Chapter I Intro & Objectives - SPREP

PHOENIX ISLANDS PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN
Chapter III. Background, 2. Human Activities
Draft 1 March 2007
A short narrative of the brig Harriet Newell’s reprovisioning trip from Honolulu to Rawaki
(Phoenix), Enderbury, and McKean in early 1866 was provided by Cunningham (1866). The
voyage took 32 days.
The reported and actual locations of Abariringa (Canton, Mary, Swallow), Rawaki (Phoenix),
and Birnie were discussed in detail in Anon. (1870).
Rawaki had been worked for guano from 1860 to 1871 (Maude 1952 and 1968; 1862 to 1872
by the Phoenix Guano Company according to Douglas and Douglas 1994; 1859 to 1871
according to Garnett 1983a). In 1871, Rawaki (Phoenix) was abandoned by guano collectors
(Bryan 1941 and 1942). A total of between 18,144 to 36,288 tonnes (20,000 to 40,000 tons)
of phosphate were shipped from Rawaki (Phoenix) between 1862 to 1871 (Garnett 1983a).
Guano had been extracted from Rawaki (Phoenix) (Boggs 1938; see also Bryan 1951).
Phoenix Guano Company had mined Enderbury, McKeans, and Rawaki (Phoenix) (Skaggs
1994).
In 1871, sailing directions for the Phoenix Islands were published (Hempstead 1871). These
included: Abariringa (Mary, Swallow, Canton), Birnie, Enderbury, McKean (Wilkes), Orona
(Halls), and Rawaki (Phoenix). The positions of Abariringa (Mary, Swallow, Canton),
Enderbury, Birnie, Rawaki (Phoenix), McKean, and Orona (Hall) were published in Anon.
(1871).
A short account of the schooner C.M. Ward’s trip from Honolulu to Rawaki (Thoenix) and
Enderbury was provided by Rickman (1871).
In 1882, William relinquished his claim to Rawaki (Phoenix) to J.T. Arundel (Garnett
1983a).
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.
D. POST-GUANO ERA TO THE START OF WORLD WAR II (c1887 to
1939)
Great Britain’s 1875 Pacific Islanders Protection Act only applied to territories whose
independence Britain did not recognize (Ward 1948). In 1877, the Western Pacific Order of
Council brought the 1875 Act into operation. The 1877 Order listed islands to which the
1875 Act applied including the Phoenix Islands.
From 1877 to 1881, the Phoenix Islands were uninhabited and probably unvisited (Maude
1952 and 1968). John T. Arundel and Co. then either took direct control over, or acted as
agent for the Phoenix Islands. In addition to further exploitation of the guano resources, he
had a policy to turn the islands into coconut plantations.
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