Chapter I Intro & Objectives - SPREP

PHOENIX ISLANDS PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN
Chapter III. Background, 2. Human Activities
Draft 1 March 2007
Little guano was dug by the John T. Arundel Co. between 1885 and 1886 (Bryan 1941, 1942,
and 1974).
Abariringa (Canton) was once so covered with guano that guano harvest was a long and
lucrative export during the later half of the 19 th century (Degener and Degener 1959).
BIRNIE
Hague (1862) noted that in 1859, a list of 48 islands was published by the New York Tribune
that listed Pacific Islands with guano deposits. The list included Birnie, Rawaki (Phoenix),
Enderbury, Manra (Sydney), and Abariringa (Mary).
The U.S. Guano Company filed a claim to Birnie on February 12, 1859, and received bond
number 9, dated February 8, 1860 (Skaggs 1994). Birnie was claimed by U.S. guano
interests, but no guano was actually dug (Bryan 1941 and 1942; see also King 1973; Garnett
1983a). Pompey (1970a) reported that the Pacific Islands Company held the guano lease,
but there was no record of guano harvest from Birnie.
All of the Phoenix Islands, except Orona (Hull) were bonded to the American Guano
Company, or its subsidiary, the Phoenix Guano Company (Maude 1952 and 1968).
The reported and actual locations of Abariringa (Canton, Mary, Swallow), Rawaki (Phoenix),
and Birnie were published in Anon. (1870).
In 1871, C.A. Williams gave up his interest in Birnie to J.T. Arundel and Co., Ltd. (Garnett
1983a). In 1883, Arundel visited Birnie, but decided not to collect guano as it was not worth
exploiting.
Positions of Abariringa (Mary, Swallow, and Canton), Enderbury, Birnie, Rawaki (Phoenix),
McKean, and Orona (Hall) were published in Anon. (1871).
In 1871, sailing directions for the Phoenix Islands were published (Hempstead 1871). These
included: Abariringa (Mary, Swallow, and Canton), Birnie, Enderbury, McKean (Wilkes),
Orona (Halls), and Rawaki (Phoenix).
By the mid-1880s, John T. Arundel & Company held British leases for untended American
guano islands (Skaggs 1994) including: Birnie, Abariringa (Canton), Enderbury, Nikumaroro
(Gardner), Orona (Hull), McKeans, Rawaki (Phoenix), and Manra (Sydney). All of these had
been claimed by U.S. Guano, but none had been worked by them.
ENDERBURY
In 1859, a list of 48 islands was published by the New York Tribune that listed Pacific
Islands with guano deposits (Hague 1862). The list included Birnie, Rawaki (Phoenix),
Enderbury, Manra (Sydney), and Abariringa (Mary).
The U.S. Guano Company filed a claim for Enderbury on February 12, 1859, and received
bond number 9, dated February 8, 1860 (Skaggs 1994). The following month, the Phoenix
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