Maria Est
Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / height Missing
Maria Est ( other names: Moerenhouts Iceland, Wright Lagoon ) is an atoll that geographically accurate part of the Tuamotu Archipelago to the Actéon Islands in French Polynesia. The closest island is Matureivavao, 56 km north-west. The atoll was nicknamed " Est " to avoid confusion with the homonymous Atoll Maria ( Nororotu ) ruled that belongs to the Austral Islands.
Geography
The lagoon of almost oval atoll is surrounded by a nearly closed reef, from which rise numerous small, densely overgrown with tropical vegetation Motus. The Riffpassagen ( Hoa ) are very flat, so that a water exchange between the lagoon and the ocean takes place only at high water levels. The intense evaporation, coupled with a not always guaranteed water flow, resulting in increased salinity in the lagoon.
The 6 km long and 3.5 km wide atoll is surrounded by a dense forest covered coconut trees, interspersed with pandanus trees. Part of the coconut trees were planted. This does not permanently inhabited Est Maria is visited from time to time by residents of the neighboring islands to harvest the coconuts for copra production. A settlement does not exist on the island.
Politics and Administration
Maria Est belongs politically to the municipality Gambier ( Commune de Gambier ) and is managed by the Directorate Tuamotu - Gambier ( Subdivision des Îles Tuamotu - Gambier ) of the High Commissioner of French Polynesia (Haut- commissariat de la République française en Polynésie ).
History
Indication of the presence of Polynesian natives are not known. Due to the lack of freshwater is likely to be ruled out a permanent settlement. The island was discovered in 1829 by Jacques- Antoine Moerenhout, who sailed with the schooner Volador of Valparaíso on Pitcairn to Tahiti. On old maps the atoll is still listed as " Moerenhouts Iceland ".
Thomas Ebrill, the British captain of the schooner Amphitrite, who acted with pearls and sandalwood, landed in 1832 to Mary Est. He described the island as long, low and densely forested in the interior. He could see no sign of any inhabitants.
The name " Wright Lagoon ", Maria Est by Captain Bothwick Wright ( also Wight ), which reached the atoll on 27 March 1837 his ship Medway. The Medway was a British ship that brought convicts to Australia. Wright considered himself the first discoverer and reported that the island was uninhabited forested and dense, it would grow there, but no coconut trees.
The German ethnologist and colonial historian Dr. Georg Friederici (1866-1947) reached Est Maria on July 18, 1909, the expedition steamer Natuna in a scientific expedition to German New Guinea, as well as the English and French colonies in the South Pacific. He, too, found the island uninhabited before, but guessed that the lagoon from time to time visited by pearl divers.
Others
Jack London describes the island in his short story "The seed of McCoy " as: " A bad place, a very bad place "