02283ntc a22002177i 45000010005000000080041000050400026000461000037000722450082001092640009001913000027002003360021002273370023002483380032002715000017003035060028003205201362003485330077017105400079017878560199018661366140313s1871    xx            000 0|eng d  aANU:PMBcANU:PMBerda1 aChave, Richard Branscombed1849-10aAutobiographical record - Adventures of a Guano Digger in the Eastern Pacific  c1871  a1 reel; 35mm microfilm  atext2rdacontent  acomputer2rdamedia  aonline resource2rdacarrier  aAU PMB MS 20  aAvailable for reference2 aRichard 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.  aElectronic reproduction:bCanberra :cPacific Manuscripts Bureau, d2014  aAvailable for referenceuhttp://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/copyright.php41uhttp://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/digital/catalogue/index.php/autobiographical-record-adventures-of-guano-digger-in-eastern-pacificzView this item in the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau Catalogue.