The Story of a Colony.

Manawatu Herald, 5 August 1897, Page 2

The Story of a Colony.

♦ Before steam was adapted to the propulsion of 6hips the Indian ocean and the Malayan Archipelago made a fine cruising ground for traders and adventurers. Before England destroyed the naval power of the Dutch and Portuguese these countries sent vessels out and even to-day portions of coast lines and islands remain in their possession. We mentioned the other day how a large portion of Borneo became a part of the British Empire and now we can tell an interesting siory, culled principally from an Imperial blue* book, of the occupation and possession of a few small islands in tho Indian ocean. In that great piece of water lying between the east coast of India and the west coast of Burraah may be seen a line of islands lying parallel with the long tongue of land stretching away from the continent of Burmah and ¥ Siam and forming part of Lower Siam and the Malay peninsula. The line of islands start from the north of Sumatra and are variously called, the Nicobar islands which once the property of Denmark were given up in 1869 to Great Britain to enable piracy to be better suppressed ; then the Andaman islands come next, in tbe line, and on these the inhabitants are dwarfs and in the lowest 3tate of barbarism. Here the Indian government made a penal settlement for the Sepoy rebels in 1858, and here, it will be remembered that the Earl of, Mayo, Viceroy of India was assassinated by a convict in * the year 1972 when going on board the steamer. We have only mentioned these islands to enable our readers to grasp the position of the Cocoa or Keeling islands which lie between the north of tbe Andamans and the south west of Irawadi. . „ . ' 1 In the. description of the British possession in the East these islands do not get much attention, yet they make an interesting story, as the description is thus given — " Tbe Gocos or Keeling Islands, a coral group in the Indian ocean, on the route from Ceylon to Australia, have since 1886 been a dependency of the Straits Settlements." The name Cocos is evidently derived from the latin definition of tbe Cocoanut tree. It is a wonderful plant as they grow readily and . supplies the inhabitants with almost all they need, as bread, water, wine, vinegar, brandy, milk, oil, hooey, sugar, needle?, clothes, thread, cups, spoons, basin;', baskets, paper, masts for ships, sail?, cordage, nails, covering for their houses are obtainable from the cocoanut tree. It will be interesting to note that as lately as 1890 Captain CluniesRoss who is the Governor of these inlands, and a direct descendant from the pioneer, visited tbe home of his fa'hers in Shetland. Neh Basir. tbe oldest inhabitant, - related the story of the settlement to an administering officer of the •Government of the Straits quite recently, and it is set forth in a Blue Book just issued. The Raja of Bandjt-r made a present of the old man's mother and 200 other people to one Alexander Hare, who went off with the mother, and had many iidventuiv.-. in Malacca, Borneo, and Java. Neh Basir was. born of this union at Malacca. After some years tbe old man, his father, resolved to go to the Cape and take his people there. To do this he had to pro* cure for them certificates of emancipation from slavery, which lie . obtained from Sir Stamford Raffles. After a stay of some years at tbe Cape, Hare returned with his son tind many of his people to the Goods Inlands, which they found wholly unoccupied. Now, in the meantime, a certain Scotsman named Ross, tbe grandfather ol the present proprietor, had " discovered " the uninhabited islands, trad, going straightwayjiome to Scotland, induced a number «f bis countrymen and women to go thither and colonise under his directions and with his practical aid and assistance. When he and they disembarked, lo and behold the islands were occupied ! Hare and bis people had returned. Oddly enough they had been conveyed from the Capo in a vessel commanded by Ross's own brother. The two fac- , tiona lived on bad terms for some* years, and many of Ross's peopleleft the place. Rosa and a few others, however, held on, and event- .. ually by their industry and pluck wore out the globe-trotting Hare. An idle man of eccentric and unreliable nabit9, his followers deserted his standard and went over to Ross. Hare retired to Singapore to die, and ever since the Ross family have governed and managed the islands and made them prosperous. Away from the ordinary track of ships, with a growing native population, the Rosses are monarchs of all they survey, and there] is probably no happier community under the sun.