THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



155 



Ocean Island. 



THE PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY. 

 By Thos. J. McMahon, F.R.G.S. 



A mere dot on the map, a tiny speck 

 of land, barely five miles in circumfer- 

 ence, is Ocean Island, also known by its 

 native name of "Banaba." It lies in tlie 

 kneliest space of the Central Pacific, 50 

 miles south of the Equator, and 2800 miles 

 from Sydney. 



cuped convicts from Australia, lived upon 

 tlie island, but none realised the mil- 

 lions of money that lay in the vast, deep 

 deposits of phosphate-of-lime that lay 

 under their feet. 



The island was so small, apparently so 

 valueless, that no nation bothered 

 about it. It was suliject to 

 long and terrible droughts, 

 when the scanty native popu- 

 lation had to fly to adjoining 

 ^< islands for food. After the 



droughts would come copious 

 downpours of rain, and then 

 the island was a veritable 

 garden. To-day, Ocean Is- 

 land is a gTeat commercial 

 asset; it is termed the rich- 

 est island in the world. 



The island rises at its high- 

 est point about 250 feet 

 above water. Swept by bene- 

 ficent trade breezes, the is- 

 land is exceedingly healthy, 

 and always remarkably cool. 

 No malaria exists, nor tropi- 

 cal diseases, discomforts, or 

 pests of any kind. In the 

 bloom of a good rain season 

 it is a picturesque island, the 

 innumerable, ghost-like, phos- 

 pliate-rock pinnacles, in a 

 wonderful variety of shape 

 and size, of the worked-out 

 phosphate fields, are intense- 

 ly effective and interesting. 



Ocean Island forms the 

 circular top of a submarine 

 mountain. It is plain that 

 at one period this summit 

 must have been submerged, 

 as the framework of the is- 

 land is composed of coral. 

 According to scientists, the 

 For very many years this island was island appeai-s to be slowly rismg, 

 known to Pacific traders, and American as seems by a very enrious system 

 whalers, but none ever guessed its won- of terraces. It is not sohd, but rs pierced 

 derful value. Beachcombers, mostly es- by countless galleries and caves of un- 



One of the many thousand pinnacles to be seen in the 

 •worked-out phosphate fields. 



Plioto — T. J. McMahon 



