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. 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 Tasman (1603-1659): History Class | think-tasmania.com Abel Tasman (1603-1659): History Class Posted by Carol Haberle | Jul 12, 2013 | 3 | Abel Tasman is famous for being the first European to reach and name ‘Anthoonij van Diemenslandt’ (now Tasmania). The name was later shortened to Van Diemen’s Land by the British. Tasman was also the first to reach New Zealand, the first to sight the Fiji islands and helped to map large areas of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Facebook ‘Anthoonij van Diemenslandt’ as mapped in 1642 Abel Tasman: Van Diemen’s Land by Carol Haberle Abel Janszoon Tasman was born in 1603 in a small village named Lutjegast (today called Groningen) in Holland (the Netherlands). Very little is known of Tasman’s early life, no official portraits of this man are in existence, only sketches of what it is believed he looked like.

It is known though, that ships and sailing were his interest from a very young age. Following the death of his first wife, Tasman married a second time to Jannetjie Tjaers, in Amsterdam in 1631, giving his profession as a ‘sailor’. Facebook Pinterest In Search of the South Land, Tasmanian History In 1633, at the age of 30, Abel Tasman signed up with the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC), from where he was sent to the East on a three-year contract as a merchant. It wasn’t long before he commanded several of the company’s ships, making several trips to the East Indies. Returning to the Netherlands in 1637, Tasman left again the following year for Batavia (now Djakarta, Indonesia). This time he was in command of the ship ‘Engel’, on a 10-year contract, with his wife to accompany him. Batavia was a very rich city, and the East India Company held a powerful position.

Tasman undertook several more trips, sailing to Formosa, Japan, Cambodia and Palembang as merchant captain, after which he began making exploratory voyages to China, Cambodia, Japan, and Sumatra. This brought him to the attention of Antonio van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, who then gave Tasman a commission to explore the southern oceans. European Explorers and the Southern Continent On 13 August 1642 he was instructed to find what was believed to be a ‘very rich but mysterious’ Southern Continent, one which had eluded many European explorers for centuries. Known as ‘Terra australis incognita’, it was said to stretch across the Pacific.

Tasman’s instructions were to take possession of all continents and islands ‘discovered’ in the course of his voyage… instructions written in history documentation are as follow: “All continents and islands, which you shall discover, touch at, and set foot on, you will take possession of on behalf of their high mightinesses of the States General of the United Provinces, the which uninhabited regions of or in such countries as have no sovereign, may be done by erecting a memorial stone, or by planting our prince flag in sign of actual occupation seeing that such lands justly belong to the discoverer and first occupier.” Facebook ‘Anthoonij van Diemenslandt’ 1644 based on a map by dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu Mount Zeehan and Mount Heemskirk Abel Tasman left with two vessels, the ‘Heemskerk’ with 60 men and the ‘Zeehaan’ with 50 men on board, and first stopped at Mauritius, where a month long stay was required to repair the ships, after which they then sailed south east into unchartered waters.

Abel Janszoon Tasman noted in his journal on 22 November 1642 that his compasses were not steady and deduced the presence of mines of loadstone (loadstone is a naturally magnetized piece of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally-occurring magnets, which can attract pieces of iron). This was two days before his ‘lookout’ spotted Tasmania for the first time. This was the first prediction of mineral wealth on the west coast of Tasmania . The first recorded sighting of Tasmania was from near Macquarie Harbour on 24 November 1642. Tasman named this island ‘Anthoonij van Diemenslandt’ after the Governor of East Indies, Antonio van Diemen. The first two mountains sighted on the island were named Mount Zeehan and Mount Heemskirk. Facebook Sketch of The Heemskerk by Kevin Haberle Adventure Bay and Storm Bay Due to strong winds, it was several days before landing could take place, so seeking shelter from a storm, Abel Tasman put into a cove he named Storm Bay.

(Today this bay is known as Adventure Bay , a later explorer, Furneaux , misread Tasman’s charts and called Tasman’s Storm Bay Adventure Bay and gave the name Storm Bay to a larger bay nearby). On December 1st, 1642, they anchored in a good harbour of 22 fathoms depth. Eventually the Zeehaan’s pinnace (small boat) was launched, from which the ship’s carpenter, Pieter Jacobszoon, swam ashore and tied a Dutch flag to a stake on the shore. In this way possession of the land was claimed by Europeans on 3 December 1642. A number of plants were returned to the boat and while on land it was reported the men heard sounds of the Aborigines and saw notches made in trees to ‘rob birds’ nests’. One must wonder today whether these notches were used to climb trees to raid bird’s nests, or were merely made so as to use the height of the trees as a lookout, for not one member of the party is recorded as actually seeing an aboriginal! After claiming possession, Tasman moved his ships on, following the east coast of Tasmania .

When the shore fell away to the northwest (Bass Strait) the weather was rough and coming in directly from the north. It was at this point Tasman decided to quit this island and continue east, sailing on to the south island of New Zealand. Abel Tasman the Namesake Abel Janszoon Tasman left a lasting legacy on our island state in place names , he was the first European to reach and name our island, he named Mount Heemskirk after one of his ships, he named Storm Bay after a storm encountered there on 29 November 1642 (the actual location is known today as Encounter Bay). Frederick Henry Bay (though it’s original location is where Blackman’s Bay today is, another mapping mix up by Furneaux) was also named by Tasman after Frederick Henrijk, a councillor of the Dutch East India Company. Facebook Pinterest Mount Heemskirk, Tasmania Matthew Flinders named Mount Zeehan after the other of Abel Tasman’s ships, as was the town of Zeehan itself.

Both Tasman Island and Tasman Peninsula were named by Matthew Flinders on 9th December 1798 during his circumnavigation of Tasmania with George Bass to honour Abel Tasman. Facebook Pinterest Part of the township of Zeehan today, Mount Zeehan looms in the background While Tasman did not meet any, the native aborigines knew this land prior to his arrival as ‘Trowunna’, ‘Trowenna’ or ‘Loetrouwitter’. Today there is no clear indication of who actually changed the name to Tasmania, although it is clear it was renamed in recognition of Abel Tasman. As early as 1803 the word Tasmania appeared in the naming of one of our native flora , while in 1808 London-based mapmakers Laurie and Whittle’s ‘An Elegant Imperial Sheet Atlas’ included a map with both names, Van Diemen’s Land and Tasmania. This was the first appearance of ‘Tasmania’ discovered in print. The Bishopric of Tasmania was proclaimed in 1842. The new name was gazetted locally in November, 1855, with a ‘Designation of the Colony Act’ in December of that year.

The new name became effective on 1 January, 1856, and the next day ‘Tasmania’ celebrated its renaming at a Grand Tasmanian Regatta. If you’d like Carol to visit you , please contact Think Tasmania . If you like this article about Tasmania , and you’d like to read more, just subscribe to our newsletter or join us on social media via Facebook , Twitter , Pinterest or Instagram . If you really like this article, and you want others to see it, you can choose one of the “share” options below. We’d love that! Comments relevant to this article are always most welcome, just leave a reply below. But first… please confirm the date of this article. Have you found something current, or is this ancient information? Either way, thanks for your company and come back again soon. Abel Janszoon Tasman "Anthony Van Diemens Landt (Tasmania). From Tasman's Abel Janszoon Tasman's Journal . . . (Amsterdam, 1898). [Rare Books Division] Book: Tasman, Abel Janszoon.

Abel Janszoon Tasman’s Journal of His Discovery of Van Diemens Land and New Zealand in 1642, with Documents Relating to His Exploration of Australia in 1644. . . . Amsterdam, 1898. Facsimiles of the original manuscript, with an English translation by J. de Hoop Scheffer and C. Stoffel and five oversize maps in rear pocket. First full published account of Tasman’s first expedition. [Rare Books Division] Discovery of Tasmania [November 24, 1642] In the afternoon, about 4 o’clock, we saw land, bearing east by north of us, at about 10 miles’ distance from us by estimation; the land we sighted was very high: towards evening we also saw, east-south-east of us, three high mountains, and to the north-east two more mountains, but less high than those to the southward; we found here that our compass pointed due north. . . . [English translation section, p.

11] This land being the first land we have met with in the South Sea, and not known to any European nation, we have conferred on it the name of Anthoony van Diemenslandt, in honour of the Hon. Governor-General, our illustrious master, who sent us to make this discovery. . . . [p. 12] [December 3, 1642] When we had come close inshore in a small inlet which bore west-south-west of the ships, the surf ran so high that we could not get near the shore without running the risk of having our pinnace dashed to pieces. We then ordered the carpenter aforesaid to swim to the shore alone, with the pole and the flag, and kept by the wind with our pinnace; we made him plant the said pole with the flag at top into the earth, about the centre of the bay near four trees easily recognizable and standing in the form of a crescent. . . . [T]he carpenter aforesaid thereupon swam back to the pinnace through the surf.

This work having been duly executed, we pulled back to the ships, leaving the above mentioned as a memorial for those who shall come after us, and for the natives of this country, who did not show themselves, though we suspect some of them were at no great distance and closely watching our proceedings. [p. 16] “Moordenaers Bay” (Murderers Bay, New Zealand). From Tasman's Abel Janszoon Tasman's Journal . . . (Amsterdam, 1898). [Rare Books Division] (A) Our ships. (B) The prows w hich came alongside of us. (C) The cock-boat of the Zeehaen, which came paddling towards our ship, and was overpowered by the natives, who afterwards left it again owing to our firing; when we saw that they had left the cock-boat, our skipper fetched it back with our pinnace. (D) A view of the native prow with the appearance of the people. (E) Our ships putting off to sea. (F) [Refers to the next page drawing] [p.

21] Continuing eastward, Tasman’s ships soon came upon another uncharted land, today’s northwestern part of New Zealand’s South Island, on December 13. In the first European encounter with native New Zealanders (Maori Indians), four of Tasman’s men were killed. He named the place Murderers’ Bay (today’s Golden Bay). Not realizing that a strait (Cook Strait) separated the South and North Islands, they moved northward along the coast and named the new land Staten Landt (Statesland), thinking it was the west coast of the island that fellow countrymen Jacques Le Maire and Willem Corneliszoon Schouten had discovered off the southern tip of South America in 1616. (For more on this, see Le Maire/Schouten in the Explorers section.) Tasman thought this was the western side of the great Southern Continent. From there, sailing northwestward, the expedition located the Fiji Islands but could not land because of wind conditions and a hazardous reef. On his return to Batavia, Tasman’s arc took him past Ontong Java, New Britain and New Ireland (which he mistook as one island), and the northern coast of New Guinea.

He arrived back safely on June 15, 1643, having covered more than five thousand miles in mostly uncharted waters. Not realizing it, he had completed a circumnavigation of New Holland (Australia) and proven that it was not the Southern Continent. Discovery of New Zealand "Staete Landt Dit is Beseijlt ende" (New Zealand). From Tasman's Abel Janszoon Tasman's Journal . . . (Amsterdam, 1898). [Rare Books Division] [December 13, 1642] Latitude observed 42°10′, Longitude 188°28′; course kept east by north, sailed 36 miles in a south-south-westerly wind with a top-gallant gale. Towards noon we saw a large, high-lying land, bearing south-east of us at about 15 miles’ distance. . . . [p. 17] François Valentijn, 1666-1727. “Staeten Landt bezylt en ontdekt . . . (&) Aldus vertoont zich het Drie Koningen Eyland . . .

.” Copperplate map (10 x 16.4 cm.) and view (14.7 x 17.2 cm.) on one sheet. From volume 3 of Valentijn’s Oud en nieuw Oost-Indien (Amsterdam, 1726). [Historic Maps Collection]. First printed view of Tasman’s New Zealand coastline and first printed European portrayal of Maori Indians. Formerly employed by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as Minister to the East Indies, Valentijn probably had access to the cherished, and jealously guarded, VOC archives. The map shows Tasman’s ships approaching what he would called Murderers Bay, situated near Cook’s Strait. Not able to explore the area closely, Tasman assumed a continuous coastline. In the bottom view, Heemskerck and Zeehaen are shown off the Three Kings Islands, located northwest of the most northwestern point of New Zealand’s North Island, where the South Pacific and Tasman Sea converge. Giant Maoris appear on the hilltops.

Arriving there on January 6 (1643), the Twelfth Night of the Epiphany, Tasman named them for the biblical three kings or wise men. Heavy surf and reefs prevented him from landing. As interesting as Tasman’s discoveries were, Van Diemen desired more commercial results and thus sent him back out on another expedition to discover a better, more efficient transit to the Pacific Ocean and gold-rich Chile from Batavia across the north of New Holland. Though there were some reservations about Tasman-the-explorer, who had failed to fully establish the nature of the lands and peoples he had previously encountered, the VOC gave him command of three ships, Limmen, Zeemeeuw, and Bracq (a smaller, more maneuverable boat for investigating inlets), which embarked on February 29, 1644, from Banda in the Moluccas.

(Though Tasman was told to keep a full journal and issue a detailed report on his return, neither has survived.) Reconstructing the voyage, secondary sources (charts and references) show that Tasman, once again accompanied by Frans Jacobszoon Visscher of the noted Dutch mapmaking family, took a clockwise route along the southern coast of New Guinea, missed the Torres Strait, explored the Gulf of Carpentaria, reached northern Australia, and charted westward along its coast all the way to North West Cape, before returning to Batavia in August. He had made the first continuous exploration of the north and northwest coasts of Australia but had not ventured inland. In his brief summary of the voyage, Van Diemen reported that Tasman had found nothing profitable, only naked beach-runners without rice. Tasman’s results were more than a little disappointing, he said: that the vast land of New Holland offered nothing of value was simply unacceptable. But investigating lands was not everyone’s forte, and, until they had the right men and means, nothing more could be done. The VOC decided that trade in the East Indies would be their gold and silver. Tasman, himself, would acquire great wealth as a trader.

His two voyages marked the end of major Dutch exploration of the Pacific for the rest of the seventeenth century. Slowly, but steadily, Tasman’s achievements were appropriately acknowledged on maps. For more than a hundred years, until the period of Englishman James Cook’s first voyage (1768–1771), neither Tasmania nor New Zealand was visited further by European explorers. Bowen, Emanuel, d. 1767. “A Complete Map of the Southern Continent: Survey’d by Capt. Abel Tasman & Depicted by Order of the East India Company in Halland [sic] in the Stadt House at Amsterdam.” Copperplate map, 37 × 48 cm. From John Harris’s Navigantium atque itinerantium bibliotheca . . . (London, 1744). Purchased with funds provided by the Friends of the Princeton University Library. Reference: Perry and Prescott, Guide to Maps of Australia 1744.01. [Historic Maps Collection] First printed English map of Australia. Keeping the Dutch names, Bowen is quick to point out to the reader (in the top note) that only discovered territory is shown—hence all the blank spaces.

Still, he claims that it “is impossible to conceive a Country that promises fairer from its Scituation, than this of Terra Australis; no longer incognita, as this Map demonstrates . . .” (bottom note). Below the Tropic of Capricorn, Tasman’s great discoveries of 1642 are sketched: Van Diemens Land and Nova Zeelandia; above it, his coastal exploration of northern Nova Hollandia, during which he missed finding the Torres Strait. In 1606, Spanish navigator Luis Vaez de Torres (fl. 1606) had stumbled on the strait now bearing his name on his way to Manila in the Philippines, but his report was kept secret by Spanish authorities—an example of the proprietary nature of European discovery during the Age of Exploration. 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 Abel Janszoon Tasman. One of the greatest Dutch navigators. Abel Janszoon Tasman, discoverer of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), New Zealand, the Tonga and Fiji Islands, and the first to circumnavigate Australia. Tasman was born at Lutjegast, Groningen in 1603. From an early age ships and sailing had been his interest and career, although not a very successful one. When he married for the second time in Amsterdam in 1631, he gave as his profession 'sailor'. Two years later he was employed by the Dutch East Indie Company and soon commanded several of their ships. During the mid 1630s he made several trips to the East Indies. He returned to Holland in 1637 but was back in the East Indies in 1638. This time he took his wife with him.

On 2 June 1639, he was dispatched by Antonio van Diemen , Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1636-1645), on a voyage to the north-western Pacific, in search of certain 'Islands of gold and silver', east of Japan. On this voyage Tasman visited the Philippines and improved Dutch knowledge of the east coast of Luzon. He also discovered and mapped various islands to the north. After this voyage he anchored at the Dutch fortress of Zeelandia in Formosa on 24 November 1639. Tasman was also engaged in several other trips, sailing to Formosa, Japan, Cambodia and Palembang as a merchant captain until 1642. In 1642 he set out on his first great 'South Land' expedition. The expedition left Batavia on 14 August 1642 with two vessels, the Heemskerk with sixty men and the Zeehaan with fifty men on board. They first called at Mauritius, where they stayed for a month long repair to both ships, and sighted Tasmania on 24 November 1642.

Tasman named the island after the governor of East Indie, Antonio van Diemen. The first two mountains they sighted on the island were named Mount Zeehan and Mount Heemskirk, after their ships. From here Tasman sailed further east until they again sighted unknown land on 13 December. It was named Statenland, but later changed to New Zealand. The Dutch were not made very welcome by the locals who killed four crewmembers of the Zeehan. The ships continued to the north along the west coast of New Zealand to its northern most point which Tasman named Cape Maria van Diemen, after the Governor's wife. On 21 January they sailed into the Tonga Archipelago where the reception was much better and the crew was able to obtain fresh supplies. The two island were named Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Eventually, Tasman and his ships returned to Batavia along a route north of New Guinea on 15 June 1643. In 1644, he was sent out again with three ships, the Limmen, Zeemeeuw and Brak, on a not well documented expedition which took him along Australia's north coast.

He explored and named the Gulf of Carpentaria, but failed to find Torres Strait. Although van Diemen was not really impressed with the results of Tasman, his contract was still extended for another three years with increased salary. In 1648 he left Batavia in charge of eight ships to attack the Spanish. This was Tasman's last trip as commander as the whole affair resulted in one great debacle. Tasman was dismissed from the Company's service in 1649, reinstated in 1850 but resigned from active service a year later. He died in Batavia on 22 October 1659. If you like to find out more, please go to HOME PAGE for more information. Thank you for visiting Flinders Ranges Research, We hope you enjoy your stay and find the information useful. This site has been designed and is maintained by FRR. 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 Nationality: Netherlands Executive summary: Discovered Tasmania and New Zealand The greatest of Dutch navigators, the discoverer of Tasmania, New Zealand, the Tonga and the Fiji Islands, and the first circumnavigator of Australia, was born at Lutjegast in Groningen, about 1603. In 1634 we first meet with him in the East Indies, sailing from Batavia (February 18) to Amboyna.

On the 30th of December 1636 he sailed from Batavia for home; reached Holland August 1, 1637; started on his return to the East April 15, 1638; and reappeared at Batavia October 11, 1638. On the 2nd of June 1639 Tasman, along with Matthew (Matthijs Hendricxsen) Quast, was despatched by Antony Van Diemen, governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (1636-45), on a voyage to the north-western Pacific, in quest of certain "islands of gold and silver", supposed to lie in the ocean east of Japan. On this voyage Tasman and Quast visited the Philippines and improved Dutch knowledge of the east coast of Luzon; they also discovered and mapped various islands to the north, apparently the Bonin archipelago. Sailing on to north and east in search of the isles of precious metals, they ranged about fruitlessly in the northern Pacific, at one time believing themselves to be 600 Dutch miles east of Japan.

After this the voyage was continued almost constantly westward, but in varying latitudes. reaching as high as 42� N., always without success. On the 15th of October the navigators decided to return, and, after touching at Japan, anchored at the Dutch fortress-station of Zeelandia in Formosa on the 24th of November 1639. After this Tasman was engaged in operations in the Indian seas (sailing to Formosa, Japan, Cambodia, Palembang, etc., as a merchant captain in the service of the Dutch East India Company) until 1642, when he set out on his first great "South Land" expedition. This was planned and organized by Governor Van Diemen, who cherished great schemes for the extension of the Dutch colonial empire.

Several Dutch navigators had already discovered various portions of the north and west coasts of Australia (as in 1605-06, 1616, 1618-19, 1622, 1627-28, etc.), but Tasman now first showed that this great South Land did not stretch away to the southern pole, but was entirely encircled by sea within comparatively moderate limits. Sailing from Batavia, on the 14th of August 1642 with two vessels, the "Heemskerk" and "Zeehaen", and calling at Mauritius (September 5 to October 8), Tasman sailed first south, then east, almost seven weeks, and on the 24th of November sighted (in 42� 25' S., as he made it) the land which he named Anthoonij van Diemens landt after Van Diemen, now called Tasmania.

He doubled the land, which he evidently did not perceive was an island, coasting its southern shores, and, running up Storm Bay, anchored on the 1st of December in Frederick Henry's Bay, on the east coast of Tasmania -- so named after Prince Frederick Henry of Nassau, then the head of the Dutch republic. There he set up a post on which he hoisted the Dutch flag. Quitting Van Diemen's Land on the 5th of December, Tasman steered east for the Solomon Islands, and on the 13th of December discovered (in 42� 10' S., as he reckoned) a "high mountainous country", which he called Staten landt ("Land of the States", i.e., of Holland, now New Zealand). Tasman and his company believed the newly discovered land to form part of the same great antarctic continent as the other Staten landt which Schouten and Lemaire had sighted and named to the east of Tierra del Fuego.

Cruising up northeast along the west coast of the South Island, he anchored on the 18th of December, at the entrance of a wide opening, which he took to be a fine bay (Cook's Strait). He gave the name of Moordenaars (Murderers, now softened to Massacre) Bay to this spot, where several of his men were killed by the natives (December 19). From Murderer's Bay Tasman sailed southeast along the south shore of Cook's Strait, apparently getting into Blind or Tasman Bay, but not discovering the full extent of the strait here dividing New Zealand into two main islands. Returning westward he then coasted the west side of the North Island, until, on the 4th of January 1643, he came to the northern extremity of New Zealand. From there he bore away to north-northeast, at first intending to keep that course for 30� of longitude from North Cape, New Zealand. On the 19th to 25th of January, he discovered various islands of the Tonga or Friendly group, especially Amsterdam (Tongatabu), Middelburg (Eva), and Rotterdam.

Here the ships took in 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. Rotterdam Island they explored with some care. From there Tasman steered north and west, reaching on the 6th of February the eastern part of the Fiji archipelago, which he called Prince William's Islands and Heemskerk's Shoals; on the 22nd of March he sighted the islands of Ontong Java. On the 1st of April he was near the north-eastern extremity of New Ireland (Neu Mecklenburg), mistaken by him for a part of New Guinea, off a point known to the Spaniards as Cabo S. Maria. From there he passed westward along the north of New Ireland, New Hanover, New Britain (Ned Pommern) and New Guinea. He reached the western extremity of New Guinea on the 18th of May; Schouten's Islands were noted to the south of the vessel's course on the 12th of May.

Tasman's track, lying between New Guinea and Halmahera (Gilolo), then brought him south to Ceram; he passed through the narrow strait between Celebes and Buton on the 27th of May, and arrived at Batavia on the 15th of June 1643 after a ten months' voyage. The materials for an account of Tasman's important second voyage in 1644 are scanty, but we know he was instructed to obtain a thorough knowledge of Staten Land and Van Diemen's Land, and to find out "whether New Guinea is a continent with the great Zuidland, or separated by channels and islands", and also "whether the new Van Diemen's Land is the same continent with these two great countries or with one of them." In this voyage Tasman had three ships under his command, the "Limmen", "Zeemeeuw" (or "Meeuw"), and "Brak" (or "Bracq").

His course lay along the southwest coast of New Guinea; he mistook the western opening of Torres Straits for a bay, but explored (and perhaps named) the Gulf of Carpentaria: for the first time the coastline of this great bay was mapped with fair accuracy. Though preceded by Jansz (1606) and Carstensz (1623) on the east shore of the gulf as far as 17� S., Tasman first made known the south, and most of the west, coast. Beyond this he explored the north and west coasts of Australia as far as 22� S., and established the absolute continuity of all this shoreline of the "Great Known South Continent"; his chart gives soundings for the whole of this coast. Tasman's achievements were coldly received by the Dutch colonial authorities; but on the 4th of October 1644 they rewarded him with the rank of commander (he had frequently enjoyed the use of the title already). On the 2nd of November 1644 he was also made a member of the Council of Justice of Batavia.

He was a member of the committee appointed on the 18th of April 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 (May 15, 1648, to January 1649). 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 the 10th of April 1657, seems to have but slightly preceded his death, which probably happened before October 22, 1659, and certainly before February 5, 1661. 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.

Question: The explorer Abel Tasman gave his name to the island of Tasmania - but what nationality was he?
Answer: Dutch