294 THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA 



Tasman's But, on his return from this voyage, he was accused 



punlshrnent Before the Court of Justice of having committed a das- 

 1649. tardly crime. Returning to the ships one night, it was 



said, after banqueting all day in a certain monastery, 

 he had seized hold of two young sailors, had accused them 

 of breaking a camp-order, and had been " bold enough 

 to appear as accuser, judge, and executioner all at once 

 and in the same person." He had made a halter with 

 " a piece of tow-match," had placed it with his own hands 

 round a sailor's neck, had made him stand on a bench, 

 had ordered a soldier to climb a tree and hang him, had 

 taken the bench from beneath his feet, and had proceeded 

 to make a halter for the second sailor. But meanwhile 

 the soldier hangman, " becoming aware of the sufferer's 

 exceeding agony, and perceiving that the man had almost 

 passed from life to death," let go the rope so that the 

 victim fell to the ground, where he lay like a dead man 

 for a while, the wales caused by the halter remaining 

 visible for more than three weeks. Such was the accusa- 

 tion. Tasman denied its truth, and told a story which 

 claimed to prove that he had punished a serious offence 

 in a lenient way. But the Court refused to believe him. 

 He was condemned to pay a large sum to the plaintiff. 

 He was suspended from the exercise of his office and 

 functions, and from the enjoyment of his pay. And 

 he was ordered to declare with uncovered head in the 

 public court that he had " against all forms of law, and 

 of his own will, personally inflicted the said infamous 

 treatment on the aforesaid C. Jansen." On the same day 

 the Church Vestry gave notice that Tasman would be 

 rem'oved from its membership. 



The Council of Justice had " suspended " Tasman 

 " from the exercise of his office and functions," but had 

 refused, in its mercy, to pronounce him " incapable of 

 holding any public functions whatever." His reputation 

 Tasman still in morality was destroyed ; but he was too useful a man 

 to remain unemployed. In the following year (1650) 

 he was at work again, and calmly requested a rise in rank 

 and in salary. The Governor-General and Council, "having 



