TASMAN SIGHTS THE WEST COAST

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 February 1928, Page 34 (Supplement)

TASMAN SIGHTS THE WEST COAST

“Large, High-Lying Land”

Historic Voyage of 1642

The actual European discoverer of New, Zealand was the Dutch navigator, Abel Jansen Tasman, sailing under the commission of Anthony Van Dieman, Viceroy of the Indies. In the yacht, Heemskerck, with a pinnace or flyboat named Zeehaen (sea-hen), Jansen sailed from Batavia on 14th August, 1642. It was on 13th December, 1642, that he came upon the South Island of New Zealand, in the course of his quest of a. great southern continent that he believed to "exist. He laid no formal claim to the Islands on behalf of the States General, and indeed, he did not actually set foot on shore. After the Dutch explorer sailed away the 'islands were left for 127 years to the unchallenged possession of the natives. As Mr. Pember Reeves says- “Ever through the dry, matter of fact entries of Tasman's log, we can see that it (the coast) impressed him; He notes that the mountains seemed lifted aloft in the air. With his two ships, the small Heeskerck and the tiny Zeehaen, he began to coast cautiously northward, looking for an opening eastward and noting the high cloud-capped, double range of mountains and the emptiness of the steep desolate coast, where neither smoke nor men, ships nor boats, were to be seen. He could not guess that hidden in this wilderness was a wealth of coal and gold, valuable as the riches of Java. He seems to have regarded New Zealand simply as a lofty barrier across his path, to be passed at the first chance. Groping along, he actually turned into the wide opening which, narrowing further east. into Cook’s Strait, divides North and South Island. On the 13th December, 1642, Tasman wrote in his journal: “Towards noon, with a south-westerly top-gal-lant gale, we sighted a large highlying land about 15 miles distant (the New Zealand coast between Okarito and Hokitika). We fired a gun and hoisted the white flag. The Council meV on board the Heemskirk. It was resolved to touch at the said land as quickly as possible for reasons stated in the resolution. On account of ! the high open sea running in huge, i

f hollow waves and heavy swells, we - shaped our course northwards, ‘so - close to the beach that wc could see 1 the surf break. . . We passed a reef 2 with steep, high rocks resembling r steeples or sails (the steeples, Cape , Foulwind) ... On December 17 1 we sailed along a low-lying shore with - dunes, in good, dry weather (Cape > Farewell) . .. . anchored at sunset 2 in a calm with the extremity of this - dry sandspit west of north of us; also . high land extending to the east by 5 south; the point of the reef south--1 east of us; here, inside this point or t harrow sandspit, we saw a. large open ■ bay upwards of three or four miles wide; to westward of this narrow - sandspit there was a sand bank up- - wards of a mile in length, with 6,7, > 8, or 9 feet of water above it, and > projecting east-south-east from the said point. 18th December —In the ‘ morning we weighed anchor in calm ■ weather; at noon, latitude estimated 40degs. 49 mins.; longitude 191 degs. i 41mins. course kept east-south-east; , sailed 11 miles. . ... In the afternoon the HeemskerCk’s pinnace and the Zeehaen’s cock-boat were sent on befpr to Seek a fitting anchorage and watering-place. At sunset, when it fell a calm, we dropped anchor in 15 fathoms; good anchoring ground (in Golden Bay). In the evening, about an hour after sunset, we saw a number of lights on shore, and four boats close inshore, two of which came towards us, upon which our own two boats returned on board; they reported they found no less than 13 fathoms of water, and that when the sun sank behind the high land they were still about half a mile from shore. When our men had been on board for the space of about one glass, the men in the two prows (canoes) ’ began to call out to us in a rough, hollow voice, but we could not understand a word what they said. We, however, , called out to them in answer, upon which they repeated their cries sev- . eral times, but came no nearer than a stone-shot; they also blew several ■ times on an instrument, of which the . sound was like a Moorish trumpet; I then ordered one of our sailors (who

had some knowledge of trumpet-blow-ing) to play them some tunes in answer. Those on board the Zeehaen ordered their second mate, who had come out to India as a trumpeter, to do the same; after this had been repeated several times on both sides, and ! as it was getting more and more dark * those in the native prows at last ‘ ceased, and paddled off. The Natives “On December 19th, early in the ' morning, a boat manned with 13 natives approached to a stone's cast 1 from our ships; they called out sev- ! eral times, but we did not understand ; them. .... As far as we could ob--1 serve, these people were or ordinary ' height; they had rough voices and strong bones, the colour of their skins being between brown and. yellow; they wore tufts? of black hair right upon the tops of their heads, tied fast in rhe manner of the Japanese at the back of their heads. . . and surmounted by a large, thick, white feather. Their boats consisted of two long, narrow prows side by side, over which a number of planks or other seats were placed in such a way that those above can look through the water underneath the vessel; their paddles are upwards of a fathom in length, narrow and pointed at the end; with these vessels they could make considerable speed. (Captain Cook, 127 years later saw hone of these double canoes and when the settlers came two centuries later, there was no tradition of Tasman’s visit, and the Maoris had forgotten how to build double canoes. Evidently the Golden Bay natives- of Tasman’s time had been exterminated in tribal wars (probably by natives from the North Island). For clothing . . . some of them wore mats, others cotton stuffs; almost all of them were naked from the shoulders to the waist. We repeatedly made signs for them to come on board of us, showing them white linen and some knives that formed part of our cargo. They did not come nearer, however, but at last paddled back to the shore. In the meanwhile, at our summons sent the previous evening, the officers of the Zeehaen came on board of us, upon which we convened a council, and resolved to go as near the shore as we could, since there was good anchoring ground here, and these people apparently sought our friendship. Shortly after we had drawn up this resolution, we saw

- seven more boats put off from the - shore, one of which, high and pointed - in front, manned with 17 natives, I paddled round behind the Zeehaen, j while another, with 13 able-bodied - men in her, approached to half-way, 1 slightly nearer to our ship. The men t in these two boats now and then t called out to each other. We held up and showed to them as before, white linens, etc., but they remained where ? they were. The skipper of the Zeehaen - now sent out to them his quartermast ter with her cock-boat, with six - paddlers in it, with orders for the se--1 cond mate that if these people should - 'offer to 'come alongside the Zeehaen i the'y should not allow too many of I them on board or her, but use great j caution, and be well on their guard. The Tragic Incident “While the cock-boat of the Zeei haen was paddling on its way to her, • those in the prow nearest to us called ■ out to those in th»e prow lying behind . the Zeehaen; but we could not make , out what they meant. Just as the cock- • boat of the Zeehaen had put off from ■ board again, those in the prow before us, between the two ships, began to paddle so furiously towards it, that, ■ when they were about half-way, slightly nearer to our ship they struck the Zeehaen’s cock-boat so violently alongside with the stem of their prow that it got a violent lurch, upon which the foremost man in this prow of villains, with a long, blunt pike, thrust the quartermaster, • Cornelius Poppen, in the neck several times with so much force that the poor man fell overboard. Upon this the other natives, with short, thick clubs and with their paddles, fell upon the men in the cock-boat and overcame them by main force, in which fray three of our men were killed and a fourth mortally wounded through the heavy blows. The quartermaster and two sailors swam to our ship, whence we sent our pinnace to pick them up, which they got into alive. After this outrageous and detestable crime, the murderers sent the cock-boat adrift, having taken one of the bodies into the prow and threw the other into the sea. . . . Ourselves and those on board the Zeehaen diligently fired our muskets and guns, and although we did not hit them, the two prows made haste to the shore. Thereupon our pinnace, well armed, rowed.towards the cock-boat and returned with it, having found one man killed

and one mortally wounded. We now weighed anchor and set sail, since we could not hope to enter into friendly relations with these people or be able to get water or refreshments here. We saw 22 prows near the shore, of which 11, swarming with people, were making for our ships. . . . We fired a volley and they paddled back to the shore at great speed, some of the prows hoisting sails. At noon we convened the council and resolved: ‘Seeing that the detestable deed of these natives perpetrated this morning, must, teach us to consider the inhabitants of their country as enemies; that therefore it will be best to sail eastward along the coast, following the trend of the land to ascertain fitting places where refreshments and water would be obtainable.’ In this murderous spot, which we called Moordenaer’s Bay, (Murderers’ Bay, afterwards Massacre Bay, now Golden Bay), we lay at anchor in 40 deg. 50 min. S. latitude, 191 deg. 30min. longitude. This is the second land we have sailed along and discovered. In honour of their High Mightinesses the States-General, we gave to this land the name of Staten Landt (afterwards altered to New Zealand). This land seems to be a very fine country, and we trust that this is the mainland coast of the unknown south land.” On the 21st December Tasman ran in under Stephen’s and D’Urville’s Islands. "There are many islands and cliffs all around here.” From December 22 to 24 they anchored near Pelorus Sound during a north-west storm. They surmised from the current, the existence of a strait (Cook’s Strait). On the 27th December they sailed past Mounts Egmont, and on January 6, 1643, Tasman sailed away from New Zealand without having set foot in any portion of it. Tasman, who was born at Hoorn, in 1602, died in Batavia, in 1659. The Heemskerck was a small war yacht of 60 tons, with a crew of 60; the Zeehaen was a fiute or long, narrow vessel of 100 tons, with a crew of 59 ablebodied sailors. The names of Tasman’s sailors, the first Europeans killed by Maoris, were Jan Tyssen, of One-Ven, Tohas Pietersz, of Delft, and Jan Isbrantz. The only names bestowed by Tasman himself still on the map are Cape Maria Van Dieman and the Three Kings Islands in the North Island. Tasman anchored —allowing for known errors —off Waramanga beach,

, r Golden Bay, two miles west by north, 3 half north of Separation Point, near r Tarakohe. Captain Qook’s Voyage p Over a century after Tasman sighted j the West Coast, another famous ’ navigator, Captain Cook, sailed along ’ the Coast in the “Endeavour,” in the course of his first voyage around the world, in 1770. > The history of the West Coast is practically a blank after Cook’s visit, but in 1827 the Frenchman D’Urville ; sighted the coastline. * The exploration of the West Coast ’ really commenced in 1846, when 1 Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy 1 made their epic expedition, the story 5 of which will be found elsewhere in 1 this issue.