400 years Netherlands-Australia: Explorers: Voyages: The Heemskerck (1642)

Abel Tasman's signature from his Journal, 1643.

The Heemskerck (1642)

The high point of the 17th-century voyages of discovery to Terra Australis was reached with the two expeditions led by Abel Jansz. Tasman, from the village of Lutjegast in the northern province of Groningen. As early as 1639, Tasman was second-in-command of an attempt to find the fabled Gold and Silver Islands to the east of Japan. But since that voyage did not produce the wealth the VOC directors had hoped for, new expeditions were planned immediately afterwards.

In 1642 the Company made Tasman the commander of an expedition to the South Land. Anthonie van Diemen, the governor-general of the East Indies, ordered him to determine the size and exact location of the South Land and to sketch everything he saw. The expedition’s other objective was to find a passage to the Pacific – in other words a route to South America through Australian waters. Van Diemen wanted to establish friendly relations with the people of Chile so that the VOC could compete in the trade on the west coast of South America.

Two vessels were fitted out for this voyage. The Heemskerck, with a crew of 60 ‘stout fellows’ served as Tasman’s flagship. The Zeehaan was under the command of Gerrit Jansz. of Leiden and Isaack Gilsemans, who besides representing the VOC was also a skilled draughtsman. He was instructed ‘perfectly to chart and describe all lands, islands, promontories, bights, inlets, bays etc. that you encounter or pass’.

From Batavia Tasman sailed nearly as far as the Cape of Good Hope, before turning for Terra Australis. On 24 November, by chance, he came across an island which he called Van Diemen’s Land after the governor-general. It was not named Tasmania, after Tasman himself, until many years later. Continuing eastwards, on 13 December he sighted New Zealand, which he called Statenland because he thought it formed part of the land mass south of Cape Horn known by that name.

The various encounters between Tasman and his crew and the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand did not always go off peacefully. A clash with Maoris claimed the lives of four Dutch seamen and an unknown number of Maoris. The place was entered in the log as ‘Murderers’ Bay’.

The two ships eventually reached the South Pacific and arrived in Batavia in June, after a ten-month long voyage. Tasman had also been instructed to sail along Cape Keerweer, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the north coast of Australia but could not do so because of the monsoon. His voyage had revealed that the South Land was not attached to Antarctica and that it was possible to sail round it. But the voyage had raised new questions, and Tasman was put in charge of a second expedition aimed at completing the mission of the first. The main objective was to determine definitely whether there was a passage between the South Land and New Guinea.

Tasman set sail on his second voyage in 1644, with three ships: the Limmen, the Zeemeeuw and the Bracq. He passed the end of the strait between Australia and New Guinea and concluded that no passage between them was possible. The quest for what was later known as the Torres Strait was one of the strangest in the history of exploration. As early as 1606, those aboard the Duyfken reported seeing ‘an opening’. In 1623, the VOC sent Jan Carstensz. in the Pera to explore what he called the ‘Droge Bocht’ or Dry Bight, but he still did not find the passage. It was not until 1770 that James Cook in the Endeavour was the first European since Torres to sail through the Strait.

Abel Tasman’s first voyage was undoubtedly the most important of all the Dutch voyages of exploration to Australia. Nonetheless, Tasman’s expeditions brought an end, for the time being, to the VOC’s efforts to find out more about Terra Australis. The Company expected little from the continent and regarded further expeditions as a waste of money.

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	Abel Tasman's signature from his Journal, 1643. The Heemskerck (1642) The high point of the 17th-century voyages of discovery to Terra Australis was reached with the two expeditions led by Abel Jansz. Tasman, from the village of Lutjegast in the northern province of Groningen. As early as 1639, Tasman was second-in-command of an attempt to find the fabled Gold and Silver Islands to the east of Japan. But since that voyage did not produce the wealth the VOC directors had hoped for, new expeditions were planned immediately afterwards. In 1642 the Company made Tasman the commander of an expedition to the South Land. Anthonie van Diemen, the governor-general of the East Indies, ordered him to determine the size and exact location of the South Land and to sketch everything he saw. The expedition’s other objective was to find a passage to the Pacific – in other words a route to South America through Australian waters. Van Diemen wanted to establish friendly relations with the people of Chile so that the VOC could compete in the trade on the west coast of South America. Two vessels were fitted out for this voyage. The Heemskerck, with a crew of 60 ‘stout fellows’ served as Tasman’s flagship. The Zeehaan was under the command of Gerrit Jansz. of Leiden and Isaack Gilsemans, who besides representing the VOC was also a skilled draughtsman. He was instructed ‘perfectly to chart and describe all lands, islands, promontories, bights, inlets, bays etc. that you encounter or pass’. From Batavia Tasman sailed nearly as far as the Cape of Good Hope, before turning for Terra Australis. On 24 November, by chance, he came across an island which he called Van Diemen’s Land after the governor-general. It was not named Tasmania, after Tasman himself, until many years later. Continuing eastwards, on 13 December he sighted New Zealand, which he called Statenland because he thought it formed part of the land mass south of Cape Horn known by that name. The various encounters between Tasman and his crew and the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand did not always go off peacefully. A clash with Maoris claimed the lives of four Dutch seamen and an unknown number of Maoris. The place was entered in the log as ‘Murderers’ Bay’. The two ships eventually reached the South Pacific and arrived in Batavia in June, after a ten-month long voyage. Tasman had also been instructed to sail along Cape Keerweer, the Gulf of Carpentaria and the north coast of Australia but could not do so because of the monsoon. His voyage had revealed that the South Land was not attached to Antarctica and that it was possible to sail round it. But the voyage had raised new questions, and Tasman was put in charge of a second expedition aimed at completing the mission of the first. The main objective was to determine definitely whether there was a passage between the South Land and New Guinea. Tasman set sail on his second voyage in 1644, with three ships: the Limmen, the Zeemeeuw and the Bracq. He passed the end of the strait between Australia and New Guinea and concluded that no passage between them was possible. The quest for what was later known as the Torres Strait was one of the strangest in the history of exploration. As early as 1606, those aboard the Duyfken reported seeing ‘an opening’. In 1623, the VOC sent Jan Carstensz. in the Pera to explore what he called the ‘Droge Bocht’ or Dry Bight, but he still did not find the passage. It was not until 1770 that James Cook in the Endeavour was the first European since Torres to sail through the Strait. Abel Tasman’s first voyage was undoubtedly the most important of all the Dutch voyages of exploration to Australia. Nonetheless, Tasman’s expeditions brought an end, for the time being, to the VOC’s efforts to find out more about Terra Australis. The Company expected little from the continent and regarded further expeditions as a waste of money.



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