Staten Landt

The coast of Staten Landt

I had a horrible experience; these past weeks have been terrible to me. On December 13^th, the Year of Our Lord 1642, I discovered yet another new land, naming it this time Staten Landt. While this would be something of celebration, however, the voyage itself to find this place was terrible. I would owe my life to my compass; without it, I may not be alive today.  Worse still, when we landed on Staten Landt, we were almost immediately attacked by fearsome warriors with strange faces adorned with coloured symbols and designs. They killed four of the crew members from the Zeehaen before we were able to flee. I have dubbed that bay Murder’s Bay, and I have decided to sail north again.

Van Diemen's Land

Van Diemen's Land's strange beast

Today is the 28^th of November, in the Year of Our Lord 1642.  I have most exciting news! We left Mauritius on the 8^th of October, and we had been at sea for over a month without sighting any land.  Four days ago, however, upon the horizon, I spotted a new land! The first discovery of our journey! I, as Commander of the expedition, have decided to call the new land Van Diemen’s Land, in honour, of course, of Anthony van Diemen. We have been trying repeatedly to land on the shore, but unfortunately the sea is too rough. Presently the ships are anchored in a bay on what I believe is the north side of Van Diemen’s Land.  As we cannot land, I was tasked with the problem of how to claim the island for the Netherlands, and I puzzled over it for quite some time; this morning, however, I had a stroke of utter genius, if I do say so myself.  In the end I decided to give the Dutch flag to the carpenter, a delightful young man by name of Pieter Jacobszoon, and I had him swim to the shore where our ships could not go and had him erect said flag. I followed his progress personally in my spyglass, both as he went and as he came back, and when he arrived, soaking wet back on the Heemskerck, there was much rejoicing. Earlier today, young Jacobszoon spoke to me about what he had seen on his brief spell on the island: he had seen smoke and heard voices, presumably from native peoples living there, and he also described to me a beast that ‘looked like a cross between a hunting dog and a tiger’. I do not know what to make of this. However, now is not the time for such thought, when there is so much more discovering to do!

Setting Off

A painting of my ship, the Heemskerck

My name is Abel Janzsoon Tasman and this is where I will blog about my journey, which starts today.  I have been sent by none other than Anthony van Diemen, Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, to find the riches of the southern lands in the name of the Netherlands!  Today, the 14^th of August, in the Year of Our Lord 1642, I leave from Batavia – as no less than Commander – with my ships, the Heemskerck and the Zeehaen. We, the crew and I, have packed our water, vegetables, and livestock for food; we have decided that we will pause on the island of Mauritius when we reach it to replenish anything that needs to be replenished. All of us are nervous, but we are all excited, too, for the coming journey. We leave soon! Wish us luck!