Alden was an officer in the sloop-of-war 'Vincennes', the flagship of the United States Exploring Expedition which spent four years in the Pacific under the command of Commodore Charles Wilkes.

The journal gives an account - but not a day-by-day account - of the Vincennes voyage which took in the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, the Antarctic, Hawaii, the Gilbert (Kiribati), Ellice (Tuvalu) and Marshall Islands. See also PMB MS 124-146 and the Bureau's newsletter, Pambu, Dec. 1971:25, pp. 4-7.

Dr George Alexander Turner (son of the Rev. Dr George Turner, author of 'Samoa A Hundred Years Ago and Long Before', London, 1884) was a medical missionary in Samoa from 1868 to 1879.

The journal describes two voyages through the Tokelau, Ellice and Gilbert Groups (Tuvalu and Kiribati) in the mission ship John Williams. The first voyage was from 26 May to 2 August 1874; and the second from 11 May to 21 July 1878. Much of the material is on mission matters, with occasional reference to matters of more general interest. See also the Bureau's newsletter Pambu January-March 1971:22, pp.1-6.

Harry J. Moors (1854-1926), was born in Detroit and died in Apia, Western Samoa. As an agent for the Hawaiian Board of Immigration, he made several voyages to the Gilbert Islands and Marshall Islands around 1880 to recruit labourers for Hawaii's sugar plantations. In 1883, he settled in Apia, Western Samoa, and became a successful trader and planter. Moors was closely associated with Robert Louis Stevenson during the novelist's five years (1889-1894) in Samoa, and in 1910 he published a book of reminiscences entitled 'With Stevenson in Samoa'. Moors stated in that book that Stevenson had once urged him to write down some of the wonderful stories he had related to Stevenson about his early career. Moors acted on this encouragement, and after Stevenson died, he wrote two novels, of which 'The Tokanoa: A plain tale of some strange adventures in the Gilberts' is one. Neither of the novels was published. See also the Bureau's newsletter 'Pambu', September 1968:4.

The novel is based on Moors' experiences in the Gilbert Islands [Kiribati] as a labour recruiter for the Hawaiian Board of Immigration. The title page states that it is compiled from the diary of John T. Bradley, labor agent.

Richard Branscombe Chave, was born in 1849, probably in England. He was manager of the guano diggings on Starbuck Island (part of the central Line islands of Kiribati) in 1871, when the island was under lease from the British Government to Holder Bros. of London. Subsequently, Chave appears to have returned to his profession as a sailor.

In 1871, Chave, then 22, was in charge of a guano team of three Europeans and 50 Rarotongans working on Starbuck Island. When provisions began to run low, and there was no sign of a brig which was to bring replenishments, Chave and three Rarotongans set off in a large boat to try to reach Malden Island, 120 miles away, which was being worked for guano by a Melbourne company. After becoming lost and surviving a capsize, the party reached Penrhyn Island, several hundred miles in the opposite direction. Later, Chave and a Penrhyn Islander tried to sail back to Starbuck Island, but again Chave became lost and he and his companion finally drifted to an uninhabited island, which proved to be Suwarrow Atoll, where they lived for two years before being rescued. Chave's narrative gives a vivid account of his adventures up to a point where he and his companion had been on Suwarrow for about nine months. For further details, see the Bureau's newsletter Pambu, Nov. 1968:4, pp.5-9 and Jan. 1969:6, pp.6-9.

A catalogue of the ethnographic items collected by the United States Exploring Expedition to the Pacific (1838-42) led by Commodore Charles Wilkes. The Expedition visited the Tuamotu Islands, Tahiti (in French Polynesia), Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Lord Howe Island, Australia, New Zealand/Aotearoa, Gilbert Islands (Kiribati), Marshall Islands, and Hawaii. The catalogue was prepared in 1846 by Titian Ramsay Peale, an artist-naturalist with the Expedition. A typescript version, prepared by the PMB, follows the original document on the microfilm. See also the Bureau's newsletter, Pambu, October-December 1971:25, pp. 4-7 and PMB MS 89 and MS 146.

Townsend and Moore were members of the US Fisheries Commission aboard the U.S. Fisheries Commission Steamer Albatross which made a cruise to the South Pacific in 1899 - 1900 under Commander Jefferson F. Moser, USN.

Ethnographic notes on the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu Islands, Society Islands (French Polynesia), Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, Fiji, Ellice Islands and Gilbert Islands (Tuvalu and Kiribati), Marshall Islands, and Caroline Islands.

Please see PMB MS 480 for full entry.

Reel 1: John T. Arundel's Diary - 02/011888 - 01/04/1891; Reel 2: Diary - 01/04/1891 - 31/12/1892. During this period, John T. Arundel & Co were involved in guano mining and coconut plantations in Kiribati.

Please see PMB 480 for full entry.

John T. Arundel's diaries as follows: Reel 1: Diary - 02/01/1888 - 01/04/1891; Reel 2: Diary - 01/04/1891 - 31/12/1892. During this period, John T. Arundel & Co were involved in guano mining and coconut plantations in Kiribati.