30 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



" of about 10 miles by estimation into the interior we 

 ** saw a very high mountain range in many places white 

 " with snow, which we thought a very singular sight, 

 " being so near the line equinoctial. Towards the 

 " evening we held our course E. by S., along half-sub- 

 " merged land in 5, 4, 3, and 2 fathom, at which last 

 " point we dropped anchor ; we lay there for about 

 " five hours, during which time we found the water to 

 " have risen 4 or 5 feet ; in the first watch, the wind 

 " being N.E., we ran into deeper water and came to 

 " anchor in 10 fathom, where we remained for the 

 " night." 



That is the brief account of the first discovery of the 

 Snow Mountains of New Guinea by Jan Carstensz, whose 

 name is now perpetuated in the highest summit of the 

 range. Very few ships have sailed along that coast in 

 three hundred years, and there are very many days in 

 the year when not a sign of the mountains can be seen 

 from the shore, so it is not very astonishing to find 

 ships' captains sailing on those seas w^ho still disbelieve 

 the story of the snow. On the same voyage Carstensz 

 crossed the straits and sailed a considerable way down 

 the Cape York Peninsula believing that the land was 

 still New Guinea. 



In 1636 Thomas Pool explored a large tract of the 

 S.W. coast ; Pool himself was killed by natives, but 

 the expedition discovered three large rivers, the Kupera 

 Pukwa, Inabuka (? Neweripa), and the Utakwa. Tasman 

 sailed along the North coast of New Guinea in 1642 

 after his discovery of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) ; 

 and in 1644 he was sent to find out whether there was 



