THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III

2021

THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III

Supplements to Post-Spanish Discoveries

BY

- STEVE DEHNER -

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JARVIS ISLAND 0° 22' S, 160° 00' W

ONE MAN’S LOSS...

"[...] On the north shore reef there are coral incrusted metal ship fittings cemented fast to
the reef. These appear much older than their counter parts on the south shore. There is
located the wreck of the Barkentine Amaranth, that ran aground on the night of August 30,
1913. I can find no record of the apparent wreck on the north shore[...]" 1

While Mr. Jewell, back in the days, could not identify the ship to which said fittings
belonged, with the aid of digitized (newspaper) archives it proves child’s play presently: it
surely must have been whaler Mary of London, owned by American-born John Lydekker
(1778-1832). She had left Gravesend on May 1, 1823, upon a whaling voyage and after
touching at several ports now left Christmas Island (Kiritimati) and proceeded on her
voyage. On January 20, 1825, the weather being very hazy accompanied with torrents of
rain, at about 2 h. 30 a.m. a man from the main top descried land. Unhappily the notice was
no sooner given than she struck. A heavy surf broke over the ship, and the commander,
Edward Reed (Lacy), being perplexed how to act best in such a situation and no island in
that part being stated in the chart on board, ordered the boats to be lowered...2

1 Hawaiian Shell News April, 1961 Vol. IX No. 6 THE LINE ISLANDS WITH RELATION TO HAWAII, by
Harold G. Jewell, Jr.

2 The Australian of July 28 1825, p.4.

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To cut a story short: Mary was beached on Jarvis like a sick whale, and her crew had to
survive (5 to) 6 weeks before help came in the form of British whalers Vansittart, capt.
William Beacon, and Francis, capt. Thomas C. Hunt, both belonging to London whaling
merchant Daniel Bennett & Son. According to a signatory list dated “March 1st, 1825”
Beacon “received fifteen of the crews belonging to the ship Mary” on board, among which the
2nd and 3rd officer 3 It would appear that captain Hunt of Francis had previously “taken
away the commander, first officer, with as many of the men as convenience would permit.” 4 5
The Vansittart, wrapping up a 7 month whaling voyage, would arrive at Sydney Cove in
late July, 1825.6 Francis, earlier, had spoken whaler Phoenix of
London, capt. John Palmer, on April 10 1825, in the vicinity of
Jarvis Island. Next day Palmer took “Capt. Reed and two of his
crew as passengers” while Francis “proceeded to Fennings’ island to
land the other men”. 7 On June 17, 1825, Capt. Obed Starbuck
(1797-1882) of the Nantucket whaleship Loper sent two boats
onto Fanning’s shore. Here they spotted the Boston schooner
Rover, Capt. J.B.R. Cooper, but also “a part of the crew 8 that had
been cast away on Jarvis Island.” During Starbuck’s several-day

John Bautista Rogers Cooper (1791-1872)

sojourn a “John Haven” had run off and “two black men were shipped”. Loper sailed and on
July 3 1825 spoke whalers Mary of London, Capt. Lock, and Mary, Capt. Gray. 9 On July 17,
1825, Loper touched at Jarvis Island. While Starbuck had initially sent but two boats on
shore, once these had returned him “a copper cooler and some iron & copper bolts” no less
than three were deployed subsequently. This time the crew’s sticky fingers yielded the
skipper a not-too-shabby loot of “spars and shooks & iron”.10 Starbuck may have had the
questionable honor of having scavenged Mary’s remains first, but other takers would soon
follow suit, or at least give it a fair try, as was the case with Capt. Cooper of the Rover of Boston:

3 NSW State Archives: Colonial Secretary Papers 1788-1825: reel 6063;4/1786 p.141a + reel 6014
[4_3514] p.63 + Reel 6063 [4_1786] pp.140-141c + Reel 6015 [4_3515] p.131.

4 Hobart Town Gazette of August 27, 1825, p.2.

5 The Sydney Gazette of July 28, 1825, p.2.

6 One newspaper suggest date July 20, yet another states that she arrived on Saturday July 23, 1825.

7 The Dalton Journal, edited by Niel Gunson, 1990, pp. 90-91. Meant here is modern Tabuaeran or Fanning Atoll

8 This crew presumably consisted of the first mate, the doctor and three of the crew (including William Trevethan, q.v.).

9 Mary of London, capt. Edward Reed Lacy (owned by John Lydekker) took no part in the discovery of modern Kanton
Island on August 5 1824. This discovery was in fact made by the Phoenix, capt. Palmer, in company with the Mary of
London, Capt. A. (Abijah?) Lock (owned by Hill, Boulcott & Hill): see The Armchair Navigator I by author.

10 Logbook for Loper (1824-1826), kept by Robert McCleave (J. Porter Shaw Library, San Francisco Maritime NHP).
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[...] William Trevethan11 sailed from Plymouth (Davenport) Docks, England, on the 20th of September,
1822, (he being a native of that town) in the English whale-ship Countess of Marley. 12 [...]The two
rescuing vessels proved to be the Francis, Capt. Thomas Hunt, and the Vansctart [sic], Capt.
Baden[sic]. The latter vessel took part of the shipwrecked crew to Port Jackson, New Zealand
[sic], and the former sailed for Fanning’s Island (Sandwich Islands group) 13 with the remainder,
among whom besides myself, were the Chief Mate, Doctor, and two of the crew. We remained
on the Island two or three months, 14 living on fish and cocoa nuts. Two Americans resided on
the Island collecting biche-de-mer [Nathan Spear 1802-1847?, SD] for the China market. During
our stay on Fanning’s Island, an American vessel from Boston, the schooner Rover, Capt. John
Baptiste R. Cooper, arrived, trading merchandise for Biche-de-mer and tropical fruits. “This was
my first interview with Capt. Cooper, one of the most whole-souled and liberal-minded men,
‘God bless him’ that I ever met. He now resides in San Francisco, and has large estates in that
city and Monterey county. I have not seen him in twenty years. The schooner Rover was owned,
in part, by Capt. Cooper, and stopped at Fanning’s Island but a few days 15, when she sailed for
Manila, to load rice for Canton, China. Shipping for the cruise, I left on the Rover 16 , and the
Captain was persuaded to pass the reef 17 on which the Mary, (of London) had been wrecked,
hoping to secure the try-kettles and some of the valuable cargo of sperm oil, but the sea being
very rough, with dangerous currents and contrary winds, a landing was not made, and the cargo
was left to perish with the vessel.[...] 18

[...] “It was in August, 1826” 19, said Billy, “that a party of ten of us was on Fanning’s Island, (a
cocoanut island 300 miles south of the Sandwich Islands) having been previously wrecked on
Jarvis’ Reef - near the King’s Mill Group - while hunting beche le mehr 20 , we were well nigh
starved out, when the Rover hove in sight; and right glad were we to be relieved, having no food
or water except cocoanuts. Capt. Cooper took us on board, (the reef on which we were wrecked
was not then laid down on any chart). I shipped before the mast for the voyage, and soon found
Capt. Cooper to be a good man, and well liked by all on board. We sailed for Manila[...] We then
sailed for Yerba Buena, (San Francisco,) and after a tedious voyage, arrived about the middle of
April, 1826, 46 years ago, next April. [...]21

11 William “Billy Pacheco” Trevethan, a Californian pioneer (1804, Plymouth, Eng. - 1875, Santa Cruz). Santa Cruz
Weekly Sentinel of January 23 1875, p.2. states: “at the age of 70 years, 5 months and 1 day.”

12 Countess (of) Morley of Plymouth, Capt. Henry Best. Trevethan, Mary, Capt. Reid, on Hawaii.

13 Modern Fanning Atoll belongs to the (Northern) Line Islands of Kiribati.

14 When Francis landed Wm. Trevethan and co. there cannot be said with certainty. It appears within days rather than
weeks. Trevethan’s stay on Jarvis according to himself was 3 months. His memory clearly failed him on this account.

15 June 7-21 1825: The Californian Sea Otter Trade:1784-1848, by Adele Ogden / Journal of Stephen Reynolds
(1823-1829) edited by Pauline N. King, p.81: “Rover sailed for Manilla by way of Fanning’s Islands.”

16 Ibid., June 21 1825.

17 The Australian of July 28 1825, p.4. : “what they had imagined was a reef [...] proved to be a sandy bank”

18 Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel of July 2 1870, p.1.

19 Evidently this must be June 1825, for Rover touched at Fanning Island on June 7 of this year (See footnote 15).

20 Sic. Bêche-de-mer is French for sea cucumber.

21 Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel of February 24 1872, p.4.

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Capt. Daniel McKenzie of the New Bedford whaleship Minerva Smyth, whom already had
passed Jarvis Island on May 15 1825, had no scruples taking his fair share of Mary, for
on February 2 1826 he too went ashore and on the next day “returned with some cases and
copper bolts and so forth being a part of the wreck of the ship Mary of London.” 22 According to
the following article 23, Capt. Nathaniel Gardner (first mate John P. Rice, see portraits) of the
whaler Stonington of New London, CT., had also called at Jarvis Island in 1826:

young Jno. P. Rice

John Potter “Bony” Rice

(1798-1873)

22 Logbook for Minerva Smyth of New Bedford (1824-1827), kept by Lewis Handy.

23 The Polynesian of Saturday, April 23 1859.

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The entry for December 3, 1838, of the log of whaleship General Jackson of Bristol,
R.I., demonstrates that two boats were landed upon Jarvis’ beach. On Dec. 4 “at 8 pm
the boats returned with some shells. The landing is on the SE side. [There?] still remains
some of work that was lost in 1822.” I think, added a small proviso, that Capt. Stephen
R. Crocker (1807-1888) was beholding the remains of the makeshift camp of Mary’s
crew in year 1825. Since its Western discovery (by Capt. Matthew Brown 24 25 in the
whaling vessel Eliza Francis of London owned by Jarvis & Co., hence the island’s
name) on August 21 1821, it had been frequently landed upon in the whaling days of
old by, so it seems, predominantly American whalers. However, with significantly
more English logbooks lost to posterity than American it may be fair to assume that
quite a few of them must have contained within them sightings of, among many
other islands, Jarvis. In 1822 it was rediscovered by a Capt. Lock. If this was the
same Lock of the whaling ship Charles of London owned by Rotch (Roach) then
apparently no logbook remains to verify the claim; Capt. George Rule of the whaler
Fanny of London, owned by Lydekker (q.v.), saw Jarvis on May 30 1823; Capt. John
Palmer of the Phœnix of London (q.v.) on February 1, 1824.26

J. de Blosseville

Jules  Poret de  Blosseville  (29 July 1802 – August 1833 ?), a French naval officer,
geographer and explorer. Born in 1802, he joined the French Navy at the age of 16.
From 1822-1825 he had participated in an expedition that explored the South
Pacific and, by its conclusion, had circumnavigated the world. This promising officer
disappeared in August 1833, while in command of his own expedition to the Artic.
And while the Pacific has seen its fair share of Jimmy Hoffas, like Blosseville, La Pérouse,
Cook, George Bass etc., its massive pond has floated quite a number of odd ducks as well:

24 Literature mentions no settlement of indigenous polynesians prior to this event.

25 Supplémens au Recueil de mémoires hydrographiques..., by Krusenstern,1835 - p. 22 (see excerpt).

26 The Dalton Journal, edited by Niel Gunson, 1990, pp. 74-75.

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THE STRANGE CASE OF CARETAKER SQUIRE FLOCKTON

7
Squire Flockton (1839 - 1882) was buried on Jarvis Island
[source: NEW ZEALAND HERALD of 28 APRIL 1883]
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WAKE ATOLL (19° 17' N, 166° 37' E)

[...] In 1796, Capt. Samuel Wake of the merchantman Prince William Henry
also came upon Wake Island, naming the atoll for himself. Soon thereafter
the 80-ton fur trading merchant brig Halcyon arrived at Wake and Master
Charles William Barkley, unaware of Captain Wake’s earlier and other prior
European contact, named the atoll Halcyon Island in honor of his ship.[...]

Late in August of 1796, the

schooner Prince William
Henry of London, Capt.
William Wake, and the brig
Sally (Boston), Capt. Joseph
Pierpont, had both set out
from the Sandwich Islands.
Johnston Atoll

Sailing in company now and

destined for Canton, China,
they would soon encounter
navigational hazards: 27

28

Wake Atoll

The given coordinates tell that these captains had hit a reef of modern Johnston Atoll (16° 44ʹ
N, 169° 31ʹ W.) Although Pierpont had reported it, it looks like his end of the simultaneous
sighting was never awarded with mentions on a map. Indeed, for that Joe should have reported
it, as William likely had, to the Hydrographer to the King: Aaron Arrowsmith. 28 Aaron’s 1798
map states “Rocks discover’d by Capt. Wake”, however not close to the true position of modern
Johnston Atoll. During this voyage Wake is also said to have rediscovered Wake Atoll 29 but for

27 Boston Price-Current of Thursday, Sept. 14, 1797, p.3.

28 Reduced Chart of the Pacific Ocean... by Aaron Arrowsmith, London, 1798.

29 The island’s Western discovery was on Oct. 2nd, 1568 by Alvaro de Mendaña, who named it San Francisco.
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reasons unknown (to me at least) it would not appear on a map until 1799. From the 1809 book of
Spanish sailor, mapper and hydrographer José Espinosa y Tello:

[...]“It is important to note that every day new islands and sand
banks are found in this great sea that separates Asia from America,
and so it is that, according to Mr. Arrowsmith, Captain Wake of
the English frigate Prince William, discovered in September of
1796 a coral reef 21 miles extending 21 miles N.W. to S.E. on
which she struck in 17° 50ʹ N, 179° 59ʹ E. of Cadiz.[...] 30 José Espinosa y Tello (1763-1815)

That longitude equals 173° 44ʹ E. of Greenwich. The problem here is that no reef currently
resides in the vicinity, and presumably never has. 31 My conjecture, therefore, is that Wake’s
report of Wake’s Ledge, Wake’s Rocks, Wake Reef, some names by which it appears on maps of
old, was nothing else than that of modern Johnston Atoll, which indeed would imply that
Wake’s observations were not nearly as precise as Joseph Pierpont’s were - and yes, that’s a
huge understatement on my part and I cannot judge scepticism on yours, but still, some
questions deserve some answers:
- had Capt. Wake struck a reef different from that of the modern Johnston Atoll, prior to his
discovery of modern Wake Atoll? If so, had he truly - for that would be the only logical
conclusion - struck both reefs in September 1796, and managed to float free...twice? 32
- Were Wake and Pierpont sailing in company the entire time up until their simultaneous
arrival at Canton, November 13, 1796? 33 If so, why did Joe Pierpont report merely the
reef that corresponds to the modern Johnston Atoll and not also Wake’s Reef and Wake
Island? If not, why had Arrowsmith not also mapped the reef with 2 islands in the position
of modern Johnston Atoll? And why had he initially only map the reef, prior to also adding,
to later charts, Wake’s alleged discovery (or rather rediscovery) of modern Wake Island?

30 Memorias sobre las Observaciones astronomicas, hechas por los ..., Vol. 2 by Josef Espinosa y Tello, 1809.

31 It had been searched for in subsequent years, yet to no avail.

32 The Prince William Henry, soon after it was sold in Macau on December 29, 1796, foundered on a reef.

33 Bold Captains...vol.1 by Rhys Richards, 2017, p.162.

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[Ambroise Tardieu (Voyage pittoresque autour du Wake Reef’s longitude should have been West to begin with.
monde, by Louis Choris, 1822]

In the case of Charles William Barkley (or Barclay), master of Halcyon, I had to trace back
and verify both foot- and endnotes in literature dealing with his purported rediscovery of
Wake, but nowhere was I to encounter that smoking-gun evidence connecting Barkley’s
vessel, this 80-ton brig Halcyon, to such an event. For instance, when author J.W. Urwin 34
states...

“...Shortly after the Prince William Henry left, a second British caller, the Halcyon, arrived there.
Thinking himself the atoll's discoverer, the Halcyon's master named it in honor of his ship...”

...he mentions a British ship Halcyon but his source, Hubert Howe Bancroft, 35 does not:

“...Englishmen saw it from the deck of the ship Prince William Henry, in 1796, and having no use
for it passed it by. The English made a dot on their charts and wrote under it Halcyon ; the French
put on their charts Ecueil 36; Wilkes saw and explored it, but did not think it worth mapping...”

It appears to have been on account of wishful thinking rather than calm reasoning
that Barkley was even brought into this equation, for his Halcyon was a fur trading
ship, known to have cruised the waters between the North West Coast of America
and the Sandwich Islands in year 1792 at the latest 37, and thus we’re dealing with a
serious anachronism, for how could Halcyon possibly have called here after William
Wake in his schooner Prince William Henry? Hence these two events have to be turned
around at least in order to make some sense. But who is to say that Halcyon island was
named after a vessel to begin with, let alone a Briton one? So far (in my research at
least) no report nor logbook entry has surfaced to come to the support of such feat.
The earliest maps I could find depicting Halcyon Island all happen to date from the
early 1820’s, so if this island was seen in as early as the early 90’s of the 18th century,
then why did it take so long for it to appear on charts? One possible explanation is

34 Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege of Wake Island, by J.W. Urwin, 2002.

35 The new Pacific, by Hubert Howe Bancroft, 1899, pp. 710-11.

36 écueil merely means reef in French, and presumably bore no further signifiance.

37Logbook for Halcyon, Charles William Barkley fonds - (CA BCA A/A/20.5/H12B;A/A/20.5/L92) British Columbia
Museum and Archives. I do realize that just because from within this surving incomplete journal of Barkley’s Halcyon
no mention can be retrieved of a discovery of Halcyon Island, does not mean, of course, that its missing entries had
never touched upon it.
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given by Admiral von Kruzenstern, albeit on authority of his fellow Baltic German,
Otto von Kotzebue, when he claims that it was discovered by an American in 1812. 38
39 This much had come to the navigator’s attention during his sojourn on the Sandwich

Islands (modern Hawaii), in 1817. Though an obscure newspaper article of year 1822
(right) seems to support his claim 40 , it does handle a rather broad definition for the
word “lately”, for Losenkey Bank, ostensibly a corruption of Lisianski Island, had been
discovered by Capt. Yuri Lysianskyi in 1805 - still and all its coordinates fit like a
glove; Copper Island presumably was a sighting of modern Minamidaitō island, in
which case it was appointed an erroneous Western

longitude; Massachusetts Isd looks like an early

whalers report of modern Midway Atoll, and
Helicon Island, finally, is undoubtedly one of
the many misspelled equivalents of “Halcyon
Island”, with the coordinates of modern Wake Island, save for the wrong designation
of longitude, which should of course be “E.”. As it was standard practice, at least for
“whalemen”, to name islands after the ship, her owners, or the captain and officers
commanding her, though not necessarily in that order or on the spot, it would only
make sense then for us to be on the lookout for an American whaleship Halcyon, were
it not for the discouraging fact that no Yankee whalers by that name are known to
have sailed any time sooner than the year 1833, judging from the exhaustive reference
book Whaling Masters and Whaling Voyages Sailing from American Ports by Judith Navas
Lund. A cul-de-sac proper, again. But I am sure author is not the last word on this matter.
Wake Atoll

38 Journal des voyages: découvertes et navigations modernes, 1820, Volume 8, p. 236.

39
Beyträge zur Hydrographie der grössen Ozeane als Erläuterungen zu einer Charte des ganzen Erdkreises nach
Mercator's Projection by Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern, 1819, pp. 114-118. Kotzebue wrote him from Kamchatka.
Was it perhaps a ship named Helicon? Was it maybe an American trading ship named Halcyon instead of a whaler?

40 The Inquirer and Mirror (Nantucket, Ma.) of Thursday, March 7, 1822, p.3.
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A PROVISIONAL CHRONOLOGY OF VISITS

Ship From Captain/Discoverer Date of Arrival

- Los Reyes + Callao Álvaro de Mendaña Oct 2nd, 1568 41

Todos Santos “ “ de Neira
- Prince Wm. Henry London William Wake Sep ????, 1796
- Balæna New Bedford Edmund Gardner ??? ????, 1823 42
- Foster Nantucket Shubael Chase May 5th, 1823 43
- Mentor Boston * George Newell Dec 29th, 1824

* merchant ship.

Wake Atoll

Edmund Gardner (1784-1875) Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira

Entry for December 29, 1824, from log of Mentor of Boston, capt. George Newell:

“[...] made the land, which proved to be Halcyon or Wakes Isl. This Isl. is very dangerous as it is very low land. No part
of it higher than than a ships mast head and cannot be seen more than 10 miles. It is thickly wooded and of the eastern
end has a reef running paralel [sic] with the island which we saw...[...]”

Entry Friday April 18, 1824, fom log of Foster of Nantucket, capt. Shubael Chase:

“[...] nothing remarkable occurred until the 5 of May when we saw Wakes Island bearing WSW 15 miles distance.
Stood in for the land and sent the boats on shore for wood. At noon the boats returned with wood and fish. Found the
Latitude 19° 23’ N Long 166° 30‘ E [...]”

41 Andrew Sharp on p.47 of The Discovery of the Pacific Islands is mistaken when he states that it was seen Oct. 20, 1568.

42Log still exists, but in my case the researcher couldn’t find the wanted entry by the provided coordinates of Wake Island.
Regardles, the rediscovery must be mentioned somewhere in the log. Future inquiry is needed for the right discovery date.

43 Nicholson Whaling Collection, held by the Providence Public Library, Providence, Rhode Island.
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(49° 41' S, 178° 46' E) ANTIPODES ISLAND

Mid-March of 1799 Capt. James Mortlock (1760-1806) set sail to the Galapagos Islands by
way of Cabo Frio, Montevideo and Cape of Good Hope in the 309-ton whaler Britannia of
London. At Cape Town Mortlock (Mortlake 44) disembarked Britannia to become master of
Chesterfield of London. 45 Exit J. Mortlock. The next glimpse of Britannia we are granted:

The Castor and Pollux, Anderson, and the Britannia, late Mortlock, from London, are captured at the
Gallipagus [sic] Islands, by a Spanish ship of 24 guns, and carried to Lima. 46

These two gunfights, won by Domingo de Orúe, the captain of the eponymous privateer
Orúe (ex-Atlántica), took place on April 7, 1800. Castor & Pollux was now renamed “Nueva
Castor” so as not to confuse it with the Spanish privateer Castor. 47 48 Castor & Pollux’s
ex-master, William Anderson, and seven of her crew had been left behind on Albemarle
Island (modern Isabela), with scurvy. 49 Nueva Castor reached Peru under Joseph Christie
and the Bretaña (ex-Britannia) under commander John Innes.50 It’s plausible both captains
were interrogated by or on behalf of the Academia Real de Náutica (Lima) - this at least
seems to be given credence by a Spanish memorandum (loosely translated by author): 51

[...] By the English whaler Britannia in 1799 and 1800

Sailing from Cape of Good Hope to the Galapagos Islands by way of the Southern
hemisphere discovered an island in Latitude 49° 48’ S and Longitude of 176° 19’
West of Cadiz, by lunar observation. A High Island [...]

44 Ships Employed in The South Seas Trade 1775-1861, by A.G.E. Jones, 1986, p.24.

45
Trial of the Master and Supercargo of the Merchant Ship Chesterfield...by Michael Franklin Brooks, 1802, pp.9-10. This
Mortlock is indeed the rediscoverer of the modern Nomoi Islands, formerly Mortlock Islands.

46 Lloyd’s List of Tuesday May 19, 1801, p.1.

47 La Real Armada en el Pacífico Sur by Jorge Ortiz Sotelo, 2015. ISBN 978-607-8348-61-9 (Turnbull = Mortlock).

48Josefa Montes, la última esclava del Congo by Juan José Brito Ramos, 2017, pp. 15-45. As published in Revista Del
Archivo General De La Nación, 32(1).

49 A Narrative of Voyages and Travels..., by Amasa Delano, 1817, p. 374.

50John Innes was harpooner on Britannia (A.G.E. Jones, p. 339) Mortlock’s chief mate at Cape Town? A John Innes is also
mentioned as captain of Eliza in Mortlock’s trial (see footnote 46). Both names “John Innes” and “Jose Christie” are found in
Capt. Orúe’s report, kept in the Archivo Museo Naval de Madrid AMN 0173 Ms.0271 / 015 Reference: BMDB20150050922.

51 Archivo Museo Naval de Madrid. Unfortunately, no date of discovery is mentioned.

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The longitude above has the designation “West of Cadiz”, which equals 177° 24’ East
of Greenwich. There can be little doubt as to what island was truly seen there and then.

Capt. Henry Waterhouse (1770-1812) of H.M.S. Reliance sighted

Antipodes on March 25, 1800, sailing from Port Jackson to Cape
Horn. The island was initially called Isle Penantipodes on a map
by Samuel Flinders 52 but while this actually means “island next to
the antipode” (of London) the Pen-prefix was ultimately abandoned.

Position Henry Waterhouse : 49° 49’ S 179° 20’ E

Position Antipodes Island : 49° 41’ S 178° 46’ E

Position John Innes : 49° 48’ S 177° 24’ E

Now, when we realize that Britannia (under Mortlock) had arrived at Cape Town at about
Sept. 1799 53 and that she (under Capt. Innes) had made it all the way to the Galapagos
Islands by early April, 1800, must then Henry Waterhouse’s current status, namely that of
first discoverer, not be called into question? Indeed no exact date for a sighting was given in
the case of the whaler Britannia, yet her hold, when captured by Orúe, contained only fresh
barrels of sperm oil, obtained near the Galapagos Islands. 54 If we with reasonable certainty
may assume that Britannia, since departing Cape Town, had sailed without any noteworthy
delays, and thus straight for the Galapagos Islands by way of Antipodes Island, may then
Capt. John Innes, albeit with an academic mindset, be deemed its first Western discoverer?

Native parakeet. Photo / James Russell ©

52 National Library of Australia.

53 Trial of the Master and Supercargo of the Merchant Ship Chesterfield...by Michael Franklin Brooks, 1802, pp.9-10.

54 Capt. Orúe’s patrol report, see footnote 50 above. This Innes may have been captain of the whaler British Tar in 1802.
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FLINT ISLAND (11° 25' S, 151° 49' W)

Early April, 1809, Obed Chase, commander of ship Hope of New York, belonging to the firm
Fanning & Coles, set out on a expedition voyage 55 , which round trip took him to Espírito
Santo, Brazil (June, 1809) 56; Cape of Good Hope; the sealing grounds of Bass Strait and
New Zealand; Sandalwood Bay (Bua Bay, Vanua Levu, Fiji) to procure sandalwood (November
1809 - early 1810)57 ; from there to Huahine (Society Islands) 58 and thence to Canton, China
(late 1810/early 1811). In June, 1811, Hope arrived back home.

In her next voyage, Hope, Capt. Obed Chase, was captured at

Chiloé Island mid-1813 by the Spanish. Hope was sailed to Callao
where Chase was thrown in the same prison as the patriot-friendly
crews of the two former Yankee ships Potrillo (ex-USS Colt) and
Perla (ex-Pearl), captured by the Warren in the early days of the
Chilean War of Independence. Chase was released late that same
year but, while bound home, was once again captured, this time
at Buenos Aires by British frigate Nereus, Capt. Peter Heywood,
mid-1814. 59 Hope’s journey ended. It must have been during his
first imprisonment, at Callao, that captain Chase had spilled the
following information, either to Andrés Baleato, head of the
Academia Real de Náutica at Lima, or to one of his clerks:

Travelling to Canton by way of the Society Islands, on the 25th of July [1810] I discovered an island about
5 miles in circumference, covered with trees, without water, and no other animals but an abundance of
birds. No rocks surround it 60 but a high surf breaks on it everywhere. Fixed its position in latitude S. 11.°
40’, and by lunar observation in longitude 207.° 4’ E of Greenwich (146.° 38.’ 45” W. of Cadiz.). On
this island I left, nailed to a tree, an American coin.

55 Public Advertiser of Wednesday, April 12, 1809, p.3., New York, NY. Edmund Fanning: “Pathfinder of the Pacific”.

56 True American and Commercial Daily Advertiser of Monday November 6, 1809, p.3.

57The journal of William Lockerby, sandalwood trader in the Fijian Islands during the years 1808-1809, edited by Sir
Everard Im Thurn and Leonard C. Wharton, 1925.

58 The Sydney Gazette of Saturday May 25, 1811.

59 La Real Armada en el Pacífico Sur. El Apostadero Naval del Callao 1746-1824 by Jorge Ortíz Sotelo, 2015.

60 original text reads verbatim: “no le encontrio al rededor peña alguna, pero si mar brava por todas partes.”
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1801THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III 2021

1810
1521
When East of Greenwich is conver
ted to West
of Greenwich we ge
t the coordinates 11°
152° 46' W. Althoug 40' S,
h it would be well ou
any reasonable margi tside
n of error, the island
by Capt. Obed Chase seen
could not easily have
(latitude wise) any been
other island than m
Flint Island in 11° 25 odern
Andrés Baleato (1766-1853) ʹ 48ʺ S, 151°  49ʹ 9.12ʺ W.

FLINT ISLAND

This, however, was merely a rediscovery as it had been know by

the Spaniards for a long time already. On February 4, 1521, it was
seen by the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, who called it
Tiburones. for many sharks were caught there then. Flint owes its
present name to a 1801 rediscovery, but it is unknown presently, by
whom, in which ship and on what day it was discerned that year.
H.E. Maude, on pages 38-47 of his book “Of
Islands & Men (1968, Oxford University Press)
demonstrates by deduction that Los Tiburones,
sighted and named by Magellan’s expedition,
must have been modern Flint Island.

16
Map of the Pacific by J. Espinosa y Tello, 1812, with updates.
THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III 2021

THE VOYAGE OF VENUS & GEORGE BASS’S DISCOVERY OF MAUKE

On November 21, 1801, Capts. George Bass and Charles Bishop

left Port Jackson in Venus on a trading voyage, which, according to
an obscure extract (in Spanish) of George Bass’s journal took her to
many places in the Pacific...

Ma’uke

January 5, 1803, frigate Venus, Port Jackson, from

Mr. Bass to Mr. Arrowsmith
[...]Recently in Latitude 20° 12' S. and Longitude 202° 13’
E. by lunar observation I discovered the small uninhabited island
Mahowarrah and it appears to be the same one that Cook heard
about on Wateoo by the name of Owhavarouah as described in his
3rd voyage. In shape and size it looks much like Watteoo.[...] 61

Exactly which island Wateoo’s (modern Atiu, one of Cook’s discoveries) natives meant
by their Owhavarouagh is hard to tell today 62 but that Bass’s discovery, Mahowarrah, was
modern Mauke can hardly be doubted. Capt. John Dibbs and missionary John Williams in
the Endeavour wouldn’t see it until July, 1823, so their current status, indeed that of being the
first Western discoverers of Ma’uke, can thus be revoked. The question remains: when did Bass
see it? To find out more I tried to reconstruct the route of Venus, by online means only, so if my
conjectures are missing the mark, I’d love to learn why, preferably so via this email address: 63

61 Ministerio De Defensa, Madrid, Spain. Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa. Longitude West of Greenwich : 20° 12' S, 157° 43' W.

62 The Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World..., by James Cook (Sherwood, Neely & Jones, 1813, p. 246).

63 thenantucketconnection@gmail.com
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THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III 2021

Bass and Bishop, both owners of Venus, had been contracted by governor King to find food on
the Pacific islands, needed to battle impending food shortages in Sydney. They succeeded: Venus
arrived back with plenty of pork in November, 1802. My conjecture of Venus’s route will be
fully explained soon, but for now merely up to the point of George Bass’s return from
his solo “salt-voyage” to and from the Sandwich Islands. Until recently it was assumed that Bass

A conjectured (partial) itinerary of

the brig “Venus”, Capts. Chas. Bishop
& Geo. Bass in years 1801 and 1802.

SMRCP = discoveries as mentioned

in Bass’s letter to Aaron Arrowsmith,
unfortunately without dates, though
interpolated by author on a hunch.

1801
1.) November Port Jackson. “Venus”, Capt. Charles Bishop and Geo. Bass, departs.
2.) December (6-21) Dusky Sound [New Zealand]
3.) December Snares Islands ? (“four islands S.W. of New Zealand”)

1802
4.) January ?? Marotiri (Bass Rocks) [Austral Islands] “4 Crowns of Quiros”
4.) January ?? Rapa Iti (“Oporo”) [Austral Islands]
5.) January 13 ≈ (!) Raivavae (“Vavaitoo” + “Lord Bolton’s Island”) [Austral Islands]
6.) January 24 “ Venus” arrives at Tahiti [Society Islands]
6.) February 5th Bass sails for the Sandwich Islands to get salt, Bishop stays behind to salt pork.
6.) February ?? Bass calls at Moorea [Society Islands]
7.) Feb./Mar. Bass sights Caroline Island [Southern Line Islands, Kiribati]
8.) March 11 - July ? Bass sojourn on the“Sandwich Islands” [Hawaii]. Molokai
9.) July ?? Bass sights Penrhyn Atoll [Northern Cook Islands] See page 20.
- August 1st Bass arrives back at Tahiti. [Society Islands]

18
! ± 11 days before Tahiti
[M. Estensen, 2005, p.151.]
THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III 2021

had arrived back at Tahiti on August 1, 1802; on August 6 had attended a meeting there and that he
and Bishop would not sail from Tahiti until the 19th of the same month.64 This assumption, in view
of that Spanish extract, can now be consigned to the wastebin. The following citation by Bass can
only lead to two conclusions: either he, in addition to his “salt-trip” to Hawaii, had made a mini-voyage
of discovery to the Southern Cook Islands prior to his definite departure from Tahiti, or the journal
of missionary John Davies states the wrong date for latter event. If the latter case, then it means that
Geo. Bass and Chas. Bishop had taken their leave from Tahiti much earlier than previously thought.

“I sign off this perhaps useful extract, taken from my journal or logbook - August 11,
1802 = Latitude at Noon 19° 5’. S. : [...] a small island like the bell [tower? *,
SD] of a church, situated 15 miles from marked position”

* Spanish text states verbatim “Un Islote como el Campanario de una Yglesia”. Campanario = bell tower, whereas
campana = church bell. The Spanish word islote can mean small island or islet.

Anyhow, Venus was cruising the clear waters of the Southern

Cook Islands on August 11, 1802, and I dare deduce from this
fact that Bass’s discovery of Mauke was made after August 6
and either before, or, on August 11th, 1802. The island
described by Capt. Bass as looking “like the bell tower of a
18° 51′ 51″ S, 159° 47′ 9″ W
church” must have been Aitutaki. Knowing him, he would
have soon realized it to be not a genuine discovery. 65 In the
early years of the nineteenth century the Cook Islands were
known as Hervey Islands. It is a tad odd that this group doesn’t
Bell-shaped Aitutaki
sit among the others summarized and intented to be visited
by him, because on Molokai , Hawaii, he would flat-out write:
“I shall proceed towards Otaheiti to pick up Bishop & his purchases from whence we shall jog down together
through the Friendly, Society, Navigators, Feejees & Hebrides on the way to Port Jackson” 66

Well, not many things are so easily changing as the intentions of a seadog, so maybe he
got word of some pigs to be had locally. Earlier our captain, coming down from Hawaii, had
already spotted an island within this group’s modern parameters. Apparently Bass was not
only chasing Porky in the Pacific but checking up on the trails of capts. James Cook, Vancouver
& Broughton as well. Then again, it is always better to look for pigs on islands you know exist.

64 The History of the Tahitian Mission, Series II, Vol. 116, by John Davies, ed. C.W. Newbury, 1974, pp.43 & 57.

65 Discovered on April 11, 1789, by Capt. William Bligh (1754-1817) of H.M.S. Bounty.

66The Life of George Bass, by Miriam Estensen, 2005, p. 156. Letters by and to Bass: ZML MSS 6544 [ZSafe 1/187],
Mitchell Library, Sydney. Friendly Islands = Tonga. Navigators = (American) Samoa, Feejees = Fiji, Hebrides = Vanuatu.
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 THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III 2021

“Returning from the Sandwich Islands I found a group of islands populated with coconut
trees, which must be Penryhns [sic, SD], for my longitude observed by lunar distance is
precisely that of the island Penryhns on your [Aaron Arrowsmith’s, SD] grand chart.

This was Penrhyn a.k.a. Tongareva, situated in the upper right

corner of the modern Cook Islands territory, first discovered
on August 8, 1788, from the British convict ship Lady Penrhyn,
Capt. William Compton Sever (c.1761-1817).67 Bass sailed from
Molokai, Hawaii, sometime in June or July, 1802, and reached
Cook Islands
Tahiti on August 1. I don’t think we can get any closer than this.
9° 0′ 20″ S, 157° 58′ 10″ W

Caroline Island

9° 56ʹ 13ʺ S, 150° 12ʹ 41ʺ W

“ [...] an Island with a lagoon, uninhabited, and surely the same as seen by Capt.
Broughton in Lat. 10° 00.’ S. and Longitude 210.° E. [...] ”

Bass’s sighting of modern Caroline Island (Kiribati) is elaborated upon inside another letter:

“Ran down along its west side & round the north end, did not land because could
not Anchor. No navigator on board in case of my being seperated from the Vessel
by any accident. I think Captain Broughton saw the same Island”
“Bass’s inability to anchor was due to the depth of the sea around the island. His comment, however, on not
having a navigator on board is curious, as Robert Scott was sailing with him [...] and the question arises
whether he had received his position as first mate despite a lack of the necessary skills. Yet at a later date Bass
appears to have been fully prepared to entrust the command of the Venus to Scott. The comment remains
unexplained.” 67

67The Life of George Bass, by Miriam Estensen, 2005, p. 154. I can only explain Bass’s comment by assuming that Scott
was in the same rowing boat as Bass, sent ashore to inspect the island. Indeed risky: Capt. Valentine Starbuck of ship
L’aigle was ever so lucky in 1823 to have survived his thirsty ordeal on Starbuck Island (see Armchair Navigator II, p.4).
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THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III 2021

Raivavae

18° 51ʹ 0ʺ S, 159° 47ʹ 24ʺ W
source: J.W. Norie (1836) - David Rumsey Map Collection

The identity of Bass’s & Bishop’s discovery “Lord Bolton’s Island”, an island seen days
before the arrival of Venus at Tahiti on January 24, 1802, has generally been agreed upon:
Raivavae (Austral Islands).[68][69] This island gets mentioned in Bass’s letter to Aaron
Arrowsmith, but merely states that an island, “Vavaitoo”, was found; that “they” (he and
Bishop) had named it “Lord Bolton’s Island” and that it had the coordinates “23° 51’ 211° 45’
E” (with the designation for latitude omitted). A late chart (above) that visualizes this discovery
does exist. However, Raivavae had been discovered long since by Capt. Gayangos in 1775.

THE 4 CROWNS OF BASS, Carteret AND QUIROS

“Bass did not share his journal of the voyage, a deliberate act, as he wrote to Governor
King, because of the ‘unparalelled neglect’ of his previous service to the British
Government. Obviously, he referred to the lack of recognition of his earlier ex- plorations,
although it was a resentment that had not been apparent at the time. Thus his findings on
this voyage can be surmised only from the scant references made in letters—some islands he
thought known to Broughton and Cook and one entry, almost cryptic, that reads ‘ESE of
Oparo the Four Crowns of Quiros, long expunged from the charts, not seen since 1606.” 70

Tenararo Vahanga Tenarunga Matureivavao

Pedro Fernández de Quirós

68 The Journal and Letters of Captain Charles Bishop..., edited by Michael Roe, 1967.

69 The Life of George Bass, by Miriam Estensen, 2005, p.150.

70 Ibid., p.159.
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 THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III 2021

Miriam Estensen did her research well so I suspect George Bass’s letter to the London
based mapper Aaron Arrowsmith to be the sole one that elaborates on his discovery of
modern Marotiri (Austral Islands) and subsequent sighting of Oparo, modern Rapa Iti:

“Sailing North for Tahiti I found The 4 Crowns of Quiros, shown on the modern charts. I
found their position to be 14 leagues E.S.E of Oparo [Rapa Iti, SD]. Of all discoveries this one
gave me the most pleasure as it serves to redeem the name of a great Navigator from the
infamy of having been called a liar. It is true that these 14 leagues do not correspond with
Quiros's said 4 league distance but I think this to have been on account of a copy error by the
one who transferred his manuscript and that 4 should have been 14. This is why Vancouver’s
Oparo is the San Miquel of Quiros. When I saw the rocks and the island to the West I had no
idea that the last one was Oparo, because having run a lot of sea by this time and not
expecting to find myself to be close to it I thought both rocks and island to be discoveries. But
having had the fortune to observe both latitude and longitude to be in accordance with
Vancouver’s Oparo [...] I don’t doubt it to be the same island.”

Pedro Fernandes de Queirós  (1563–1614), a Portuguese navigator in the service of

Spain, discovered on February 4, 1606, four islands, know today as the Acteon Group
belonging to the Gambier Islands in the Tuamotu Archipelago and which comprises
Matureivavao, Tenarunga, Vahanga and Tenararo, the order in which Pedro Quiros’s
expedition discovered them, sometimes still mistaken for the four islands that make up
Duke of Gloucester Islands, indeed in the same archipelago but especially their latitudes
do not agree with those of the Quiros Expedition. The Spaniards themselves had this:

Longitudes West of Cadiz (?) derived from the “dead reckoned” leagues from Callao. Day 3 (Santelmo, or modern Vairateea); Day
4 (Matureivavao), Day 5 (Tenarunga, Vahanga, Tenararo) - these last 4 islands were called “Los Cuatros Coronadas”. The
longitudes are way out of bounds, especially when you realize that one has to add 6 degrees and 17 minutes to get “West of
Greenwich”. Quiros’s time knew no ship chronometers. From: Ministerio De Defensa, Madrid, Spain. Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa.

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San Miguel, an island seen by Quiros on February 9, 1606, is today’s Vairaatea. Thus
Bass was, although entirely understandable, very mistaken. Understandable indeed, for
in 1802 Quiros’s coordinates had not yet been published, so he had not much more to go
on but the four corresponding visuals of his discovery (modern Marotiri or Bass Rocks)
consisting of four giant rocks that lie at a distance between 1.5 and 3 km from one
another, and his human brain ever so eager to draw comparisons. Ditto: Philip Carteret
(1733-1796) mistakenly linked Quiros’s 4 crowns to his 1767 discovery in the modern
Duke of Gloucester islands - also he cannot reasonably be blamed for having made the
connection. A map by Espinosa gives a visual, yet a modern chart is much to prefer here:

Acteon
Group
5 miles

21° 22ʹ  S, 136° 34ʹ W

Venus, I think, called at Marotiri (Bass Rocks); consequently at Rapa Iti (George Vancouver’s
Oparo, discovered in 1791) and then at modern Raivavae (Oroybabay). This chart 71 not only
shows The 4 Crowns of Mr. Bass, seen in 1802 but also Mahowarah, a name wrongfully associated
with James Cook, for only the name “Owhavarouah” is mentioned in A Voyage to the Pacific
Ocean (1785) - Bass, I think, was told in person about this designation, by the natives
of Ma’uke, and, like the extract of his letter and also various early maps seem to

71Ministerio De Defensa, Madrid, Spain. Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa. Carta náutica de Oceanía] [MN- 56-4] by José
Espinosa (q.v.)

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THE ARMCHAIR NAVIGATOR III 2021

indicate, wished it to end up on a map with this name. I bet it dawned on you also, dear
reader, that it may well have been Mr. José Espinosa y Tello who had copied Bishop’s &
Bass’s discoveries from the original logbook extract, probably granted to do so by A.
Arrowsmith. Because, in case you overlooked: Espinoza made his 1812 map - Madrid
was occupied by the French - in London. If so, the Spanish hydrographer may also have
copied Yuri Lisiansky’s letter to Arrowsmith along with it, in which he relates his
discovery of modern Lisanski Island (see also Armchair Navigator II, Dehner, 2020, p.6).

From The Life of George Bass, by M. Estensen (2005):

“He mentioned the Navigators’ Islands, now Samoa, where he found the people
‘excellent & very superior’[...]The French navigator Jacques Félix Emanuel
Hamelin, whom Bass later met in Port Jackson, noted in his diary that Bass had
called at the Society Islands, the Friendly Islands (today’s Tonga), the Sandwich
Islands and the Navigators’ Islands. Bass himself mentioned later that he did not stop
at Fiji.”[...] “Bass evidently intended to stop at ‘the two pearl islands near the
Marquesas’ as he returned to Tahiti, but apparently did not do so.[...]”

The remaining trajectory of Venus I am much less certain about. Willing as I am to dwell
forever in the pitfall of incorrigibly bad guessers, I will continue my conjecture by writing
that it is known that Bass after his arrival at Port Jackson had handed over a collection of
oceanic objects from Mangaia, Tonga and American Samoa,72 to naturalist Mr. François
Péron (Baudin Expedition). While among Péron’s list of artefacts only nos. 49-101 rank
as Capt. Bass’s,73 the integral list doesn’t appear to contain artefacts from Fiji and Vanuatu
either. I do not rule out Vanuatu, but would one not expect to find on that list of Péron at
least one item from thence? My best bet would be that after Bass’s return at Tahiti from the
(Southern) Cook Islands (i.e. Mauke, Atiu, Aitutaki, Mangaia) he had called at Tutuila
(American Samoa, where he finds a beachcomber who had come from Tonga and offers him a
passage back)74; Tonga; maybe Vanuatu but evidently not Fiji (for, in case of that destination,
who are we to doubt Bass’s own words when he stated not to have stopped there?). As for
Leeward islands Huahine, Raiatea and Tahau75 : they may very well have been seen by
Bass and Bishop, though I for one could not find sources to substantiate Bowden’s claim.

72 Bulletin de géographie historique et descriptive, n° 1, 1906: “Les Collections anthropologiques et ethnographiques

du voyage de découvertes aux terres australes (1801-1804)”, by E.T. Hamy, pp. 24-34.

73 Ibid, p.31.

74 The Naval Chronicle of March 19, 1814, pp. 380-382.

75 George Bass, 1771-1803..., by K.M. Bowden, 1952, p.112.

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You can download for free also the following essays by the same Author:

- The Nantucket Connection I : The “Forged” Discovery of Swains Island

(2017) (Proof that it was not discovered by one Capt. Swain but instead by another)

- The NAntucket Connection II : Supplements to Malden Island’s History

(2018) (debunking the myth of Sarah Ann Island and introducing new discoverers)

- The Armchair Navigator I: Supplements to Post-Spanish discoveries in

the Pacific (2019)

- The Armchair Navigator II: Supplements to Post-Spanish discoveries in

the Pacific (2020)

THE END
! ! !

! ! ! ! BAD TATTOO INC. © MMXXI

Contact: vdrlugt@outlook.com

! ! ! thenantucketconnection@gmail.com ! ! !

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