Abel Tasman

Timeline

1. 1633–1642Batavia · BataviaTasman began as a merchant-ship sailor, joined the VOC around 1633, and was based at Batavia, taking part in trade voyages to the Spice Islands; in 1639 he sailed north with an expedition seeking the fabled island of gold and silver, passing the Philippines, near Taiwan, and Japanese waters, gaining ocean-command experience that laid the groundwork for his later South Pacific explorations.
2. 1642–1643Van Diemen's Land and the west coast of New Zealand · TasmaniaOn August 14, 1642 he sailed from Batavia in the Heemskerck and Zeehaen, turning southeast via Mauritius. On November 24 he sighted land, naming it Van Diemen's Land (today's Tasmania); on December 13 he reached the west coast of New Zealand's South Island, calling it Staten Landt and supposing it might connect with land found south of South America by Schouten and Le Maire. After clashes with the Maori at Murderers Bay (today's Golden Bay) he sailed north, continuing to Tonga and Fiji, and returned to Batavia in June 1643, inadvertently completing a great arc around New Holland.
3. 1644Gulf of Carpentaria and Australia's north coast · Gulf of CarpentariaIn 1644 Tasman was again sent by van Diemen with three ships to explore the south coast of New Guinea and the north coast of New Holland, charting from Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria to the northwest coast. He found no strait linking to the Pacific, but greatly enriched Dutch charts of New Holland's northern rim and confirmed the complex waterways between the continent and New Guinea.
4. 1645–1659Batavia · BataviaAfter the South Pacific voyages, the Company judged that he had opened no new trade nor found golden lands, and Tasman was assigned routine routes and military tasks, taking part in 1648–1649 in operations against the Spanish in the Philippines. He then settled in Batavia managing property and died there in 1659. His journals became foundational sources for European knowledge of Tasmania, New Zealand, and Australia's north coast.