1642 Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman was one of the world's greatest explorers yet very few people realize the full extent of his accomplishments. Best known as the first European explorer to discover Tasmania, New Zealand and Fiji, he also completed the famous Bonaparte map which became the most complete map of Australia until 1770.

However, few people understand the importance of his main objective: to discover Terra Australis Incognito, The Unknown Southland, that almost every mapmaker believed existed in both the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Tasman sailed further south than any other explorer. He sailed longer than any other captain across the Indian and Southern Oceans at latitudes of 45°- S in two ships only 30 meters in length.

The author has not only discovered that Abel Tasman set foot on the shores of Tasmania, (3rd Dec 1642), but will reveal the exact location of this historic event as well as the location of the first landing by the Dutch explorers (2nd Dec).

What remained unknown, until the publication of this book, is that one of the crewmen ambushed by Maoris at Murderer's Bay, (now Golden Bay), was taken alive. He lived amongst the Maori and fathered a daughter. Her skull was recently discovered in the Ruamahanga River. Forensic scientists were puzzled as to how a female European skull could have ended up in New Zealand.

The answer was found in Tasman's Journal. …the foremost man in this prow …with a long, blunt pike thrust the quartermaster... in the neck several times...Upon this the other natives, with short thick clubs... fell upon the men in the cock-boat...three of our men were killed, and a fourth got mortally wounded through the heavy blows...the murderers, having (taken one of the dead bodies into their prow...

This book not only investigates his best-known explorations, but his entire life. Through Abel Tasman's story, we can feast upon a slice of Dutch history of wars, naval battles and the constant struggle of survival in the fabled Dutch East Indies.