CAMP WATCH: Tasman Jordan Lawrence een 1 Ari Tremain twee 2 Taylor Clark drie 3 Ashelyn Horton-Smith vier 4 Sakura Urakawa Murdoch fijf 5 Shianne Bailey zes 6
Abel Janszoon Tasman Intro: WHO WAS HE?
First known European explorer to reach Tasmania, New Zealand and Fiji Abel Janszoon Tasman - born in Lutjegast, Netherlands, in about 1603 Little known about his early life except that he received enough education to enable him to express his ideas clearly in writing and to become a skilled navigator Married Claesgie Meyndrix, with whom he had a daughter Claesgen Following Claesgie s death he married Jannetje Tjaerts in January 1632 1634 Tasman was in the East Indies with the Dutch East India Company as skipper Returned to Batavia from Netherlands in 1638 with his wife Jannetje 1639 Van Diemen sends Tasman to NW Pacific (east of Japan) to search for islands of gold and silver (first voyage of discovery) 1642 sent on South Land expedition (second voyage of discovery) Van Diemen had plans to extend the Dutch colonial empire
This was the company that sent Tasman in search of the Great South Land The United East Indian Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie; VOC), referred to by the British as the Dutch East India Company. Originally established as a chartered company in 1602, when the Dutch government granted it a 21-year monopoly on Dutch spice trade. It is often considered to have been the first multinational corporation in the world and it was the first company to issue stock. It was a powerful company, possessing semi-government powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, mint its own coins and establish colonies. Sent to find land and riches then, Tasman was only partially successful, finding the lands but not the riches hoped for.
In search of the Great South Land After discovering Van Diemen s Land (Tasmania) Tasman continued east On 13 Dec 1642 a large land, uplifted high southeast from us about 15 miles, made our course direct for it. Tasman called this new land Staten Landt (Land of the Dutch States- General) thinking also perhaps it was part of State Landt in South America
Tasman sailed north, then east and on 18 Dec the Heemskerck and Zeehaen rounded Farewell Spit and dropped anchor in what is now Whariwharangi Bay Two small boats were sent to scout for fresh water No first-hand Māori reports of what happened next are known to exist, but Dutch journals state that a double-hulled waka full of Māori left shore to inspect the ships It is suggested a cultural misunderstanding led to the first contact between Māori and European turning violent Dutch trumpeters responded to calls (possibly a haka) and sounds made by the Māori pukaea (long wooden trumpets), little realising that instead of establishing a line of communication they had perhaps accepted a challenge to fight (archaeological research suggests the Dutch had arrived in an area of major agricultural importance hence the large show of force)
The following morning the Zeehaen s cockboat returning from a conference on the Heemskerck was rammed by a waka - seven crewmen were thrown overboard three swam to safety, three were clubbed with mere and another mortally wounded Tasman followed established orders not to engage in warfare with local peoples and made ready to sail Perhaps thinking they could finish the job, eleven more waka headed towards the vessels, but when the first one got close to the Zeehaen, the crew fired the cannons killing at least one man - the waka pulled back and Tasman s ships departed from Moordenaers Baaij.
The expedition sailed up the west coast of the North Island trying to find somewhere safe enough to risk a landing but mistook Cook Strait for a large bay Kaap Pieter Boreels was renamed by Cook 125 years later to Cape Egmont Reaching the westernmost point of the North Island he named it after the wife of the Governor- General of the VOC - Cape Maria Van Diemen 4 January 1643, in need of fresh water, they investigated Great Island in the Three Kings group (55 km north west of Cape Reinga) but were put off by the rocky shore and a group of imposing-looking inhabitants who threw stones from the cliff-tops Three Kings Islands named in honour of the biblical three Wise Men who visited Jesus They continued looking for a landing site until 6 January at which point Tasman abandoned the search and sailed north to set eyes on a number of Tongan and Fijian islands before heading back to Batavia
What sort of technology existed for Tasman and his sailors? Hour glass and compass helped fix positions Knots and time helped determine speed and helped with position since a last reading Astrolabe forerunner of the Sextant both made it possible to fix latitude 1 knot = 1.852 kph
It was a VOC employee who later named the line of coast drawn by Tasman s expedition Nieuw Zeeland, named after the Chamber of Zeeland in the VOC (Nieuw Holland, after the Chamber of Holland, already existed - Australia) By the late 18 th Century, this changed in the English language to New Zeeland, then New Zeland and finally, New Zealand Tasman died quite poor on 10 October 1659 in Batavia The Western Pacific is littered with the names he gave them Was the first European to set eyes on our land Was one of the first white people (Pākehā) Māori ever saw New Zealand named after Dutch province A memorial in Ligar Bay remembers his discoveries A statue in Tahuna reminds us of this great navigator who visited Wharawhariangi Bay 373 years before we did A national park honours his name and the place Māori and European met for the very first time
REFERENCES www.forums.nexusmods.com Tasman s Legacy Hank Schouten www.treasure-explorer.nla.gov.au www.donsmaps.com www.stateland.co.nz www.kuriositas.com www.tan.fr Discussion with Mr B connections with Batavia www.sculpturegallery.com www.nndb.com www.yaymicro.com www.nzetc.victoria.ac.nz www.janszoon.org http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/geography/geography/discoveries/tasman.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/abel_tasman http://www.netherlandsfoundation.org.nz/blog/tasman-s-voyage-to-new-zealand-setting-the-record-straight/ Abel Janszoon Tasman & the discovery of New Zealand - Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington (NZ) The Exploration of the Pacific - J. C. Beaglehole