7//H4A* 
Kenneth P. Emory, Bishop Museum anthropologist, who studied the 
ruins in 1924, has published an account which agrees not at all with these 
fantastic ideas- The stone structures are located around the beach ridges, 
principally on the north and south. They include temple platforms, called 
marae, house rites, and graves. They indicate that Polynesians lived on 
Malden for several generations, and that this was not many centuries 
ago. Comparisons with stone structures on Tuamotu atolls show that a 
population of between 100 and 200 natives could have produced all of the 
Malden structures. Maraes of a similar type are found on Raivavae, one 
of the Austral Islands. The natives got their water from wells, remains 
of which have been found, always dry or salty at present. 
Malden was discovered July 29, 1825, by Captain Lord Byron, in 
H.M.S. Blonde. He had just taken to Hawaii the bodies of Kamehameha 
II and his wife, who had died in England. It was named for Charles 
Robert Malden, lieutenant, R.N., who landed and made observations on 
shore. Andrew Bloxam, naturalist of the Blonde, also landed, and his 
diary, published in 1925 by Bishop Museum, gives more complete ob¬ 
servations than the official narrative of the voyage. 
*2 / P The “several clumps of thick, fresh-looking (Pisotiia) trees, so com- 
^ * '* * pact that at a distance they were taken for rocks” are still there, although, 
like much of the other vegetation, damaged by goats which were intro¬ 
duced in the 1860’s. Other plants include Sida shrubs, bunchgrass, and 
J low herbs, a total of about ten species. Polynesian rats, found on the is- 
S land, now have been exterminated by introduced cats. Sea birds of the 
usual kinds, formerly abundant, in 1924, were rare except for sooty terns. 
11 Two kinds of lizards and a few insects also have been reported. An ac¬ 
count of the natural history and an analysis of the guano were given by 
W. A. Dixon in 1877. 
The island was called Independence by Brayton in 1836. The story is 
told that the extensive guano deposits were discovered by an American 
whaling master in 1848, but that he decided to finish his cruise before 
exploiting any of it. Soon after, another whaler came along and noted the 
layers of guano. Her captain immediately sailed for Sydney, where he 
sold his discovery for a considerable sum. 
Thus was started a series of guano enterprises, which worked the 
island, with considerable profit, for nearly seventy years. In 1876 there 
were 79 persons on the island. Just prior to 1889, Messrs. Grice, Drum¬ 
mer and Co., of Victoria, employed 8 Europeans and 150 Polynesians on 
Malden. -Natives, of Niue dug and transported the guano, and Cook Is- 
132 
landers from Aitutaki handled the boats. Water had to be distilled by 
means of condensers in dry years. Coconuts, planted by the guano dig¬ 
gers, grew for a few years and then died. 
Malden was claimed by Americans under the Guano Act of 1856, but 
by then the Australian firm already was established there. On January 1, 
1922, Malden was leased to Malden Island Proprietory, Ltd., of Mel¬ 
bourne, for 21 years, but they did not stay out their lease, and the island 
has been abandoned during the past few years. 
133 
