Malden Island (an uninhabited island in the…
July 1825 CE
The earliest documented sighting of Malden Island had been on March 25 of this year, made by the captain of the Nantucket whaler Alexander, Samuel Bunker (1796-1874).
After an unsuccessful attempt to land the following day, Bunker had sailed on
The log entry for the 25th, however, also states that "it proved to be an Island seen by the Sarah Ann of London and the Independence of Nantucket Capt Whippey".
On July 30, 1825, the island is seen again by Captain The 7th Lord Byron (a cousin of the famous poet).
Byron, commanding the British warship HMS Blonde, is returning to London from a special mission to Honolulu to repatriate the remains of the young king and queen of Hawaii, who had died of measles during a visit to Britain.
The island is named after Lt. Charles Robert Malden, navigator of the Blonde, who sights the island and briefly explores it.
Andrew Bloxam, naturalist of the Blonde, and James Macrae, a botanist traveling for the Royal Horticultural Society, join in exploring the island and record their observations.
Malden may have been the island sighted by another whaling captain William Clark in 1823, aboard the Winslow.
At the time of its discovery by Europeans, Malden is found to be unoccupied, but the remains of ruined temples and other structures indicate that the island had at one time been inhabited.