The Story of a Colony.

Manawatu Herald, 7 August 1897, Page 2

The Story of a Colony.

THE HAPPY COOOa PEOPLE. Indeed, in his book, " Wandering! in the Eastern Archipelago," Mr Henry 0. Forbes calls them " the happy Cocoa people." How the first Scotch owner found and colonised the islands, and, dying, left the mission of proprietorship and government to his son, is a romance of real life that makes the pages of Forbes's book (quoted bj the official Parliamentary report) delightful reading. The present owner of the islands, the third in succession by the sudden death of his father, found himself while studying engineering at Glasgow endowed with this extraordinary property. Abandoning all the more ambitious plans of his life, he gave himself up to the new position, threw himself into all the interests of the islanders, devised and carried out liberal plans for their improvement, married a Cocosborn I wife, who shared his ideas and interests, and they became the I parents of the people rather than their masters. Those who have felt the fascination of Sancho Panza's government in " Don Quixote " will at once appreciate the interesting story of tha real thing, a cluster of tropical island-) in the hands of a young Sootoh student who, rising to the occasion, governs and controls them with extraordinary presoience. His name will live in the history of the Indian Osean, to the fruitful shores of which he brought the new music of steam mills, buz saws, and the clang of the anvil. The general education of the children was placed under the direction of a younger brother who was trained in a Scottish university. This was ten years ago. The new Blue Book shows how the Rosses have increased and multiplied and replenished the earth and pro* vided for a succession that promises a long reign. PLEASANT MEMORIES. The Boss olan are a fine, hardy handsome raoe. They have been well educated, *re quiok and intelligent, can turn their hands to any* thing } they are courteous, and their hospitality is unbounded. If the Blue Book makes one fairly thirst to take the first ship that is likely to put in anywhere near the islands* and make holiday there, the narrative of Mr Forbes is still more fascinating. The Cocoa people are a superior class of Malays, and the rough work of the islands is done by - imported coolias from Java. Besides gathering the nuts and preparing the oil, which is exohangad for food or paper money at Batavia, every Cocoa boy has to learn to work in brass, iron or wood ; and the men are experts in various handicrafts. Every Cocos girl has her turn of apprenticeship in Mrs* Ross's bouse, learning sewing, cooking, and every housewifely duty as practised in European homes. " I shall not forget," says the traveller, " the deft handmaiden — female servants were employed to do all the household work — who attended to my room; she was a tall Papuan whir had been rescued from slavery (now one of the Oooos people), ana in whom all the grace of body and limb that she had inherited from her raoe had desoended under the happy circumstances of her new position into the perfection of the human female figure. She could not have performed her work with more neatness and dexterity. With all the respect of a servant she mingled a kind solicitude in looking after my i comfort and attending to my wants, which aa a daughter of the island to its guest she might without pre--Bumption< use. A fresh rose was daily laid upon my pillow, and on the folded down counterpane, while that the water in my basin might seem fresher than its sparkling self she sprinkled it with fragrant rose leaves." - - (To be Continued.)