Editing History of Oceania (section)

===Oceania during the Golden Age of Dutch exploration and discovery===
[[File:Oceania UN Geoscheme Regions.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Regions of [[Oceania]] (including [[Australasia]], [[Polynesia]], [[Micronesia]], and [[Melanesia]]). "The Island Continent" [[Australia (continent)|Australia]] was [[Dutch East India Company#VOC-sponsored inland exploration and mapping of Southern Africa|the last human-inhabited continent to be largely known to the civilized world]].]]

====Early Dutch exploration====
{{See also|:Category:Dutch exploration in the Age of Discovery|l1=Dutch Republic in the Age of Discovery (category)|Willem Schouten|Jacob Le Maire|Frederick de Houtman|European exploration of Australia|Dutch Empire|Dutch East Indies}}

The Dutch were the first non-natives to undisputedly explore and chart coastlines of [[European maritime exploration of Australia|Australia]], [[History of Tasmania|Tasmania]], [[History of New Zealand|New Zealand]], [[History of Tonga|Tonga]], [[History of Fiji|Fiji]], [[History of Samoa|Samoa]], and [[History of Easter Island|Easter Island]]. [[Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie]] (or VOC) was a major force behind the [[:Category:Dutch exploration in the Age of Discovery|Golden Age of Dutch exploration]] (category; c. 1590s–1720s) and [[History of cartography#Dutch and Flemish cartography|Netherlandish cartography]] (c. 1570s–1670s). In the 17th century, the VOC's navigators and explorers [[European maritime exploration of Australia|charted almost three-quarters of the Australian coastline]], except the east coast.

====Abel Tasman's exploratory voyages====
[[Abel Tasman]] was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of [[Van Diemen's Land]] (now [[Tasmania]]) and New Zealand, and to sight the [[Fiji]] islands. His navigator François Visscher, and his merchant [[Isaack Gilsemans]], mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and the Fijian islands.

<!--=== Tasmania ===-->
On 24 November 1642 Abel Tasman sighted the west coast of Tasmania, north of Macquarie Harbour.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-ra265-s97 |title=Original map of Tasmania in December 1642 |access-date=27 January 2014 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629165059/http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-ra265-s97 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He named his discovery Van Diemen's Land after [[Antonio van Diemen]], [[Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies]]. 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.<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'' 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, he stopped to gather water, but one of his boats was attacked by [[Māori people|Māori]] in a double hulled [[waka (canoe)|waka]] (canoes) and four of his men were attacked and killed by [[Mere (weapon)|mere]]. As Tasman sailed out of the bay he was again attacked, this time by 11 waka. The waka approached the Zeehan which fired and hit one Māori who fell down. Canister shot hit the side of a waka.<ref>''Diary of Abel Tasman'' pp. 21–22. Random House. 2008</ref>

Archeological research has shown the Dutch had tried to land at a major agricultural area, which the Māori may have been trying to protect.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10675488 |title=First contact violence linked to food |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald|date=23 September 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010}}</ref> Tasman named the bay ''Murderers' Bay'' (now known as [[Golden Bay / Mohua|Golden Bay]]) and sailed north, but mistook [[Cook Strait]] for a [[bight (geography)|bight]] (naming it ''[[Zeehaen's Bight]]''). Two names he gave to New Zealand landmarks still endure, [[Cape Maria van Diemen]] and [[Three Kings Islands]], but ''Kaap Pieter Boreels'' was renamed by Cook 125 years later to [[Cape Egmont]].
<!--=== The return voyage ===-->
En route back to Batavia, Tasman came across the [[Tonga]]n archipelago on 20 January 1643. While passing the [[Fiji]] islands, Tasman's ships came close to being wrecked on the dangerous reefs of the northeastern 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 northwest to [[New Guinea]], and arrived at Batavia on 15 June 1643. For over a century after Tasman's voyages, until the era of [[James Cook]], Tasmania and New Zealand were not visited by Europeans—mainland Australia was visited, but usually only by accident.
<gallery class="center" widths="208" heights="165">
File:Thevenot - Hollandia Nova detecta 1644.png|A typical map from the [[Golden Age of Dutch cartography|Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography]]. [[Australasia]] during the Golden Age of Dutch exploration and discovery (c. 1590s–1720s): including [[New Guinea#History|Nova Guinea]] ([[New Guinea]]), [[New Holland (Australia)|Nova Hollandia]] ([[mainland Australia]]), [[Van Diemen's Land]] ([[Tasmania]]), and [[New Zealand place names|Nova Zeelandia]] ([[History of New Zealand|New Zealand]]).
File:EarleWarSpeech.jpg|Waka taua (war canoes) at the [[Bay of Islands]], 1827–1828.
File:AbelTasman.jpg|[[Abel Tasman]].
File:Tasmanroutes.PNG|The route of [[Abel Tasman]]'s first and second voyage
File:Modern Asia (1796).tif|The continent of Australia (then known as [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]]) integrated within [[Asia]] in a 1796 map.
File:Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie spiegelretourschip Amsterdam replica.jpg|The [[Dutch East India Company]]
</gallery>
<gallery class="center" widths="208" heights="165" caption="Map and drawings from [[Abel Tasman]]'s voyages">
File:Tasmanmap1644.jpg|The [http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/voyages/rich_lands/voya_tasman.html Abel Tasman map] 1644.
File:Gilsemans 1642.jpg| The first European impression of Māori, at [[Golden Bay / Mohua|Murderers' Bay]]. Drawing by Isaack Gilsemans in [[Abel Tasman]]'s [[travel journal]] (1642).<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/history/2/1 | title='A view of the Murderers' Bay'}}</ref>
File:Tasman-dagboek-b.jpg| [[Tongatapu]], drawing by Isaack Gilsemans
File:Tasman-dagboek-a.jpg| The bay of [[Tongatapu]] with the two ships, drawing by Isaack Gilsemans
</gallery>