Editing Abel Tasman (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Abel Tasman was likely born in 1602 or 1603 in [[Lutjegast]], a village in the [[Groningen (province)|Province of Groningen]].<ref name=teara/> He married Claesgie Heyndrix, with whom he had a daughter named Claesjen.<ref name=teara>{{Cite web | url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1t17/tasman-abel-janszoon | title=Story: Tasman, Abel Janszoon | work=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]]}}</ref> A proclamation of his second marriage, given in December 1631 at Amsterdam, describes him as a widower and sailor.<ref name=teara/> On 27 December 1631 as a 28-year old seafarer living in Amsterdam, he married 21-year-old Jannetje Tjaers, of Palmstraat in Amsterdam.<ref name=teara/>

===Relocation to the Dutch East Indies===
Uneducated, but employed by the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC), Tasman learned navigation and seamanship on the job. In 1634, he was appointed skipper of the ''Mocha'', and, under the command of Frans Valck, he went on a two-year voyage to the [[Maluku Islands]].<ref name=nzgeo>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/abel-tasman/ | title=Abel Tasman | first=Vaughan | last=Yarwood | work=[[New Zealand Geographic]] | date=March 2005}}</ref>

Tasman sailed from [[Texel]] (Netherlands) to [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]], now Jakarta, in 1633 taking the southern [[Brouwer Route]]. While based in Batavia, Tasman took part in a voyage to [[Seram Island]] (in what is now the Maluku Province in Indonesia) because the locals had sold spices to other European nationalities than the Dutch.

Tasman docked to find wood for repairs and was separated from the other ships; a fight broke out with local villagers and at least two of Tasman's men were killed.<ref name=nzgeo/><ref name=dictionary>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |id2=tasman-abel-janszoon-2716 |title=Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603–1659) |first=J. W. |last=Forsyth |year=1967 |volume=2 |archive-date=30 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730105650/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/tasman-abel-janszoon-2716 |url-status=live}}</ref>

By August 1637, Tasman had returned to Amsterdam, and in 1638 he signed on for another ten years and took his wife with him to Batavia via a six-month journey.<ref name=dictionary/> On 25 March 1638, he tried to sell his property in the Jordaan, but the purchase was cancelled.<!--; in 1650, while living in the East Indies, it was sold to the same man.<ref>[http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/archieven/archiefbank/indexen/transportakten_voor_1811/zoek/query.nl.pl?i1=1&v1=Abel&a1=Tas*&i2=2&p2=p&y2=1620&z2=1660&x=14&z=a City Archives Amsterdam ]</ref>-->

He was second-in-command of a 1639 expedition of exploration into the north Pacific under [[Matthijs Quast]]. The fleet included the ships ''Engel'' and ''Gracht'' and reached [[Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)|Fort Zeelandia]] ([[Dutch Formosa]]) and [[Deshima]] (an [[artificial island]] off [[Nagasaki]], Japan).

===First major voyage===
In August 1642, the [[Council of the Indies (Dutch)|Council of the Indies]], consisting of [[Antonie van Diemen]], [[Cornelis van der Lijn]], [[Joan Maetsuycker]], Justus Schouten, [[Salomon Sweers]], Cornelis Witsen, and Pieter Boreel in Batavia dispatched Tasman and Franchoijs Jacobszoon Visscher on a voyage of exploration to little-charted areas east of the [[Cape of Good Hope]], west of [[Isla de los Estados|Staten Land]] (near the [[Cape Horn]] of South America) and south of the [[Solomon Islands]].<ref>Andrew Sharp, ''The Voyages of Abel Janszoon Tasman,'' Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1968, p. 25.</ref>

One of the objectives was to obtain knowledge of "all the totally unknown" [[Provinces of Beach]].<ref name=":1">J.E. Heeres, "Abel Janszoon Tasman, His Life and Labours", ''Abel Tasman's Journal,'' Los Angeles, 1965, pp. 137, 141–142; cited in Andrew Sharp, ''The Voyages of Abel Janszoon Tasman,'' Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1968, p. 24.</ref> This was a purported yet [[phantom island]] said to have plentiful gold, which had appeared on European maps since the 15th century, as a result of an error in some editions of [[Marco Polo]]'s works.

The expedition was to use two small ships, ''[[Heemskerck (1638 ship)|Heemskerck]]'' and ''Zeehaen''.

====Mauritius====
In accordance with Visscher's directions, Tasman sailed from Batavia on 14 August 1642<ref name="robinsonlibrary">{{cite web|url=http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/geography/geography/discoveries/tasman.htm|title=Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first known European explorer to reach Tasmania and New Zealand and to sight Fiji|publisher=robinsonlibrary.com|access-date=31 August 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924091636/http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/geography/geography/discoveries/tasman.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref> and arrived at [[Mauritius]] on 5 September 1642, according to the captain's journal.<ref name="abeltasman.org"/> The reason for this was the crew could be fed well on the island; there was plenty of fresh water and timber to repair the ships. Tasman got the assistance of the governor [[Adriaan van der Stel]].

Because of the prevailing winds, Mauritius was chosen as a turning point. After a four-week stay on the island, both ships left on 8 October using the [[Roaring Forties]] to sail east as fast as possible. (No one had gone as far as [[Pieter Nuyts]] in 1626/27.) On 7 November, snow and hail influenced the ship's council to alter course to a more north-easterly direction,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600611.txt |title=ebooks06/0600611 |via=[[Project Gutenberg Australia]] |archive-date=8 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008113814/http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600611.txt|url-status=live}}</ref> with the intention of having the [[Solomon Islands]] as their destination.

====Tasmania====
[[File:Coastal-cliffs Tasman-peninsula.jpg|thumb|Coastal cliffs of [[Tasman Peninsula]]]]

On 24 November 1642, Tasman reached and sighted the west coast of [[Tasmania]], north of [[Macquarie Harbour]].<ref name="nla">{{cite web |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-ra265-s97 |title= Monumenta cartographica [cartographic material] : reproductions of unique and rare maps, plans and views in the actual size of the originals : accompanied by cartographical monographs {{pipe}} Original map of Tasmania in December 1642 |via=National Library of Australia |access-date=31 August 2015 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629165059/http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-ra265-s97 |url-status=live }}</ref> He named his discovery Van Diemen's Land, after [[Antonio van Diemen]], [[Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies]].

Proceeding south, Tasman skirted the southern end of Tasmania and turned north-east. He then tried to work his two ships into [[Adventure Bay, Tasmania|Adventure Bay]] on the east coast of [[South Bruny Island]], but he was blown out to sea by a storm. This area he named [[Storm Bay]]. Two days later, on 1 December, Tasman anchored to the north of Cape Frederick Hendrick just north of the [[Forestier Peninsula]]. On 2 December, two ship's boats under the command of the Pilot, Major Visscher, rowed through the Marion Narrows into Blackman Bay, and then west to the outflow of Boomer Creek where they gathered some edible "greens".<ref>Burney, J (1813) ''A Chronological History of the Voyage and Discoveries in the South Sea of Pacific Ocean'' L Hansard & Sons, London, p. 70, cited in Potts, B.M. et al (2006) ''Janet Sommerville's Botanical History of Tasmania'' University of Tasmania and TMAG</ref> Tasman named the bay, Frederick Hendrik Bay, which included the present North Bay, [[Marion Bay, Tasmania|Marion Bay]] and what is now Blackman Bay. (Tasman's original naming, Frederick Henrick Bay, was mistakenly transferred to its present location by [[Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne|Marion Dufresne]] in 1772). The next day, an attempt was made to land in North Bay. However, because the sea was too rough, a ship's carpenter swam through the surf and planted the Dutch flag. Tasman then claimed formal possession of the land on 3 December 1642.{{sfn|Beazley|1911}}

For two more days, he continued to follow the east coast northward to see how far it went. When the land veered to the north-west at [[Eddystone Point]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schilder |first1=Günter |title=Australia unveiled : the share of the Dutch navigators in the discovery of Australia |date=1976 |publisher=Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd. |location=Amsterdam |isbn=9022199975 |page=170}}</ref> he tried to follow the coast line but his ships were suddenly hit by the [[Roaring Forties]] howling through Bass Strait.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Valentyn |first1=Francois |title=Oud en nieuw Oost-Indien |orig-date=1724–1726 |date=2003|publisher=J. van Braam |location=Dordrecht |isbn=9789051942347 |page=vol. 3, p. 47}}</ref> Tasman was on a mission to find the Southern Continent not more islands, so he abruptly turned away to the east and continued his continent-hunting.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cameron-Ash |first1=M. |title=Lying for the Admiralty |date=2018 |publisher=Rosenberg |location=Sydney |isbn=9780648043966 |page=105}}</ref>

====New Zealand====
[[File:Gilsemans 1642.jpg|thumb|Murderers' Bay, drawing by [[Isaack Gilsemans]]<ref name="govt">{{cite web|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/history/2/1|title=A view of the Murderers' Bay &ndash; History &ndash; Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand|publisher=teara.govt.nz|access-date=31 August 2015|archive-date=5 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121205054955/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/history/2/1|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:DanceMaori.jpg|thumb|Māori [[haka]]]]
[[File:Tasman-dagboek-b.jpg|thumb|[[Tongatapu]], the main island of [[Tonga]]; drawing by [[Isaack Gilsemans]]]]
[[File:Tasman-dagboek-a.jpg|thumb|The bay of Tongatapu with the two ships; drawing by Isaack Gilsemans]]

Tasman had intended to proceed in a northerly direction but as the wind was unfavourable he steered east. The expedition endured a rough voyage and in one of his diary entries Tasman claimed that his compass was the only thing that had kept him alive.

On 13 December 1642 Tasman and his crew became the first Europeans to reach New Zealand when they sighted the north-west coast of the [[South Island]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/european-discovery-of-new-zealand/2 | title=European discovery of New Zealand | publisher=Encyclopedia of New Zealand | date=4 March 2009 | access-date=9 December 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101110165647/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/european-discovery-of-new-zealand/2| archive-date= 10 November 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> Tasman named it ''Staten Landt'' "in honour of the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]]" (Dutch parliament).<ref>{{cite web|url= http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz//tm/scholarly/tei-Stout44-t2-body-d1-d1.html|title= The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 44. Chapter 1, Discovery and Settlement|author= John Bathgate|publisher= NZETC|quote= He named the country Staaten Land, in honour of the States-General of Holland, in the belief that it was part of the great southern continent.|access-date= 17 August 2018|archive-date= 24 July 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200724203829/http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz//tm/scholarly/tei-Stout44-t2-body-d1-d1.html|url-status= live}}</ref> He wrote, "it is possible that this land joins to the Staten Landt but it is uncertain",<ref>{{cite web |url= http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600611.txt |title= Journal or Description by me ''Abel Jansz Tasman'', Of a Voyage from ''Batavia'' for making Discoveries of the ''Unknown South Land'' in the year 1642. |access-date= 26 March 2018 |first= Abel |last= Tasman |via= Project Gutenberg Australia |archive-date= 8 October 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201008113814/http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600611.txt |url-status= live }}</ref> referring to [[Isla de los Estados]], a landmass of the same name at the southern tip of South America, encountered by the Dutch navigator [[Jacob Le Maire]] in 1616.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=John|last=Wilson|title=European discovery of New Zealand – Tasman's achievement|encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]]|date=March 2009|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/european-discovery-of-new-zealand/3|access-date=24 January 2011|archive-date=6 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106180047/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/european-discovery-of-new-zealand/3|url-status=live}}</ref> However, in 1643 [[Hendrik Brouwer|Brouwer's]] [[Dutch expedition to Valdivia|expedition to Valdivia]] found out that Staaten Landt was separated by sea from the hypothetical Southern Land.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lane |first=Kris E. |title=Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500–1750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bRgFqADzOLkC&q=Brouwer |year=1998 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |location=Armonk, N.Y. |isbn=978-0-76560-256-5|page=88 }}</ref><ref name=Kock>{{cite web|first=Robbert|last=Kock|url=http://www.colonialvoyage.com/dutchchile.html|title=Dutch in Chile|publisher=Colonial Voyage.com|access-date=23 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229232448/http://www.colonialvoyage.com/dutch-chile/|archive-date=29 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last= Barros Arana | first= Diego | author-link1 = Diego Barros Arana | title= Historia General de Chile | volume = IV| url=http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-7988.html | year= 2000 | orig-year= 1884 | edition=2 | publisher=[[Editorial Universitaria]] | location = Santiago, Chile | isbn = 956-11-1535-2 | language = es | page=280 | archive-date = 31 August 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831094925/http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/602/w3-article-7988.html | url-status=live}}</ref> Tasman continued: "We believe that this is the mainland coast of the unknown Southland."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tasman |first1=Abel Jansz |title=The Huydecoper Journal, 1642–1643 |publisher=Mitchell Library, SLNSW |location=Sydney |page=43}}</ref> Tasman thought he had found the western side of the long-imagined [[Terra Australis|''Terra Australis'']] that stretched across the Pacific to near the southern tip of South America.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cameron-Ash |first1=M. |title=Lying for the Admiralty |date=2018 |publisher=Rosenberg |location=Sydney |isbn=9780648043966 |pages=21–22}}</ref> On 14 December 1642 Tasman's ships anchored 7 km offshore c. 20km south of Cape Foulwind near Greymouth. The ships were observed by Māori who named a place on this coast Tiropahi (the place were a large sailing ship was seen).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mack |first=Rudiger |title=First Encounters. The Early Pacific and European Narratives of Abel Tasman's 1642 Voyage |publisher=Heritage Press |year=2024 |isbn=9781991097002 |edition= |location=Feilding, New Zealand |publication-date=2024 |pages=47–49 |language=English}}</ref>

After sailing north then east for five days, the expedition anchored about {{convert|7|km}} from the coast off what is now [[Golden Bay / Mohua|Golden Bay]]. A group of [[Māori people|Māori]] paddled out in a [[waka (canoe)|waka]] (canoe) and attacked some sailors who were rowing between the two Dutch vessels. Four sailors were clubbed to death with [[patu]].<ref name = "Moon">{{cite book |last1=Moon |first1=Paul |title=Turning Points |date=2013 |publisher=New Holland |isbn=978-1-86966-379-7 |page=19}}</ref>{{blockquote|In the evening about one hour after sunset we saw many lights on land and four vessels near the shore, two of which betook themselves towards us. When our two boats returned to the ships reporting that they had found not less than thirteen fathoms of water, and with the sinking of the sun (which sank behind the high land) they had been still about half a mile from the shore. After our people had been on board about one glass, people in the two canoes began to call out to us in gruff, hollow voices. We could not in the least understand any of it; however, when they called out again several times we called back to them as a token answer. But they did not come nearer than a stone's shot. They also blew many times on an instrument, which produced a sound like the moors' trumpets. We had one of our sailors (who could play somewhat on the trumpet) play some tunes to them in answer."<ref name="abeltasman.org"/>}} As Tasman sailed out of the bay he observed 22 waka near the shore, of which "eleven swarming with people came off towards us". The waka approached the ''Zeehaen'' which fired and hit a man in the largest waka holding a small white flag. [[Canister shot]] also hit the side of a waka.<ref name="abeltasman.org"/><ref>Diary of Abel Tasman pp. 21–22. Random House. 2008</ref> Archaeologist Ian Barber suggests that local Māori were trying to secure a cultivation field under ritual protection (tapu) where they believed the Dutch were attempting to land. December was at the mid-point of the locally important sweet potato/kūmara (''Ipomoea batatas'') growing season.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Barber | first=Ian | title=Gardens of Rongo: Applying Cross-Field Anthropology to Explain Contact Violence in New Zealand | journal=Current Anthropology | publisher=University of Chicago Press | volume=53 | issue=6 | year=2012 | issn=0011-3204 | doi=10.1086/667834 | pages=799–808}}</ref> Tasman named the area "Murderers' Bay".<ref name= "Moon"/>

The expedition then sailed north, sighting [[Cook Strait]], which separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand, and which it mistook for a [[bight (geography)|bight]] and named "Zeehaen's Bight". Two names that the expedition gave to landmarks in the far north of New Zealand still endure: [[Cape Maria van Diemen]] and [[Three Kings Islands]]. (''Kaap Pieter Boreels'' was renamed [[Cape Egmont]] by Captain [[James Cook]] 125 years later.)

====Return voyage====
En route back to Batavia, Tasman came across the [[Tonga]]n archipelago on 20 January 1643. While passing the [[Fiji|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-i-Lau]] before making his way back into the open sea.

The expedition turned north-west towards [[New Guinea]] and arrived back in Batavia on 15 June 1643.<ref name=teara/>{{sfn|Beazley|1911}}

===Second major voyage===
Tasman left [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] on 30 January 1644 on his second voyage with three ships: ''Limmen'', ''Zeemeeuw'' and the tender ''Braek''. He followed the south coast of New Guinea eastwards in an attempt to find a passage to the eastern side of [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]]. However, he missed the [[Torres Strait]] between New Guinea and Australia, probably due to the numerous reefs and islands obscuring potential routes, and continued his voyage by following the shore of the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]] westwards along the north Australian coast. He mapped the north coast of Australia, making observations on [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]] and its people.<ref name=Quanchi>Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', p. 237</ref> He arrived back in [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] in August 1644.

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. Although Tasman was received courteously on his return, the company was upset that Tasman had not fully explored the lands he found, and decided that a more "persistent explorer" should be chosen for any future expeditions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Abel Tasman's great voyage|url=http://tpo.tepapa.govt.nz/ViewTopicExhibitDetail.asp?TopicFileID=0x000ae4f7|publisher=Tai Awatea-Knowledge Net|access-date=14 September 2011|archive-date=25 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051818/http://tpo.tepapa.govt.nz/ViewTopicExhibitDetail.asp?TopicFileID=0x000ae4f7|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 in [[Batavia (region)|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 had 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. In 1653, he retired; at that time he owned 288 acres of land in Batavia and captained a small cargo ship, of which he was a part-owner.<ref name=teara/>

In April 1657, Tasman wrote his [[will and testament]], describing himself as ill but not bedridden.<ref name=teara/> Tasman died at Batavia on 10 October 1659 and was survived by his second wife and a daughter by his first wife. His property was divided between his wife and his daughter. In his will, he left 25 guilders to the poor of his village, [[Lutjegast]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history-nz.org/discovery1.html |title=Abel Janszoon Tasman – New Zealand in History – Holland 1603–1659 | first=Robbie | last=Whitmore |publisher=history-nz.org |archive-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022074305/http://history-nz.org/discovery1.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although Tasman's pilot, [[Frans Jacobszoon Visscher|Frans Visscher]], published ''Memoir concerning the discovery of the South land'' in 1642,<ref>A translation of part of Visscher's memoir may be read on pp. 24–27 of Andrew Sharp, The voyages of Abel Janszoon Tasman, Oxford: Clarendon, 1968, p. 82, n. 1.</ref> Tasman's detailed journal was not published until 1898.  Nevertheless, some of his charts and maps were in general circulation and used by subsequent explorers.<ref name= Quanchi/> The journal signed by Abel Tasman of the 1642 voyage is held in the Dutch National Archives at [[The Hague]].<ref>Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Aanwinsten Eerste Afdeling, nummer toegang 1.11.01.01, inventarisnummer 121</ref>