leading his second major trans-Pacific expedition with 3 ships 



and 1 50 men obsessed with finding the fabled "Terra Australis 



Incognito." The descriptions of Caroline by his crew, although 



atvariance with one another.still apply today(Pl. 1). Theirfirst 



at-sea impression was that it was "divided into four or five 



hummocks, and all the rest submerged. Its circumference 



appeared to be ten leagues" (Markham, 1904). After landing, 



they found that 



There was a great number offish inshore, and, owing to the 



water being very shallow, they were killed with swords 



and poles. There were great numbers of lobster and 



crawfish, and other kinds of marine animals. They found 



a great quantity of cocoa-nuts in a heap at the foot of the 



palm trees, many large, and of different sizes. There were 



a great quantity of sea birds of several kinds, and so 



importunate that they seemed to want to attack the men. 



We took plenty of all these things. ..It seemed to the 



Captain that on an island where there are so many trees 



there could not fail to be water. (Markham, 1904) 



Fresh water was crucial to de Quiros and his crew, who 



were suffering from lack of food and water. Despite their 



efforts, however, they failed to obtain water. Disappointed and 



lacking energy, they continued their voyage the following 



morning. Their demoralized state may explain one statement 



that Caroline "consisted of twenty-two islets, uninhabited and 



without water, trees or scrub for wood." 



In 1795, Captain W. R. Broughton, on the British sloop 

 Providence, rediscovered the atoll while voyaging from Tahiti 

 to Hawaii. He named it in honor of the daughter of the First 

 Lord of the British Admiralty (Broughton, 1804): 

 The southern extremity was the highest part, covered with 

 trees, most probably cocoa-nut from their appearance, as 

 they stood in detached clumps along the shore. The 

 island.. .appeared to be low, and covered with trees, and if 

 I am right in its estimated distance, its length will be about 

 five miles in a north and south direction. I named it 

 Carolina Island in compliment to the daughter of Sir P. 

 Stephens of the Admiralty. 

 Because early navigation techniques and communication 

 were far less sophisticated than today, especially with regards 

 to longitude, Caroline was sighted or "discovered" by several 

 more explorers who were unsure of its identity. By 1821 the 

 atoll had amassed an impressive collection of coordinates and 

 names: San Bernardo, Island of Fish, Thornton, Hurst's, 

 Clark's, Independence, and Carolina (which later became 

 Caroline). Some navigators equated Caroline with an island 

 named "San Bernardo" by the Spanish explorer Mendana in 

 1595. Mendana's island has only recently been verified as 

 Puka-Puka in the northern Cook Islands (Maude, 1968). 



The best early descriptive account of the atoll's flora and 

 fauna comes from an 1835 visit by F. D. Bennett, who was 

 reasonably well versed in natural history (Bennett, 1840). He 

 noted that the islets then, as now, were "covered with 

 verdure. ..surprisingly luxuriant, when compared to the arid 

 soil it covers." Although Bennett had visited many atolls, he 

 was particularly impressed with the quality of Caroline's coral 

 reefs. His party observed "rats of a red-brown color" and 



various birds but no reptiles (Subchapter 1.2). Although he 

 discusses "land lobsters (Coenobita species)," no mention is 

 made of coconut ciabs (Birgus latro). 



First Occupation : The existence of two small coconut 

 groves on Caroline prompted two British entrepreneurs, 

 representing the Tahitian firm Collie & Lucett, to establish a 

 stock raising venture there in 1846. This first known settlement 

 was located adjacent to the main coconut grove on the northwest 

 peninsula of South Island; a smaller grove evidently existed 

 "on the south-south-west side" of the same island (Lucett, 

 1851 ). Tahitian laborers tended pigs, hens, turkeys, and grew 

 many food plants, including pumpkins and melons. They dried 

 and salted fish, planted coconuts, and extracted coconut oil 

 (Maude, 1942a;Garnett, 1983 (and were evidently still therein 

 May 1852 (Ellsworth, 1990). 



Political Annexation : Though inhabited in prehistory by 

 Tuamotuans, officially "discovered" by the Spanish, and visited 

 by British, French, and American ships, it took centuries for 

 Caroline to acquire a political identity. It was formally annexed 

 to Britain by Captain Nares, R. N., who arrived in the H.M.S. 

 Reindeer in 1868, finding 27 residents. 



Caroline was under the control of various merchants in the 

 late 19th century: Lionel Brown, Captain Brothers, and later 

 John Arundel, a well-known businessman, trader, and guano 

 merchant in the Pacific. Arundel's 1883 map (Fig. 4) of 

 Caroline is the only reasonably correct chart published until 

 this paper. 



The Guano Era : Though bonded under the American 

 Guano Act in 1860, no phosphate was dug on Caroline until 

 Arundel was granted a 7-year license in 1874. A few months 

 earlier, a set of moorings was laid off the lee side of South 

 Island, allowing ships of up to 1 ,000 tons to lie safely during 

 trade wind weather. Guano was the only successful business 

 venture at Caroline: approximately 10,000 tons were shipped 

 to California and Australia between 1873 and 1895, when 

 supplies became exhausted (Young, ca. 1922). 



Solar Eclipse Expedition : In 1883, Caroline received 

 international publicity when astronomers calculated that it lay 

 directly under the path of a pending solar eclipse. As a result, 

 three parties of astronomers (American, British, and French) 

 set up camp on South Island, making detailed observations of 

 this celestial event (PI. 2a). At that time Caroline was more 

 famous, and housed more people, than before or since: 7 

 "natives," scientists, and crewmen totaled 5 1 occupants. 

 Legacies from former inhabitants included three houses 

 (PI. 2b), two sheds, three huts on smaller motus, nautical 

 flotsam and jetsam, and two shallow wells. To this they added 

 tents, observatory frames, a marble slab, flagpole, and brick 

 "piers" for their telescopes, most of which remained as 

 technological litter. 



This expedition (Dixon, 1884; Holden, 1884; Holden & 

 Qualtrough, 1884; Trelease, 1884; Young, 1884) also marked 

 the first attempt to describe the topography, climate, flora, and 

 fauna of the atoll. Drawings included an artist's rendering of 

 Caroline and map of the "settlement" (PI. 3) and views along 

 South Island's lagoon shore (Pis. 4, 5). Another map (Fig. 5) 

 was drafted but is highly inaccurate. 



