Editing History of Kiribati (section)

== Further exploration ==

[[Image:Makin Islander.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Portrait of a native of the [[Makin (islands)|Makin]] islands, drawn by [[Alfred Thomas Agate]] (1841)]]

In 1820, the islands were named the ''îles Gilbert'' (in French, Gilbert Islands) by [[Adam Johann von Krusenstern]], a Russian admiral of the [[Czar]] after the British Captain [[Thomas Gilbert (captain)|Thomas Gilbert]], who crossed the archipelago in 1788. In 1824, French captain [[Louis-Isidore Duperrey]] was the first to map the whole Gilbert Islands archipelago. He commanded [[French ship Astrolabe (1811)|''La Coquille'']] on its circumnavigation of the earth (1822–1825).<ref name="KSDDM">{{cite journal|author1=Chambers, Keith S.|author2=Munro, Doug|title=The Mystery of Gran Cocal: European Discovery and Mis-Discovery in Tuvalu|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_89_1980/Volume_89,_No._2/The_%26apos%3Bmystery%26apos%3B_of_Gran_Cocal%3A_European_discovery_and_mis-discovery_in_Tuvalu,_by_Doug_Munro,_p_167-198/p1|year=1980|volume=89|issue=2|journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society|pages=167–198|access-date=24 March 2015|archive-date=15 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215134048/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_89_1980/Volume_89%2C_No._2/The_%26apos%3Bmystery%26apos%3B_of_Gran_Cocal%3A_European_discovery_and_mis-discovery_in_Tuvalu%2C_by_Doug_Munro%2C_p_167-198/p1|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Two ships of the [[United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842|United States Exploring Expedition]], {{USS|Peacock|1828}} and {{USS|Flying Fish|1838}}, under the command of Captain Hudson, surveyed the [[Gilbert Islands]] of [[Tabiteuea]], [[Nonouti]], [[Aranuka]], [[Maiana]], [[Abemama]], [[Kuria (islands)|Kuria]], [[Tarawa]], [[Marakei]], [[Butaritari]], and [[Makin (islands)|Makin]]{{sfn|Stanton|1975|pp=212, 217, 219–221, 224–237, 240, 245–246}} (then called the Kingsmill Islands or Kingsmill Group in English). While in the Gilberts, they devoted considerable time to mapping and charting [[reef]]s and anchorages.<ref>Tyler, David B. – 1968 ''The Wilkes Expedition. The First United States Exploring Expedition'' (1838–42). Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society</ref> [[Alfred Thomas Agate]] made drawings of men of [[Butaritari]] and [[Makin (atoll)|Makin]].<ref>The extensive report of the expedition has been digitized by the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. The visit to the Gilbert Islands (then called the Kingsmill Islands) is described in Chapter 2 in volume 5, pp. 35–75, 'Ellice's and Kingsmill's Group', http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/usexex/</ref>

At one time, a subset of the northern Gilbert islands was known as '''Scarborough Islands''' and a subset of the southern Gilberts as the '''Kingsmill Group'''; in some 19th century texts, this last name of Kingsmills was applied to the entire Gilberts group.<ref name="Kingsmill">Very often, this name applied only to the southern islands of the archipelago, the northern half being designated as the Scarborough Islands. ''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, 1997. p. 594</ref>