CARPENTARIA

carpentaria, gulf of, an extensive arm of the sea deeply indenting the north coast of australia, between 10 deg. 40' and 17 deg. 40' s., and 135 deg. 30' and 142 deg. e. its length is 480 m. and its extreme breadth (e. to w.) 420 m. it is bounded e. by cape york peninsula, and w. by the northern territory of south australia. near its southern extremity is situated a group of islands called wellesley; and towards the western side are the sir edward pellew islands, the groote eylandt and others. a large number of rivers find their way to the gulf, and some are of considerable size. on the eastern side there is the mitchell river; at the south-east corner the gilbert, the norman, the flinders, the leichhardt and the gregory; and on the west the roper river. jan carstensz, who undertook a voyage of discovery in this part of the globe in 1623, gave the name of carpentier to a small river near cape duyfhen in honour of pieter carpentier, at that time governor-general of the dutch east indies; and after the second voyage of abel tasman in 1644, the gulf, which he had successfully explored, began to appear on the charts under its present designation.