The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-04-01
FATHoMs A MYSTERY.
Lawless Redi5covers De Graves Lost
Island Of the Pacific.
(san Francisco Call

san FRANCISCO tdl4sJ
CAPTAIN Lawless Of the steamship
Australia, which arrived Friday night
from Tahiti, thinks he has discovered
( groupings of an island rich in phos-
pilates. reported ny Captain John de
/ Graves Of Honolulu in 1859, and for
which government vessels and private
expeditions have ever since been
searching.
Stormy weather and the fact that he
was in charge Of q mail boat carrying
passengers prevented Captain LaEless
from more thoroughly investigating his
discovery. He has reported the mat
ter to the photographic authorities and
viii subsequently DO a little i1vesti-
eating on his own account.
The first report Of the islands exist
ence was made in 1859.
Captain John de Graves, Tho is still
living in Honolulu. sailed from Homo
lulu in that year as mate Of the
schooner General WOlford. Lola Mon
taz. the famous actress, was aboard,
and the schooner was bound for ca lao,
with the intention incidentally of ex-
ploring for guano islands.
Champagne flowed like water on the
little craft and between the wine and
discussions of the gold discovered in
California the original scheme was
changed and the Wolford headed for
San Francisco.
Two days after turning north an is
land was sighted Captain de Graves
and some OF the passengers landed
and hunted wild goats. De Graves
took away with him some samples of
the island soil and rocks. which anaIy-
sis later on showed 20 be rich in phos-
pilates
The latitude Of this island, as caIcu-
lated by De Graves, was about 1850
north. The longitude he had no means
of calculating, but thought il some
where in 1913. De Graves made several
attempts to rediscover the island, but
without success.
Captain Lawless says he has often
spoken with De Graves about the is
land and has cOrrObOrated De Graves
story as far as dates are concerned.
A man named Peacock, in Honolulu.
has shown mis- faith in De Graves
story by fitting out two expeditions to
search for the missing land. other ex-
petitions have gone out. and De
Graves still lives in the hope Of some
day sharing the wealth of that mid
Pacific phosphate deposit. The United
states ship AlbatrOss has twice taken
har in the search in the interests
Of navigators. The AIbatross investi-
cations. however, in the light Of Cap
tain Lawless' discovery, were conduct
ed too far north.
The second officer called me at $40
a. n. of the 18th" said Captain Law
less, and reported two patches Of dis
colored water on the port bow These
patches looked TO be about 40 feet
square. There was a big sea on at
the time and as it did not break over
. the Shoal. 1 should judge there would
De over ten fathomS of water there.
Had it been breaking I would have
Investigated more thoroughly, but as
there was no break and the sea was
very big, ] did not consider the shoal
dangerous at all.
The position of this patch. which I
believe TO be a cropping from De
Graves island. was in 1855 north,
I longitude 1910 west. De Graves is
land, as the old man has often de-
ScrDed it TO me, was shaped like a
saddle, with a hump at each end about
sixty feet high. The island was about
q mile long and half as much widf.
+ There is a man named MCGEE in San
Francisco who is, I understand, inter
ested III an expedition either under
/ way or now out hunting for an island
! Of this description
II Is in an unfrequented part of the
racine, and one could pass within a
couple Of miles and never see il"