Byers Island
Coordinates: 28 ° 32 ′ 0 ″ N , 177 ° 4 ′ 0 ″ E
The Byers Island ( Byers 'Iceland ) in the North Pacific wants Benjamin Morrell on July 12, 1825 28 ° 32' N; 177 ° 04 '' E. Morrell describes the Byers Island, which he presents as an already known geographical object, in all details in his work A narrative of four voyages . Nevertheless, it is a fictitious island sighting. Morrell's length data for the recently visited Pearl and Hermes Reef are sufficiently precise to be able to rule out the assumption that Byers Island is a length shift from Kure . Incidentally, the name Byers (the name of one of Morrell's employers, the New York merchant and ship owner James Byers) also suggests the Morrell origin of this hoax. According to Burton R. Pollin , Morrell's ghostwriter was the magazine editor and drama writer Samuel Woodworth.
Even if Morrell is perhaps not the personal author of this and numerous other forgeries, he undoubtedly accepted them with approval - as Woodworth's obvious client - or gave his name for them. The “souped-up” content of his book could not have remained completely hidden from him. Morrell sacrificed his literary and scientific fame to the promotional effects of Woodworth 's seaman's thread . This is unfortunate because “ … the truth itself was quite interesting ”.
Byer Island and Morrell Island are already listed under the heading DOUBTFUL ISLANDS AND REEFS in the Official Maritime Manual of 1899 . Nevertheless, they are still at a JRO - globe drawn from about 1960 along with four other phantom islands northwest of Kure.
literature
- Henry M. Stommel: Lost Islands. The Story of Islands That Have Vanished from Nautical Charts. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver 1984, ISBN 978-0-7748-0210-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Benjamin Morrell: A narrative of four voyages, to the South Sea, North and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopic and Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian and Antarctic Ocean, from the year 1822 to 1831 . New York 1832, p. 218 ( Benjamin Morrell: A narrative of four voyages. New York 1832 in the Google book search)
- ^ Henry M. Stommel: Lost islands . Vancouver 1984, pp. 17–19 (English)
- ^ Burton R. Pollin : Poe's life reflected through the sources of 'Pym' . In: Richard Kopley (ed.): Poe's 'Pym': critical explorations . Durham & London 1992, pp. 95–103, here p. 100 (English)
- ↑ Stommel, p. 26 f.
- ^ The Hawaiian Islands and the Islands, Rocks and Shoals to the Westward . Hydrographic Office, Washington 1899, p. 53, Textarchiv - Internet Archive