Who Was
Abel Tasman?

Tasman was a master mariner, a sailor who, from humble beginnings, rose to high command, enlarging the then known world. This statue was erected in his honour at Tahuna Beach in Nelson.

The ships with which he discovered New Zealand were the Heemskerck, a Yacht,
and the Zeehaen, a cargo carrying fluyt.

Modern shipbuilders generally start with a plan, and so do most modelers. But when Albert Hoving began reconstructing Tasman’s ships, no plans were available, and while Gilsemans’ pictures did exist, they were not accurate enough.

Hoving knew the books that had been written in the 17th century about shipbuilding ‘almost by heart’, and his work as Chief restorer of ship models at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum meant he was surrounded by images of such ships. With these advantages he was able to begin without a plan, like the early shipbuilders themselves, first shaping the wooden members of the hull, and then building upwards according to the methods of the time:

Hoving’s were full hull models, but as those in the diorama were intended to ‘float’ on a plaster sea, they were cut off below the waterline.

A Murihiku koroua ( Maori elder from Southland) quoted in The Maori Canoe by Elsdon Best told James Beattie, “The name of these double canoes was waka hunua, one was larger than the other, and there was a deck between, this deck being called orauwawa. These canoes all carried sails made out of mats, and known as ra tiaka”

He mentioned carvings at bow and stern, and said “The great advantage of these canoes was that they would not capsize”.
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What Went Wrong?

On December 18th 1642, two Dutch Ships, the Heemskerck and the Zeehaen, anchored in Mohua, about two miles out from Wainui Bay. Their Commander, Abel Tasman, had seen the smoke of many fires. He hoped to befriend the local people, to get food and water, perhaps to trade.

But the next day four of his sailors were lost when Maori warriors overpowered an open boat, and three more had to swim for their lives. What went wrong? And why, days later, did Tasman fail to discover the strait between the two islands?

This is the account of Henrik Haelbos, ships surgeon and barber:

“Tasman could see no sign on account of darkness: He only heard horrid noise of harsh voices, and a shrill sound, not unlike a trumpet. The Dutch sailors called out to them, blew on trumpets, and finally fired off a cannon. Then the Southlanders began to rave terribly.....”

It is easy to imagine the flash and boom of the cannon, the momentary silence of amazement, then a furious haka and last defiant trumpet blast from the warriors before they returned to shore. Maori were not always intimidated by European weapons, as Cook was to discover. Perhaps it seemed to them the strangers in Mohua were demons who commanded thunder and lightning and were eager to fight.
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Evidently the council had no idea that they were viewed as dangerous enemies. The next morning they decided that:

"This people (as it seems) is seeking friendship."

It was a serious mistake. The Maori could hardly have attacked the ships by daylight, but when the small boat came out to them the opportunity was too good to miss. The calling from one canoe to another, which the Dutch did not understand, may have been to coordinate their attack. According to Haelbos the boat was attacked from all sides, and Gilsemans’ drawing seems to confirm it.

What was the likely effect of the Dutch sailor taken to land? If dead, or unconscious, his body was tangible proof that the visitors were actually human, and his clothes and personal effects would have been of considerable interest. And if alive, might he not have managed to convince his captors that the Dutch actually wanted peace? So it is possible the pursuing waka were curious, rather than hostile.
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But if the chief with the white emblem now wanted to parley, he misjudged the situation badly, as the Dutch had earlier. The chance for friendship was past, as the cannons made clear.

17th century ships could make little headway against the wind. Their high superstructures created too much wind resistance.

The passage was there, Raukawa Moana, Cook Strait - but they could not see it. Tasman’s chief concern was to avoid the possibility of a lee shore. In such a case it would have needed only a strong westerly wind, and his ships would have been driven against the land. The wind did turn to the west, and began to blow harder, so he could explore no further. It was necessary to tack north, then south, in an attempt to escape from the ‘bight’ or to find a sheltered spot to anchor.

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Tasman mapped only a part of New Zealand, and never landed, but one Dutch sailor seems to have been left in Golden Bay, whether dead or alive we can only guess.

Strangers In Mohua
Abel Tasman's Exploration of New Zealand, by Robert Jenkin

This educational book is 60 pages long, and has 95 illustrations,
mostly in colour.

"this is a very readable account of New Zealand’s first major cross-cultural miscommunication"     GB Weekly

The Golden Bay Museum, a non-profit organisation, is sole owner
of the book.

To order:

If you wish to order copies, send an order to The Golden Bay Museum, Commercial Street, Takaka. The cost is $35 per single copy (including postage and handling) and $30 for each additional copy.

For further information, email goldenbaymuseum@xtra.co.nz