Hermit Islands

The Hermit Islands are a group of 17[1] islands within the Western Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea. Their coordinates are 1°30′S 145°4′E.[1]

Nautical chart, Hermit Islands on bottom part

The first sighting by Europeans of Hermit islands was by the Spanish navigator Iñigo Órtiz de Retes on 29 July 1545 when on board of the carrack San Juan tried to return from Tidore to New Spain. He charted them as La Caimana (a female caiman in Spanish).[2] When passing by, Ortiz de Retes reported that some negroes got near the ship who flung arrows by hand without bows, that were made of flint suitable for striking fire.[3] These islands belong to Micronesian outliers.

References
  1. The Wuvulu Web Site - Geographical Names in the Western Islands
  2. Coello, Francisco "Conflicto hispano-alemán" Boletín de Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid, t.XIX. 2º semestre 1885, Madrid, p.317.
  3. Sharp, Andrew The discovery of the Pacific Islands Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1960, p.31.



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