Tourism

There is one hotel on the island and weekly air connections with Honolulu have enabled some tourists to visit Christmas Island. The island offers a range of wildlife wonders especially in its lagoons and spectacular coral life. Also, being an island renowned for its dedication as the birds' sanctuary of vast species, this is bound to capture the naturalists' imagination. There have been various developmental projects undertaken amongst which is a small scale tourism of sports fishermen and naturalists; vegetable production; the export of live crayfish and chilled reef and ocean fish. Towards Poland village, there are salt lakes - seawater trapped in land-locked lagoons which have evaporated and cristalised forming a sheet of crystalised salt. Salt production could potentially be another project on the island. I can remember collecting bucket fulls of the crystalised salt as a child, with a crowbar for hacking away! Great adventure and it could be an optional fun adventure for tourists.

Christmas Island - Historical Visitors

According to pre-European history records, such as apparently, "the only archaeological research by Emory on the 1924 B.P. Bishop Museum's "Kaimiloa" expedition to the central Pacific" (Work of: GARNETT, M.C. for the Kiribati government), there was very little evidence of the island ever being settled by the Polynesian voyagers who regularly visit Christmas Island. However, there were sites found which were identified as "might have been villages" but with no unearthed artifacts, conclusion was drawn as an indication that the early Polynesian visitors only ever settled temporarily. The records mentioned the findings of coconuts groves by Captain Cook in 1777, as evidence of Polynesian visitors; a basalt adze which was identified to be from a volcanic island; a shell adze which the researcher associated with the Polynesian people of Pukapuka and Tongareva; the petroglyph which were identified as certainly 'Polynesian' and more resemble those from Hawaii than Tahiti. The coral mounds surmounted by an upright stone, (possibly what the I-Kiribati would call, "te bangota" from the description), platforms and burial sites findings led Emory to conclude that these "belong to quite different periods and from different sources". (Work of: GARNETT, M.C. for the Kiribati government). Of course, the indigenous Hawaiians are Polynesians and the Hawaiian islands are volcanic islands which may explain the few artifacts found on Christmas Island.

The post-European historical records, according to Maude, 1968, several historians have identified Christmas Island with the island 'Acea' sighted by the mutinous crew of Grjalva's Pacific expedition in 1537 suggesting that Captain Cook's discovery of Christmas Island in 1777 may have been a rediscovery.

Other visitors to Christmas Island - intentional or not in chronological order:

• 1829 - Captain W.T. Brooks of England

• Same period - John Stetson on the 'Equator'

• 1835 - F.D. Bennett on the British whaler 'Tuscan'

• 10th October 1836 - the British whaling ship, 'Briton' was wrecked in the Bay of Wrecks.

• 1837 - American whaler, Charles Frederic who rescued the ship wrecked Captain Benson of the 'Briton' and his crew, who have spent more than seven month on the island.

• 1847 - the Bremen whaler, 'Mozart' was also fell victim and was wrecked along this Bay of Wrecks with its 4,000 barrels of oil and large quantities of whalebone, but was fortunate to be in the company of the American whaler 'J E Donnell' which rescued the Mozart's crew.

• 1847 - a month after the Mozart, the Chilean merchant ship 'Maria Helena' fell victim to the Bay of wrecks and its crew spent over two months on the island.

• 1858 - Capt. Pendleton of the American Guano Company ship'John Marshal' took possession of uninhabited Christmas Island on behalf of A G Benson & Associated. This was prompted by commercial interests folowing the American Guano Act of 1856.

• 1863 - Danish ship fell victim to Bay of Wrecks

• 1864 - British ship was wrecked.

• 1865 - Dr Crowther of Tasmania was granted a licence by the Britsh government to mine the island for guano.

• 1868 - HMS Reindeer visited the island but no trace of occupancy.

• 1871 - A nine years' licence was granted to Houlder brothers & Co but when the company representative finally arrived on the island in 1872, three employees of a Mr Williams, a businessman from Honolulu.

• 1880 - HMS Pelican visited and reported the island uninhabited.

• 1881 - HMS Gannet visited and reported the island uninhabited.

• 1882 - Henderson & Macfarlane, an Auckland firm took possession and hoisted the British flag.

• 1884 - HMS Constance visited and reported occupancy of island.

• 1885 - HMS Satellite visited and reported occupancy of island.