Great South Land tagged posts

Tasman’s expedition was conducted under comprehensive written instructions, and all decisions were taken with reference to these instructions. Tasman didn’t have sole charge of the expedition; he was the president of the ships’ council, on which he held the casting vote.

Their instructions included details on how to proceed when encountering new land, and the method by which they should lay claim to it.

Isaac Gilseman’s drawing of the ships at anchor in Frederick Hendricx Bay.

“All continents and islands, which you shall discover, touch at and set foot on, you will take possession of on behalf of Their High Mightinesses the States General of the United-Provinces, the which in uninhabited regions or in such countries as have no sovereign, may be done by erecting a memorial-stone or ...

The VOC was constantly striving to improve their business. They found ways to be more cost efficient by carrying back loads into Japan and the Malay Peninsula, and were regularly improving the routes they took, to shorten the journey times. They also periodically invested directly in new exploration.

Searching for new goods to trade was a very expensive business; it bore a double cost. There was the cost of provisioning a vessel and paying its crew, but there was also the ‘opportunity cost’; while a vessel was off exploring, it wasn’t performing the profit generating task of carrying goods back to Europe. This made exploration a difficult business activity to justify...