The south-east- and east-coasts of Australia have never been visited by
the ships of the East India Company. Tasman and Visscher [*] discovered
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.]
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