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Kōrero: European discovery of New Zealand

Tasman’s ‘ragged line’

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Tasman’s ‘ragged line’

When Abel Tasman sailed away from New Zealand, he had mapped only an enigmatic line, which might or might not have been the western coast of a great unknown continent. This Dutch map of 1726 shows the coast of what Tasman called Staten Landt.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: MapColl-830a/1642(1726)/Acc.32129

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

John Wilson, European discovery of New Zealand – Tasman’s achievement, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/map/1409/tasmans-ragged-line (accessed 24 June 2026).

He kōrero nā John Wilson, i tāngia i te 4 March 2009, updated 1 May 2016.