Abel Tasman
Noun
Meaning
Dutch navigator who was the first European to discover Tasmania and New Zealand (1603-1659)
Source: WordNetSynonyms
Examples
Abel Tasman was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania ) and New Zealand, and to sight the Fiji islands.
Abel Tasman Abel Tasman The route of Abel Tasman 's first and second voyage.
Europeans may have encountered it as far back as 1642 when Abel Tasman first arrived in Tasmania.
In 1615, Jacob le Maire and Willem Schouten 's rounding of Cape Horn proved that Tierra del Fuego was a relatively small island, while in 1642 Abel Tasman 's first pacific voyage proved that Australia was not part of the mythical southern continent.
The route of Tasman's first and second voyages In August 1642, VOC despatched Abel Tasman and Franchoijs Visscher on a voyage of which one of the objects was to obtain knowledge of "all the totally unknown provinces of the kingdom of Beach ".
It was from here that Dutch navigator Abel Tasman set out to discover the western part of Australia.