Starbuck Island Kiribati

The Starbuck Island, Lines Islands, Republic of Kiribati

STARBUCCK Island is 336 sea leagues southward of the Eq. It' s 235 northeastern of Tongareva (Penrhyn), 345 northeastern of Vostok, 400 northeastern of Jarvis, 450 northeastern of Christmas and 108 northeastern of Malden. It' a low, shallow island of corals, with a maximum altitude, along the ridge of the sea, of about 15ft.

Inside this ridge the island is pressed down, with small saline lakes at the easterly end. It' 5. 1/2 mile long, eastward and westerly, by 2. 1/4 mile widest width and tapers towards both ends. Enjoy the charming sound of the sun-drenched Oceania/Pacific Islands in 64 kbps FM stereo!

This island's look is well described by John T. Arundel in a speech to the Geographical Society of the Pacific in San Francisco in March 1885. "First, nothing but a heavy blank blinding in the west skies, painful and shiny, even at a range of about four nautical mile; then, as the ship ascended on the wave, a long, low line of low grade knows how to see it; then, as we approached slowly, we could see at distances wrecked vessels scattered along the coastline, and groups of seabirds lying on them;

" As he landed through the corridor in the cliff, Arundel said he barely managed to capsize as he drove past the shells. For a period of up to two week it was not possible to reach or depart the island even though the vessel was only an 8thm.

The island is so unimpressive, with a powerful westward and southwesterly flow, that many beautiful boats have accumulated on its islets. There were seven of Arundel's wreckage when he touched down. Arundel said that at the east end there were several saline lakes "where thousand of tonnes of the cleanest salts in various shapes, rough and delicate, were found.

At the western end of the lighthouse, one burr after the other of old corals could be seen, which surrounded the bed of guanos. A different portrayal was given by a seaman on the UK vessel George Thompson under Captain William Shepherd, who landed in October 1872 to dumpeguano. "It is indeed a dismal area.

Corals are all over it, grinded into thin powders that look like sands. "Starbuck Island was spotted in 1823 by Captain Valentine Starbuck on the British whaling vessel L'Aigle. It was what he used to call Volunteer Island. The blonde walked past Starbuck on August 1, 1825, after she left Hawaii, but did not make the landing.

In the story it says: "Its look was even less interesting than that of Malden's island, there were not even the vegetation that animated the shallow rocks of cork. Recordings in The Friend (Honolulu) from and to Starbuck, in the harbour of Honolulu are common in the years 1871-1874. When Arundel abandoned the island, it was visited again by the firm that worked on Malden Island.

A stipulation of the English tenancy was that a high lighthouse should be built so that the island could be seen at more than four mile. By 1926 it was made up of a large 25-foot high wood pyramide, which was in good shape even though the island had long since been deserted. There is a ship visiting the island at regular interval to see if there have been any wreckage.

Aside from Starbuck and Volunteer, the island is known under various different brands, among them Low, Star, Starve, Hero, Barren and Coral Queen.