In search of rich lands
Europeans had been searching for rich new lands in the Southern Hemisphere long before Captain Cook landed on Australian shores in 1770.
In fact, it was well over one hundred years earlier that Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603? - 1659), from Holland, discovered Tasmania and New Zealand. On his first voyage to find new trading markets in 1642-1643, Tasman charted Tasmania, the west coast of New Zealand, the Tonga and Fiji islands, and the north coast of New Guinea.
On his second voyage in 1644, Tasman unsuccessfully tried to chart a passage to the rich trading markets of South America. Although he charted the south west coast of New Guinea and much of Australia's previously unknown northern coastline, the exploration was deemed unsuccessful. The famous and significant Tasman map is one of few documentary sources relating to this voyage.
The original journal kept by Abel Tasman on board his ship Heemskerck, during the first journey of 1642-1643, has not survived. The State Library's Huydecoper manuscript is an edited copy of the missing original journal, compiled sometime between 1643 and 1647. It was official practice to make exact copies of important documents for the Dutch East India offices in Batavia and the Netherlands.
Disappointed that Tasman had failed to find rich trading routes, the Dutch lost interest in Australia and turned their attention to America. This left the way clear for English navigator Captain James Cook to chart the east coast of Australia in 1770.
