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CHAPTER 39 
Malden Island 
ISS'OW 
MALDEN ISLAND 
Modified from H 0 . 1 £ ) 80 & Bishop Mus.Bul.12,3. 
I54*5S 
4*l'S. 
Settlement 
(aWtdo»e<i) 
Landing 
Ancieat fas>£T©*^ w 
Site* 
Former lagoon shore. 
Lagoon shore, 1U4. 
| — Lagoon at low water. 
* * * Tram wag (abandoned) 
«-*- Tramwag,m use,ft24. 
4*5‘a 
5 nautical miles. 
Malden Island lies 241 nautical miles south of the equator. It is lo¬ 
cated 108 miles N.N.E. of Starbuck, 460 miles N.W. of Caroline, 365 
miles S.S.E of Christmas, and 373 miles S.E. of Jarvis Island. 
It is a triangular, flat coral island, about 5 miles long (east and west) 
by 4 y 2 miles wide. Its east-central portion is occupied by a very salt la¬ 
goon, the outline of which changes with the tide. The map indicates the 
high and low water outline as observed by a Bishop Museum party in 
1924. The land area is given by the guano company as 10,700 acres, with 
an additional 9,000 acres of lagoon. 
There is evidence that at some time in the past the sea broke through 
the east rim and flooded a much larger area of the central basin. This is 
indicated by the dotted line on the map. It is also claimed that the island 
has risen several feet with reference to sea level. This also would have 
accounted lor a former larger, lagoon. „ - 
130 
The enclosing ridge is nowhere more than 25 or 30 feet high. Most 
of the island cannot he seen at a distance of over 7 or 8 miles. There are 
numerous small, reddish fish in the lagoon which evidently pass through 
some underground channel to and from the sea. 
The shore is surrounded by a narrow fringing reef, the greatest 
width of which is variously given as between 200 and 600 yards. A steep 
beach rises from the reef and forms a rim about 400 yards wide, in places 
with successive ridges of coral and marine debris, cast up by storms. 
Anchorage is precarious, for there is deep water off the edge of the 
reef. During the guano days, buoys anchored off the west end, in 80 to 
100 fathoms, provided mooring for small vessels. In 1926 there were two 
of these left. Landing often is difficult, despite a small pier near the south 
end of the west shore. At times, due to the swell, it is better to land on 
the beach just north of this pier. 
A weather record was kept on Malden for many years, almost con- ?/C 
tinuously from 1890 to 1919. This shows a warm but pleasant climate, 
despite its uniformity. The mean pressure varies but little from 29.86 
inches of mercury. The mean temperature is 84.8 degrees F., with 75 and 
99 degrees marking the extremes. Trade winds predominate: 62 per 
cent from the east, 21 from the northeast, 8 from the southeast, 4 from 
the north, 3 per cent calm, and the other 2 per cent from the northwest 
and west. Violent storms are rare. There generally is a current past Mal¬ 
den from the east varying from northeast to southeast with the seasons. 
The most variable factor in the climate is the rainfall. The yearly 
average is 28.62, but it has varied from less than four inches (1908) to 
over 93.5 inches (1914). The record came to an end in October, 1919, 
but during the ten months of that year it rained 95.45 inches. No rain 
at all fell during nineteen different months, and only a trace in many 
more. The heaviest rainfall is between January and May. During March, 
1914, it rained 25.73 inches. 
There is abundant evidence to show that Polynesians lived on Malden 
before its discovery by white men. Earliest explorers reported stone- ^ 
faced platforms and graves. Several descriptions have been given of these, 
together with speculations as to when and by whom they were built 
The late Dr. J. Macmillan Brown draws a highly imaginative pic¬ 
ture of “great temple pyramids” dating from a time when Malden formed 
part of a “vanquished empire,” and people coming on pilgrimages to it 
from “fertile archipelagos within canoe distance of its shores,” which now 
have sunk. 
131 
