Graham guardian., 1899-10-06
MYSTERIOUS ISLANDS
Little Dots Of Land In the Pacific
That Are Hard to Find.
Clipperton, whose Ownsrship Has
been Claimed by Four COun-
tries, at Last Definitely
IncateN.


Much attention has beengiven OF late
to what we may call the strange case
of Clipperton island. 1t is not more
than three miles in circumference, and
it lies in the western Pacific something
like 500 miles west of Mexico. In the
wide expanse of the Pacific ocean II
shows like mere speck, so small as
to be of no value, seemingly, save as
a refuge for few of the army OF oeach
combers "who have burst all bounds
OF habit and have wandered far away
in the course of their downward prog
ress. But the ownership of Clipperton
island has of late been claimed by no
fewer than four countries-Mexico, the
United States, France and Great Brit
ain; and when it is added that the is
land is a favorite haunt of sea birds,
and that many tons of valuable guano
are waiting to be picked up, the reason
for this unwonted solicitude, even in
an era of land-grabbing, will be ap-
parent.
Clipperton island is of interest in an
other direction. 1t is one of those nu-
merous stretches of land set in the
midst of the seas, sunny and otherwise,
which. after their first discovery, for
many years elude all endeayors to To-
cate them again. 1t has now been, as
Il were, nailed down in one particular
spot in the ocean--that is to say, It's
exact position has been finally deter
mined by warships sent out for the ex-
press purpose of searching for it and
settling all doubts as to it's existence
and the only thing remaining now is
that the question of ownership should
be settled. It happens that there is
another island about 400 miles south
west of Clipperton, and rich in the
same deposits that make that place
worth possessing, for which adyentur-
GUS miners are at this moment looking.
AS late as July last vessel named
Moonlight left Altata, Mexico, on
VOYAGE in search of this latest mysteri-
Gus island, and spent SO days of fruit
less labor toward this end. Her cap
tain failed to find the place, and, fear
ing that his provisions and wnter would
run short, returned home to report that
either the rough charts OF old Capt.
Martin and his associates were in er-
ror or else that some strange seismic
phenomenon had caused the lost isle
to disappear years ago, perhaps, for all
that mortal soul knows. Spice is add
cd to this romance by the fact that
another Frisco captain located the
place definitely year or two before
and found a small colony there, which
colnoy is still on the island, shipping
guano in their own schooners, manned
by numbers of their own party, to the
leading ports on the Pacific slope OF
North and South America.
Quite a number of expeditions have
of late been made with the object of
wrestling this valuable secret from the
handful of men in whose possession 1t
is, and of participating in the spoils;
and one of these days we will, no doubt,
hear of a sanguinary fight for the su-
premacy between the present colonists
and a party of marauders. Although
the stories told about the unknown is
land vary considerably, they all agree
that it exists somewhere about 400 or
500 miles southwest of Clipperton, in
low coral atoll covered with the rich
est phosphates. The place also has its
legends of pirates treasures, which
may or may not have had any founda-
ton in fact. One of the expeditions OF
recent date, which have been fitted
out to look for the island, was the Vine
expedition. That vessels owner claims
to have secured his knowledge OF the
place from the old sea captain named
Martin, above referred to, who died
some years ago, and who left an old
chart among his belongings, which told
of small island in the south Pacific
not down on the regular charts, enor-
mously rich in guano.-New Zealand
Herald.