Jan Carstenszoon facts for kids

Jan Carstenszoon, often called Jan Carstensz, was a Dutch explorer in the 1600s. In 1623, a company called the Dutch East India Company asked him to lead a special trip. His mission was to explore the southern coast of New Guinea and look for land even further south. This was to check on reports from an earlier trip in 1606 by Willem Janszoon on his ship, the Duyfken.

Carstenszoon started his journey from Ambon in the Dutch East Indies. He had two ships: the Pera, which he captained himself, and the Arnhem, led by Willem Joosten van Colster. They sailed along the south coast of New Guinea. Then, they turned south towards Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Exploring New Lands

On April 14, 1623, Carstenszoon's ships passed a place he named Cape Keerweer. He landed to find fresh water for his crew. There, he met some of the local Aboriginal people. Carstenszoon described them as "poor and miserable looking people." He noted that they did not seem to know about valuable things like precious metals or spices.

On May 8, 1623, Carstenszoon and his crew had a small fight with about 200 Aboriginal people. This happened near the mouth of a small river close to Cape Duyfken. This cape was named after Janszoon's ship, which had visited the area before. Carstenszoon's group landed at the Pennefather River.

Naming Places

Carstenszoon named the small river he found the Carpentier River. He also named the large Gulf of Carpentaria in honor of Pieter de Carpentier. At that time, Pieter de Carpentier was the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Carstenszoon continued his journey until he reached the Staaten River. After that, he turned his ships north again.

The ship Pera, with Carstenszoon on board, sailed back to Ambon. However, the Arnhem crossed the Gulf of Carpentaria. During this crossing, its crew saw the eastern coast of a place now known as Arnhem Land.

His Legacy

A very tall mountain in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, was named after him: Carstensz Pyramid. Carstenszoon actually saw the glaciers (large sheets of ice) on top of this mountain in 1623. People in Europe made fun of him when he said he had seen snow near the equator. This was because the equator is usually very hot. But he was right! Carstenszoon also gave names to several other places along the northern coast of Australia.

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