Henderson Island is a coral island raised above the South Pacific Ocean. No people live on it. The island is
9. 6 kilometers long and 5. 1 kilometers wide. It has an area of 37. 3 km2. Henderson Island became a World
Heritage Site in 1988 because of its bird life.
     All the four kinds of special land birds ( Henderson Crake, Henderson Fruit Dove, Henderson Lorikeet and
Henderson Reed-warbler) can only be seen on Henderson Island. There are also fifteen nonlocal seabirds. Other
local things include nine kinds of plants ( of the sixty-three kinds on the island),four kinds of land snails (蜗牛) ( of the sixteen kinds),and one butterfly ( the only kind on the island).
     Although no people live on Henderson Island, archaeological (考古的) evidence suggests that a small
Polynesian group lived here between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries until it disappeared. The reasons for its
disappearance are unknown, but are probably related to the similar disappearance of the Polynesians on Pitcaim
Island. The Hendersonians would have depended on them for many of the basics of life.
      On January 29,1606, Henderson Island was discovered by Portuguese sailor Pedro Femandes de Queiros,
who named it San Joao Baptista. On January 17, 1819, the island was rediscovered by British Captain
Henderson of the British East India Company ship Hercules, and named Henderson Island. On March 2,1819,
Captain Henry King, sailing on the Elizabeth, landed on the island to find the Union flag already flying. His crew
scratched (刻) the name of their ship on a tree, and for some years the name of the island was Elizabeth or
Henderson.
      In the early 1980s, American businessman Arthur M. Ratliff expressed interest in buying Henderson Island,
and establishing a small settlement with an airstrip (飞机跑道), farm, and large houses. But the British Foreign
and Commonwealth Office refused it at last, after environmentalist groups persuaded them to protect the natural ecology and environment(生态环境) of the island which became a World Heritage Site later.