Tasmania (Van Diemen's land) in 1642, but were unaware of the existence
of what is now known as Bass Strait; they discovered the west-coast of
New Zealand (Staten-land) and certain island-groups east of Australia,
but did not touch at or sight the east-coast of Australia. Of course,
after the discovery of the west-coast of New Zealand and of the
island-groups east of Australia [**], the existence of an east-coast of
Australia to westward of the regions thus discovered, was an indubitable
fact, but this east-coast itself was never visited by the Netherlanders.

[* See the journal of this voyage and the discussion of it in my Tasman
Folio.]

[** In the year 1616 Lemaire and Schouten (No. V), and in 1722 Roggeveen
(No. XXXIV), also touched at various island-groups east of Australia, but
these voyages fall outside the plan of the present work.]

{Page xiii}

VII.

OBJECT OF THE DUTCH VOYAGES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE
SOUTH-LAND.--CONCLUSION.

Although it is quite true that the south-east- and east-coasts of the
Australian continent were not discovered by Dutch ships, still it is an
undoubted fact that, so far as is known up to now, the whole of the
Australian coast-line from Prince of Wales Island and York Peninsula and
along the Gulf of Carpentaria, the north- and north-west-coast of
Australia then following, the whole of the west-coast, and the
south-coast down to the islands of St. François and St. Pieter (133° 30'