Within recent years there has been a marked return of interest in the remote islands of the Pacific, since these islands have now acquired a strategic value on account of the Empire and Pan-American Flying Routes. In the following pages an attempt has been made to link up their history with the development of the guano industry from Hobart Town by the ships employed by the late Hon. W. L. Crowther, F.R.C.S., C.M.Z.S. in his whaling and timber interests.