Dutch seaman Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 - 1659), commissioned by Anthony van Diemen*, (Governor General of the Dutch East Indies), 'discovered' Tasmania in 1642, and named the island van Diemen's Land, in his honour. Two hundred years later, the name was changed to Tasmania, in recognition of the explorer, rather than the administrator. The wealth and influence of the East India Company grew from its mastery of the spice trade and the tropical 'Spice Islands' during the 17th and 18th centuries. Little did Tasman realise that he had discovered another Spice Island - in the South Seas! (*pronounced dee - men)

Tasman wrote:- "This land being the first we have met with in the South Seas, and not known to any other European nation, we have conferred on it the name of Anthony van Diemen's Land, in honour of the Honourable Governor General, our illustrious master, who sent us to make this discovery".