1 * 
HZ 
42 
rtAN 
42-8 
‘At first nothing but a strong white glare in the western sky, pain¬ 
fully bright and shining, even at the distance of four miles or so; then, 
as the vessel rose on the tops of the waves, a long low. line of white sand 
becomes visible; then, as we gradually got nearer, we could see wrecks of 
ships at intervals, strewn along the coast, and clusters of white sea-birds 
resting upon them; and, as we got to the western end, a few houses, of 
which we had come to take possession, and towering high above all, the 
remains of the French transport Euryale, which had been sailed ashore 
about twelve months previously, while on the passage from Tahiti to 
San Francisco.” 
Going ashore through the passage in the reef, Arundel stated that 
he narrowly escaped capsizing in passing the surf. He notes that for pe¬ 
riods of as much as two weeks it was impossible to either land or leave 
the island, although the ship lay but an eighth of a mile away. On shore 
he could not sleep at first because of the noise made by the myriads of 
sea birds. The vegetation consisted of half a dozen species of herbs and 
a low shrub. So inconspicuous is the island, with strong currents sweep¬ 
ing past it to the west-southwest, that many fine ships have piled up 
upon its reefs. Arundel counted seven wTecks when he landed. 
At the eastern end, Arundel noted, were some salt lagoons, “where 
thousands of tons of the purest kind of salt was found in various forms, 
coarse and fine.” They varied in size, being almost dry at times. It was 
dangerous to approach them. One of Arundel’s workmen sank up to his 
shoulders before he was pulled out. From the west end beacon, ridge after 
ridge of old block coral was visible, enclosing the guano beds. 
Another description was given by a sailor on the British ship George 
Thompson, under Capt. William Shepherd, which moored to load guano 
in October, 1872. “I think they ought to call this the island of desola¬ 
tion; it is indeed a desolate region. It puts me in mind of a vast flat ice¬ 
berg. The coral is all over it, ground to fine powder, which looks much 
like sand. The kanakas have to launch surfboats over and through great 
monster seas and load the ships. The climate is beautiful and delightful. 
A nice breeze from the S.E. is always blowing. There are only five white 
men and about 100 kanakas.” 
Starbuck Island was discovered by Captain Valentine Starbuck, in 
the English whale ship L’Aigle, in 1823. He called it Volunteer Island. 
That same year he took the Hawaiian king, Liholiho (Kamehameha II), 
his wife and party to England, November, 1823, to March, 1824. The 
royal couple died in England, and their bodies ■■ were- :sent v back' to- Hawaii- 
128 
on H.M.S. Blonde, Captain Lord Byron. On August 1, 1825, after leav* 
ing Hawaii, the Blonde passed by Starbuck, but did not land. The nar¬ 
rative says; “Its appearance was still more uninviting than that of Mal¬ 
den’s Island, there not being even the trees to enliven the flat coral rock.” 
It was taken possession of by Commodore Swinbum, in H.M.S. Mu- 
tinc, in December, 1866. Guano digging began soon after. The French 
transport Euryale was wrecked on the night of March 10, 1870. The 
date of Arundel’s arrival would have been 1871. Records in The Friend 
(Honolulu) of shipping to and from Starbuck, at the port of Honolulu, 
are frequent during 1871-1874. After the island was given up by Arun¬ 
del, it was revisited by the company which worked Malden Island. 
One provision of the British lease was that a tall beacon should be 
erected, so that the island might be seen at more than four miles. One 
was maintained near the west point. In 1926 it consisted of a large wood¬ 
en pyramid about 25 feet high, in fair condition, although the island long 
since had been abandoned. In 1937, H.M.S. Achilles reported it still 
standing, although the houses and sheds were in ruins. A vessel visits 
the island at intervals to see if there have been any wrecks. 
Besides Starbuck and Volunteer, the island has been known by sev¬ 
eral names, including Low, Starve, Hero, Barren, and Coral Queen. 
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