Spelling Of Guadalcanal

Letter to the Editor FURTHER to your article headed “With an L or an R?” the following, writ ten by Labillardiere, one of the nat uralists in D’Entrecasteaux’s Expedition in search of La Perouse (1791-93), in his account of the voyage, and published in 1800, may be of interest: : “During the night the currents carried us into a large channel along the eastern island formerly called the Island of St. Christopher, and which makes part of Solomon’s Archipelago, discovered by Mendana “We ran very close along the islets named the Three Sisters; we then plied to windward, in order to get to the south ward, and sail out of the strait which separates the island called by Mendana, Caudal Canal, from that of St. Chris topher’s.”

At that time, therefore, the name was spelled with an L.

I am, etc.,

John W. Dixon