On the existence of an Atoll near the west coast of America, and proof of its elevation.
BY W. HARPER PEASE, OF HONOLULU, H. I.
Having read an interesting paper by Dr. Blake, in a late number of the Proceedings California Academy, on the proofs of a recent elevation of the coast of California, it occurred to me that I had in my note book, information unpublished on the same subject. As it lies within the field occupied by your Academy, I furnish it herewith for publication. My information was gathered from a Journal kept by Lieut. Griswold,[11] (a young gentleman of scientific taste, and a close and accurate observer,) during a cruise off the west coast of Mexico, in search of guano. Among the islands visited, was “Clipperton Rock,” which is the locality I refer to.
Before giving any extract, I will state what was known of the island.
It is situated in Lat. 10° 17’ N., Long. 109° 19’ W., and was discovered by Capt. Clipperton, in 1705. He appears to have sighted only the tall volcanic rock, which stands near the south end of the island, and passed on without learning of the existence of the island. It appears not to have been noticed again for more than a century, so that its position, and even its existence was doubted.
The only published account of its having been visited since, are those by Capt. Benj. Morrell[12] and Sir Edward Belcher.[13] The former called there during a sealing voyage, in 1825, and gives a meagre account of it in a few lines, remarking, that “it produces a little shrubbery and some coarse grass, among which, I think, fresh water might be found by digging. Among the few vegetable productions of this island, we found a plant resembling sarsaparilla, which badly poisoned several of the crew who handled it.”
Sir Edward Belcher, during his surveying expedition, wishing to verify the existence and position of the island, searched and found it. He did not land, but gives the result of his examination from the mast-head. With other remarks, he states that “it is a coral lagoon island, three miles long N. and S., and the same E. and W. There are two entrances, both on the weather side, which at high-water may be safe, but at the moment we passed, the surf was too heavy and the reflux showed the rocks bare. On the beach several large trees were observed, but no living trees were seen.” (May 8, 1839.)
Lieutenant Griswold notes in his journal, as follows: “On the 6th of August, 1861, we lay on our oars, just outside the breakers on the N. E. side. At half past six we were ashore, shooting in on a high roller, which left us high and dry upon the beach, with a hole stove in our bow. The beach was covered with drift wood, and while the crew were collecting it, I started to examine the island.
“Upon every side it is girdled by a broad barrier of coral, about fifteen feet above the level of the ocean. There is no entrance to the lagoon, neither does it communicate with the ocean by subterranean passages, as the water inside is fresh and potable. It is slightly brackish, but will appease thirst. The ‘Rock’ is a ragged pile of volcanic formation, on the south end of the island, gray and splashed over with the deposit of the birds. It is cracked and split in every possible direction, here and there shooting into tottering pinnacles. As you wander through the caverns and clefts, with which it is perforated, there is an incessant splashing and dropping of water. On the very topmost pinnacle, which I reached after a hard climb, I found a little basin containing a couple of buckets full. The caverns were dreary looking places, dark and wet, and echoing to the hoarse cries of the sea-birds. The rock, on its sides, is rounded and smoothed by the action of the waves, at some long past time, and in many places ‘the walls are crusted with coral.’
“The highest pinnacle of the rock is about 120 feet high, and it covers, I should think, about two acres. It stands on the edge of the lagoon, or rather within it, being connected with the coral barrier only by a narrow isthmus of coral clinker. Between this rock and the sea, however, the barrier, instead of being as elsewhere, a solid platform of coral, is only a heap of fragments, piled in winrows by the waves, 250 or 300 yards in width. The lagoon is a quiet fresh water pond, two miles long and about one broad, with a long spit of mud running out into the middle of it, but elsewhere of a light green color, which seemed to indicate a considerable depth. Its shores are abrupt, the coral platform in most places projecting out over water of a considerable depth. I did not find the least sign of vegetable life upon the island.