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Story: 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.

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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.

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, European discovery of New Zealand – Tasman’s achievement, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/map/1409/tasmans-ragged-line (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 May 2016.