Tasman, Abel Janszoon
1603 - Born in Lutjegast, Neth.
1632-1633 - Tasman entered the service of the Dutch East India Company.
1634 - His first voyage of exploration to Ceram Island as captain of the Mocha.
1639 - He sailed under Commander Mathijs Hendrickszoon Quast on an expedition in search of the “islands of gold and silver” in the seas east of Japan.
1642 - Leaving Batavia on the 14th of August, with two ships, the Heemskerk and Zeehaen, Tasman sailed to Mauritius then southward and eastward, reaching his most southerly latitude of 49° S at about 94° E.
- Convinced by the swell that the passage to Chile existed, Tasman now turned northeast, and on the 21st of January he discovered Tonga and on February 6 the Fiji Islands.
1643 - Turning northwest, the ships reached New Guinea waters on April 1 and Batavia on the 14th of June, completing a 10-month voyage on which only 10 men had died from illness.
1647 - Tasman commanded a trading fleet to Siam, and in the following year he commanded a war fleet against the Spaniards in the Philippines.
1659 - Died , probably before on the 22nd of Octotober, certainly on the 5th of February.
1632-1633 - Tasman entered the service of the Dutch East India Company.
1634 - His first voyage of exploration to Ceram Island as captain of the Mocha.
1639 - He sailed under Commander Mathijs Hendrickszoon Quast on an expedition in search of the “islands of gold and silver” in the seas east of Japan.
1642 - Leaving Batavia on the 14th of August, with two ships, the Heemskerk and Zeehaen, Tasman sailed to Mauritius then southward and eastward, reaching his most southerly latitude of 49° S at about 94° E.
- Convinced by the swell that the passage to Chile existed, Tasman now turned northeast, and on the 21st of January he discovered Tonga and on February 6 the Fiji Islands.
1643 - Turning northwest, the ships reached New Guinea waters on April 1 and Batavia on the 14th of June, completing a 10-month voyage on which only 10 men had died from illness.
1647 - Tasman commanded a trading fleet to Siam, and in the following year he commanded a war fleet against the Spaniards in the Philippines.
1659 - Died , probably before on the 22nd of Octotober, certainly on the 5th of February.
Page last updated: 1:38pm, 29th Jun '07