by Tasman's men, but returned to shore. Tasman noted that the occupants were of ordinary height 'but rough of voice and bones their colour between brown and yellow'. They had black hair, which was fastened at the back and adorned with a large white feather, and wore square cloaks, tied in front of the throat, with a square plate around the neck. Their boats consisted of two long canoes lashed together, with planks laid across for seating. Seven more craft, one with a high prow, came out to the ships. The Heemskerck's small boat was sent to the Zeehaen with the quarter master and six oarsmen, to warn the crew to be on their guard and not to let too many on board. Returning, the boat was rammed by one of the canoes and the sailors were attacked with paddles and 'short thick pieces of wood'.

Three were killed and one mortally wounded; the quarter master and two others swam to Tasman's ship and were picked up by its sloop. One of the dead was taken by the attackers, and the canoes sped back to shore out of range of the muskets and cannon which opened fire from both ships. As the ships weighed anchor and set sail, 11 canoes approached and were fired on. The leading boat and one occupant were struck by canister shot. Tasman named the place Moordenaers (Murderers) Bay (Golden Bay). Sailing east, the fleet reached the Manawatu coast of the North Island the next day, then tacked across the entrance of Cook Strait. They suspected the presence of a strait but were unable to check because of a northerly storm. Anchoring east of Stephens and D'Urville islands, they weathered a storm and celebrated the first Christmas dinner in New Zealand, with pork and extra rations of wine. They sailed up the west coast of the North Island, too far offshore to see Mt Taranaki.

On 28 December a high mountain was seen, Karioi Mountain, south of Raglan Harbour, and on 30 December they were north of Manukau Harbour. They reached Cape Maria Van Diemen (named after van Diemen's wife) on 4 January 1643 and sighted Great Island, in the Three Kings group. On 5 January, wanting fresh water, they investigated this island, but were discouraged by a rocky shore and heavy surf, and by the 30 to 35 inhabitants who shouted 'with rough loud voice' and threw stones from the clifftops. The fleet made a north-east course, reaching the southern islands of the Tonga group on 21 January, where they finally obtained ample supplies of food and water by trading with the islanders. Sailing on, in early February they sighted some of the northern islands of Fiji but did not land. They turned westwards, survived a prolonged storm, and experienced an earthquake at sea. Reaching New Guinea in mid April, they navigated its northern coastline and reached Batavia on 15 June. The governor general and councillors considered the expedition successful, and officers and men received a moderate reward.

However, it was felt that Tasman should have investigated more fully the lands he had discovered, to see if the new Staten Landt was linked to the old. Another voyage was proposed for the following year, but the company's managers in The Netherlands rejected the idea. In the meantime Tasman and Visscher were sent to Australia's northern coastline, which they mapped from Torres Strait westward to Port Hedland while looking for a possible passage to South America. On 4 October 1644 Tasman's rank of skipper commander, which he had held since beginning the 1642–43 voyage, was confirmed. From 1644 to 1648 he was a member of the council of justice at Batavia, examining ships' journals and advising on navigation to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and the Philippines. He was sent on trading missions to Sumatra in 1646 and Siam (Thailand) in 1647. On 14 May 1648 he led a fleet of eight ships on an unsuccessful attempt to capture a Spanish silver-ship in the Philippines.

Tasman was charged with exceeding his authority by attempting to hang two men who disobeyed his order to go ashore at the Babuyan Islands on 28 August. Although he denied the charge, he was found guilty by the council of justice at Batavia, and on 23 November 1649 was suspended without salary, fined and ordered to pay compensation to one of the sailors, who had nearly died. He was reinstated 11 months later. By 1653 Tasman had retired. He owned 288 acres of town land in Batavia, and captained a small cargo ship, of which he was a part-owner. He described himself as ill, but not bedridden, when making his will on 10 April 1657. He died probably shortly before 22 October 1659, when his will was verified, and was survived by his wife, Jannetje, his daughter, Claesjen, and grandchildren.

Question: The explorer Abel Tasman discovered Australia and New Zealand in what year?
Answer: 1642