The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-09-28

The Washington Post has an account
of the meeting of the eighth annual
International Geographic Congress
from which we take the following ex-
/, tract:
In the afternoon session James D.
Hague of New York told the story of
the search for 1.-The reported island or.
islands of the North Racific Ocean be-
tween Hawaii and Panama.
He discussed the theory that the
United States sloop-of-war Levant,
which disappeared mysteriously in 1860
on her voyage from Hawaii to Pan
anna, may have been wrecked on an
island in this neighborhood, and the
possible survival of some of the ships
company
This island is supposed to be about
1000 to 1900 miles east southeast from
Hawaii, substantially in a direct line
between the Port of Hilo and the Bay
of Panama. The land has more than
once been reported by sailors, chiefly
whalers.
"One thing he said seems to me
able-that there is some danger to
navigation in that region. And now
that our commerce is rapidly increasing
and these reported dangers lie directly
in the route of sailing vessels to Aus
tralia from San Diego and San Fran
cisco, it becomes incumbent upon our
Government to make an exhaustive
survey.
TN March, 1902, Capt. Robert T. Law
less, commanding the steamship Aus
tralia, on his way to San Francisco
from Tahiti, reported passing two
patches of what no doubt was shoal
water.
This observation did much to revive
interest in the question of the exist
ence of islands in that part of the
ocean.
Certain incidental circumstances had
led by chance to the revival of the
generally forgotten mysterious fate of
the United States sloop-of-war Levant,
which, having sailed on Sept. Is, 1850,
from the port of Hilo. Hawaii, for the
port of Panama, has never since been
heard from, by any trace whatever, I'M
less it be in certain wreckage found on
the south shore of Hawaii in June, 1861,
there and then identified by local au-
thorities as wreckage from the Levant.
Il had the honor to bring the matter
to the attention of President Roosevelt
in June, 1903 and thereafter, on pre-
sentation of the known facts at the
Navy Department, the Secretary of the
Navy, Mr.. Moody, determined to send
an expedition as soon as one or more
suitable vessels could be spared for the
service. to settle finally the question OF
the existence or non-eXistence of any
shoal, reef or island in the doubtful
region.
1.-THE newly built cruiser Tacoma, on
her trial trip from San Francisco to
Honolulu, was ordered to make de-
tour in that region in the latter part
of May of this year. According to the
report of her commander, r. f. N1chol-
son search for the island was mace
for four days, during which neither
land. shoals, nor signs of land were
seen; in fact, the locality was remark
able for the total absence of birds.
These results throw no light on the
mysterious fate of the Levant The
ships company might have landed
without the loss of single life, in
which event there might still be some
survivors, whose chances of living till
now on a fairly habitable and healthy
island might and perhaps have been
more favorable than elsewhere.
at may venture to recall the inter
esting incident that Edward Everett
Hale's Philip Nolan, The Man Without
a Country ended his romantic career
on the Levant on this, her last and
fatal voyage. There may have been
whole ships company Of men now
without a country cast away on this
mysterious island nearly A years ago.
some of whom may be still watching for
a sail This would indeed be mar
velous thing. but it is not beyond the
range of possibility. The mutineers OF
the Bounty lived on Pitcairn Island
eighteen years before they were found
there. and the extreme and solitary
isolation of this supposed land would
fully account for the long undiscovered
seclusion of the castaways.
.sThe venerable author of The Man
without a Country has manifested a