Suwarrow (also called Suvorov, Suvarou, or Suvarov) is an island in the northern group of the Cook Islands in the south Pacific Ocean. It is about south of the equator and north-northwest of the capital island of Rarotonga. Geography Suwarrow is a roughly quadrilateral-shaped coral atoll, in circumference, with over 20 small islets (motu) surrounding a central lagoon . Cyclones have often created storm surges which sweep over the atoll since its small component of land is extremely low-lying. Table of Islets History Although Suwarrow was inhabited by Polynesians during prehistory it was uninhabited when discovered by the Russian-American Company ship Suvorov, which reportedly followed clouds of birds to the atoll on 17 September 1814. (The ship was named after Russian general Alexander Suvorov, who appears as "Suwarrow" in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan and also in Alaric Alexander Watts' alliterative poem "The Siege of Belgrade".) It has been only intermittently inhabited since. The atolls name has also been spelled variously as Souvorow, Souwaroff, and Souworoff. "Suwarrow" is the official spelling adopted by New Zealand. In the mid-19th century (records dispute whether it was in 1848 or 1855), a ship from Tahiti was carrying out salvage work when a box containing NZ$15,000 worth of coins was dug up. Some years later, New Zealander Henry Mair found pieces of eight in a turtle nest. Mair became involved in a dispute, the find was covered up, and it has never been rediscovered. John Lavington Evans was the first leasee of Suwarrow, who passes his lease to the Pacific Islands Trading Company Limited. Evans remained as the superintendent of the company’s operations in the Pacific. In 1867, Captain Handley B. Sterndale was engaged by the company and sailed with Evans from Melbourne, Australia to the Cook Islands (then known as the Harvey Group). While one ship was lost off the reef of Rarotonga, on 16 October 1867, Sterndale, Evans and 18 men, 2 women and 3 children (who had been engaged in Rarotonga), arrived at Suwarrow where they intended to stay and gather pearl shell, beche-de-mer and copra. Sterndale and the islanders were landed along with approximately 4 months supply of food and a water condensing apparatus to produce fresh water. Evans departed on the ship, with the expectation of returning within 4 months with food supplies. By the middle of March 1868, the provisions were exhausted and Evans had not returned.