TASMAN'S VOYAGE OF 1642 265 



On the I3th of August, 1642, Tasman's " Instructions" His 

 were issued. 1 They had been drafted by the Hon. Justus " 



Schouten, Councillor Extraordinary of India, and approved 1642. 



by the Governor-General and Council. The prologue, 



as we have seen, was a Dutch echo of the call of Quiros, 



whose name and exploits, however, are not mentioned. 



But the business part of the instructions was " drawn 



up in conjunction with Pilot Visscher," and in the main 



expressed the recommendations of his Memoir. Tasman 



was to sail next day, the I4th of August, with the South- 



East trade-wind for Mauritius, where he was to take in He is to sail 



water, fire-wood, and refreshments. Then he was to sail Mauritius 



Southward till he got into the West trade-wind ; and South of 



again further South "till you come upon the unknown to the 



South Land, or as far as S. Lat. 52 or 54." In case he Solomons, 



did not discover land here, he was to sail due East to the 



Longitude of the Eastern point of New Guinea, or of the 



Solomon Islands, or even eight hundred miles beyond. 



If land was met, it was to be coasted Eastward to the 



same point ; and all its features were to be surveyed and 



mapped out by the able draughtsmen. Tasman was 



to be careful to waste no time, and to make the most 



of the summer season, and the favourable weather " when 



you will be able to sail on by day and by night alike." 



A great deal was to be discovered in a short time. 



Tasman, however, was given permission to sail a different unless he 

 route, should he choose to do so. Instead of sailing 

 Eastward so far as the Longitude of the Solomons, he channel from 

 might, if he preferred, seek to complete the work of the th g 

 Gulden -Zeepaart, and to solve the problem, which in fact 

 remained unsolved to the time of Flinders, as to whither 

 the coastline of the South-land went from the point, near 

 the islands of St. Peter and St. Francis, at which the 



1 Cf. the summary of objects in the letter of the Governor-General 

 and the Council to the Seventeen, I2th December, 1642 (Heeres* 

 Tasman, p. 138). They are asked to pray that the voyage " may 

 redound to the benefit and increase of God's Church, and to the con- 

 version of many blinded heathen, to the profit of the Company's 

 shareholders, and to the credit of our country, and especially to the 

 honour of the discoverers." The letter also insists on the hope of 

 discovering " a better and shorter route from here to Chili." 



