The earliest discovery of Enderbury Island by literate peoples is not surely 
known. The island was very likely discovered early in the 19th Century by whalers 
as they searched for sperm whale along the equatorial "On the Line" whaling g rounds 
However, many of these whalers failed to report their discoveries. In other cases, 
their psadddsairai error in reporting an islands position was so great that 
their"discoveries " do not agree well 
enough in postion so that they may be equated with any island known today. 
The earliest record of the Island appears to have been a"discovery"ia£ by a 
Nantucket whaling master, James J. Coffin 
While in 1823, he 
isisHdxsHdxhavsxKaKKdxitxafisE, sailing a Bristish whaler, Transit,xwhsi reputedly 
discovered the island ±HX± 8 & 5 |xand named it"Enderby " for a famous London whaling 
house. (Bryab 1942 ). However, as Maude (196 PS) points out, the original source 
of this iformation is not known, and this "discovery" should be considered as 
only tentative until further information is brought to light. 
