On 19th December 1642, following a friendly and successful encounter with local Maoris in a wide bay on the north-west coast of New Zealand's South Island, Captain Abel Tasman sends his men ashore to fill barrels with fresh water for his two ships. While ashore engaged in this work, the Dutch sailors find gold in the stream. They bring back evidence of their discovery, and Captain Tasman goes ashore with a larger group of sailors to do some gold-panning. Finding a large deposit over the next few days, Captain Tasman names the locality Golden Bay.
Tasman sails back to Batavia and reports to the Governor of the East India Company that a new land has been discovered, and that gold has been found there. The Dutch immediately send a large fleet down to the area under the command of Tasman, and the Dutch establish a fort in Golden Bay and begin the search for gold. The islands of Nieuw Zeeland are claimed by the East India Company in the name of the Dutch Republic.
Word soon leaks out that gold has been discovered in the new country, and other European states become interested...