TASMAN'S VOYAGE OF 1644 63 



Guinea " as could be supplied by the Vice-Governor, who, it was 

 said, was likely to have a copy of CARSTENSZOON J s JOURNAL of the 

 " Pera " and " Aernem " expedition. This shows that, in 1644, 

 the journal was not obtainable in Batavia ; and it may be assumed 

 that the " Percfs " chart was also missing. Tasman, therefore, 

 unless he succeeded in obtaining copies in Banda, must have started 

 on his voyage of exploration without these documents which were 

 so essential to his success in identifying the localities visited and 

 charted by Carstenszoon. 



After leaving Banda, Tasman was instructed to make for FALSE 

 CAPE, on the New Guinea coast ; to follow the coast east to 9 S. 

 latitude ; cautiously to clear the shoals (the so-called " DROOGE 

 BOCHT," the entrance to TORRES STRAIT) ; to anchor near the High 

 Island (PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND) or the SPEULT RIVER and to send 

 the " Bracq " into the bight to make one more search for the alleged 

 (and actual) passage. Having settled this point, he was to skirt the 

 west coast of " New Guinea " southward to the FURTHEST KNOWN 

 POINT, about 17 S. latitude. Thence he was to follow the coast 

 and connect the coast-line charted by Carstenszoon with the " VAN 

 DIEMEN'S LAND " discovered by himself and supposed to be the 

 southern extremity of the " South Land." He was, however, 

 to carry out only as much of this programme as time would permit ; 

 but, in any case, he was to be back in Batavia, via Sunda Strait, 

 " by June or July." 



The expedition, as we have seen, returned to Batavia on loth 

 August, and we are justified in assuming that the instructions were 

 obeyed, although the carrying out of the full programme was 

 impossible. As a matter of fact, Tasman had only followed the 

 Australian coast (already to some extent known) to the Tropic of 

 Capricorn when the prescribed time-limit compelled him to make 

 for Batavia. Considerable portions of the Australian coast west 

 of where the " Pera " turned back had already, however, been 

 discovered and more or less charted from twenty-eight to twenty- 

 one years before ; so that Tasman's achievement consisted of a 

 demonstration of the CONTINUITY OF THE LAND from the " Drooge 

 Bocht " (Torres Strait) to the Tropic of Capricorn. His contri- 

 butions to cartography were chiefly the southern and western 

 shores of the GULF OF CARPENTARIA and the coast-line from Melville 

 Island to the Tropic of Capricorn. 



A clause in the instructions (perhaps mere routine) empowered 

 Tasman to take possession of new discoveries and to enter into 

 Treaties. There is nothing to show that either power was exercised. 

 The tone of contemporary official references to the expedition gives 

 the impression that the Dutch East India Company regarded it as 

 having been only moderately successful and as having failed to add 

 materially to the Company's assets. The presumption is that 

 Tasman did not claim to have discovered any land of value or to 



