Everything about Abel Tasman totally explained
Abel Janszoon Tasman (
1603 -
October 10 1659), was a
Dutch seafarer,
explorer, and
merchant.
Tasman is best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC (
United East India Company). His was the first known European
expedition to reach the islands of
Van Diemen's Land (now
Tasmania) and
New Zealand and to sight the
Fiji islands, which he did in 1643. Tasman, his navigator Visscher, and his Merchant Gilsemans also mapped substantial portions of
Australia, New Zealand and the
Pacific Islands.
Early life
Abel Tasman was born in 1603 in
Lutjegast, the
Netherlands, a village in the province of
Groningen. He was first heard of at the end of 1631 when, as a widower living at Amsterdam, he married Jannetjie Tjaers. He was shortly afterwards in the service of the (Dutch) United East India Company and by 1634 was mate of a ship trading from Batavia (now
Jakarta) to the
Moluccas. In July of that year he was appointed master of a small ship, the
Mocha. He visited Holland in 1637 and returned to Batavia in October 1638, taking his wife with him.
First Pacific voyage
In 1634 Tasman was sent as second in command of an exploring expedition in the north Pacific. His fleet included the ships
Heemskerck and
Zeehaen. After many hardships Formosa (now
Taiwan) was reached in November, 40 out of the crew of 90 having died. Other voyages followed, to
Japan in 1640 and 1641 and to
Palembang in the south of
Sumatra in 1642, where he made a friendly trading treaty with the Sultan. In August 1642 Tasman was sent in command of an expedition for the discovery of the "Unknown Southland", which was believed to be in the south Pacific but which hadn't been seen by Europeans. Strange as it may seem to us today, Tasman sailed first to
Mauritius. The reason for this was that his ships were sailing ships and the best route from one place to another wasn't always the direct route; of more importance was the direction of the wind. Tasman had some knowledge of the prevailing winds and so he chose Mauritius as a turning point and from there a course was set towards what was presumed to be the southern coast of Australia. (At least part of the western shore of the continent was already known to the Dutch, but the shape of the southern coast was unknown).
Tasmania
On
24 November 1642 Tasman sighted the
west coast of Tasmania near
Macquarie Harbour. He named his discovery Van Diemen's Land after
Anthony van Diemen,
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Proceeding south he skirted the southern end of Tasmania and turned north-east until he was off
Cape Frederick Hendrick on the
Forestier Peninsula. An attempt at landing was made but the sea was too rough; however, the carpenter swam through the surf, and, planting a flag, Tasman claimed formal possession of the land on
3 December 1642.
New Zealand
Tasman had intended to proceed in a northerly direction but as the wind was unfavourable he steered east. On
13 December they sighted land on the north-west coast of the
South Island, New Zealand. After some exploration he sailed further east, and nine days later was the first European known to sight New Zealand, which he named
Staten Landt on the assumption that it was connected to an island (
Staten Island, Argentina) at the south of the tip of
South America. Proceeding north and then east one of his boats was attacked by
Māori in waka, and four of his men were killed. It has recently been suggested that some of Tasman's sailors briefly landed here on
18 December 1642. Tasman named it
Murderers' Bay (now known as
Golden Bay) and sailed north, but mistook
Cook Strait for a bight (naming it
Zeehaen's Bight). Two names that he bestowed on New Zealand landmarks still endure:
Cape Maria van Diemen and
Three Kings Islands (
Cabo Pieter Boreels is now known as
Cape Egmont).
The return voyage
En route back to Batavia, Tasman came across the
Tongan archipelago on
20 January 1643. While passing the
Fiji Islands Tasman's ships came close to being wrecked on the dangerous reefs of the north-eastern part of the Fiji group. He charted the eastern tip of
Vanua Levu and
Cikobia before making his way back into the open sea. He eventually turned north-west to
New Guinea, and arrived at Batavia on
15 June 1643.
Second Pacific voyage
With three ships on his second voyage (
Limmen,
Zeemeeuw and the tender
Braek) in 1644, he followed the south coast of New Guinea eastward. He missed the
Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia, and continued his voyage along the Australian coast. He mapped the north coast of Australia making observations on the land and its people.
From the point of view of the Dutch East India Company Tasman's explorations were a disappointment: he'd neither found a promising area for trade nor a useful new shipping route. For over a century, until the era of
James Cook, Tasmania and New Zealand were not visited by Europeans - mainland Australia was visited, but usually only by accident.
Later life
On
2 November 1644 Abel Tasman was appointed a member of the Council of Justice at Batavia. He went to Sumatra in 1646, and in August 1647 to Siam (now
Thailand) with letters from the company to the King. In May 1648 he was in charge of an expedition sent to
Manila to try to intercept and loot the Spanish silver ships coming from America, but he'd no success and returned to Batavia in January 1649. In November 1649 he was charged and found guilty of having in the previous year hanged one of his men without trial, was suspended from his office of commander, fined, and made to pay compensation to the relatives of the sailor. On
5 January 1651 he was formally reinstated in his rank and spent his remaining years at Batavia. He was in good circumstances, being one of the larger landowners in the town. He died at Batavia in October 1659 and was survived by his second wife and a daughter by his first wife. His discoveries were most important but led to nothing for more than 100 years.
Tasman's legacy
As with many explorers, Tasman's name has been honoured in many ways. These include:
- the island of Tasmania, including features such as
- the Tasman Sea
- in New Zealand:
- The Able Tasmans - an indie band from Auckland, New Zealand.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Abel Tasman'.
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