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'''Abel''' Janszoon '''Tasman''' (c.1603-1659), [[Dutch navigator]], is known for his discovery of [[New Zealand]] and [[Tasmania]].

'''Abel''' Janszoon '''Tasman''' (c.1603-1659), [[Dutch]] navigator, is known for his discovery of [[New Zealand]] and [[Tasmania]].

As master of one of the [[Dutch East India Company]]’s merchant ships, he came to the attention of the [[governor-general]] of the [[Dutch East Indies]], Antony [[van Diemen]], who sent him on a number of voyages of discovery. In the first of these (1634), he opened up a route from the [[Spice Islands]] into the [[Pacific]] via a passage north of [[Ceram]]. In 1639 he led an expedition to the northern Pacific in a fruitless search for fabled islands of immense wealth supposedly lying east of [[Japan]]. The voyage is no less important for its discovery of only emptiness in that part of the ocean.

As master of one of the [[Dutch East India Company]]’s merchant ships, he came to the attention of the [[governor-general]] of the [[Dutch East Indies]], Antony [[van Diemen]], who sent him on a number of voyages of discovery. In the first of these (1634), he opened up a route from the [[Spice Islands]] into the [[Pacific]] via a passage north of [[Ceram]]. In 1639 he led an expedition to the northern Pacific in a fruitless search for fabled islands of immense wealth supposedly lying east of [[Japan]]. The voyage is no less important for its discovery of only emptiness in that part of the ocean.