Abel Tasman and His Journal

1895

Special Collections G236.T3 HN86

Dunedin: Otago Daily Times Print

In 1882, while in England, Dr Hocken purchased a transcript of that portion of Tasman’s Journal relating to the discovery of New Zealand. In early 1894, he hinted to colleagues at the Otago Institute about his forthcoming project: to put the Dutch portion ‘in English dress.’ His unnamed but ‘valuable coadjutor’ was his wife Bessie, who did the translations while holidaying in the Glenorchy-Kinloch region. Hocken never acknowledged Bessie’s role in this and cheekily took the credit for providing the translation himself. It was eventually published in volume 28 of the <i>Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute</i>, 1895.