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CHAPTER 8 
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The history of the central Pacific islands may be divided into four 
periods: that of the Polynesian migrations (which we have noted), the 
period of discovery, the period of guano digging, and the recent era. 
The period of discovery again may be divided into three parts, domi¬ 
nated in turn by the early Spanish voyagers, the explorers of the 18th 
century, and the whalers. 
25 
Fernando Magellan is credited with having made the first voyage 
across this area. He saw only two small islands between South America 
and Guam: San Pablo, sighted January 24, 1521, and Tiburones (Shark 
Island) passed February 4, 1521. Neither furnished any refreshments to 
his starving men, so he called them Las Desadventuradas (the unfortunate 
islands). What islands these were is not positively known, but the second, 
at least, was within this area. 
Alvaro de Mendana sailed westward from Callao, Peru, November 
19 1567, sighting an island in the Ellice group and discovering the 
Solomon Islands. On a second voyage, with Pedro Fernandez de Quiros 
as navigator, he discovered the Marquesas Islands. Again sailing west¬ 
ward he sighted a group of four small islets on August 20, 1595, which 
he called San Bernardo. These are thought by some to have been the 
Danger Islands (Pukapuka), and by others Manihiki. On August 29, 
1595 he saw a small, low island which he called La Sohtaria. 
Ouiros headed another expedition across the Pacific in 1605. After 
sighting Ducie, Henderson, and various Tuamotu islands, he revisited 
San Bernardo on February 21, 1606, and on March 2, discovered an 
island which he called Peregrino. Quiros was so impressed by the inhabi¬ 
tants that he wrote of the spot as Gente Hermosa, the island of beautiful 
people, now believed to be Swains Island. 
During the following 200 years there were many voyages across the 
Pacific, but none seems to have discovered new islands in this region. 
From 1566 on, there was a yearly Spanish galleon from New Spain 
(Mexico) to Manila: but these stopped only at Guam, travelling west¬ 
ward in a zone between 12 and 17 degrees north latitude, and returning 
farther to the north, where the westerly winds blew, thus avoiding the 
area of low coral islands. 
The only voyage made during these two centuries which need be 
mentioned is that of the Dutch admiral, Jacob Roggeween, who sailed 
across the Pacific, 1721-1722. He reported discovering Baumans, Rogge¬ 
ween Gronigen, and Tienhoven in the central Pacific. These were search¬ 
ed for unsuccessfully in their reported positions, and are now thought 
to be islands of the Samoan group. 
In 1764 there began a series of voyages around the world, some of 
which discovered islands in the central Pacific region. The first was that 
of Commodore the Hon. John Byron, in the Dolphin, who discovered 
