9 y twi* 
( NhU 
the Danger Islands (Pukapuka) June 21, 1765, and Atafu (Duke of 
York) Island June 24. 
Captain James Cook, on his third voyage, discovered Christmas Island 
December 24, 1777, just prior to his discovery of Hawaii, Fnptqfa 
Stavers, in the Lady Penrhyn, discovered Tongareva (Penrhyn) Island 
August 8, 1788. 
Captain Edward Edwards, in H.M.S. Pandora, searching for mu¬ 
tineers of the Bounty, discovered Nukunono (Duke of Clarence) Island 
June 12, 1791, and also visited Atafu June 6. Captain William Robert 
Broughton, in the Providence, discovered Caroline Island December 16, 
1795. 
Captain Edmund Fanning, in the American ship Betsy, discovered 
Fanning Island June. 11, 1798, Washington Island June 12, and nearly 
ran on a reef June 14, which may have been part of Palmyra or King- 
man Reef. 
Louis de Freycinet in the Uranie, discovered Rose atoll October 21, 
1819; and Captain F. von Bellingshausen, in the Wostock, discovered 
Vostok Island August 3, 1820, and Manihiki August 7, 1820. 
These islands were repeatedly visited by whalers between 1820 and 
1850. British whalers first entered the Pacific about 1787, and American 
whalers in 1791, but these stayed close to the coast of the Americas. 
Twenty years later important whaling grounds were found in the Central 
Pacific, and whalers flocked to this region, discovering most of the 
islands. 
By 1820 Nantucket whalers led the field, and some of the smaller 
islands, such as Howland and Gardner, bear the names of intrepid cap¬ 
tains whose homes were on this little island off the New England coast. 
Baker Island was also called New Nantucket. 
It is difficult to determine positively who was the first discoverer of 
some of the islands. They were reported by many different names, and 
at positions which agree none too accurately with present day observa¬ 
tions. Accurate maps and positions were provided by the U. S. Exploring 
Expedition (1838-1842) and other American naval vessels, sent to 
make the seas safe for whalers and merchantmen. 
CHAPTER 9 
The Guano Diggers 
Guano Islands 
o Claimed by Americans 
under Guano Act;, 1856* 
X Extensively worked by 
Americans, later by 
British* 
-e-Worked by British only. 
. . -. — I— 
Honolulu*** 
HAWAII 
'♦Johns ton 
X Howland 
XBaker 
e Makin 
o' Matthew 
•* GILBERT 
**• IS. fn 
Birnie^lSderbury 
McKean X ® a -Vphoonix 
Gardner-*jjk 1 j ; .*-*y d! , e y 
ELLICE* 
-Atafu Rakahanga 
• Palmyra 
® ^ Washington 
•o- Fanning 
<► Christmas 
Xdarvis 
IS. 
Wallis 
c ollukunono 
° Fpkaofo 
Swainso Danger % 
Tasaau 
samqK 
COCK IS 
•o* Malden 
•O-S tar buck 
Caroline*^ 
y 0 Tongareva l 
S -anihiki o • 
Vos t ok/* 
• Suvorov 
SOCIETY TS 
X 
Guano is formed from the excrement of sea birds, where it has ac¬ 
cumulated in dry regions, such as islands off the coast of Peru and in 
the mid-Pacific. The word comes from huanu, Peruvian *for dung. This 
grayish, powdery material is high in phosphates and ammonium com¬ 
pounds which are readily assimilated by plants, and forms a valuable 
fertilizer. 
American whalers and other visitors to islands in the central Pacific, 
landing in some instances to bury ^ead seamen, discovered guano on 
several of these islands, between 1830 and 1850. 
