118 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



an account of the Journal generally, of the circumstances 

 under which it was written, and of Tasnian himself. During 

 the latter jsart of the sixteenth and the earlier part of 

 the seventeenth century the Dutch were pre-eminently the 

 rulers of the sea. They had superseded the Spanish and the 

 Portuguese, who so long had been in the van of maritime 

 discovery and adventure. Their ships were better built, found, 

 and commanded than had ever been the case before. Their 

 navigation, laws, and rules were for the time of quite an ad- 

 vanced kind ; and, with that quiet perseverance and sturdy 

 courage which, under the name of Dutch phlegm, have always 

 been characteristic of the nation, their merchants had secured 

 and held the trade of tlie world. England's day was then but 

 in high dawn ; and, though now she is, and for long has been, 

 the mistress of the seas, at that time she held but a second if 

 not a third place. Early in the seventeenth century Holland 

 penetrated into the Indian Archipelago, and amidst its num- 

 berless fertile islands developed amazingly the wealth of her 

 trade. In 1610 she founded the capital of Batavia on the 

 Island of Java, and, though surrounded by hostile native 

 princes or chiefs, she maintained her position and security in 

 this centre. The affairs of this Dutch East India Company 

 w'ere managed by a Governor-General and Council, who, by 

 persistent courage and enterprise, maintained in those parts 

 of the world that renown which their countrymen had won 

 elsewhere. At no j^eriod in its history was the company so 

 prosperous and flourishing as between the years 1630 and 

 1680. That half-century closed, it became involved in the 

 quarrels and politics of the native Javanese States, and then 

 commenced its commercial ruin. In 1636 Antony van Diemen 

 was appointed Governor-General, retaining office for nearly 

 ten years ; and no Governor equalled him in energy and 

 sagacity. It was during his rule that Tasman's voyage, of 

 which we are now to speak, was undertaken. 



Tasman was born in 1602 or 1603, at Hoorn, in the north 

 of Holland, a town on the borders of the Zuyder Zee, where 

 so many bold sailors were bred, and where, it has been stated, 

 descendants of his family still remain. But, indeed, we know- 

 little of Tasman's personal history beyond that contained in 

 his Journal. In this he has truly bequeathed us his monu- 

 ment, though underneath it lies little more than a shadow.. 

 An old engraving of him is to be seen in the Christchurch 

 Museum ; and it would seem that some personal description is 

 given by M. Dozy in "Bijdragen de Taal Land en Volkenkunde 

 van Nederlandsch-Indie " (" Contributions to the Language, 

 Country, and People of Dutch India '"), 5th series, vol. ii., j). 

 308 ; but of this I know nothing. He died at Batavia in 1659. 

 By direction of Van Diemen he was despatched in 1639, 



