The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-01-28
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
JANUARY %.

IN the Paclhc supposed TO contain depossus OF
guano, and after strong solicitation on the part
of some of her citizens interested in the project
of procuring this guano, the United States gov
eminent gave orders to their Commodore COM
manding in the Pacific to cause those islands to
be examined. On the 18th of January, 1856,
Commodore Mervine sailed from San Francisco in
the frigate independence, touching at Hilo and
Honolulu on his route, having been ordered by
the Secretary of the Navy to take possession of
Jarvis and New Nantucket Islands in the name
of the United States government, and also to sur
yey the same and bring home specimens of the
guano. On reaching Valparaiso, the Commodore
reported to the Navy Department. which report
appeared in the Washington papers of Sept. G, and
was printed in our paper of December IL, 1856.
1t appears from his report that he only visited
New Nantucket Island, of which he says:
Intense interest appeared to pervade all minds, fore and an,
as the ship neared the promised /" Fl Dorado" OF the mercantile
and agricultural interests o. our country. The delusion, however,
was but transiiory a nearer view revealed to our astonished
vision the whole island covered with 2 deep green mantle OF lux !.
soil, and heavy rains common in this locality. as also OF the
The value o: guano Is, 1 believe, determined by the amount Of
ammonia which it contains, which Is generated by successive de-
post Of bird lime on the island in a state of decomposition. the
vegetation and great number Of birds lowering over it abundantly
attest. The latter circumstance, and the location OF the island,
are the only facts in the whole statement, as sworn to by Baker
and Lucas, that correspond with our observations SO TAR as {
The island is surrounded BY a dangerous reef on which the
sea breaks very heavily, and extends all the way to the shore
The ship ran along the reef from the northeast end to the south
proach-sithin about two ships length, whrrei it was represented
anchorage would be found. No bottom, however, was found
With fifty fa,homs Of line, and it is believed there is not any out
side OF the reef or inside sufficient for a vessel of any draught,
nor was there any Pereeptible passage through " over TIE reef
True, there was evidence OF its having been landed upon and
occupied prior to our visit, in the erection Of . flagstaff on the
1900 y - su1.,I .~I 9 Lind ~ mt t.C m u north
, ~. eh br ~ Sa. ,b1.a = s,ec,cd : h,ve ed-ctes ! land.
ing under more favorable auspices than when visited by u.s.
He left this island without ~effecting a landing
by the agency of his officers, Or allowing Mr.. Ben
son to attempt it in a ships boat, with a volun-
teer crew and being desired by Mr.. Benson, the
agent of the company, to visit the other guano
islands, he found his ship was not adapted to the
object he went for, and says:
. . . Being convinced Of the utter impossibiity Of beat
ing to winiSsrd agains, a trade wind and strong current, or Of
1banaoIed further PURSUIT PSs Ss.n with the intention Of rs thinning to
such as were accessible to the ship.
Thus, from the Commodore's report, it seems
ment had shown itself ready to respond to the
call of its citizens and aid in the furtherance of
the interests of IN But the man who
had undertaken the duty was not the right
man /; for, instead of going to Jarvis Island first,
as he ought to have done, if he really intended to
visit both, he makes for New Nantucket Island,
1000 miles to the leeward, where he merely
sails around what he sneeringly calls Z" the Ell
Dorado of mercantile and agricultural interests
of the country" "The dclusion was transit
tory he writes the Secretary of the Navy,
50 for, on applying his eye to his telescope" he
made the most marvellous discovery of modern
times, viz: that 90 the island was covered with
hrd-Inse in a state of decomposition" The Com
modore would have the Secretary of the Navy and
others to understand thav this 6ird-H,ne is some
thing entirely distinct from guano. But how diff
is the result, when the telescope is turned
end for end, and used as a microscope This
guano, which at the distance of a quarter of a
mile wore the appearance of =" bird-lime in a state
of decomposition, - turns out, after the most care
full examination by practical chemists, to be guano
of the purest kind, as will be seen by the analyses
given below.
Now, we contend that Commodore Mervine is
utterly incompetent TO judge in the matter of the
quality of the deposit. Content with merely
taking a telescope view of the island, he pro-
nounces the deposit thereon worthless as an arti-
Gle of M Who sent him to decide what
the article was? Certainly not the Secretary of
the Navy. And what qualified him to decide that
it was worthless? He was sent to survey the island
procure specimens of the alleged guano de-
posit, neither of which duties were performed by
him. As was to be expected, the result of his ex-
petition was unsatisfactory to the government
and to the public, and orders were re-issued to
have the islands surveyed and samples of the de-
post obtained. For this purpose, after many
delays, the ship 81. Marys was dispatched.
1t is only by the last mail from New York that
we have the result of the 81. Marys expedition to
the islands. We do not find Capt. Davis report
published in any of the papers, but only the fol-
lowing abstract of its contents
Letters were received to-day at the Navy Department, from
make surveys and soundiDgs relative TO some guano islands,
dated Honolulu, October :, 1857. He states that he found moth
SELF resembled guano. He selected several samples Of the soil
deposits-Nsr York Herald. Dee.2
Commander Davis has sent the Navy Department complete
surveys Of Bakers and Jarvis Islands, with full reports in re-
gard to the alleged guano deposits, fully confirming Commodore
Mervine'. original statement, and showing them to be utterly
vaiueIess--N- T. Tribune, Dee-2-
In regard to the existence ofguAno. the report Of Commander
Davis is quite uufayorable, and fully accords with that Of Com
modore Mervine- From all the facts that have been laid before
the public in regard To these islands, it is now pretty certain that
they viii net he prohtable-tha: the guaDo itself 5 of too inferior
n quality to induce men to undergo the difficulties and dangers
which attend the getting it--PennsyIrGniGn, Dee
Commander Davis reports to the Navy Department, that he
has visited the New Nantucket Islands, owned by Benson aud
Others Of the American Guano Company, and that. after careful
search, he was unable To end there any large deposit Of guano,
or indeed anything at all, to make the islands valuable.-PhIa.
Press, Dsc-2 -
THs ST. MARYs-The Navy Department received advices
from the Commander Of the U. 8 sloop-of-war at Honolulu, by
the Pacidc-side mail. He reports that he caused a survey TO be
made Of Bakers and Jarvis Islands. and found no guano on
them whatever--yec York Times, Dsc-4
If these newspaper extracts are to be relied on,
Captain Davis has made the same error that
the Commodore did before him in pronoun-
cling from a limited knowledge of the subject that
there crisis no guano deposit on the islands. He
was not sent to decide whether it was guano, but
to procure samples of the deposit and make sur
veys. These samples he procured and sent on to
Washington and they will prove beyond a ques-
ton the existence there of valuable deposits.
The analysis of DR.. Gale sufficiently proves this.