On his 1642 voyage, Tasman discovered a previously unknown island on his voyage past Australia, which was known by the Dutch at that time as the "Great South Land" or "New Holland." He landed on the southern coast of that island in November, 1642 and named it Van Diemen's Land after the Dutch Governor. Two centuries later it was named Tasmania after Abel Tasman, and the sea to the east is now called the Tasman Sea.
After leaving the Dutch flag on Tasmania, Tasman sailed northeast and became the first known European to discover the islands of New Zealand. He sighted the northern tip of the South Island and called this land New Zealand after one of the Dutch provinces. He tried to land but was forced to withdraw, following an altercation with the local Maori people. At the time he believed the country to be part of the same continent as Van Diemen's Land.
Tasman was the first known European explorer to discover Tonga and the Fiji Islands. Tasman and his men reached Tonga in early 1643 and found the inhabitants friendly. They went ashore there, gathered fresh food and water and traded metal products from Europe for food and native artifacts. In February, 1643, Tasman sailed west and came to some of the islands of Fiji, which his navigator mapped.
The Dutch knew a large southern continent existed, as many shipwrecks had occurred near the land, but they did not know how large it was. The route Tasman took across the Indian Ocean and below the Australian continent to Tasmania and then to New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji and north to New Guinea allowed them to map much of the landmass. His voyage proved that Australia did not belong to a larger continent that stretched all the way to the South Pole.
