- IJ
171: The summer of '42
The date of 1642 is significant in New Zealand's history as it was the year the first any European (that we know of) set eyes on this land, interacted with Maori, and recorded exactly what they saw. When we say that we know of, we mean he got home to tell of his adventures. Others may have been here earlier and never got home again.
This date of 1642 was where Abel Tasman, a dutchman, arrived and it was he who named the land he saw as "‘Nieuw Zeeland’. This means New Zeeland for there was a Dutch province called Zeeland. When a Dutch mapmaker produced the first official map he called it 'Nova Zeelandia’ – the Latin equivalent of the Dutch ‘Nieuw Zeeland’. It was by that name – ‘New Zealand’ in English – that the country came to be known. Intermittent dissatisfaction in the colonial era that the name was ‘foreign’ – in other words, not English – never led to a name change. So this country is still named based on a Dutch name. That's quite ironic really. Oh, and be sure of this, 'Aotearoa' is not the Maori name of these islands, not the original one at least. See the below post...
After sighting Tasmania, the Dutchman sailed east, and so on December 13th 1642 they arrived at the coast of South Island, New Zealand, and explored it northward, entering the strait between North Island and South Island, supposing it to be a bay. He left New Zealand on January 4, 1643, at North Cape, under the impression that he had probably discovered the west coast of the southern continent. He drew the first ever map of the top of the South Island, part of Cook Strait and lower North Island west coast.
They had already seen Tasmania, so now sailed north, sighting a group of islands not far away as they entered the Pacific on their way toward Tonga, Fiji and Melanesia.
But while in NZ, the interaction of the natives and Tasman's crew was limited. On 19th Dec 1642 many waka came out to the Dutch ships. Four sailors were killed after a small boat transferring from one ship to another (Tasman had two ships in his command) was rammed by a waka. After that encounter, Heemskerck and Zeehaen quickly weighed anchor and sailed away. Tasman named the place Murderers Bay. It is now called Golden Bay. Here he has a journal entry for two days which is worth a read below
18th December 1642
At sunset when it fell a calm we dropped anchor in 15 fathom, good anchoring-ground in the evening, about an hour after sunset, we saw a number of lights on shore and four boats close inshore, two of which came towards us, upon which our own two boats returned on board; they reported that they had found no less than 13 fathom water and that, when the sun sank behind the highland, they were still about half a mile from shore. When our men had been on board for the space of about one glass the men in the two prows began to call out to us in the rough, hollow voice, but we could not understand a word of what they said. We however called out to them in answer, upon which they repeated their cries several times, but came no nearer than a stone shot; they also blew several times on an instrument of which the sound was like that of a Moorish trumpet; we then ordered one of our sailors (who had some knowledge of trumpet-blowing) to play them some tunes in answer. Those on board the Zeehaan ordered their second mate (who had come out to India as a trumpeter and had in the Mauritius been appointed second mate by the council of that fortress and the ships) to do the same; after this had been repeated several times on both sides, and as it was getting more and more dark, those in the native prows at last ceased and paddled off. We cleaned the guns on the upper-orlop, and placed them again, in order to prevent surprises, and be able to defend ourselves if these people should happen to attempt anything against us. .
19th December 1642
Early in the morning a boat manned with 13 natives approached to about a stone's cast from our ships; they called out several times but we did not understand them, their speech not bearing any resemblance to the vocabulary given us by the Honourable Governor-General and Councillors of India, which is hardly to be wondered at, seeing that it contains the language of the Salomonis islands, etc. As far as we could observe these people were of ordinary height; they had rough voices and strong bones, the colour of their skin being brown and yellow; they wore tufts of black hair right upon the top of their heads, tied fast in the manner of the Japanese at the back of their heads, but somewhat longer and thicker, and surmounted by a large, thick white feather. Their boats consisted of two long narrow prows side by side, over which a number of planks or other seats were placed in such a way that those above can look through the water underneath the vessel: their paddles are upwards of a fathom in length, narrow and pointed at the end; with these vessels they could make considerable speed. We repeatedly made signs for them to come on board of us, showing them white linen and some knives that formed part of our cargo. They did not come nearer, however, but at last paddled back to shore. In the meanwhile, at our summons sent the previous evening, the officers of the Zeehaan came on board of us, upon which we convened a council and resolved to go as near the shore as we could, since there was good anchoring-ground here, and these people apparently sought our friendship. Shortly after we had drawn up this resolution we saw 7 more boats put off from the shore, one of which (high and pointed in front, manned with 17 natives) paddled round behind the Zeehaan while another, with 13 able-bodied men in her, approached to within half a stone's throw of our ship; the men in these two boats now and then called out to each other; we held up and showed them as before white linens, etc., but they remained where they were. The skipper of the Zeehaan now sent out to them his quartermaster with her cock-boat with six paddlers in it, with orders for the second mates that, if these people should offer to come alongside the Zeehaan, they should not allow too many of them on board of her, but use great caution and be well on their guard. While the cock-boat of the Zeehaan was paddling on its way to her those in the prow nearest to us called out to those who were lying behind the Zeehaan and waved their paddles to them, but we could not make out what they meant. Just as the cock-boat of the Zeehaan had put off from board again those in the prow before us, between the two ships, began to paddle so furiously towards it that, when they were about halfway slightly nearer to our ship, they struck the Zeehaan's cock-boat so violently alongside with the stem of their prow that it got a violent lurch, upon which the foremost man in this prow of villains with a long, blunt pike thrust the quartermaster Cornelis Joppen in the neck several times with so much force that the poor man fell overboard. Upon this the other natives, with short thick clubs which we at first mistook for heavy blunt parangs, and with their paddles, fell upon the men in the cock-boat and overcame them by main force, in which fray three of our men were killed and a fourth got mortally wounded through the heavy blows. The quartermaster and two sailors swam to our ship, whence we had sent our pinnace to pick them up, which they got into alive. After this outrageous and detestable crime the murderers sent the cock-boat adrift, having taken one of the dead bodies into their prow and thrown another into the sea. Ourselves and those on board the Zeehaan seeing this, diligently fired our muskets and guns and, although we did not hit any of them, the two prows made haste to the shore, where they were out of the reach of shot. With our fore upper-deck and bow guns we now fired several shots in the direction of their prows, but none of them took effect. We now weighed anchor and set sail, since we could not hope to enter into any friendly relations with these people, or to be able to get water or refreshments here. Having weighed anchor and being under sail, we saw 22 prows near the shore, of which eleven, swarming with people, were making for our ships. We kept quiet until some of the foremost were within reach of our guns, and then fired 1 or 2 shots from the gun-room with our pieces, without however doing them any harm; those on board the Zeehaan also fired, and in the largest prow hit a man who held a small white flag in his hand, and who fell down. We also heard the canister-shot strike the prows inside and outside, but could not make out what other damage it had done. As soon as they had got this volley they paddled back to shore with great speed, two of them hoisting a sort of tingang sails. They remained lying near the shore without visiting us any further. Seeing that the detestable deed of these natives against four men of the Zeehaan's crew, perpetrated this morning, must teach us to consider the inhabitants of this country as enemies; that therefore it will be best to sail eastward along the coast, following the trend of the land in order to ascertain whether there are any fitting places where refreshments and water would be obtainable; all of which will be found set forth in extenso in this day's resolution.
An interesting read for though I'm sure the Zeehans guns killed some in the waka approaching in the evening as they were leaving, it was Maori who drew first blood. But that's the way it was around the world when you explore and I'm sure Maori suffered the same fate on a few occasions when they found new lands inhabited by others, even New Zealand. Their next port of call was Fiji and the natives there were of quite a friendly disposition in comparison. Two notes of importance underlined above.... the double waka, and the appearance (height) recorded of the natives.
But to us it is the date of 5th January 1643 which is more significant. The picture below gives a hint as to why
Above is Gilseman's drawing (Tasman's onboard artist)
Below is Tasman's journal entry for 5th January.
In the morning we still drifted in a calm, but about 9 o'clock we got a slight breeze from the south-east, whereupon with our friends of the Zeehaan we deemed it expedient to steer our course for the island before mentioned. About noon we sent to the said island our pinnace with the pilot-major, together with the cock-boat of the Zeehaan with Supercargo Gilsemans in it, in order to find out whether there was any fresh water to be obtained there. Towards the evening they returned on board and reported that, having come near the land, they had paid close attention to everything and had taken due precautions against sudden surprises or assaults on the part of the natives; that they had entered a safe but small bay, where they had found good fresh water, coming in great plenty from a steep mountain, but that, owing to the heavy surf on the shore, it was highly dangerous, nay well-nigh impossible for us to get water there, that therefore they pulled farther round the said island, trying to find some other more convenient water-place elsewhere, that on the said land they saw in several places on the highest hills from 30 to 35 persons, men of tall stature, armed with sticks or clubs, who called out to them in a very loud, rough voice, certain words which our men could not understand; that these persons, in walking on, took enormous steps or strides. As our men were rowing about some few in number now and then showed themselves on the hill-tops, from which our men very credibly concluded that these natives in this way generally keep in readiness their assegais, boats and small arms, after their wonted fashions; so that it may fairly be inferred that few, if any, more persons inhabit the said island than those who showed themselves; for in rowing round the island our men nowhere saw any dwellings or cultivated land except just by the fresh water above referred to, where higher up on both sides the running water they saw everywhere square beds looking green and pleasant, but owing to the great distance they could not discern what kind of vegetables they were. It is quite possible that all these persons had their dwellings near the said fresh water. In the bay aforesaid they also saw two prows hauled on shore, one of them seaworthy, the other broken, but they nowhere saw any other craft.
*****
Men of tall stature. Now, when reading this you must understand the men making these comments are not fools; they sailed from the other side of the world, they had a healthy crew, there was order and discipline on board and the officers were intelligent people. That aside an ordinary human being of sound mind can make observations that are wholly accurate. They had just a few days earlier seen many Maori of 'ordinary' stature, yet these on the Three Kings Islands, were not ordinary and they were specifically noted as such. They also took large strides as tall people do when walking fast. There is no other, even remotely close, observation in any other journal relating the Tasman's many journeys. Yes, I know the picture shows them at 40 feet tall, but that is just artistic license to reveal the point that they were tall.
So who were these tall people? There were many, a whole tribe and likely a different race. Are they linked to those we have been seeking? And where did they come from and where did they go? We know how they got here for it was noted that two waka were seen, one damaged beyond repair so these people couldn't all leave at once. Where these of the race we seek or another of the original inhabitants chased out of maybe Marlborough, Waikato coast or Northland, by Maori. After all, many artifacts in Marlborough and Northland do not match the Polynesian styles. It's a pity Tasman could not land, draw water, and interact as much of NZ's history may be different if he did. It was a rugged set of islands as the below pictures testify so we do not imagine they'd have stayed there long and the archaeological record is very scant.
Now, this article is once again on the topic of a tall race, 'giants' to some, already here when Maori arrived. They were the true original tangata whenua, spiritually as well as physically, for they were here before all others. There was none like them in this land (and the little ones up north also existed - that we already know). But 'giants'... well, they lather up the emotions a little more than something akin to the Menehune of Hawaii. So we are going to harp on a little more about these tall skeletons belonging to this tall race from here on as things start to come to light.
