The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-07-03
LIFE ON A GUANo IsLAND!I

: Ho,o The G,orao Traffic is CondVeted-Descriptio
Of Bakers ELmd-Hs Flora and its Fund
Hoo Ships are MOored 10 a SGad-B aTk-SaGrk
BAxER's ISLAND, Pacific Ocean,
" Friday, Jan. Is, 1863. (
Z For eight months I have been 4 voluntary exil
from society, and for two months Of this time lit
orally imprisoned in the centre of this vast Pacific
Ocean, upon this sterile but not inhospitabl,
spot of sand. I cry out ut the ocean, bur will
different emotions from thOse Of XcnOphOn's Ter
Thousand when they first caught sight Of the sea
Eight weeks ago the last vessel of the guanC
bect, the brisantine KGnGhGnleha, sailed away foI
fionoluIu, taking the labOrcrs and the Superin.
'tcndent Of the island, and leaving me with one
faithful kanaka % perform the lonely duty oil
guarding the property until the reoPcning OF the
busy season, IN May or June.
Passing wnalcrs sometimes lie 70 in the ofing.
and, If the surf Is not too furious, put Off boat
and come ashore, supplying ut present our only
means of communicating with the world.
But let me give some account Of the great in
dustTy carried on upon this remote patch Of sand
covered reef, and describe the habits and manner
Of life Of it, human and brute inhabitants. its sea-
farinS visitors, It's colony of laborers, Its fora and
Its fauna.
In various parts Of the intertropicaI Pacific
Ocean, rising but little above the crest Of the
huge breakers that threaten to ~Overwhelm them.
little candy islets have been discovered. which
have become important To the civilized world as
furnishing that highly-valuable fertilizer known 10
Commerce rs guanO. These islands are the breed
ing ground Of countless myriads OF sea birds,
which have been the proprietors OF the soil from
time immemOrial.
Bakers Island Is one Of these. IL il situated in
latitude % o. Is" ", longitude l76- Do go,
W., frOm Greenwich, and Is, therefore, within n
quarter Of a mile of the Equator. IL was discoy-
cred about the year lS4S, by an American sea
Captain, whose name it bears. In 1856 it became
the property Of the American Guano COMPANY.
and in 1857 it was surveyed by the United States
ship So. Mqry's, Commander Chas. ii. Davis.
Previous to It's coming into the possession of its
present Owners, it was occasionally visited by
ships, chiefly sperm-whalers, that frequent these
waters. \ weather-bcaten piece OF timber, firm
ly planted IN the ground, and bearing u rude but
secure letter box, still stands, like a beacon,
upon the most prominent part Of the island. For
many years it served as a seaport ofice-a sort Of
news exchange or %statiOn, where passing vessels
left papers. letters and log-bOoks, and thus re-
ceiyed. now and then, crumbs of intelligencc from
the great world from which they had been so long
shut out.
Not far from the post Office box we find n single
human grave, the resting place of q sailor. His
comrades, true TO the human instinct which hest
tates to commit its dead TO the shifting tides OF
ocean,, have laid over him even more than the
classic handful of sand, rs if to keep his soul from
being driven from pillar to post in the world OF
spirits.
The greatest elevation of this island above the
sea level is about thirty feet, and it's extreme
length about n mile and a quarter. Standing ON
the deck OF the vessel, as you approach the spot
where the island should be. you see q dazzling
crest of gray sand, wrcathed in q f~rostwork OF
breakers. The low outlines of the island, with
Its single framed house, and the flagstaff, upon
which you soon see the Stars and Stripes of the
Union, remind you of n rakish monitor with it's
turret. The air above the island is alive with
birds, which swarm like the flies of Egvpt's.
plague; and, as you near the shore, you hear,
above the sound of the ocean, their discordant
din, WHICH is to echo in your ears by day and
night rs long as you remain upon the island.
Bakers kiaDd is saucer-shaped, being elevated
1t the edges and depressed in the centre.
Ii is barricaded on all sides by n coral reef.
which stretches out into the ocean and breaks the
oree oil the incoming waves 80 that this frail
andwork y not swept away by the storms. Out
ide OF the reef the downward trend of the island
lnder water is so abrupt that an anchor will not
but falls away toward the bottom of the
ieep ocean. For this reason it has been found
necessary to anchor large can-buoys outside the
to which the guano-ships can moor them
elves while receiving their cargoes. Each buoy
made fast by means of two iron cables. One
( these cables attaches the buoy to a large sheet
nchor the other passes from the shore along the !
ottom to the anchor, and prevents it from sliding :
own the steep decliyity into unfathoinable deptbs1 ;
The island itself is OF coral formation. 1t is a :
W reef, covered with sand, broken shells and g,
agments OF coral, and has enough soil to sup =
Dirt a stunted vegetation. This consists of a =
arse grass, used for thatching huts n hardy, =
Icculent species of parsley, (Apium petroselin- ;
N y a woody bush with pretty yellow flowers. -
He'd by the Hawaiinns i-h-ma; a plant which u
$ a tuberous root, resembling the four-o'clock. a.
d that serves TO fatten q colony ofrabbits, and n ~
ne bearing fragrant yellow flowers and trouble -
thorns that are shaped like caltrops. a.
For sever or eight months in the year the trade n
nd blows steadily from the southeast, and the g,
and can then be approached by vessels. and a =;
effected with comparative safety ON its a;
stern or leeward side But during the rest of o.
!, year the winds arc variable and tempestuous,
the surf RACES with such violence as some
les, for weeks together, to make landing. even
that most perfect of seagoing craft. the whale Is
It, not only hazardous, but impossible. During WI
3 period, from November TO March or AnriI III
island is dashed by an angry and incessant on
4, which even changes the contour OF Its coasts. an
airing away portions of the sand beach from IA
side of the island, and building it up at other NV
nts. But this change Is only temporary. The pa
outline of the island is restored when the
Ids return to the southeast, their CUSTOMARY ior
inner quarter. During these months the island De-
inaccessible All operations are suspended mt
prletors and laborers sail away together, and an
desolate spot reyerts for n time to the undis- IN
ed dominion of the shrieking sea fowl. do
'aker's Island is distant about / 900 miles g un
&AAIo -.
". from Honolulu, in the Hawaiian Islands. mo
about $500 miles west from the coast of nee
u. The voyage from the port of Honolulu to al
,er's Island occupies from three to four weeks. dia
in pursuing this voyage have to mass the
ugh the ''Doldrums,' n belt of ocean, north pea
he Equator, which abounds in calms, variable ter
DIS, sudden squalls and rain-storms. 1t Is not lhn
omm thing for vessels in this region 10 i
themselves surrounded by water-spouts-im- aoo
sc, funnel-shaped cylinders of mist and water. G
seem to suck up the sea into the clouds. as i
resolve and sway to and fro like weird spir- VII
under the influence of the shifting winds. bu'
ne 'Doldrums,' save at certain seasons of the the
, do not extend so far south as Bakers Island as J
9 bounded upon the south by the third de- tne
of north latitude. This accounts for the Sc AR
1n of this spot by the sea-birds as a home L
ere they are undIsturbed by heavy rains dur w.
he process of incubation. WEI
&c vessels employed in carrying the guano are Dnu
first-ciass clippers of large tonnage. The n "a
euvre of bringing a ship of 200 tons grace yL =
and accurately to one of the buoys, and Sc INC