Abel Tasman

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008)

Abel Tasman
Fragment of "Portrait of Abel Tasman, his wife and daughter" attributed to Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, 1637 (not fully authenticated)[1]
Born	day unknown 1603 Lutjegast, Dutch Republic
Died	10 October 1659 (aged 56) Batavia (Jakarta), Dutch East Indies
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation	navigator and explorer
Spouse(s)	Claesgie Meyndrix Joanna Tiercx

Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 - 10 October 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.

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 , 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 and Eastland", which was believed to be in the south Pacific but which had not 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 was not 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 mainland 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).

Murderers' Bay, 1642

Tasmania

On the 24th November 1642 Abel Tasman sighted the west coast of Tasmania, north of 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, Tasman then tried to work his two ships into Adventure Bay on the east coast of South Bruny Island where he was blown out to sea by a storm, this area he named Storm Bay. Two days later Tasman anchored to the North of Cape Frederick Hendrick just North of the Forestier Peninsula. Tasman then landed in Blackman Bay - in the larger Marion Bay. The next day, an attempt was made to land in North Bay; however, because the sea was too rough the carpenter swam through the surf and planted the Dutch flag in North Bay. Tasman then claimed formal possession of the land on 3 December 1642.

New Zealand

After some exploration, 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, becoming the first Europeans to do so. Tasman named it 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. 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

On 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

The route of the first and second voyage

With three ships on his second voyage (Limmen, Zeemeeuw and the tender Braek) in 1644, he followed the south coast of New Guinea west. 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 had 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.

Tasman's legacy

As with many explorers, Tasman's name has been honoured in many ways. These include:

• two marsupial species:
  • the Tasmanian devil
  • the Tasmanian tiger
• a plant genus
  • Tasmannia
• the Australian island Tasmania, (renamed after him, formerly Van Diemen's land), including features such as:
  • the Tasman Peninsula
  • the Tasman Bridge
  • the Tasman Highway
  • the passenger/vehicle ferry Abel Tasman
• the Tasman Sea
• in New Zealand:
  • the Tasman Glacier
  • Tasman Lake
  • the Tasman River
  • Mount Tasman
  • the Abel Tasman National Park
  • Tasman Bay
  • the Tasman District
  • Abel Tasman Drive, in Takaka.
  • the Able Tasman Memorial in Takaka.
• The Able Tasmans - an indie band from Auckland, New Zealand.

In 1985 he was honoured on a postage stamp depicting his portrait issued by Australia Post [1].

References

• Serle, Percival (1949). "Tasman, Abel". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogT-V.html#tasman1. 
• Edward Duyker (ed.) The Discovery of Tasmania: Journal Extracts from the Expeditions of Abel Janszoon Tasman and Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne 1642 & 1772, St David's Park Publishing/Tasmanian Government Printing Office, Hobart, 1992, pp. 106, ISBN 0 7246 2241 1.

1. ^ Essay on "The portrait of Abel Tasman, his wife and daughter" at the Australian national library website

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Abel Tasman

• A transcript of a paper on the voyages of Tasman, read to the Royal Society of Tasmania in 1895
• The Tasman page at Project Gutenberg of Australia This page has links to Tasman's journal and other important documents relating to Tasman
• The Huydecoper journal - Abel Tasman - The State Library of NSW
• J. W. Forsyth, 'Tasman, Abel Janszoon (1603? - 1659)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, Melbourne University Press, 1967, pp 503–504.