Category Social Sciences

          Tasman was the first European explorer to sight New Zealand. This finding led to the discovery of an alternative route to Chile, South America, and Cape Horn.

          Tasman called New Zealand ‘Staten Landt’, meaning land of the State General. He was convinced that it stretched all the way to Cape Horn, and that it joined up with another land discovered earlier by his countrymen.

          While on his voyage, Abel Tasman sighted a landmass, which he thought as the great continent in the south. He made a landfall there.

          Unfortunately, the local population called ‘Maori’ came out to the shore with weapons raised to defend their territory. In the skirmish, four of Tasman’s men were killed. Hence, Tasman named the land ‘Murderers Bay’.

          Tasman left the place without exploring the land further and it was also one of the reasons why Tasman did not discover that New Zealand consisted of two islands. 

            Abel Janszoon Tasman was born at Lutjegast, near Groningen, in the Netherlands. He was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen’s Land, which is now known as Tasmania, and New Zealand. He was also the first to sight the Fiji Islands.

            In 1642, the Governor General of Batavia, Anthony Van Diemen, decided to send out an expedition to explore the South Seas. The main purpose of the voyage was to explore unknown lands, and to claim new discoveries. The second aim was to find a faster passage to reach Europe from Batavia by sailing. Abel Tasman was ordered to command the expedition.

            He set out on a voyage with two ships, and 110 men. At first he sailed through already explored routes. Then he voyaged into unknown waters. For many months, there was no sign of land.

            Finally, he came across a land which he called Van Dieman’s Land after the governor general of Batavia. This was later named as Tasmania.

            He stayed there for only 10 days but in that time, he managed to chart a fragment of the coastline.

                The Portuguese, Spanish and the English were the dominant navigational powers. During the 17th century the Dutch overthrew everyone else, and became the mightiest seafarers. They flourished in the spice trade. They even started a trading company called Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, abbreviated to VOC.

               They realized that the route around the Cape of Good Hope was more suitable to reach the Far East. They had a base on the island of Jakarta, which they called Batavia. By the 1620s the Dutch were well established in Indonesia.

               Later, there had been sightings of a land to the south. Many Dutch seafarers tried to locate the land. Willem Jansz, a Dutchman became the first European to discover Australia, but he remained unaware of his achievement.

               Later, Dirk Hartog made landfall on an island off the coast of Shark Bay, Western Australia. The island was later named the Dirk Hartog Island after him. But the Dutch made no claim to the land, and they made no attempt to colonize it unlike the other European explorers.

            Drake’s hostility towards the Spanish began in 1568. He was on an expedition and their fleet was anchored in a Spanish port in Mexico. Drake and his crew was negotiating to resupply and repair their ships. Meanwhile they were attacked by Spanish warships. He escaped from the attack. But he was vengeful towards the Spaniards from that day.

            For that reason, when he was commissioned to set out on a sail to attack Spanish colonies, he was very much happy and willing. Thus he went on his next expedition in 1585. He first attacked Vigo in Spain, and held the place for two weeks. He then attacked Santiago in the Cape Verde islands. While returning, he looted the Spanish fort of San Augustin in Spanish Florida.

            When he finally reached England, he received a hero’s welcome. Later in 1587, he went on another expedition. This time, Drake patrolled the Iberian coasts between Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent. He also destroyed thirty seven naval ships, and attacked Spanish supply lines.

            He was promoted to vice-admiral in command of the English fleet on 1780. 

            In 1577, Francis Drake was secretly commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I to set out on an expedition, intended against the Spanish colonies on the American Pacific coast.

            He sailed with five ships. On the way, the ships were hit by a terrible storm. By the time he reached the Pacific Ocean in October 1578, only the flag-ship ‘Pelican’ survived. Drake became the first Englishman navigated the Straits of Magellan to reach the Pacific. He travelled up the west coast of South America. On the way he attacked Spanish ships and settlements for food and treasures. He continued north, and sailed further up the west coast of America than any European.

            During the voyage, he covered the Moluccas, Celebes, Java, and then round the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived back in England in September 1580.

            He brought back spices and Spanish treasures. Francis Drake gifted Queen Elizabeth I, a composite jewel token made with rare materials gathered from around the globe. This pleased the Queen very much. 

               Sir Francis Drake was a British explorer. He was born in Devon, as the eldest of the twelve sons of a farmer named Edmund Drake. Some problems made the Drake family flee from Devonshire to Kent. Young Francis first developed his seafaring skills on the river Medway.

               Francis Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580. He was the first to complete the voyage as the captain throughout the entire circumnavigation. Though Magellan was destined to captain the first voyage around the world, he cannot complete it as he was killed in the ‘Battle of Mactan’.

               Drake’s circumnavigation began in 1577, with five ships. They sailed to Brazil, and through the perilous Strait of Magellan. Then they sailed by Panama, where he attacked Spanish ships and settlements for food and treasures.

               With his entry into the Pacific Ocean, he claimed what is now California for England, and inaugurated an era of conflict with the Spanish on the coasts of the American continents.

               Drake’s exploits made him a hero to the English, but the Spanish branded him as a pirate.