What did Abel Tasman discover? contribution to geography. Expeditions of Abel Tasman

landscaping 13.10.2019

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Province of Groningen - October 10, 1659, Batavia (now Jakarta) - Dutch navigator, explorer and merchant. He received worldwide recognition for the sea campaigns he led in -1644. He was the first known European explorer to reach the shores of New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. The data collected during his expeditions helped to prove the fact that Australia is a separate continent. The name of the navigator is the island of Tasmania and the Tasman Sea.

Biography

Abel Janszoon Tasman was born in 1603 in the village of Lütjegast near Groningen (now the municipality of Grotegast in the province of Groningen) in the Netherlands. Exact date his birth is unknown. The first documentary mention of him refers to 1631, when he, already widowed by that time, remarried. As follows from the surviving church record, his wife was illiterate and came from a poor family, which indirectly confirms the validity of the assumptions of the researchers of his biography about his low social status at that time.

Presumably at the same time, Abel Tasman entered the service of the Dutch East India Company as a simple sailor, but already in the records of 1634 he appears as the skipper of one of the company's ships. The main occupation of the company's sailors at that time was the service of transportation of spices and spices, which were an expensive and valuable commodity for the European market.

Around 1651, Abel Tasman retired and moved on to trade in Batavia.

Immortalized memory

In memory of Abel Janszon Tasman, the following are named:

He discovered the island of Tasmania off the coast of Australia
Sea
Basin in the South Pacific Ocean between the coasts of Australia and New Zealand
A protrusion of the mainland in northwestern Australia
Bridge 1.3 km long in the city of Hobart - the administrative center of Tasmania
Expressway (Tasman Highway (or A3)) on the island of Tasmania
National park in New Zealand
Mountain peak in New Zealand
Lake in New Zealand
Bay in New Zealand
Administrative region in New Zealand

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Notes

Literature

Nevsky V.V. Tasman discoveries. - M .: Geografgiz, 1961. - (Remarkable geographers and travelers).
Vnukov N. Great travelers. Biographical Dictionary. - St. Petersburg. : "Azbuka", 2000. - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-267-00048-5.
Jules Verne . History of great travels. - M .: "Terra", 1993.
Light Ya M History of the discovery and exploration of Australia and Oceania. - M .: Thought, 1966. - 400 p. - (Discovery of the Earth). - 12,000 copies.

Excerpt characterizing Tasman, Abel Janszon

- Where's the coat? Dolokhov said. - Hey, Ignatka! Go to Matryona Matveevna, ask for a fur coat, a sable coat. I heard how they were being taken away,” Dolokhov said with a wink. - After all, she will jump out neither alive nor dead, in what she sat at home; you hesitate a little, then there are tears, and father, and mother, and now she is cold and back, - and you immediately take it into a fur coat and carry it to the sleigh.
The footman brought a woman's fox coat.
- Fool, I told you sable. Hey, Matryoshka, sable! he shouted so that his voice could be heard far across the rooms.
A beautiful, thin and pale gypsy woman, with shiny, black eyes and black, curly bluish tint hair, in a red shawl, ran out with a sable coat on her hand.
“Well, I’m not sorry, you take it,” she said, apparently shy in front of her master and pitying the coat.
Dolokhov, without answering her, took a fur coat, threw it over Matryosha and wrapped her up.
"That's it," said Dolokhov. “And then like this,” he said, and lifted the collar near her head, leaving it just a little open in front of her face. “Then like this, you see? - and he moved Anatole's head to the hole left by the collar, from which Matryosha's brilliant smile could be seen.
“Well, goodbye, Matryosh,” said Anatole, kissing her. - Oh, my spree is over here! Bow down to Steshka. Well, goodbye! Farewell, Matryosh; you wish me happiness.
“Well, God grant you, prince, great happiness,” said Matrona, with her gypsy accent.
Two troikas were standing at the porch, two young coachmen were holding them. Balaga sat on the front three, and, raising his elbows high, slowly dismantled the reins. Anatole and Dolokhov sat down beside him. Makarin, Khvostikov and the lackey sat in another three.
- Ready, huh? Balaga asked.
- Let go! he shouted, wrapping the reins around his hands, and the troika carried the beat down Nikitsky Boulevard.
- Whoa! Go, hey! ... Shh, - only the cry of Balaga and the young man sitting on the goats could be heard. On Arbat Square, the troika hit the carriage, something crackled, a scream was heard, and the troika flew along the Arbat.
Having given two ends along Podnovinsky, Balaga began to hold back and, returning back, stopped the horses at the intersection of Staraya Konyushennaya.
The good fellow jumped down to hold the horses by the bridle, Anatole and Dolokhov went along the sidewalk. Approaching the gate, Dolokhov whistled. The whistle answered him, and after that the maid ran out.
“Come into the yard, otherwise you can see it, it will come out right now,” she said.
Dolokhov remained at the gate. Anatole followed the maid into the yard, turned the corner, and ran out onto the porch.
Gavrilo, Marya Dmitrievna's huge traveling footman, met Anatole.
“Come to the mistress, please,” the footman said in a bass voice, blocking the way from the door.
- To what lady? Who are you? Anatole asked in a breathless whisper.
- Please, ordered to bring.
- Kuragin! back,” shouted Dolokhov. - Treason! Back!
Dolokhov at the gate, at which he stopped, fought with the janitor, who was trying to lock the gate after Anatole had entered. With a last effort, Dolokhov pushed the janitor away and, grabbing Anatole, who had run out, by the arm, pulled him by the gate and ran with him back to the troika.

Marya Dmitrievna, finding the weeping Sonya in the corridor, forced her to confess everything. Intercepting Natasha's note and reading it, Marya Dmitrievna went up to Natasha with the note in her hand.
“You bastard, shameless,” she told her. - I don't want to hear anything! - Pushing away Natasha, who was looking at her with surprised, but dry eyes, she locked her with a key and ordered the janitor to let through the gate those people who would come that evening, but not let them out, and ordered the footman to bring these people to her, sat down in the living room, waiting kidnappers.
When Gavrilo came to report to Marya Dmitrievna that the people who had come had run away, she got up with a frown, and with her hands folded back, paced the rooms for a long time, pondering what she should do. At 12 o'clock in the morning, feeling the key in her pocket, she went to Natasha's room. Sonya, sobbing, sat in the corridor.
- Marya Dmitrievna, let me go to her for God's sake! - she said. Marya Dmitrievna, without answering her, unlocked the door and went in. “Disgusting, nasty ... In my house ... A scoundrel, a girl ... Only I feel sorry for my father!” thought Marya Dmitrievna, trying to appease her anger. “No matter how hard it is, I’ll order everyone to be silent and hide it from the count.” Marya Dmitrievna entered the room with resolute steps. Natasha lay on the couch, covering her head with her hands, and did not move. She lay in the very position in which Marya Dmitrievna had left her.
- Good, very good! said Marya Dmitrievna. - In my house, make dates for lovers! There is nothing to pretend. You listen when I talk to you. Marya Dmitrievna touched her hand. - You listen when I speak. You disgraced yourself like the last girl. I would have done something to you, but I feel sorry for your father. I will hide. - Natasha did not change her position, but only her whole body began to rise from the soundless, convulsive sobs that choked her. Marya Dmitrievna looked round at Sonya and sat down on the sofa beside Natasha.
- It is his happiness that he left me; Yes, I will find him,” she said in her rough voice; Do you hear what I am saying? - She faked her big hand under Natasha's face and turned her towards her. Both Marya Dmitrievna and Sonya were surprised to see Natasha's face. Her eyes were bright and dry, her lips pursed, her cheeks drooping.
“Leave ... those ... that I ... I ... die ...” she said, with an evil effort she tore herself away from Marya Dmitrievna and lay down in her former position.
"Natalia!..." said Marya Dmitrievna. - I wish you well. You lie down, well, lie down like that, I won't touch you, and listen... I won't say how guilty you are. You yourself know. Well, now your father will arrive tomorrow, what will I tell him? BUT?
Again Natasha's body shook with sobs.
- Well, he will know, well, your brother, the groom!
“I don’t have a fiancé, I refused,” Natasha shouted.
“It doesn’t matter,” continued Marya Dmitrievna. - Well, they will find out, what will they leave like that? After all, he, your father, I know him, after all, if he challenges him to a duel, will it be good? BUT?
“Ah, leave me, why did you interfere with everything!” What for? why? who asked you? shouted Natasha, sitting up on the sofa and looking angrily at Marya Dmitrievna.
- What did you want? cried Marya Dmitrievna again, excitedly, “why were you locked up or what?” Well, who prevented him from going to the house? Why take you away like a gypsy?... Well, if he had taken you away, what do you think, they wouldn't have found him? Your father, or brother, or fiancé. And he's a scoundrel, a scoundrel, that's what!
“He is better than all of you,” Natasha cried, rising. “If you hadn’t interfered… Oh, my God, what is it, what is it!” Sonya why? Go away! ... - And she sobbed with such despair with which people mourn only such grief, of which they feel themselves the cause. Marya Dmitrievna began to speak again; but Natasha screamed: “Go away, go away, you all hate me, despise me. - And again threw herself on the sofa.
Marya Dmitrievna went on admonishing Natasha for some more time and suggesting to her that all this must be hidden from the count, that no one would know anything if only Natasha took it upon herself to forget everything and not show to anyone that something had happened. Natasha didn't answer. She did not sob anymore, but chills and trembling became with her. Marya Dmitrievna put a pillow for her, covered her with two blankets, and herself brought her a lime blossom, but Natasha did not answer her. “Well, let her sleep,” said Marya Dmitrievna, leaving the room, thinking that she was sleeping. But Natasha did not sleep, and with fixed open eyes from her pale face looked straight ahead of her. All that night Natasha did not sleep, and did not cry, and did not speak to Sonya, who got up several times and approached her.
The next day, for breakfast, as Count Ilya Andreich had promised, he arrived from Moscow Region. He was very cheerful: business with the bidder was going well, and nothing now delayed him now in Moscow and in separation from the countess, whom he missed. Marya Dmitrievna met him and announced to him that Natasha had become very unwell yesterday, that they had sent for a doctor, but that she was better now. Natasha did not leave her room that morning. With pursed, chapped lips and dry, fixed eyes, she sat at the window and peered uneasily at those passing along the street and hurriedly looked back at those who entered the room. She was obviously waiting for news of him, waiting for him to come himself or write to her.

In honor of the navigator Abel Tasman, the island of Tasmania and the Tasman Sea are named. He was the first European to reach the shores of New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. However, contemporaries did not appreciate his discoveries. And the East India Company was downright disappointed with the results of Tasman's expeditions.

Dutch navigator Abel Tasman was born in 1603. During the expeditions of 1642-1644, he was the first European explorer to reach the shores of New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji. The data collected during his expeditions helped to prove the fact that Australia is a separate continent. The name of the navigator is the island of Tasmania and the Tasman Sea.

The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, Anthony van Diemen, decided in 1641 to send an expedition to explore the southern and eastern waters of the Pacific Ocean. He appointed Tasman as commander. Tasman was to explore the Zuidlandt, as the Dutch called the supposed Southern Continent, about which there was still very little information at that time. He was to find out how far this land extended to the south, and to know the paths leading from it to the east.

Tasman supplied detailed instruction, which summarized the results of all voyages made in the waters of Seidlandt and the Western Pacific Ocean. The East India Company allocated two ships: the small warship Heemskerk and the fast flute (cargo ship) Zehain. One hundred people took part in the expedition.

The ships left Batavia on August 14, 1642 and arrived on the island of Mauritius on September 5. On October 8, they left the island and headed south, and then south-southeast. On November 6, they reached 49 ° 4 "south latitude, but could not move further south due to a storm. A member of the expedition Vischer proposed sailing to 150 ° east longitude, adhering to 44 ° south latitude, and then along 44 ° south latitude go east to Longitude 160° E. Thus, the Tasman passed under the southern coast of Australia, but at a distance of 400-600 miles from the coast.

2 Tasmania

On November 24, 1642, a very high coast was noticed from the ships. This was the southwest coast of Tasmania, an island that Tasman considered part of the Zuidlandt and named Van Diemen's Land.

On December 2, sailors landed on the shores of Van Diemen's Land. “On our boat,” Tasman wrote, “there were four musketeers and six rowers, and each had a lance and a weapon at his belt ... The sailors brought various greens (they saw it in abundance); some varieties were similar to those that grow on the Cape of Good Hope ... They rowed for four miles to a high cape, where all kinds of greenery grew on flat areas, not planted by man, but existing from God, and were here in abundance fruit trees, and in the wide valleys there are many streams, which, however, are difficult to reach, so that only a flask can be filled with water. The sailors heard some sounds, something like the playing of a horn or the blows of a small gong, and this noise was heard nearby. But they didn't see anyone. They noticed two trees, 2-2 ½ fathoms thick and 60-65 feet high, and the trunks were cut with sharp stones and the bark was torn off here and there, and this was done in order to get to the birds' nests. The distance between the notches is five feet, therefore, it can be assumed that the people here are very tall. We saw traces of some animals, similar to the prints of the claws of a tiger; (the sailors) brought the excrement of a four-legged beast (so they believed) and some fine resin that seeped out of these trees and had the scent of humilak ... There were many herons and wild geese off the coast of the cape ... "

Leaving the anchorage, the ships moved further north and on December 4 passed the island, which was named the island of Mary in honor of Van Diemen's daughter. Passing by the Schaugen Islands and the Frey-Sine Peninsula (Tasman decided that this was an island), the ships reached 4 ° 34 "south latitude on December 5. The coast turned to the north-west, and in this direction the ships could not move due to headwinds. Therefore, it was decided to leave the coastal waters and go east.

Tasman on his map connected the coast of Van Diemen's Land with Neates' Land, discovered in southern Australia in 1627. Thus, Tasmania became a protrusion of the Australian mainland, and in this form it was shown on all maps up to early XIX century.

3 New Zealand

During the period from 5 to 13 December 1642, the expedition crossed the sea separating Tasmania and Australia from New Zealand. At noon on December 13, Tasman and his companions discovered New Zealand land - a cape on the northwestern tip of the South Island of New Zealand, later named Cape Ferwell by Cook. Rounding this cape, Tasman entered the strait separating the South and North Islands (modern Cook Strait). On the southern coast of this strait in a deep bay on December 18, the ships dropped anchor.

Here a meeting was held with the Maori, who went out to the ships in sharp canoes. At first everything was fine. Stately, painted with patterns, people with yellowish skin behaved peacefully (they were all armed with clubs and spears). The canoes came very close to the ships, and the sailors entered into conversation with the islanders. Tasman had recorded phrases in the languages of New Guinea, but these dialects were as incomprehensible to New Zealanders as Dutch. Suddenly the world was broken. The Maori captured a boat sent from the Hemskerk to the Zehain. In this boat were the boatswain and six sailors. The boatswain and two sailors managed to swim to the Hemskerk, but four Maori sailors were killed; their bodies and the boat they took with them. Tasman named the bay where this event took place Killer Bay.

Leaving the bay, he headed east, but soon contrary east winds forced him to lie adrift. On December 24, a council of commanders was held. Tasman believed that a passage could be found to the east, but his companions believed that the ships were not in the strait, but in a wide bay that cut deep into the newly discovered land. It was decided to head to the northern shore of this "bay". Because Tasman did not find the passage that divides in two New Zealand, he decided that this was a single land mass, and called it the Land of the States (Statenlandt), believing that it was part of the Land of the States of Schouten and Lehmer. Passing to the northern coast of Cook Strait, Tasman then turned west, bypassed the southwestern tip of the North Island and followed its western coast to the north.

On January 4, 1643, he discovered the extreme northwestern tip of New Zealand, which he named Cape Maria Van Diemen. Headwinds prevented him from rounding the cape and surveying the north coast of the North Island. On the map, he plotted only the western coast of the Land of the States. Only after one hundred and twenty-seven years, the true outline of this land was established and it was proved that it was not part of the southern mainland, but a double island.

Having opened on January 5 a small island of the Three Wise Men (Three Kings on modern maps) near the New Zealand coast, Tasman headed northeast.

4 Tonga

On January 19, the ships entered the waters of the Tonga archipelago. Tasman discovered the main Tongan islands - Tongatabu, Eua and Namuku (he named them the islands of Amsterdam, Middelburg and Rotterdam, respectively). This was a very important discovery: until now, the Spaniards and the Dutch in western Polynesia met only small islands lying on the periphery of this vast area.

Tasman stayed on the islands of Tonga until February 1, 1643. He was very well received by the islanders.

5 Fiji

From the islands of Tonga, Tasman headed northwest. On February 6, he discovered the Fiji Islands, but fogs and bad weather prevented exploration of this vast archipelago. Continuing northwest, the Tasman passed far to the east of the Banks and Santa Cruz Islands. The Solomon Islands remained to the west of his route; On March 22, he reached a large atoll, which he named Ontong Java.

6 Return to Batavia

The Tasman Expedition of 1642-1643 was one of the most outstanding overseas ventures of the 17th century. Tasman discovered Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), New Zealand and the islands of Tonga and Fiji. He "separated" the New Holland land from the southern mainland, opened a new sea route from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific in the band of stable westerly winds of the fortieth latitudes. Contemporaries did not use these important discoveries Tasman, but later they were duly appreciated by James Cook.

7 Second expedition. Gulf of Carpentaria

Immediately after Tasman returned from his voyage, Van Diemen decided to send him south again. This time the task was to explore the Gulf of Carpentaria, to find out whether this vast water basin is a bay or in its southernmost part it turns into a strait.

At the beginning of 1644, three small ships were equipped in Batavia and a team of one hundred and ten people was selected. Tasman passed along the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula, then along the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and discovered a number of small islands near it. He explored the western coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, then proceeded along the northern coast of the Arnhemland peninsula, crossed the Dundas Strait between the Coburg Peninsula and Melville Island and entered the bay, which he named after Van Diemen. Without going deep into this bay, Tasman again went out to the open sea.

8 Northwest coast of Australia

Tasman rounded the islands of Melville and Bathurst from the north (he took them for part of the mainland) and went southwest along the still unexplored northwestern coast of Australia. At times, because of reefs and small islands, he had to keep at a considerable distance from the coast, but he found that there were no wide breaks anywhere in it, and went along it up to places south of 21 ° south latitude, which had already been surveyed in 20 years of the 17th century. From the Northwest Cape, Tasman headed for Java and arrived in Batavia in early August 1644.

Thus, Tasman erased from the map large "blank spots" in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the northwestern coast of Australia. He found that the coast line stretches continuously from the North-Western Cape to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The results of Tasman's expeditions disappointed the East India Company. Tasman found neither gold nor spices. The routes laid by Tasman did not promise the company any benefits. It was decided not to conduct further research.

Abel Tasman

In 1642, the governor-general of the Dutch Indies, Van Diemen, decided to establish whether Australia was part of the southern mainland and whether New Guinea connected with it, and also to find new road from Java to Europe. Van Diemen found a young captain, Abel Tasman, who, having gone through many trials, won the fame of an excellent connoisseur of the sea. Van Diemen gave him detailed instructions on where to go and how to act.

Abel Tasman was born in 1603 in the vicinity of Groningen in a poor family, he independently mastered the letter and, like many of his countrymen, connected his fate with the sea. In 1633, he appeared in Batavia and, on a small ship of the East India Company, went around many of the islands of the Malay Archipelago. In 1636, Tasman returned to Holland, but two years later he was back in Java. Here, in 1639, Van Diemen organized an expedition to the North Pacific. It was headed by an experienced navigator Mattis Quast. Tasman was appointed skipper on the second ship.

Quast and Tasman had to find the mysterious islands allegedly discovered by the Spaniards to the east of Japan, these islands on some Spanish maps bore the tempting names "Rico de oro" and "Rico de plata" ("rich in gold" and "rich in silver").

The expedition did not justify Van Diemen's hopes, but she explored Japanese waters and reached Kuril Islands. During this voyage, Tasman proved himself to be a brilliant helmsman and an excellent commander. Scurvy killed almost the entire crew, but he managed to navigate the ship from the coast of Japan to Java, withstanding severe typhoon attacks along the way.

Van Diemen showed considerable interest in Zeidlandt, and he was not disappointed by the failures of the expedition of Gerrit Pohl. In 1641, he decided to send a new expedition to this land and appointed Tasman as its commander. Tasman had to find out whether Zeidlandt was part of the Southern Continent, how far it extended to the south, and to find out the paths leading from it to the east, into the still unknown seas of the western part of the Pacific Ocean.

Tasman was provided with detailed instructions summarizing the results of all voyages made in the waters of Zeidlandt and the Western Pacific. This instruction has survived, and Tasman's daily records have survived, which allow us to restore the entire route of the expedition. The company gave him two ships: a small warship "Heemskerk" and a fast flute (cargo ship) "Sehain". One hundred people took part in the expedition.

The ships left Batavia on August 14, 1642 and arrived on the island of Mauritius on September 5. On October 8, they left the island and headed south, and then south-southeast. On November 6, they reached 49 ° 4 S, but could not move further south due to a storm. A member of the expedition, Vischer, suggested sailing to 150 ° east longitude, adhering to 44 ° south latitude, and then go east along 44 ° south latitude to 160 ° east longitude.

Under the southern coast of Australia, Tasman thus passed 8–10° south of the Neates route, leaving the Australian mainland far to the north. He traveled east at a distance of 400-600 miles from the southern coast of Australia and at 44 ° 15 south latitude and 147 ° 3 east longitude noted in his diary:

“… all the time the excitement comes from the southwest, and although we saw floating algae every day, it can be assumed that there is no big land in the south…”

This was an absolutely correct conclusion: the nearest land south of the Tasman route - Antarctica - lies south of the Antarctic Circle.

On November 24, 1642, a very high bank was noticed. This was the southwest coast of Tasmania, an island that Tasman considered part of the Zuidlandt and named Van Diemen's Land. It is not easy to establish which part of the coast the Dutch sailors saw that day, because the maps of Vischer and another member of the Gilsemans expedition differ significantly from each other. The Tasmanian geographer J. Walker believes that it was a mountainous coast north of Macquarie Bay - Harbor.

“On our boat,” Tasman writes, “there were four musketeers and six rowers, and each had a lance and a weapon at the belt ... Then the sailors brought various greens (they saw it in abundance); some varieties were similar to those that grow on the Cape of Good Hope ... They rowed for four miles to a high cape, where all kinds of greenery grew on flat areas, not planted by man, but real from God, and there were fruit trees in abundance trees, and in wide valleys there are many streams, which, however, are difficult to reach, so that you can only fill a flask with water.

The sailors heard some sounds, something like the playing of a horn or the blows of a small gong, and this noise was heard nearby. But they didn't see anyone. They noticed two trees 2-2 1/2 fathoms thick and 60-65 feet high, and the trunks were cut with sharp stones and the bark was peeled here and there, and this was done in order to get to the birds' nests. The distance between the notches is five feet, therefore, it can be assumed that the people here are very tall. We saw traces of some animals, similar to the prints of the claws of a tiger; (the sailors) brought the excrement of a four-legged beast (so they believed) and some fine resin that seeped out of these trees and had the aroma of humilak ... There were many herons and wild geese off the coast of the cape ... "

Leaving the anchorage, the ships moved further north and on December 4 passed the island, which was named the island of Mary in honor of Van Diemen's daughter. Passing by the islands of Schouten and the Freycinet Peninsula (Tasman decided that this was an island), the ships reached 4 ° 34 south latitude on December 5. The coast turned to the northwest, and in this direction the ships could not advance due to headwinds. Therefore, it was decided to leave the coastal waters and go east.

Here a meeting was held with the Maori, who went out to the ships in fast canoes. At first everything was fine. Stately, painted with patterns, people with yellowish skin behaved peacefully (they were all armed with clubs and spears). The canoes came very close to the ships, and the sailors entered into conversation with the islanders. Tasman had recorded phrases in the languages of New Guinea, but these dialects were as incomprehensible to New Zealanders as Dutch. Suddenly the world was broken. The Maori captured a boat sent from the Hemskerk to the Zehain. In this boat were the boatswain and six sailors. The boatswain and two sailors managed to swim to the Hemskerk, but four Maori sailors were killed, their bodies and the boat they took with them. Tasman places all the blame for this skirmish on the locals. He named the bay where this event took place, Assassin's Cove. Leaving the bay, he headed east, but soon contrary east winds forced him to lie adrift.

On December 24, a council of commanders was held. Tasman believed that a passage could be found to the east, but his companions believed that the ships were not in the strait, but in a wide bay that cut deep into the newly discovered land. It was decided to head to the northern shore of this "bay". Since Tasman did not find the passage that divides New Zealand in two, he decided that it was a single landmass and named it the Land of the States (Statenlandt), believing that it was part of the Land of the States of Schouten and Lehmer. Passing to the northern coast of Cook Strait, Tasman then turned west, bypassed the southwestern tip of the North Island and followed its western coast to the north.

On January 4, 1643, he discovered the extreme northwestern tip of New Zealand, which he named Cape Maria Van Diemen. Headwinds prevented him from rounding the cape and surveying the north coast of the North Island. On the map, he mapped only the western coast of the Land of the States. Only one hundred and twenty-seven years later, the true outline of this land was established and proved that it is not part of the southern mainland, but a double island, which in area is only slightly larger than Great Britain.

Having discovered on January 5 a small island of the Three Wise Men (Three Kings on modern maps) near the New Zealand coast, Tasman headed to the northeast.

On January 19, the ships entered the waters of the Tonga archipelago. Tasman was more fortunate here than Schouten and Lemaire.

Those only "touched" the northernmost islands of this archipelago, and Tasman discovered the main Tongan islands - Tongataba, Eua and Namuku (he called them the islands of Amsterdam, Middelburg and Rotterdam, respectively). This was a very important discovery, until now the Spaniards and the Dutch in western Polynesia met only small islands lying on the periphery of this vast area.

Tasman stayed on the islands of Tonga until February 1, 1643. The islanders received him warmly and cordially.

Further, Tasman, along the route of Schouten and Lemaire, headed along the northern coasts of New Ireland (which he considered part of New Guinea) and New Guinea to the Moluccas and Java, and on June 14, 1643, arrived in Batavia.

The well-known historian and geographer J. Baker rightly called this voyage of Tasman a brilliant failure. And indeed, if in terms of navigation the route outlined by Vischer was exceptionally successful, then in a purely geographical sense it could not justify itself. The Australian ring had too large a radius: inside this ring were Australia with Tasmania and New Guinea.

Tasman only touched New Zealand and, without examining it, mistook it for the western ledge of the Land of the States of Schouten and Lemaire. However, passing from New Zealand through the islands of Tonga and Fiji to New Guinea, he separated the Australian-New Guinean land from the mythical southern mainland. Because the South Land The Holy Spirit of Kyros also happened to be west of the Tasman route in pacific ocean, cartographers had to separate it from this mainland and attach it to Zeidlandt. This very real land that appeared on the maps with the New Guinean "pendant", Van Diemen's Land and the Southern Land of the Holy Spirit, was called New Holland (on the maps of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, all of it eastern half was shown as a solid "white spot").

The Tasman Expedition of 1642-1643 was one of the most outstanding overseas ventures of the 17th century. Tasman discovered Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), New Zealand and the islands of Tonga and Fiji. He “separated” the New Dutch land from the southern mainland, opened a new sea route from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific in the band of stable westerly winds of the fortieth latitudes, he rightly assumed that the ocean washing Australia from the south captures a vast expanse in the forties and fiftieth latitudes. Contemporaries did not use these important discoveries of Tasman, but they were duly appreciated by James Cook; he owes much to Tasman for the success of his first two voyages.

Immediately after the return of Tasman from the voyage, Van Diemen decided to send him again to the shores of Zeidlandt. The fact is that neither Janszon, nor Carstens, nor Gerrit Paul managed to penetrate the Gulf of Carpentaria. Therefore, it was not clear whether this vast water basin was a bay or, in its southernmost part, it turned into a strait leading to Neates Land. Tasman was charged with surveying the coast of New Guinea south of 17° south latitude and ascertaining whether it connected with the land known as Seidlandt.

On modern maps, only the tip of the "tail" of New Guinea reaches 10 ° south latitude. However, Van Diemen, like all people of that time, believed that the eastern coast of Carpentaria, surveyed in 1623 by Carstens up to 17 ° south latitude, is part of New Guinea.

At the beginning of 1644, three small ships were equipped in Batavia and a team of one hundred and ten people was selected. Frans Vischer was appointed chief helmsman of the expedition. Records of the participants in this voyage have not been preserved, but the route of the expedition is shown on the "Bonaparte map", which is stored in the Mitchell Library in Sydney (it is called so because it came to Australia from the personal archives of one of Napoleon's relatives). The map is based on Tasman's data and contains his own handwritten notes.

The results of this voyage exceeded all expectations. Tasman passed along the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula, then along the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and discovered a number of small islands near it. He explored the western coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, then proceeded along the northern coast of the Arnhemland peninsula, crossed the Dundas Strait between the Coburg Peninsula and Melville Island and entered the bay, which he named after Van Diemen. Without going deep into this bay, Tasman again went out to the open sea, rounded the islands of Melville and Bathurst from the north (he took these islands for part of the mainland) and went southwest along the still unexplored northwestern coast of Australia. At times, because of reefs and small islands, he had to keep at a considerable distance from the coast, but he found that there were no wide breaks anywhere in it, and went along it until places south of 21 ° south latitude, which had already been surveyed in 20 years of the 17th century. From the Northwest Cape, Tasman headed for Java and arrived in Batavia in early August 1644.

Thus, Tasman erased from the map large "blank spots" in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the northwestern coast of Australia. After this voyage, the western part of the mainland took on the contours that we see on modern maps. The northern coast of Australia on the Tasman map received only a general outline, and only painstaking research carried out almost two centuries later made it possible to clarify its data and map a number of bays, capes and islands in this part of the mainland. But it was Tasman who discovered that the coastline stretches continuously from the Northwest Cape to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

However, the results of both Tasman expeditions disappointed the East India Company. Tasman did not find any gold or spices - he explored the deserted shores of desert lands. In fifty years the company had seized so many rich lands in the Asian East that it was now most concerned with how to retain these distant possessions. The routes laid by Tasman did not promise her any benefits, because she already held in her tenacious hands the sea route leading to the East Indies past the Cape of Good Hope. And in order to prevent competitors from seizing these new routes, the company considered it good to close them and at the same time stop further searches in Seidlandt. “It is desirable,” they wrote to Batavia from Amsterdam, “that this land should remain unknown and unexplored, so as not to draw the attention of foreigners to the ways, using which they can harm the interests of the company ...”

In April 1645, Van Diemen died, and the new trend in the overseas policy of the company finally triumphed.

Tasman, in essence, remained out of work. He fell out of favor, took part in small expeditions, then in 1651 he was reinstated, but left the service in the company and, at his own peril and risk, conducted trading operations on the islands of the Malay Archipelago for several years. He died in 1659.

From book encyclopedic Dictionary(T-F) author Brockhaus F. A.

Tasman Tasman (Abel Janson Tasman) is a Dutch sailor who became famous for his discoveries. By order of the Dutch East Indian governor Van Diemen, he went to explore Australia and on November 24, 1642, he stumbled upon a land that he called Van Diemen's Land, not

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Abel-François Villemain (1790-1870) historian and critic To be an excellent critic, you need the ability to be a good writer. Only talent is able to expand horizons

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WILLIAM FISHER - RUDOLF ABEL (1903-1971) A professional revolutionary, German Heinrich Fischer, by the will of fate, turned out to be a resident of Saratov. He married a Russian girl Lyuba. For revolutionary activities he was exiled abroad. He could not go to Germany: a case was opened against him there,

The name of Abel Tasman, the famous discoverer of New Zealand, is known quite widely, but almost no documents have survived that would shed light on his biography, only a sailing diary written by him in 1642-1643. and individual letters. We do not know the exact date of birth of the navigator. Even the place of birth, the village of Lutgegast in the Dutch province of Groningen, became known only in 1845, when Tasman's will, drawn up by him two years before his death, was discovered in the Dutch archives. No one knows who the traveler's parents were. Only the father's name is known, as Tasman's middle name Janszon means "son of Jans". There is no information about where Tasman was educated and how he became a sailor. It is only known that until the age of 30 he was a sailor and sailed on merchant ships in European waters.

In 1633 or 1634, Tasman sailed to the Dutch East Indies on the Banda ship and began to serve as a skipper on the ships of the Dutch East India Company, where he accumulated vast experience in navigation. Already in 1634, the navigator visited the Malay Archipelago, where he performed hydrographic work. In 1635 and 1636 carried out guard duty in the area of the Moluccas. Apparently, Tasman has proven himself well, since in 1638 he was appointed captain of the ship "Angel". For the appointment, he went to Holland, where he signed a contract with the company for 10 years and, with her permission, returned to India with his wife. The name of his first life partner could not be ascertained. However, it is known that she gave her husband a daughter who, after the death of her mother, lived for a long time with her father in Batavia (Jakarta), and then got married and left for Ams-terdam.

Abel Tasman with his wife and daughter

In 1639, Tasman was forced to set sail in search of the origins of the legend that excited the minds of the Spaniards and the Dutch. For a long time and unsuccessfully, they searched in the ocean for the islands of Rico de Oro and Rico de Plata - “Golden” and “Silver” - with innumerable reserves of precious metals. I decided to find these islands and the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Anton Van Diemen. According to him, they must have been somewhere east of Japan. Two ships were allocated, one of which, Graft, was commanded by Abel Tasman. A total of 90 people were sent on the way. In addition to searching for the islands, travelers had to barter with the natives, for which various goods were loaded into the holds.
On June 2, 1639, the expedition left Batavia and headed northeast. In the Philippine Islands, work was carried out to refine the map of the Philippines. Then we moved on, again to the northeast, discovered and mapped several islands from the Bonin archipelago. From here we went north, then turned east. However, the epidemic that broke out on the ships forced the sailors to turn back. On the way home, Tasman charted the coasts of the East China Sea.
They arrived in Batavia on February 19, 1640. Only 7 people survived from the Graft team. The cargo of valuable Chinese goods brought did not please Van Diemen - after all, the expedition did not find any traces of the legendary islands. However, the governor fully appreciated the seafaring art of Tasman. In 1640-1642. he repeatedly sent the captain with various assignments to Japan, Cambodia, China and other countries of the South and East Asia. On an expedition to Taiwan, Tasman almost died: during a strong typhoon, all the ships of his flotilla sank, only the flagship survived. Barely keeping afloat, with broken masts and water in the hold, with a damaged rudder, the ship drifted across the ocean for a long time, and only a chance meeting with a Dutch ship saved the navigators. The ship was towed to Taiwan and returned to Batavia after four months of repairs.
In an effort to expand its influence, the Dutch East India Company consistently organized expeditions to discover new lands. In 1642, Van Diemen equipped a new expedition to the still unexplored southern part Indian Ocean to find sea routes to avoid encounters with Portuguese warships. It was supposed to find the lost Mendanya and until then not yet found the Solomon Islands and go further east in search of a convenient route to Chile. It was also necessary to find out the outlines of the southern land discovered in 1606 by Willem Janszon.
Abel Tasman, who was considered perhaps the best captain in the Dutch East Indies, was appointed the head of the expedition, which left Batavia on August 14, 1642. True, the legend reports the presence of personal motives in the governor. Tasman, who seemed to have been widowed by that time, dared to ask for the hand of his daughter Mary, for which he was sent on a long journey on two dilapidated ships. At first glance, the version does not stand up to criticism. Van Diemen had no daughter, at least not a legitimate one. However, the mysterious Maria could also be one of the relatives of the governor. As for the state of the ships, then the legend is absolutely reliable. According to the captain himself, their decks are completely rotten.
The sixty-ton flagship was named Hemsmerk. He was accompanied by a three-masted Zeehan vessel with a displacement of 100 tons. 110 people took part in the voyage. Tasman understood that sailing across the ocean to Chile was impossible on small and unreliable ships, therefore, at his own peril and risk, he decided to limit himself to exploring the southern land and nearby areas. From the island of Mauritius, he headed southeast and on November 24 discovered a vast land, which he named Van Diemen's Land in honor of the governor.
Continuing the voyage, after a while the expedition discovered another land. It was the west coast big island later known as New Zealand. But Tasman, trusting the data of Le Mer and Schouten, decided that this was the eastern coast of the Land of the States they had discovered (Island Estados at the southern tip of America), so he did not explore its southern coast, but walked along the northern and eastern coasts . However, he did have some doubts. An interesting detail testifies to this. As already mentioned, among other things, the expedition was looking for the Solomon Islands. It is known that the captain specifically learned a few words of the language of their inhabitants, known to the Dutch. In New Zealand, he tried to address them to the natives, but they did not understand him. So Tasman was convinced that he had not reached the Solomon Islands. And the meeting with the locals happened in this way.
Having found shelter in the bay, now known as Golden Bay, the travelers decided to replenish their water supplies. Having landed on the shore, they met the native Maori, tall, with a swarthy-yellow complexion, at first glance friendly. However, the very next day, the very first sailors who stepped ashore were attacked. Three were killed, and the rest barely escaped with the support of the boats that arrived in time from the ships. Tasman named Golden Bay "Killer's Bay", weighed anchor and headed further along the coast. The cape, which ended the island, was named Cape Maria Van Diemen, as if confirming the authenticity of the legend known to us. True, some biographers claim that this was the name of Van Diemen's wife, but this also does not exclude the presence of a romantic story.

After exploring part of the coast of New Zealand, Tasman decided to return. The ships moved north and along the way they discovered a group of Fiji islands, the islands of New Ireland and New Britain, the Tonga archipelago, etc. It is noteworthy that the next time Europeans appeared here only after 130 years. J. Cook's expedition testified that the inhabitants of Tonga still remembered visiting the Dutch. But the expedition did not find the Solomon Islands: it passed very close, but due to poor visibility, it did not notice.

On one of the small islands, one of the local residents shot an arrow and wounded one of the sailors. The natives, as the Dutch decided, were so frightened that they brought the culprit to the ship. Most likely, they assumed that the aliens should deal with him. However, Tas-man, who was not sure that the arrow was fired on purpose, released the prisoner, which testifies to his tolerance and sense of justice. Few of his contemporaries would have done so. Let us remember the Spaniards of Mendaña, who were ready to kill even because of a sideways glance or a sudden movement. Apparently, it was these qualities of the captain that contributed to the fact that the sailors of the ships commanded by Tasman loved him. And high professionalism inspired them full confidence to his knowledge and experience.

After a ten-month voyage, on June 15, 1643, the ships safely entered the port of Batavia. The officers were given a two-month salary in the form of a bonus, the sailors - a month. However, the leadership of the East India Company was unhappy that Tasman did not complete the entire program outlined in the instructions. In addition, swimming did not give any profit either. Trade exchange was not established, and gold was not found.
Unlike others, Van Diemen believed that all was not lost. In his opinion, it was necessary to explore New Guinea, the territory of which hid much useful resources. He was also interested in establishing links between New Guinea, New Ireland and Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). In the same year, he equipped a new expedition, again opting for Tasman as its leader.
Very little is known of this journey, mainly from a single letter from the Governor-General of the East India Company and Tasman maps. Not finding the Strait discovered by Torres, the existence of which the Dutch at that time did not know, the navigator decided that all the lands he had discovered constituted a single whole. However, he made a survey of 3.5 thousand km of the northern coast of Australia, which at that time was called New Holland. Tasman proved by his swimming that this is the mainland.
On August 4, 1644, all three ships of the expedition returned to Batavia. Despite the fact that this trip did not bring material benefits to the company, Tasman's merits as a sailor were not questioned. On May 4, 1645, he was promoted to the rank of commander and appointed a member of the council of justice of Batavia. Now he had to look through all the ship's logs of the ships and give an opinion on the voyages.

The high post did not force Tasman to give up sailing. In 1645-1646. he went to the Malay archipelago for military, hydrographic and commercial purposes, in 1647 he visited Siam (Thailand), in 1648-1649. — in the Philippines. In 1653, the navigator retired and lived a quiet and peaceful life in Batavia for several years. It is known that he was married a second time, but who his wife was, and whether she was alive at that time, remains unknown. Tasman died in 1659 at the age of 56.

His voyages were the first large expeditions to the waters of Australia and Oceania. Their results put the Dutch commander in the ranks of the largest travelers of the 17th century, who significantly enriched geographic Maps that time.
The manuscript of Tasman's diary, highly valuable for history, is kept in the State Archives in The Hague. The archives of Holland and England are proud of its two abridged copies. The originals of the ship's logs, which are of exceptional interest to the sciences, have not been found so far.
The full text of the diary was first published in 1860 by the Dutchman Jacob Schwartz. The diary is supplemented by magnificent drawings made by Tasman himself, by which one can judge that he has an outstanding talent as an artist.

Saturday, December 15, 2012 7:42 pm + to quote pad

On December 13, 1642 - 370 years ago - the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman set foot on New Zealand for the first time.

Abel Janszon Tasman (Dutch. Abel Janszoon Tasman, 1603, Lutjegast, Groningen province - October 1659, Batavia (now Jakarta) - Dutch navigator, explorer and merchant. Received world recognition for the sea voyages he led in 1642-1644. The first among famous European explorers reached the shores of New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji.The data collected during his expeditions helped to prove the fact that Australia is a separate continent.

Cape Jacobs Gerrets (1594-1650) Portrait of Abel Tasman, his wife and daughter. (1637)

Abel Janszon Tasman was born in 1603 in the village of Lütjegast near Groningen (now the municipality of Grotegast in the province of Groningen) in the Netherlands in a poor family, independently learned to read and write, and, like many of his countrymen, connected his fate with the sea. The exact date of his birth is unknown. The first documentary mention of him refers to 1631, when he, already widowed by that time, remarried. As follows from the surviving church record, his wife was illiterate and came from a poor family, which indirectly confirmed the validity of the assumptions of the researchers of his biography about his low social status at that time.

In 1636, Tasman returned to Holland, but two years later he was back in Java. In 1638, Tasman, commanding a ship, sailed to India. In 1639, the Governor-General of the Dutch Indies, Van Diemen, organized an expedition to the North Pacific Ocean to explore the seafaring areas in the region of Japan and trade opportunities with the local population.

Portrait of Antonio van Diemen (1593-1645).(1636-1675, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam) Anthony van Diemen(Dutch. Antonio van Diemen, Antonie van Diemen; 1593 (1593), Culemborg - April 19, 1645, Batavia) - the ninth Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.

It was headed by an experienced navigator Mattis Quast. Tasman was appointed skipper on the second ship.

Quast and Tasman had to find the mysterious islands supposedly discovered by the Spaniards to the east of Japan; these islands on some Spanish maps bore the tempting names "Rico de oro" and "Rico de I" ("rich in gold" and "rich in silver").

The expedition did not justify Van Diemen's hopes, but it explored the Sean waters and reached the Kuril Islands. During this voyage, Tasman proved himself to be a brilliant helmsman and an excellent commander. Scurvy killed almost the entire crew, but he managed to navigate the ship from the coast of Japan to Java, withstanding severe typhoon attacks along the way. After 6 months at sea, the Tasman ship, having lost almost 40 out of 90 crew members, returned to the Dutch fort Zeelandia on the island of Formosa (Taiwan). During this voyage, Bonin Island was discovered by him.

In 1640, Tasman again led one of the 11 Dutch ships headed for the shores of Japan. This time he spent about three months in the Japanese port of Hirado.

Karte des Südmeers vor der Reise Tasmans, von Hendrik Hondius um 1650

Under the southern coast of Australia, Tasman thus passed 8-10 ° south of the Neates route, leaving the Australian mainland far to the north. He followed east at a distance of 400-600 miles from the southern coast of Australia and at 44 ° 15 "south latitude and 147 ° 3" east longitude noted in his diary: "... all the time the excitement comes from the southwest, and, although every day we saw floating algae, it can be assumed that there is no large land in the south ... "This was an absolutely correct conclusion: the nearest land south of the Tasman route - Antarctica - lies south of the Antarctic Circle.

On December 2, sailors landed on the shores of Van Diemen's Land. “On our boat,” writes Tasman, “there were four musketeers and six rowers, and each had a lance and a weapon at his belt ... Then the sailors brought various greens (they saw it in abundance); some varieties were similar to those that grow on the Cape of Good Hope ... They rowed for four miles to a high cape, where all kinds of greenery grew on flat areas, not planted by man, but existing from God, and there were fruit trees in abundance, and in wide valleys there are many streams, which, however, are difficult to reach, so that only a flask can be filled with water.

The sailors heard some sounds, something like the playing of a horn or the blows of a small gong, and this noise was heard nearby. But they didn't see anyone. They noticed two trees, 2-2 1/2 fathoms thick and 60-65 feet high, and the trunks were cut with sharp stones and the bark was torn off here and there, and this was done in order to get to the birds' nests. The distance between the notches is five feet, therefore, it can be assumed that the people here are very tall. We saw traces of some animals, similar to the prints of the claws of a tiger; (sailors) brought the excrement of a four-legged beast (so they believed) and some fine resin that seeped out of these trees and had the aroma of humilak ... There were many herons and wild geese off the coast of the cape ... "

Leaving the anchorage, the ships moved further north and on December 4 passed the island, which was named the island of Mary in honor of Van Diemen's daughter. Passing by the islands of Schaugen and the Frey-sine peninsula (Tasman decided that this was an island), the ships reached 4-34 "south latitude on December 5. The coast turned to the north-west, and the ships could not move in this direction due to headwinds. Therefore, it was decided was to leave coastal waters and go east.

Here a meeting was held with the Maori, who went out to the ships in sharp canoes. At first everything was fine. Stately, painted with patterns, people with yellowish skin behaved peacefully (they were all armed with clubs and spears). The canoes came very close to the ships, and the sailors entered into conversation with the islanders. Tasman had recorded phrases in the languages of New Guinea, but these dialects were as incomprehensible to New Zealanders as Dutch. Suddenly the world was broken. The Maori captured a boat sent from the Hemskerk to the Zehain. In this boat were the boatswain and six sailors. The boatswain and two sailors managed to swim to the Hemskerk, but four Maori sailors were killed; their bodies and the boat they took with them. Tasman places all the blame for this skirmish on the locals. He named the bay where this event took place, Assassin's Cove.

Maori canoes and Abel Tasman's ships in Killer's Bay (now Golden Bay).
Isaack Gilsemans (died about 1645) Description English: "A view of the Murderers" Bay, as you are at anchor here in 15 fathom", a drawing made by Abel Tasman"s artist on the occasion of a skirmish between the Dutch explorers and Māori people at what is now called Golden Bay, New Zealand. This is the first European impression of Māori people. 18 December 1642 ("View of the Bay of Murderers, a drawing made by the artist Abel Tasman on the occasion of a skirmish between Dutch sailors and Maori).

Leaving the bay, he headed east, but soon contrary east winds forced him to lie adrift. On December 24, a council of commanders was held. Tasman believed that a passage could be found to the east, but his companions believed that the ships were not in the strait, but in a wide bay that cut deep into the newly discovered land. It was decided to head to the northern shore of this "bay". Since Tasman did not find the passage that divides New Zealand in two, he decided that it was a single landmass and named it the Land of the States (Statenlandt), believing that it was part of the Land of the States of Schouten and Lehmer. Passing to the northern coast of Cook Strait, Tasman then turned west, bypassed the southwestern tip of the North Island and followed its western coast to the north.

On January 4, 1643, he discovered the extreme northwestern tip of New Zealand, which he named Cape Maria Van Diemen. Headwinds prevented him from rounding the cape and surveying the north coast of the North Island. On the map, he mapped only the western coast of the Land of the States. Only one hundred and twenty-seven years later, the true outline of this land was established and proved that it is not part of the southern mainland, but a double island, which in area is only slightly larger than Great Britain.

Having discovered on January 5 a small island of the Three Wise Men (Three Kings on modern maps) near the New Zealand coast, Tasman headed to the northeast.

On January 19, the ships entered the waters of the Tonga archipelago. Tasman was more fortunate here than Schouten and Lemaire.

Those only "touched" the northernmost islands of this archipelago, and Tasman discovered the main Tongan islands - Tongatabu, Eua and Namuku (he called them the islands of Amsterdam, Middelburg and Rotterdam, respectively). This was a very important discovery: until now, the Spaniards and the Dutch in western Polynesia met only small islands lying on the periphery of this vast area.

Inhabitants of New Ireland. Drawing by Abel Tasman

Inhabitants of the island of Rotterdam. Drawing by Abel Tasman

Island of Rotterdam. Drawing by Abel Tasman

Islands of the Three Kings. Drawing by Abel Tasman

Tasman stayed on the islands of Tonga until February 1, 1643. The islanders received him warmly and cordially.

Woodcut Gilseman from the travel diary of Abel Tasman (1642-1643) depicting clothes, boats and settlements the people of Tonga.
Tongatapu, drawing by Isaack Gilsemans

Woodcut by Gilsemans (?) from ship diary by Abel Tasman, showing both ships in the bay (A), the inhabitants of Tongatapu with presents (B and E), showing their cano (C), how they fish (D), and where the king lives (F).
Houtsnede in scheepsdagboek Abel Tasman, met de bewoners van Tongatapu die met geschenken aankomen

Tasman only touched New Zealand and, without examining it, mistook it for the western ledge of the Land of the States of Schouten and Lemaire. However, passing from New Zealand through the islands of Tonga and Fiji to New Guinea, he separated the Australian-New Guinean land from the mythical southern mainland. Since the South Land of the Holy Spirit of Kyros also happened to be west of the route laid out by Tasman in the Pacific Ocean, the cartographers had to separate it from this mainland and attach it to Zeidlandt. This very real land that appeared on the maps with the New Guinean "pendant", Van Diemen's Land and the Southern Land of the Holy Spirit, was called New Holland (on maps of the 17th and first half of the 18th century, its entire eastern half was shown as a solid "white spot").

The Tasman Expedition of 1642-1643 was one of the most outstanding overseas ventures of the 17th century. Tasman discovered Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), New Zealand and the islands of Tonga and Fiji. He "separated" the New Holland land from the southern mainland, opened a new sea route from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific in the band of stable westerly winds of the fortieth latitudes; he rightly assumed that the ocean washing Australia from the south captures a vast expanse in the forties and fiftieth latitudes. Contemporaries did not use these important discoveries of Tasman, but they were duly appreciated by James Cook; He owes much of the success of his first two voyages to Tasman.

Immediately after the return of Tasman from the voyage, Van Diemen decided to send him again to the shores of Zeidlandt. The fact is that neither Janszon, nor Carstens, nor Gerrit Paul managed to penetrate the Gulf of Carpentaria. Therefore, it was not clear whether this vast water basin represented a bay or, in its southernmost part, it turned into a strait leading to Neates Land. Tasman was charged with surveying the coast of New Guinea south of 17° south latitude and ascertaining whether it connected with the land known as Seidlandt.

The Abel Tasman map 1644, also known as the Bonaparte Tasman map. This map is part of the collection of the State Library of New South Wales, Australia.

The results of this voyage exceeded all expectations. Tasman passed along the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula, then along the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and discovered a number of small islands near it. He explored the western coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, then proceeded along the northern coast of the Arnhemland peninsula, crossed the Dundas Strait between the Coburg Peninsula and Melville Island and entered the bay, which he named after Van Diemen. Without going deep into this bay, Tasman again went out to the open sea, rounded the islands of Melville and Bathurst from the north (he took these islands for part of the mainland) and went southwest along the still unexplored northwestern coast of Australia. At times, because of reefs and small islands, he had to keep at a considerable distance from the coast, but he found that there were no wide breaks anywhere in it, and went along it up to places south of 21 ° south latitude, which had already been surveyed in 20 years of the 17th century. From the Northwest Cape, Tasman headed for Java and arrived in Batavia in early August 1644.

Tasman's First and Second Expeditions.
Designations on the map:
________ first expedition 1642-1643;
_ _ _ _ second expedition in 1644.
- coasts open to Tasman and known to him;
- coasts open to Tasman, but unknown to him;
— islands open to Tasman;
coasts or islands discovered by Tasman

Thus, Tasman erased from the map large "blank spots" in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the northwestern coast of Australia. After this voyage, the western part of the mainland took on the contours that we see on modern maps. The northern coast of Australia on the map of Tasman received only a general outline, and only painstaking research carried out almost two centuries later made it possible to clarify its data and plot a number of bays, capes and islands in this part of the mainland on a hag. But it was Tasman who discovered that the coastline stretches continuously from the Northwest Cape to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

In April 1645, Van Diemen died, and the new trend in the overseas policy of the company finally triumphed.
Until almost 100 years later, the British navigator James Cook traveled, Europeans never began to explore New Zealand, and visits to Australia were isolated and most often caused by shipwrecks.

Tasman, in essence, remained out of work. He fell into disgrace, took part in small expeditions. His nautical skills, however, did not go unnoticed. In 1645, he was awarded the rank of commander, i.e., he became the head of a detachment of ships, and his salary was raised.

In addition, Tasman was appointed a member of the Council of Justice of the city of Batavia. Since he was recognized as a connoisseur of the sea, he was instructed to review the ship's logs of all the ships of the company and give an opinion on their navigation.

For several more years, Tasman led various expeditions in the Malay Archipelago. In 1647 he was sent as a representative to the king of Siam, and in 1648 he led a detachment of 8 ships that opposed the ships of the Spanish fleet. In 1651 he was reinstated, but left the company.