TASMAN'S FIRST VOYAGE

In 1642 The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Anthony Van Dieman, ordered Abel Tasman to seek and map New Holland, the land mass that had been the cause of so many Dutch shipwrecks.

Tasman sailed with two ships, the Heemskerck and Zeehaen heading south and east searching for the southern land. Bad weather and the cold forced him further north where he found land at a place he called Van Dieman's Land, now Tasmania. He anchored in Frederick Henry Bay where his sailors went ashore to gather water and firewood. They heard people in the bush and saw smoke from fires but they did not see or find any Aboriginal people. Tasman raised the Dutch flag and a pole carved with the Dutch East India Company's marks to claim possesion for the Netherlands.

Leaving Van Dieman's Land the small fleet sailed further east and discovered the islands of New Zealand before heading north passing through the Tongan and Fijian islands and back to Batavia 10 months after commencing his voyage.

TASMAN'S SECOND VOYAGE

When Tasman returned to Batavia the Governor-General was not particularly pleased with him. He had not mapped all of New Holland, not made contact with any of the people who lived there and had had some men killed by the Maori in New Zealand.

In 1644 he was sent again, this time to start from the north of New Holland and try to sail down the east coast. He sailed to Cape York, where Jansz had been, but could not find a way through the reefs and islands of Torres Strait. Instead he sailed down the western side of Cape York peninsular, mapping the land all the way to North West Cape before returning once again to Batavia. By the end of the 1600's the Dutch had mapped much of New Holland although they knew little about the east coast and had not discovered that Tasmania was a seperate island.

For most of the next 100 years European explorers had little interest in New Holland as it appeared "useless" for trade. Besides at this time many European nations were busy with wars.