Article

A landing on Christmas Island in 1864

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

A landing on Christmas Island in 1864

C.A. Gibson-Hill published this short article in 1954, rescuing and contextualizing a letter by Captain E.G. Gardner describing a landing at Christmas Island in April 1864, originally published in the Straits Times on 21 May of that year. The piece situates Gardner’s account within the sparse early history of the island and identifies the fauna he observed.

Summary

Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean was notoriously difficult to land on, and early accounts of the island are few and often inaccurate. Gibson-Hill presents Gardner’s letter as a “sound, factual description” that remains one of the most detailed early observations of the island’s physical geography and ecology. Gardner, master of the 150-ton British brig Guyon en route from Swan River to Singapore, landed at what is now Flying Fish Cove on the north-east corner, having sailed northwards along the eastern coast. He describes the steep black-rock cliffs, the dazzling white coral beach, the dense forest approaching within twenty yards of the shore, and the remarkable tameness of the seabirds and land crabs, which he attributes to the island’s long isolation from human contact.

Gibson-Hill frames Gardner’s account between two other early visits: the 1857 landing by H.M.S. Amethyst under Captain Grenfell, whose men failed to scale the cliff behind the beach, and the 1887 visit by H.M.S. Flying Fish under Captain J.F. Maclear, who found an anchorage in 22 fathoms and collected a small fauna reported in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. He also corrects Gardner’s reference to an earlier landing from the ship Pigott in 1771, identifying the vessel as the East Indiaman Pigot under Captain George Richardson, whose men landed at what is now Ethel Beach on 29 December 1771 while suffering from scurvy.

Gibson-Hill’s editorial notes identify the species Gardner observed: the large bats are Christmas Island Flying Foxes (Pteropus melanotus), the large black bird with a forked tail is Andrew’s Frigate-bird (Fregata andrewsi), and the land crabs are Birgus latro. He notes that the Pigot’s crew had erroneously reported seeing wild hogs, coconut palms, and lime trees, none of which were present on the island at that time, whereas Gardner’s more restrained observations align well with the island’s actual ecology.

Key Findings

  • Gardner’s landing took place on 30 April 1864 at Flying Fish Cove; the Guyon reached Singapore on 15 May and departed for Fremantle on 21 June (p. 218).
  • H.M.S. Amethyst (Capt. Grenfell) landed a boat’s crew at Flying Fish Cove in 1857 but failed to find a route up the cliff behind the beach (p. 218).
  • H.M.S. Flying Fish (Capt. J.F. Maclear) found an anchorage in 22 fathoms in the cove in January 1887 and collected fauna reported in Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1887: 507–526 (p. 218).
  • The Pigot (765 tons, East Indiaman, Capt. George Richardson) was off Christmas Island for three days in late December 1771; a boat’s crew landed on 29 December at what is now Ethel Beach and collected land crabs and boobies (p. 220).
  • Gardner’s large black bird with a swallow-tail and double-pointed wings, measuring 7 feet 1 inch across, is identified as Andrew’s Frigate-bird (Fregata andrewsi), with a maximum female wing span of 7–7½ feet (p. 220).
  • The Pigot’s crew erroneously reported wild hogs, coconut palms, and lime trees on the island; none of these were present at the time (p. 220).

Conclusion

Gibson-Hill’s definitive takeaway is that Gardner’s 1864 letter, despite its occasional digressions and one apparent joke about a fellow shipmate’s “barbaric” behaviour, constitutes a reliable and detailed early natural-history observation of Christmas Island. By cross-referencing the Pigot’s log in the India Office Library and identifying the species Gardner described, Gibson-Hill confirms that the island’s ecology in 1864 was essentially unchanged from 1771, and that Gardner’s account fills a critical gap in the sparse documentary record of the island’s early history.

Context

  • The primary source is Gardner’s letter to the Straits Times (21 May 1864); Gibson-Hill also consults the Pigot’s log held in the India Office Library (MS 503D & 503L) (p. 220).
  • The article contributes to the early natural-history and maritime history of Christmas Island, complementing Gibson-Hill’s own longer treatment of the island’s later history published in JMBRAS 22 (1), 1949: 67–93 (p. 218).

References