Tasman Revalued: A Note on Gilsemans' Drawings

Abstract

The essential details of the Dutch visit to New Zealand in 1642-3 were worked out in 1640 by three men. Tasman, Visscher and Gilsemans, in a tiny fishing port called Hirado on an island off Honshu in southern Japan. The three were employees of the Dutch East India Company the organisation which represented Dutch trading interests in Japan and elsewhere in the East. Each came from very modest backgrounds. but by the time they met together for the voyage each had established himself in the eyes of the Company as an experienced enthusiast for expeditions of discovery and each had demonstrated his ability to cope With and survive the rigours of long and hazardous periods at sea. Tasman had commanded ships on several such voyages. and a number of his officers rejoined him for the 1642 expedition. Visscher worked as a pilot for Japanese. Chinese and Dutch vessels for some 20 years prior to 1642, and Gilsemans, though the youngest of the three. had used his wide knowledge of cartography, bookkeeping, draftsmanship and Latin, at sea and ashore, in the service of the Company since leaving the Netherlands for Batavia in 1634.