WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000 Welcome to the Deep Dive, where we take your 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:04.360 source material, your dense stack of articles, 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:07.320 histories, and geological surveys, and we carve 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:09.400 out the unexpected story at the center of it 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:12.539 all. Today we're focusing on a single name that 00:00:12.539 --> 00:00:15.859 is, well, it's utterly inescapable across the 00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:19.410 South Pacific, Abel Tasman. It really is. You 00:00:19.410 --> 00:00:21.230 just have to glance at a map of that part of 00:00:21.230 --> 00:00:23.890 the world and his footprint is massive. Exactly. 00:00:23.969 --> 00:00:26.649 We're talking about the entire Tasman Sea, the 00:00:26.649 --> 00:00:28.890 island state of Tasmania itself, and the dramatic 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:32.070 Tasman Peninsula. All of them named after this 00:00:32.070 --> 00:00:36.929 one 17th century Dutch seafarer, Abel Jenszoon 00:00:36.929 --> 00:00:39.479 Tasman. And he's a man whose name defines these 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:42.240 huge geographical features. Yet the sources you've 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:44.560 given us paint a picture of an explorer who, 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:46.799 despite, you know, accidentally revealing two 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.679 massive land masses, ended his career having 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.119 utterly disappointed his corporate sponsors. 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.340 It's an incredible dichotomy. It is. Geographical 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:56.799 immortality paired with commercial failure. So 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.780 that's our mission today for you, our listener. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:01.659 Right. We're going to unpack the intense commercial 00:01:01.659 --> 00:01:04.939 context of his voyages in the 1600s. And these 00:01:04.939 --> 00:01:07.010 weren't for a king or a queen. They were for 00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:09.989 the Dutch East India Company, the VOC. Which 00:01:09.989 --> 00:01:12.349 was less a government agency and more like, what, 00:01:12.409 --> 00:01:15.409 the world's first truly global mega corporation. 00:01:15.670 --> 00:01:18.489 That's a perfect way to put it. We need to understand 00:01:18.489 --> 00:01:21.709 their specific goals. Hunting for a phantom southern 00:01:21.709 --> 00:01:23.989 continent, finding lucrative new trade routes. 00:01:24.409 --> 00:01:26.870 Then we'll look at what he actually found, how 00:01:26.870 --> 00:01:29.329 his discoveries fundamentally changed maps forever, 00:01:29.510 --> 00:01:32.030 and why, at the time, his whole endeavor was 00:01:32.030 --> 00:01:34.590 considered a very expensive flop. Okay, so let's 00:01:34.590 --> 00:01:37.290 start with the man himself. Who was Abel Tasman 00:01:37.290 --> 00:01:39.549 before he was a name on a map? Well, he came 00:01:39.549 --> 00:01:42.349 from extremely humble origins, born around 1602 00:01:42.349 --> 00:01:46.349 or 1603 in a small village, Lechegast, in the 00:01:46.349 --> 00:01:48.430 Netherlands. The sources suggest he had very 00:01:48.430 --> 00:01:50.290 little formal schooling. So he wasn't one of 00:01:50.290 --> 00:01:52.590 those high -ranking naval officers with, you 00:01:52.590 --> 00:01:54.469 know, rigorous mathematical and astronomical 00:01:54.469 --> 00:01:56.849 training. Not at all. He started out as a common 00:01:56.849 --> 00:01:59.739 merchant seaman. His entire education was practical, 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:02.400 learned on the job, under some of the most intense 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.319 and dangerous conditions imaginable. But that 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:06.959 practical skill clearly got him noticed. It did. 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:10.340 It propelled him. By 1633, he was able to join 00:02:10.340 --> 00:02:12.939 the VOC, and he sailed straight to the center 00:02:12.939 --> 00:02:15.900 of their Asian operations. A place called Batavia. 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:18.300 Which is now modern -day Jakarta in Indonesia. 00:02:18.699 --> 00:02:21.120 Exactly. And moving to the Dutch East Indies 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:23.879 was a huge career move. It put him right at the 00:02:23.879 --> 00:02:27.500 sharp end of global commerce and, frankly, global 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:29.800 conflict. And you can see his natural skill almost 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:32.000 immediately. Within just a year of joining the 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.500 VOC, by 1634, he was already promoted to skipper 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:38.300 of his own ship, the Mocha. But his career in 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:41.379 the Indies was... Well, it was far from peaceful. 00:02:41.659 --> 00:02:44.099 The VOC was engaged in what you could only call 00:02:44.099 --> 00:02:47.960 a brutal commercial war across the entire archipelago. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:50.039 All focused on maintaining their spice monopoly. 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:52.840 A rigid, violent monopoly. And the sources mention 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:55.060 this one incident that I think really shows the 00:02:55.060 --> 00:02:57.300 rough, high -stakes nature of the job. Right, 00:02:57.340 --> 00:02:59.060 this is where he gets a real taste of the conflict. 00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:01.599 He was on a voyage to Saramb Island, one of the 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:04.599 key spice islands. And he docked. supposedly 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:07.740 to gather wood and make repairs. But the background 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:09.900 tension, you know, the real reason for the friction 00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:12.939 was that the local villagers were selling valuable 00:03:12.939 --> 00:03:15.560 spices to competing European powers. They were 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:19.300 bypassing the VOC. Which to the VOC was an existential 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:22.680 threat. Absolutely. So during this stop, a fight 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:25.379 broke out. The sources describe it as a violent 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:27.659 exchange and it resulted in the deaths of at 00:03:27.659 --> 00:03:30.439 least two of Tasman's men. So it's vital to understand 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:32.539 he wasn't just some peaceful cartographer. He 00:03:32.539 --> 00:03:35.759 was a corporate enforcer. He was. Operating in 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:38.259 a territory where the lines between trade, exploration, 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:41.659 and outright war were constantly blurred. Okay, 00:03:41.699 --> 00:03:45.139 so by 1642, his reputation as this highly effective, 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:49.460 if maybe ruthless, navigator is cemented. And 00:03:49.460 --> 00:03:51.659 that deep, demonstrated experience is what gets 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:54.219 him the big commission. The Council of the Indies 00:03:54.219 --> 00:03:56.759 in Batavia, headed by his patron, Governor General 00:03:56.759 --> 00:03:59.479 Antonio Van Damon, they dispatched Tasman on 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.400 an expedition of... really immense scope. Him 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:05.020 and his chief pilot, a cartographer named Francois 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:08.479 S. Jacob Zunvischer. Yes, and the scope was global, 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:11.400 but the objective was explicitly commercial. 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:14.280 The council was obsessed with finding what they 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:17.100 called the provinces of beach. And this wasn't 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:19.899 just some small island. This was a phantom landmass 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:22.120 that had been appearing on European maps for 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.939 centuries. Right, stemming from these early mistranslated 00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:29.579 editions of Marco Polo's travel accounts. The 00:04:29.579 --> 00:04:32.149 rumor, you know, The one repeated endlessly by 00:04:32.149 --> 00:04:34.250 cartographers and hopeful investors. Was that 00:04:34.250 --> 00:04:37.310 beach was a land of plentiful gold? Exactly. 00:04:37.569 --> 00:04:40.930 Think about the pressure on the VOC. They needed 00:04:40.930 --> 00:04:43.310 a new source of wealth, and this mythical continent 00:04:43.310 --> 00:04:45.850 was their great geographical lottery ticket. 00:04:46.050 --> 00:04:48.829 So the mandate was clear. Very clear. Three objectives. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:51.699 Explore all uncharted areas east of the Cape 00:04:51.699 --> 00:04:54.220 of Good Hope, south of the Solomon Islands, and 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:56.360 west of this theoretical land near Cape Horn. 00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:58.959 And they were told explicitly, find this southern 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:01.519 continent Terra Australis Incognita and find 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:04.240 a new shipping route. A way to link their Pacific 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:06.740 trading areas or even just get around the massive 00:05:06.740 --> 00:05:08.740 landmass of New Holland, which is what they called 00:05:08.740 --> 00:05:11.959 Australia. And for this monumental, almost mythological 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:15.529 quest, what does he get? Two small ships. the 00:05:15.529 --> 00:05:18.930 heemskerk, a slow sort of flyboat, and the smaller, 00:05:18.970 --> 00:05:21.930 faster zeehan, or seagull. It just highlights 00:05:21.930 --> 00:05:25.350 the risk, doesn't it? Small vessels, a massive 00:05:25.350 --> 00:05:28.290 mission, and the promise of either untold wealth 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:31.790 or total ruin. So armed with this ghost of a 00:05:31.790 --> 00:05:34.389 golden land and a pair of sturdy, but let's face 00:05:34.389 --> 00:05:37.649 it, small ships, Tasman set sail from Batavia 00:05:37.649 --> 00:05:41.509 in August 1642. And the logistical strategy for 00:05:41.509 --> 00:05:43.649 that first leg of the journey is actually quite 00:05:43.649 --> 00:05:45.870 revealing. It tells you how much planning went 00:05:45.870 --> 00:05:48.170 into just surviving these voyages. It was crucial. 00:05:48.649 --> 00:05:50.069 He didn't just head straight for the unknown. 00:05:50.269 --> 00:05:53.350 He sailed first across the Indian Ocean to the 00:05:53.350 --> 00:05:56.089 established VOC outpost of Mauritius, arriving 00:05:56.089 --> 00:05:58.930 on September 5th. And this stop wasn't for a 00:05:58.930 --> 00:06:01.170 bit of rest and relaxation? Not at all. It was 00:06:01.170 --> 00:06:03.709 strategic. The governor there, Adrian van der 00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:05.610 Sel, made sure they could properly reprovision, 00:06:05.709 --> 00:06:07.990 get fresh water, and use the excellent timber 00:06:07.990 --> 00:06:10.209 on the island to make critical repairs to the 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:12.610 ships. Before plunging into the unknown, violent 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:15.629 oceans further east? Exactly. And once they left 00:06:15.629 --> 00:06:17.589 Mauritius, the real engine of the voyage took 00:06:17.589 --> 00:06:19.980 over. The Southern Ocean currents and winds. 00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:22.660 What we now know as the Roaring Forties. Right. 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:25.439 This is a band of incredibly powerful, persistent 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:29.040 westerly winds that circle the globe down in 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:31.839 the latitudes between 40 and 50 degrees south. 00:06:32.019 --> 00:06:34.300 And if you could harness those winds. You could 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:38.180 cover immense distances incredibly quickly. Tasman 00:06:38.180 --> 00:06:41.480 sailed as far south as 49 degrees latitude to 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:43.300 catch the strongest part of that wind stream 00:06:43.300 --> 00:06:45.759 and just blast eastward. But the conditions must 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:48.240 have been just brutal. pushing the limits of 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:50.779 their ships and the crew's endurance. The journals 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:54.100 reflect this. By November 7th, the ship's council, 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.680 that's Tasman, Vischer, and the other officers, 00:06:56.860 --> 00:06:59.259 they get together and make a decision. They alter 00:06:59.259 --> 00:07:01.620 course slightly to the northeast, moving a little 00:07:01.620 --> 00:07:03.800 closer to the equator. And the reason is clear 00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:05.980 in the sources. Yeah. They were encountering 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:09.160 snow and hail. Snow and hail. Imagine that. Near 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:11.259 what would eventually become the southern coast 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:14.120 of Australia. It's incredible. This extreme weather. 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:16.519 made the job of just maintaining the rigging 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:18.620 and keeping the crew healthy almost impossible. 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:21.480 They had to move north just to survive the elements, 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:25.060 even if it cost them some speed. And this powerful 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:27.720 weather, it basically shoves them far further 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.040 south and east than they'd anticipated. Right 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:33.180 into the history books. On November 24, 1642, 00:07:33.579 --> 00:07:36.730 the lookout sites land. The west coast of Tasmania, 00:07:36.930 --> 00:07:39.490 specifically an area north of Macquarie Harbor. 00:07:39.750 --> 00:07:42.449 This is the first recorded European sighting 00:07:42.449 --> 00:07:45.149 of the island. A major, completely unplanned 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:48.569 discovery. And true to the hierarchical nature 00:07:48.569 --> 00:07:50.850 of the VOC, he doesn't name it after himself. 00:07:51.209 --> 00:07:54.009 No, he names it after his highest patron, Governor 00:07:54.009 --> 00:07:56.970 General Antonio Van Dyman. Calling it Van Dyman's 00:07:56.970 --> 00:07:59.430 land. It was a political gesture as much as a 00:07:59.430 --> 00:08:01.569 geographical one, making sure his success was 00:08:01.569 --> 00:08:04.220 noted by the man who sent him. So after the sighting, 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:06.939 he sails south and eventually enters what he 00:08:06.939 --> 00:08:09.720 later named Storm Bay. Which proved to be a very 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:11.500 accurate description. The wind and the swell 00:08:11.500 --> 00:08:13.839 were ferocious. He tried to take shelter in what's 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:16.199 now Adventure Bay, but was driven back out. But 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:18.000 he was determined to claim the territory. He 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.680 was meticulous about it. Yes. On December 3rd, 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:22.860 after anchoring near what he named Cape Frederick 00:08:22.860 --> 00:08:25.360 Hendrick, the sources detailed the formal act 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.899 of possession. The sea was too rough for a boat. 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:30.040 So what did they do? A ship's carpenter had to 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:32.200 swim through the heavy surf to get to the shore. 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:36.340 He manages it and he plants the Dutch flag, a 00:08:36.340 --> 00:08:39.279 small but powerful symbol formerly laying claim 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.809 to this massive unknown island. But this is where 00:08:42.809 --> 00:08:45.350 we see that crucial tension, the tension between 00:08:45.350 --> 00:08:48.950 the VOC's goals and the geographical reality. 00:08:49.049 --> 00:08:52.049 Yes. The sources are clear on this. Tasman's 00:08:52.049 --> 00:08:54.429 primary directive was to find the southern continent 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:57.649 Terra Australis, which everyone assumed was one 00:08:57.649 --> 00:09:00.649 immense landmass. He was not looking for a string 00:09:00.649 --> 00:09:03.190 of smaller islands. Yeah. So as he follows the 00:09:03.190 --> 00:09:05.210 east coast northward, he reaches a place called 00:09:05.210 --> 00:09:08.399 Eddystone Point. And the land there abruptly 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.980 veers sharply to the northwest. At the same time, 00:09:11.139 --> 00:09:13.539 his ships are getting battered by those relentless 00:09:13.539 --> 00:09:16.259 roaring 40s winds, which are blowing unimpeded 00:09:16.259 --> 00:09:18.799 through the gap we now know as Basegrate. The 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.440 channel separating Tasmania from mainland Australia. 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:23.620 It's a phenomenal moment of historical irony. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:26.320 The wind itself is screaming the message that 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.240 this land is an island. That it's separate from 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.950 New Holland. But Tasman is so focused on finding 00:09:30.950 --> 00:09:34.370 a continuous continental landmass that the moment 00:09:34.370 --> 00:09:37.409 the coastline turns, he ignores the hint. He 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:40.029 abruptly changes course and turns east again 00:09:40.029 --> 00:09:42.529 to continue his continent hunting. And that one 00:09:42.529 --> 00:09:45.730 decision was, well, it was fatal to Dutch interests 00:09:45.730 --> 00:09:48.470 in the region. Absolutely. He literally sailed 00:09:48.470 --> 00:09:50.809 past the defining feature that would confirm 00:09:50.809 --> 00:09:53.250 the island status of the land he had just claimed. 00:09:53.470 --> 00:09:56.649 And that choice contributed heavily to the misconception 00:09:56.649 --> 00:10:00.419 that lasted for the next 125 years. The idea 00:10:00.419 --> 00:10:03.039 that Van Diemen's Land was attached to the larger 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:05.820 Australian landmass. Or even the mass of southern 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:07.600 continent they were all looking for. And that 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.059 misconception was only reinforced by his very 00:10:10.059 --> 00:10:13.120 next big discovery, barely two weeks later. Right. 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:15.799 After sailing east into the open Pacific on December 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:19.379 13, 1642, the expedition sites the northwest 00:10:19.379 --> 00:10:21.639 coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Again, 00:10:21.700 --> 00:10:24.500 the first European to ever reach it. And he names 00:10:24.500 --> 00:10:27.799 this new discovery Statenland. In honor of the 00:10:27.799 --> 00:10:30.059 States General, the Dutch Parliament. And again, 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:32.440 the great misconception takes hold. He believes, 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:35.320 and he reports back, that this is the western 00:10:35.320 --> 00:10:38.100 mainland coast of the unknown Southland. He was 00:10:38.100 --> 00:10:40.480 convinced he'd finally found it, the colossal 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:42.440 continent that geographers have been dreaming 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:45.419 of for centuries. And that belief was so convincing, 00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:48.360 it stuck to European maps for more than a century. 00:10:48.700 --> 00:10:52.460 You see New Zealand rendered as this huge, vaguely 00:10:52.460 --> 00:10:55.600 -stetched piece of coastline attached to a non 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.159 -existent larger southern continent. Until Captain 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.399 Cook in 1769 actually sails all the way around 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.639 the two islands and definitively disproves the 00:11:03.639 --> 00:11:06.120 theory. But Tasman's first interaction with the 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:08.639 local inhabitants in this new Statenland was. 00:11:08.980 --> 00:11:11.960 It was immediate. And it was tragic. It was. 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:14.519 The expedition anchored near what is now Golden 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:17.019 Bay, which Tasman originally named Zee Haines 00:11:17.019 --> 00:11:19.279 Bay. And the sources give this really detailed, 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:21.740 almost cinematic account of the first contact. 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:24.259 They do. They saw many lights on land, four vessels 00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:27.179 near the shore as evening fell. Then two canoes 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:29.139 or waka paddled out towards them. And the Maori 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:31.139 people called out in what the Dutch described 00:11:31.139 --> 00:11:34.639 as gruff, hollow voices. And they blew on an 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:36.899 instrument that sounded to the sailors like Moors 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:40.039 trumpets. Tasman ordered his own trumpet player 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:42.600 to play some tunes back, trying to signal peace. 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.860 But it didn't work. No, the Maori did not approach 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:48.840 closer than a stone's throw. They were wary, 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.399 observant, and clearly assessing the threat. 00:11:51.820 --> 00:11:54.840 The tension was palpable overnight. And the next 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:57.679 morning, disaster struck before any real communication 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:00.940 could happen. Yes. As sailors were rowing the 00:12:00.940 --> 00:12:02.940 small ship's boat between the Heemskerk and the 00:12:02.940 --> 00:12:06.639 Zehan, a group of Maori in a waka attacked suddenly. 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:10.039 It was swift, and it was brutal. Four Dutch sailors 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:12.360 were clubbed to death with traditional Maori 00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:14.960 patu, or clubs, before the Dutch ships could 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:18.080 effectively respond. Tasman, profoundly shaken 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:19.960 by this, he orders the anchor cut and they seal 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:21.879 out of the bay as fast as they can. And as they 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:24.600 retreated, he observed 22 waka near the shore. 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:27.519 He fired a cannon, hit a man in the largest canoe, 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:29.759 which was curiously holding a small white flag. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:32.000 And because of the four deaths, Tasman names 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:34.620 the area Murderer's Bay. Now, if we connect this 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:36.759 to the sociological context the sources give 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:40.480 us, the violence becomes a bit more understandable, 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:44.659 if not less tragic. Why such an aggressive, preemptive 00:12:44.659 --> 00:12:47.629 attack? The insight from archaeologists and historians 00:12:47.629 --> 00:12:50.710 like Ian Barber is compelling. The local Maori, 00:12:51.009 --> 00:12:54.370 likely the Nagari Tumatakushiri Iwi, may have 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:57.029 been aggressively protecting a cultivation field. 00:12:57.549 --> 00:13:00.909 Specifically, a valuable kumara, or sweet potato 00:13:00.909 --> 00:13:03.289 field. Which was under intense ritual protection 00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:05.710 known as tapu. And tapu is much more than just 00:13:05.710 --> 00:13:08.610 a simple prohibition, right? Oh, much more. Tapu 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:11.409 imposes a sacred status on a person, a place, 00:13:11.509 --> 00:13:14.429 an object, and it's accompanied by strict prohibitions. 00:13:15.340 --> 00:13:18.080 In this context, protecting a vital food source 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:20.279 like Kumara, especially since it was December, 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:22.460 the midpoint of the growing season would have 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:24.759 been paramount. So any transgression against 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:26.659 a tapu zone wasn't just an offense. It was a 00:13:26.659 --> 00:13:29.080 profound, dangerous breach of spiritual and communal 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:31.519 law. It was something capable of bringing disaster 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:34.059 upon the entire tribe. So from the Mari perspective, 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:36.279 the Dutch attempt to land, even if it's just 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:39.320 for water, was an aggressive existential transgression 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:41.840 against a religiously and culturally vital area. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.799 It reframes the whole narrative of Murderer's 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.659 Bay. It's a clash of two completely incompatible 00:13:47.659 --> 00:13:50.340 worldviews. Exactly. And following this trauma, 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:53.299 the expedition quickly retreated. They sailed 00:13:53.299 --> 00:13:55.659 north, sighted the narrow channel we now call 00:13:55.659 --> 00:13:58.000 Cook Strait, but they dismissed it. Mistaking 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.700 it for just a large bite, which Tasman named 00:14:00.700 --> 00:14:04.259 Zihin's Bite. The journey home did leave two 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:06.139 lasting names in the far north of New Zealand, 00:14:06.700 --> 00:14:08.980 Cape Maria Van Dyman and the Three Kings Islands. 00:14:09.299 --> 00:14:11.750 But then they turned for home. And it was a rough 00:14:11.750 --> 00:14:14.009 return voyage. They nearly wrecked on dangerous 00:14:14.009 --> 00:14:16.090 reefs while passing through the Fiji Islands. 00:14:16.289 --> 00:14:18.549 Where the ships almost came apart. But Tasman 00:14:18.549 --> 00:14:21.110 skillfully charted the eastern tip of Vanu 'uluvu 00:14:21.110 --> 00:14:24.210 and Secobia Ilao, proving his navigation skill 00:14:24.210 --> 00:14:26.529 under pressure, before finally turning northwest 00:14:26.529 --> 00:14:30.549 and arriving back in Batavia on June 15, 1643. 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:34.309 Ten months at sea. Two massive landmasses charted. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.940 And the geographical reality that Australia was 00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:38.899 separated from other continents was established? 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:41.820 A monumental achievement. Undeniable. So what 00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:43.840 was the reaction from the directors of the VOC? 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:46.639 Well, the internal reaction was cold, hard, and 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:48.919 brutal. They were disappointed. Disappointed? 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:52.360 After all that? Yes. From the perspective of 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:55.340 the Dutch East India Company, which existed solely 00:14:55.340 --> 00:14:59.220 to maximize profit, Tasman's explorations were 00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:01.730 a commercial failure. It's incredible how quickly 00:15:01.730 --> 00:15:04.409 corporate objectives just override actual discovery. 00:15:04.610 --> 00:15:06.730 He hadn't found the gold. He hadn't found the 00:15:06.730 --> 00:15:09.029 mythical provinces of Beach, which was the main 00:15:09.029 --> 00:15:11.830 financial driver. He hadn't established a single 00:15:11.830 --> 00:15:15.129 promising trade area, nor had he found a useful 00:15:15.129 --> 00:15:17.210 new shipping route. So the company directors 00:15:17.210 --> 00:15:19.950 were deeply dissatisfied. They were. They were 00:15:19.950 --> 00:15:22.330 not interested in cartography for its own sake. 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:24.940 They actually viewed his careful skirting of 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:27.539 coastlines as timid. They were upset that he 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:29.799 hadn't fully explored the lands to see if they 00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:32.759 held any commercial value. And this cold, hard 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:35.720 business verdict had immediate and severe consequences 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:39.320 for global history. It did. The VOC decided that 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:42.460 a more persistent explorer should be chosen for 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:45.200 any future expeditions and they effectively halted 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:47.019 their interest in the southern pacific so for 00:15:47.019 --> 00:15:49.220 over a century until the arrival of james cook 00:15:49.220 --> 00:15:52.720 in 1769 tasmania and new zealand were just left 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:56.720 alone largely unvisited by europeans kasman had 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.279 put them on the map But the VOC's disappointment 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:01.259 meant they were immediately erased from the map 00:16:01.259 --> 00:16:03.860 of commercial interest. He did lead one final 00:16:03.860 --> 00:16:05.980 major mission for the VOC, though, a smaller 00:16:05.980 --> 00:16:09.679 one in 1644. Yes, trying to redeem himself. He 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:12.259 commanded a small fleet of three ships, Limon, 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:15.419 Zemiu, and the Tender Break. The goal was to 00:16:15.419 --> 00:16:17.919 find a passage to the eastern side of New Holland, 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:21.399 or Australia. But this voyage only reinforced 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:24.539 his commercial failure. It did. The VOC Council 00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:26.879 had specifically ordered him to explore the possibility 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.639 of a channel between New Guinea and Australia, 00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:32.539 what we now call the Torres Strait. A crucial 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:35.759 potential shortcut. Absolutely. But he missed 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:38.639 it. The sources suggest it was likely due to 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:40.600 the sheer number of islands and submerged reefs 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:42.720 in that area. It would have been incredibly difficult 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.100 and dangerous in a time before accurate depth 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:47.419 charts. So instead of finding the channel, he 00:16:47.419 --> 00:16:51.000 sailed south. and meticulously mapped the Gulf 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.399 of Carpentaria and much of the North Australian 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:57.240 coast before returning to Batavia. Cartographically 00:16:57.240 --> 00:17:00.139 useful, yes, but he only confirmed to the VOC 00:17:00.139 --> 00:17:02.799 that the northern coast of Australia was economically 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.720 barren and didn't offer the shortcut they wanted. 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:08.339 So the company was done with him as an explorer. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:10.920 They were done funding deep southern exploration, 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:14.359 yes. But his administrative career with the VOC 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:17.220 continued at a high level. He was appointed a 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:19.160 member of the Council of Justice in Batavia, 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:22.259 a powerful post. And he even led a high -stakes 00:17:22.259 --> 00:17:25.579 military expedition in 1648 to try and loot Spanish 00:17:25.579 --> 00:17:29.160 silver ships. Which was unsuccessful. But this 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:31.660 is where we confront a darker reality of VOC 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:34.359 authority and the rough justice of the era. Despite 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:36.920 his high rank, Tasman wasn't untouchable. In 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:39.599 November 1649, he was charged, found guilty, 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:41.819 and suspended from his office. And the offense 00:17:41.819 --> 00:17:43.859 for having hanged one of his own men without 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:45.920 a trial the previous year during that silver 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:48.599 expedition. He was fined and had to pay compensation 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:50.940 to the dead sailor's family. The fact that a 00:17:50.940 --> 00:17:53.319 senior VOC official was penalized for what was 00:17:53.319 --> 00:17:55.980 essentially an extrajudicial killing is stark. 00:17:56.220 --> 00:17:58.900 It is. It raises the question of whether this 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:01.859 was truly about justice, or was it an internal 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:04.339 corporate punishment? A way to show that commanders 00:18:04.339 --> 00:18:07.119 weren't entirely above the company's laws, especially 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:09.460 concerning crew discipline. A warning shot, maybe. 00:18:09.619 --> 00:18:12.359 A warning shot, exactly. He was formally reinstated 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:15.099 in 1651, however, and spent his remaining years 00:18:15.099 --> 00:18:18.519 in Batavia in good standing. And he died a wealthy 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:23.559 man. He did. On October 10, 1659, he'd retired 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:26.259 six years earlier as a wealthy landowner, one 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:28.759 of the larger property holders in Batavia. His 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:31.500 will even included a 25 -gilder bequest to the 00:18:31.500 --> 00:18:34.470 poor of his birth village. A remarkable end to 00:18:34.470 --> 00:18:37.210 a career of triumph, failure, and scandal. Okay, 00:18:37.250 --> 00:18:40.009 so while the VOC wrote him off as a flop, that 00:18:40.009 --> 00:18:42.069 10 -month voyage fundamentally redefined the 00:18:42.069 --> 00:18:44.970 world map. His most significant legacy was proving 00:18:44.970 --> 00:18:47.930 that the continent he circumnavigated was not 00:18:47.930 --> 00:18:50.349 joined to that colossal southern continent fantasy. 00:18:50.609 --> 00:18:52.670 By establishing the outline of Australia and 00:18:52.670 --> 00:18:54.450 the separation of Tasmania and New Zealand from 00:18:54.450 --> 00:18:56.890 that fantasy, he defined Australia as an island 00:18:56.890 --> 00:18:58.950 continent, even if it took mapmakers another 00:18:58.950 --> 00:19:01.900 century to accept it. So let's turn to the landmass 00:19:01.900 --> 00:19:04.920 that ultimately bore his name. His initial title, 00:19:05.059 --> 00:19:08.220 Van Diemen's Land, lasted for over 200 years. 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:11.839 It was officially renamed Tasmania on January 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:15.759 1st, 1856. And that name change was a profoundly 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:19.119 political and social act. Yes, it was in Tasman's 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.519 honor, but the primary reason was to deliberately... 00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:25.400 differentiate the colony of free settlers from 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:28.619 its notoriously brutal convict past. It was a 00:19:28.619 --> 00:19:31.299 rebranding exercise. A complete rebranding to 00:19:31.299 --> 00:19:33.380 get away from the stench of the penal settlement. 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:35.460 And we have to acknowledge the original identity 00:19:35.460 --> 00:19:37.859 of the land. The indigenous name is Lutruwita. 00:19:38.059 --> 00:19:40.539 Yes, from the Bruny Island Tasmanian language. 00:19:40.819 --> 00:19:43.119 And in recent decades, the state government has 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:45.519 formally accepted dual naming of important features, 00:19:45.700 --> 00:19:48.279 like Kunani Mount Wellington, acknowledging that 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:50.140 deep history. And that history the colonists 00:19:50.140 --> 00:19:51.940 were trying to escape is, well, it's harrowing. 00:19:51.980 --> 00:19:54.619 European settlement began in 1803 as a strategic 00:19:54.619 --> 00:19:57.259 penal settlement. Established largely to preempt 00:19:57.259 --> 00:19:59.319 any territorial claims by the French, who were 00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:01.660 also sniffing around the area. The scale of forced 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:04.819 migration was staggering. About 80 ,000 convicts 00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:06.819 were transported to Van Diemen's Land before 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:09.700 it all starved in 1853. And this led to some 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:12.619 of the most feared and notorious penal colonies 00:20:12.619 --> 00:20:14.700 in the British Empire. The sources highlight 00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:17.400 the sheer brutality. particularly at Port Arthur, 00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:19.960 which became synonymous with cruel isolation 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:23.039 and Macquarie Harbor on the rugged West Coast. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:25.500 Where conditions were so severe, they were considered 00:20:25.500 --> 00:20:28.240 a punishment worse than death. The environment 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.460 itself was used as a weapon of incarceration. 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:34.279 And this rapid, violent colonization led directly 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.799 to what's known as the Black War, an explosive 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.000 period of conflict between the settlers and the 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:42.220 aboriginal people, the Palawa or Pocana. At the 00:20:42.220 --> 00:20:44.519 time of European contact, their population was 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:48.140 estimated to be between 3 ,000 and 10 ,000. And 00:20:48.140 --> 00:20:50.920 the sources cite multiple devastating drivers 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:53.200 for the violence. First, there was increasing 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:55.940 competition for resources. Settlers were rapidly 00:20:55.940 --> 00:20:58.640 turning kangaroo hunting grounds, a staple food 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:01.700 for the aboriginal population, into farms for 00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:04.180 sheep and cattle. But there was also a profoundly 00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:06.920 destructive social element, the severe gender 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:10.450 imbalance among the colonists. Yes. Men significantly 00:21:10.450 --> 00:21:13.250 outnumbered women, often by four to one or more. 00:21:13.650 --> 00:21:17.069 This created a crisis of its own. It led directly 00:21:17.069 --> 00:21:19.369 to what historian Nicholas Clements called a 00:21:19.369 --> 00:21:22.069 voracious appetite among settlers for Native 00:21:22.069 --> 00:21:24.990 women. Which triggered immense violence as settlers 00:21:24.990 --> 00:21:27.569 abducted, raped, and enslaved women and girls. 00:21:27.849 --> 00:21:30.670 And that, naturally, provoked fierce and organized 00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:34.170 reprisal attacks from Aboriginal men. The conflict 00:21:34.170 --> 00:21:37.089 was not just about land. It was deeply personal, 00:21:37.309 --> 00:21:40.089 economic and sexualized. The violence peaked 00:21:40.089 --> 00:21:43.809 between 1825 and 1831. The governor, Sir George 00:21:43.809 --> 00:21:47.009 Arthur, reacting to colonial panic, issued notices 00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:49.569 that basically permitted colonists to shoot Aboriginal 00:21:49.569 --> 00:21:51.589 people when their property was attacked. Then 00:21:51.589 --> 00:21:54.430 in 1828, he issued a proclamation of demarcation, 00:21:54.529 --> 00:21:56.589 essentially forbidding Aboriginal people from 00:21:56.589 --> 00:21:58.710 entering the settled districts. It divided the 00:21:58.710 --> 00:22:01.380 island into white and black zones. And his policies 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:03.660 became increasingly militaristic. He declared 00:22:03.660 --> 00:22:06.160 martial law in November 1828, and it stayed in 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:08.460 force for over three years. The longest sustained 00:22:08.460 --> 00:22:10.660 period of martial law in Australian history. 00:22:10.819 --> 00:22:13.519 And to enforce this, he organized a massive operation 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:16.599 in 1830 known as the Black Line. The goal was 00:22:16.599 --> 00:22:19.200 logistically immense. He ordered nearly every 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:22.180 able -bodied male colonist plus military regiments 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:25.339 to form a single line, miles long, and literally 00:22:25.339 --> 00:22:27.700 sweep the remaining Aboriginal people out of 00:22:27.700 --> 00:22:29.700 the settled districts and contain them on the 00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:32.259 narrow Tasman Peninsula. But the operation itself 00:22:32.259 --> 00:22:34.799 was largely a failure. A logistical failure, 00:22:34.940 --> 00:22:37.839 yes. The Aboriginal people, who knew the dense 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.859 terrain, simply melted away. Only a handful were 00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:43.299 actually captured. However, by that point, the 00:22:43.299 --> 00:22:45.380 population had already fallen drastically due 00:22:45.380 --> 00:22:48.500 to disease, violence, and starvation. After the 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:51.319 hostilities ended in 1832, almost all the remnants 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:53.680 of the indigenous population were persuaded or 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:56.140 forced to move to Flinders Island and Bass Strait. 00:22:56.220 --> 00:22:59.599 And that move proved catastrophic. Lacking resistance 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:02.220 to introduced diseases, many quickly died from 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:05.000 things like pneumonia and influenza. The subsequent 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:07.059 removal and near destruction of the population 00:23:07.059 --> 00:23:10.839 is an event still fiercely debated by historians 00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:13.579 today. Right. The sources note that some historians 00:23:13.579 --> 00:23:16.599 classify the events as an act of genocide, focusing 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:19.160 on the policy of complete removal. While other 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:21.000 scholars argue that the colonial authorities 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.779 didn't have an explicit, systematic intent to 00:23:23.779 --> 00:23:26.359 destroy the population, highlighting that the 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:28.720 removals occurred during a period of open warfare 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:31.819 and were driven more by policy failure than deliberate 00:23:31.819 --> 00:23:34.960 extinction. Regardless of the precise classification, 00:23:35.380 --> 00:23:38.339 the result was a demographic catastrophe. A catastrophe. 00:23:38.619 --> 00:23:41.160 The last remaining people, including the woman 00:23:41.160 --> 00:23:43.359 Trugani, who was claimed to be the last full 00:23:43.359 --> 00:23:46.059 -blood Aboriginal person to survive, died by 00:23:46.059 --> 00:23:49.059 1876. Acknowledging that devastating history, 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:51.720 let's shift focus to the natural history that 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:54.299 defines the island today. Tasmania's enduring 00:23:54.299 --> 00:23:56.960 legacy is also written in its unique geography 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:00.079 and ecology. And those features are intrinsically 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:03.160 linked to its isolation. The geology is distinct 00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:05.319 from anywhere else in the world. The landscape 00:24:05.319 --> 00:24:07.700 is largely composed of these massive intrusions 00:24:07.700 --> 00:24:10.339 of Jurassic dolerite. That's the rock formed 00:24:10.339 --> 00:24:13.599 when magma pushes up, but cools slowly deep underground, 00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:17.059 creating unique columnar joints. Exactly. It's 00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:19.059 what you see in the organ pipes of Cunani Mount 00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:22.230 Wellington, towering over Hobart. That slow cooling 00:24:22.230 --> 00:24:24.849 process results in incredibly hard, sheer rock 00:24:24.849 --> 00:24:28.170 faces. In contrast, the rugged southwest of Tasmania 00:24:28.170 --> 00:24:31.410 is much older, featuring highly resistant Precambrian 00:24:31.410 --> 00:24:34.210 quartzites. Which are responsible for those strikingly 00:24:34.210 --> 00:24:36.869 sharp, jagged ridges you see on mountains like 00:24:36.869 --> 00:24:40.089 Federation Peak. Ecologically, Tasmania is a 00:24:40.089 --> 00:24:42.809 vital refuge. It's the most forested Australian 00:24:42.809 --> 00:24:45.470 state, containing the largest remaining areas 00:24:45.470 --> 00:24:48.569 of temperate rainforest in Australia. The Tarkin. 00:24:48.970 --> 00:24:51.609 in the island's far northwest covers an estimated 00:24:51.609 --> 00:24:55.329 3 800 square kilometers it's critically important 00:24:55.329 --> 00:24:58.430 for global biodiversity and it hosts unique flora 00:24:58.430 --> 00:25:00.869 like australia's only winter deciduous plant 00:25:00.869 --> 00:25:03.829 the australian beach or north of vegas gunny 00:25:03.829 --> 00:25:06.750 it sheds its leaves in winter and its distinct 00:25:06.750 --> 00:25:09.650 cold and red foliage in autumn is a major tourist 00:25:09.650 --> 00:25:12.349 draw and that isolation is crucial for modern 00:25:12.349 --> 00:25:15.819 conservation Tasmania is the last natural stronghold 00:25:15.819 --> 00:25:18.259 for the Tasmanian devil. Its isolation has become 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:20.519 the key advantage in the fight to save the species 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:24.400 from devil facial tumor disease, or DFTD. A contagious 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:26.799 cancer that's killed more than half of all devils 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:28.859 on the mainland island. And the conservation 00:25:28.859 --> 00:25:32.759 strategy relies heavily on that isolation. It 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:35.160 allows researchers to establish disease -free 00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:38.559 zones and relocate healthy devils to isolated 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:41.839 peninsulas or offshore islands, ensuring the 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.319 species survives. Now, if we expand our view 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:46.759 further, Tasman's name stretches across one of 00:25:46.759 --> 00:25:48.920 the world's most formidable bodies of water. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:50.859 We're talking, of course, about the Tasman Sea, 00:25:50.980 --> 00:25:53.460 or as it's known, the ditch. Asectionately and 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:55.940 sometimes ruefully by Australians and New Zealanders. 00:25:56.019 --> 00:25:58.920 It's a marginal sea of the South Pacific. Immense 00:25:58.920 --> 00:26:01.640 in size, about 2 ,000 kilometers across. And 00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:04.279 its depth is staggering. It plunges to nearly 00:26:04.279 --> 00:26:07.359 6 ,000 meters. It's one of the most dynamic and 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:10.339 complex bodies of water for oceanographers. The 00:26:10.339 --> 00:26:12.500 dominant feature is the East Australian Current, 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:15.339 the most energetic circulation feature in the 00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:17.720 entire Southwest Pacific. The current that takes 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:20.400 Nemo on his long journey. That's the one. It 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:23.180 flows powerfully south from the Coral Sea, transporting 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:26.039 heat and tropical marine life. But what's fascinating 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:29.140 is how the current fractures. It splits. One 00:26:29.140 --> 00:26:31.599 major branch, the Tasman Front, flows east toward 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:33.720 New Zealand. And the other critical branch. Is 00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:37.200 the Tasman leakage. This part is diverted powerfully 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:40.279 west through the Great Australian Bight, carrying 00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:42.660 warm tropical water all the way toward the Indian 00:26:42.660 --> 00:26:45.299 Ocean. It's a major component of global ocean 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:47.619 circulation. And environmentally, the sea is 00:26:47.619 --> 00:26:50.400 situated firmly in the path of the Roaring Forties, 00:26:50.460 --> 00:26:53.299 just like Tasman found. Which explains why crossings 00:26:53.299 --> 00:26:55.779 are always a massive challenge and why it earned 00:26:55.779 --> 00:26:59.059 the nickname. The ditch. Crossing it was a huge 00:26:59.059 --> 00:27:01.640 feat of human ingenuity. The first telegraph 00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:03.880 cable connecting Australia and New Zealand was 00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:07.640 laid under the Tasman in 1876. Imagine the engineering 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:11.640 and the risk. And then came the aviators. Moncrief 00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:13.940 and Hood attempted the first trans -Tasman crossing 00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:17.299 by plane in 1928 and were never seen again. Swallowed 00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:19.819 by the ditch. But later that year, Charles Kingsford 00:27:19.819 --> 00:27:22.140 Smith and Charles Ulm finally made the first 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:24.390 successful flight in the Southern Cross. Its 00:27:24.390 --> 00:27:27.150 formidable, deadly reputation is well -earned. 00:27:27.170 --> 00:27:29.609 Let's zoom back in on one final geographical 00:27:29.609 --> 00:27:33.089 feature, the Tasman Peninsula, now known by its 00:27:33.089 --> 00:27:36.470 dual name, Turricana -Tasman Peninsula. And this 00:27:36.470 --> 00:27:38.990 peninsula is historically significant, precisely 00:27:38.990 --> 00:27:41.569 because of its extreme geographical isolation. 00:27:41.990 --> 00:27:44.430 It's connected to the rest of Tasmania by only 00:27:44.430 --> 00:27:47.009 the narrowest bit of land, the isthmus known 00:27:47.009 --> 00:27:50.059 as Eagle Hawk Neck. A choke point that was crucial 00:27:50.059 --> 00:27:52.359 for the Port Arthur penal settlement. Absolutely. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:55.759 The neck is only about 100 meters wide, a perfect 00:27:55.759 --> 00:27:58.720 natural security measure. Guards and dogs were 00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:00.599 permanently stationed there to prevent escapes. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:04.059 And today, that harsh geography is protected 00:28:04.059 --> 00:28:07.420 as Tasman National Park. famous for its dramatic 00:28:07.420 --> 00:28:09.720 coastline. Featuring the southern hemisphere's 00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:13.140 highest sea cliffs, sheer dolerite columns rising 00:28:13.140 --> 00:28:15.920 an astonishing 300 meters above the sea at Cape 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:18.819 Pillar. And the relentless ocean power has created 00:28:18.819 --> 00:28:21.980 these striking geological features like the tessellated 00:28:21.980 --> 00:28:24.759 pavement and Tasman's Arch. It's a place that 00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:26.839 truly brings the violent nature of the Roaring 00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:29.440 Forties and the dramatic dolerite geology together. 00:28:29.869 --> 00:28:31.970 So Tasman's achievements, though dismissed by 00:28:31.970 --> 00:28:35.309 the VOC at the time, resulted in a truly sprawling, 00:28:35.309 --> 00:28:37.470 posthumous recognition that spans continents. 00:28:37.849 --> 00:28:40.349 It's everywhere in New Zealand, from the Tasman 00:28:40.349 --> 00:28:43.190 Glacier to the Abel Tasman National Park. And 00:28:43.190 --> 00:28:45.829 even in California, you can find Tasman Drive 00:28:45.829 --> 00:28:48.829 in San Jose, reflecting the global reach of early 00:28:48.829 --> 00:28:51.750 Dutch discovery. For historians, the most important 00:28:51.750 --> 00:28:55.089 artifact of his work is the Tasman Map. Also 00:28:55.089 --> 00:28:57.470 known as the Bonaparte Map, as it was once owned 00:28:57.470 --> 00:28:59.819 by Prince Roland Bonaparte. It was completed 00:28:59.819 --> 00:29:03.539 after 1644, likely drafted by Vischer or Gilsmans. 00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:05.819 And since none of the journals from his second 00:29:05.819 --> 00:29:08.460 voyage survived, this map is the primary record 00:29:08.460 --> 00:29:11.299 we have of his exploration of the northern Australian 00:29:11.299 --> 00:29:14.519 coast. It visually confirms what the Dutch knew 00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:17.059 at the time. It shows the Gulf of Carpentaria, 00:29:17.259 --> 00:29:20.500 the whole north coast, and crucially, it clearly 00:29:20.500 --> 00:29:23.579 shows the Torres Strait area as unexamined. A 00:29:23.579 --> 00:29:25.680 visual record of both his geographical success 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:28.910 and his commercial failure. Exactly. could figure 00:29:28.910 --> 00:29:30.849 this important would have a clear visual legacy, 00:29:31.109 --> 00:29:33.289 but even Tasman's portraits are caught up in 00:29:33.289 --> 00:29:35.690 historical controversy. They absolutely are. 00:29:35.990 --> 00:29:38.230 There's a drawing held by the State Library of 00:29:38.230 --> 00:29:40.569 New South Wales, which scholars think has the 00:29:40.569 --> 00:29:43.690 most reliable provenance. There's no strong reason 00:29:43.690 --> 00:29:45.779 to doubt it's genuine. But then there's the famous 00:29:45.779 --> 00:29:49.099 family portrait, a large oil painting acquired 00:29:49.099 --> 00:29:52.200 by the National Library of Australia, which purported 00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:54.779 to show Tasman, his wife and his stepdaughter. 00:29:54.940 --> 00:29:57.640 And for decades, it was identified as the only 00:29:57.640 --> 00:30:01.299 known confirmed portrait of him. But here's where 00:30:01.299 --> 00:30:03.430 the story gets really interesting. This is about 00:30:03.430 --> 00:30:06.349 historical invention. It is. Recent analysis 00:30:06.349 --> 00:30:09.109 has concluded definitively that the sitters are 00:30:09.109 --> 00:30:12.069 not Tasman and his family. The man is almost 00:30:12.069 --> 00:30:14.470 certainly a prominent Dutch astronomer of the 00:30:14.470 --> 00:30:17.049 period. So where did the story come from? Research 00:30:17.049 --> 00:30:19.289 into the acquisition revealed that the provenance, 00:30:19.309 --> 00:30:21.509 the claim it was passed down through Tasman's 00:30:21.509 --> 00:30:25.109 widow's relatives, was likely invented by the 00:30:25.109 --> 00:30:27.640 art dealer who sold it. Rexnan Kivel. He just 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:30.359 made it up. Seems so. Auction records show the 00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:32.400 painting was previously sold merely as a generic 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:35.480 portrait of an astronomer. Kivel, a major collector, 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:38.220 likely created the backstory to raise the value 00:30:38.220 --> 00:30:41.099 and significance of his acquisition. A classic 00:30:41.099 --> 00:30:43.460 case of history being manipulated for fame and 00:30:43.460 --> 00:30:46.230 profit. So we have an explorer who defined the 00:30:46.230 --> 00:30:48.990 boundaries of two nations and an entire sea, 00:30:49.170 --> 00:30:52.230 yet we can't definitively say what he looks like, 00:30:52.390 --> 00:30:54.549 and his sponsors wrote him off as an expensive 00:30:54.549 --> 00:30:57.349 failure. That is the perfect final synthesis 00:30:57.349 --> 00:31:01.329 of Abel Tasman's legacy. His voyages were a towering 00:31:01.329 --> 00:31:05.069 geographical success, revealing two major landmasses 00:31:05.069 --> 00:31:07.230 and proving Australia was a distinct continent. 00:31:07.690 --> 00:31:09.910 But because he failed to deliver the gold or 00:31:09.910 --> 00:31:12.890 the shortcut the VOC demanded, they were a crushing 00:31:12.890 --> 00:31:15.369 commercial failure. And that failure had a monumental 00:31:15.369 --> 00:31:18.910 consequence. It stalled further European exploration 00:31:18.910 --> 00:31:21.750 for over a century, freezing the global map until 00:31:21.750 --> 00:31:24.490 Captain Cook's arrival. His lasting impact, though, 00:31:24.549 --> 00:31:27.329 is undeniable. It's visible everywhere, from 00:31:27.329 --> 00:31:29.710 the unique isolation used to save the Tasmanian 00:31:29.710 --> 00:31:31.690 devil to the immense currents of the Pacific. 00:31:31.890 --> 00:31:33.849 Which leads us to our final provocative thought 00:31:33.849 --> 00:31:36.539 for you to consider. Tasman was entirely focused 00:31:36.539 --> 00:31:38.700 on finding the mythical gold of the provinces 00:31:38.700 --> 00:31:41.220 of Beach and the colossal non -existent mass 00:31:41.220 --> 00:31:44.140 of Terra Australis. Yet the greatest, most enduring 00:31:44.140 --> 00:31:46.460 legacy of his voyages was proving Australia was 00:31:46.460 --> 00:31:49.660 an island and defining the ditch. So if the VOC 00:31:49.660 --> 00:31:51.640 found his work disappointing because it didn't 00:31:51.640 --> 00:31:54.880 generate immediate, tangible profit, what unknown 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:57.599 non -monetary successes are modern explorations, 00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:00.279 whether in space, the deep sea, or even pure 00:32:00.279 --> 00:32:02.460 academic research, failing to appreciate today 00:32:02.460 --> 00:32:04.500 because they don't match our narrow, short... 00:32:04.519 --> 00:32:07.740 term definitions of profit and discovery. Something 00:32:07.740 --> 00:32:09.259 to consider the next time you look at a map.