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Roggeveen

Seventy-eight years passed before the third and last Dutch voyage, commanded by Jacob Roggeveen, sailed from Holland on August 21, 1721 to search for the southern continent. After passing through the Strait of Le Maire, Roggeveen and his three ships sailed south until the ice and rough weather convinced them that there was no useful continent in that direction. He came north to Juan Fernandez and, on sailing west, discovered an island on Easter Day, April 6, 1722 which he named Paaschen or Oster Eilandt (Easter Island). He sailed on through the northern islands of the Tuamotus and is credited with discovering six of them. Farther west, he discovered the Manua group of Eastern Samoa which he named the Bauman Islands after the captain of one of his ships. He saw two other islands but their identity is uncertain. Roggeveen reached Java in September where his ships were confiscated by the Dutch East India Company.