BEFORE TASMAN

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21334, 29 November 1934, Page 4 (Supplement)

BEFORE TASMAN

POSSIBLE DISCOVERY OF NEW ZEALAND

Was New Zealand known to Europeans before its discovery by Abel Tasman in 1642 ? He is the earliest European voyager who can be proved to have visited New Zealand, but there are several old records and traditions that suggest that other Europeans were here before him. The first European ships to enter the Indian Ocean were those of Vasco da Gama, m 1497, and the first to enter the Pacific were those of Ferdinand Magellan, in 1519, when he made his famous voyage round the world. After that Spanish and Portuguese ships began to visit the new oceans frequently, and with the discovery of the wealth of the South American Indians, it was not long before Spanish ships were constantly travelling up and down the Pacific coast of South America. Every now and again some of these ships sailed westward across the Pacific to the Philippine - Islands, or to India. On their way they discovered many of the islands of the Pacific, and it is quite possible that one or more of them touched at New Zealand. Juan Fernandez is stated to have sailed in 1576 for six weeks to the south-west from South America. He discovered a fertile

tralia and New Zealand, dated 1827, has a note against NewZealand, stating that "New Zealand was discovered and named by Tasman in 1642, but the eastern coast was known to the Portuguese about 1550." On this chart Cook Strait is called "Gulf of the Portuguese."

There also seems to be clear evidence that part of the coastline of the South Island was marked on Spanish charts at a comparatively early date. It is probable that Tasman used one of these charts. One of the difficulties in determining what discoveries were made by some of these early voyagers is that they rarely made their discoveries public, in case a rival country might claim them. Even if they did discover New Zealand, they would not consider the fact worth recording, for they were looking for gold and precious stones, and the sight of the simple-living Maoris would quickly convince them that there was nothing to be gained from plunder here. —C.

land in the Pacific, peopled by brown men wearing heavy native woven garments. The natives were finely built men and treated their visitors as friends. It is thought that these men might have been Maoris. The Maoris of the north had a tradition that a ship carrying white men called in at one of the North Auckland bays long before Captain Cook. The men landed, and according to a very old Maori who told the story in 1820, they were carrying guns that had no hammers. _ This would put the time of their visit about 1525 or earlier, but this Maori tradition is not reliable pvidoncc * Even the British Admiralty 100 years ago believed that the Portuguese discovered New Zealand before Tasman. A naval chart of the Indian Ocean, Aus-

THE WAVES (By Patricia Deans, Kilmarnock; 10 years) The waves roll over and over the sea, ■, i. * They never go backwards but come towards me. They make a noise as they toss and fall, And sometimes they grow ever so tall. When it is rough, they rise to a height, ~ And then come down with all their might Upon ships and piers and cliffs and rocks, Lighthouses, , harbours, wharves and docks. When it is calm, they are dainty and small, They gently rise up and then they fa 1 1; * «,„ Then they run up on to tne Once, twice, three times, and more.