Tasman
ABEL JANSZOON, a Dutch navigator; born probably in Hoorn, about 1600. Commissioned by Van Diemen, the governor of the Dutch Indies, to explore the S. coast of the Australian continent, he left Batavia with two ships, Aug. 14, 1642; passed Mauritius Oct. 8, and on Nov. 24 discovered a coast which he called Van Diemen's Land, but which is now known as Tasmania. He sailed along its S. and E. coasts without being aware of its insular character, and proceeding further E. discovered (Dec. 13' the S. island of New Zealand (Jan. 6) the Fiji Islands, Fiji Islands, returning to Batavia June 15, 1643. His account of this voyage was reprinted at Amsterdam in 1722. On Jan. 29, 1644, he set out on a second voyage to explore the coasts of New Guinea and Australia, from which he never returned.