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shingle, rises steeply to a crest, 15 to 17 feet high (highest on the 
north). Within this rim the land is depressed. 
On McKean this basin has been increased in depth by extensive guano 
(1859 to 1870), so that, as John T. Arundel so aptly described 
it, March 3, 1885, ht a lecture before the Geographical Society of the 
Pacific, at San Francisco, it and Phoenix Island "now resemble empty 
plates." 
The island is surrounded by a fringing reef, 100 to 200 yards wide, 
the inner 30 yards or so of which dries at low water. There is no harbor, 
but the guano diggers were agreeably surprised to find anchorage so good 
that they did not require the elaborate system of buoys and cables needed 
at most other guano islands. Landing is comparatively easy near the 
middle of the west side, best just after high tide. 
•4b P There are no trees on McKean, the vegetation consisting of such low 
herbs as Portulaca, Sesuvium, and Lepturus bunchgrass. 
The center of the island contains a salty lagoon, the size of which is 
variable, it having been reported at times as quite dry. It fluctuates even 
from hour to hour, with the tide, although there is no surface connection 
with the sea. It is obvious that this lagoon fills the area where the guano 
was dug, for traces of the tram roadbed can be seen across its basin. 
i 40 
(9AH 
*0B 
The most conspicuous objects on the island are the ruins of the build¬ 
ings built by the Phoenix Guano Company. These consist of numerous 
stone walls on the west side. The highest point is a wall about seven feet 
high, its top, perhaps, 22 feet above sea level 
Near the middle of the north side, just behind and parallel to the 
beach crest, there is a curious trough-like depression, about 160 yank 
long, with steep sides, looking as if it had been dug and faced by human 
hands; but for what purpose? 
Bird life is very abundant, made up entirely of sea and migratory 
species, terns predominating. Hermit and other crabs, lizards-, and small 
insects are common. 
McKean was named by Commander Charles Wilkes, at the time of 
his visit on the U.S.S. Vincennes, of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 
August 19, 1840. He states in his "Narrative" that he named it M’Kean 
for the man who first sighted it, but in the published list of officers and 
men we find only John M’Keen, ship’s cook. 
It is very likely that several whalers and perhaps other vessels had 
previously visited the island, for the position of an unnamed island in the 
list of whalers’ discoveries, tabulated by J. N. Reynolds in 1828, agrees 
closely with that of McKean. 
On March 14, 1859, C. A. Williams and Co. (which became the 
Phoenix Guano Co.) filed claim to McKean with the U.S. State De¬ 
partment, under the Guano Act of 1856. Presumably the island had been 
visited and formally claimed the previous February by Captain Thomas 
Long, at the same time he visited Phoenix Island; but it is not known 
whether he left his copper plate, claiming the island for the Phoenix 
Guano Co., then or at the time of his next visit in May, 1859. 
On April 19, 1859, the American brig Agate (Captain Long) left Ho¬ 
nolulu for Phoenix Island, to start activities for the Phoenix’Guano Co. 
followed, April 28, by the American schooner Modern Times to carry 
the first load of guano. As related before, the camp was established on 
McKean, where 29 Hawaiian laborers, under A. M. Goddard, loaded the 
Modem Times in 45 days, that vessel sailing for the States on August 15. 
It was followed by the ship White Swallow (Capt. Crosby) in August, 
and the American clipper ship Aspasia (Capt. Sisson) in September. 
The supply ship Agate visited the island four or five times a year. 
Loading guano was so easy that even it carried away 30 to 100 tons dur¬ 
ing its early fleeting visits. The brig Josephine (Captain W. C. Stone), - 
supph ship of the rival American Guano Co., also dropped in from time 
to time, to see what was going on. Thus we have extensive reports of 
guano activities during the next ten years. No wrecks are recorded. 
• Guano digging ceased on McKean in 1870. The Kamehameha V, 
which succeeded the Agate as supply ship, stopped there February 20, 
1870, and on its June and September trips arrived at Honolulu with many 
more laborers than she took out. The C. M. Ward (Capt. James W. 
Hatfield), which replaced the Kamehameha V, visited Phoenix, Ender- 
bury. Baker and Howland on her August trip, but not McKean; and 
thereafter no further mention is made of stops at McKean. 
The John T. Arundel Co. made no use of this island. It was leased 
to the Pacific Islands Co., but they also reported no guano left on it. 
With the return of interest in the Phoenix group, it was visited by H. 
M. S. Leith, in August, 1936, sovereignty of King Edward VIII being 
asserted by Captain O. Bevir, R. N. It was also visited in October, 1937, 
by H. M. C. S. Nimanoa, with the Administrative Officer of the Gilbert 
and Ellice Islands Colony, under the charge of which it has now been 
placed. 
