I INTRODUCTION II 



Cape of Good Hope, of drifting in an easterly 

 direction until they sighted the western Australian 

 coast, and then crossing northwards to the Indies. 

 In this way they became acquainted with much 

 of the western Australian coast, and many of 

 the names still testify to these early Dutch dis- 

 coveries. 



Abel Janszoon Tasman was born of obscure 

 parents in the village of Luytjegast, Groningen, 

 in the year 1603, just as Holland was emerging 

 to greatness from the struggle with Spain. At 

 the age of thirty he took service with the Dutch 

 East India Company, and made the voyage 

 between Holland and the Indies several times, 

 rising from a common sailor to posts of some 

 responsibility, which marked him out as a navi- 

 gator of promise. At this time the Governor of 

 the Dutch East Indies was Van Diemen, a man 

 of enterprise and shrewdness, who, from the seat 

 of Government in Batavia, dispatched several 

 expeditions of discovery to the Pacific and south- 

 ern seas, in the hope of extending the trade 

 and dominion of the Dutch flag. Tasman was 

 in command of one of these expeditions, the 

 object of which was to discover a large island 

 of enormous wealth supposed to exist in the 

 Pacific, east of Japan. Despite the unproduc- 

 tiveness of this voyage. Van Diemen chose Tasman 

 to command an expedition which had long been 

 germinating in the Governor's mind, the object 

 of which was to explore the great Unknown 



