The Story of a Colony.

Manawatu Herald, 10 August 1897, Page 2

The Story of a Colony.

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DIVOBSKS " BT MUTUAL OONSKOT. The present population of these happy isles numbers 616, of whioh 077 are Cocoa born, the rest being Bantamese. Marriages are celebrated in acoordanoh with Moham* medan laws. Among Malays generally it is customary for the parents to arrange the marriages of their children, but under the Bosses at the Cocoa the European custom is imitated, each man being at liberty to make hia own choice. "If the woman gives him any ground," sayg the official Blue Book. "to hope that his attentions are not displeasing to her, it is customary for him ;.o make some little ornament or article for use with his own hands and present it to her. The usual present is a little comb of tortoiseshell worn in the back hair. One pretty little girl was in possession of eight of these combs. She gave us two of them, which had been presented to her by lovers who had since proved faithless. No man is allowed more than one wife." Divorces are by " mutual consent,*'; and are obtainable in the forms prescribed by Mohammedan law. .Only two have taken place up to March, 1897, since the year 1855. A PATERNAL GOVERNMENT. Now, let us get at a few facts in what may be called the economic working of the islands ; they are worth a hundred preliminary paragraphs about the Jubilee. The exports of the Cocos and Christmas islands are copra, cocoa nuts, cocoanut oil, beche de-mere, and a bark used for dyeing. Produce for the European market is called for once a year by a chartered vessel. Provisions of all kinds are obtained once a month from Batavia. This year, however, for the first time the Boss family are getting a shipment of stores from London consisting of clothing, crockery, tools, guns, fishing tackle, household utensils and other goods, the arrival and unpacking of which they are looking, forward to with intense interest. Rice is the chief imported article of consumption. It \3 served out every Monday. Each individual consumes about lib per day, and each family is allowed to buy to that extent. Sometimes the schooner is delayed, and the rice has to be dealt out sparingly. The surrounding, seas team with fish, and as no stakes or weirs are allowed rich and poor alike have the same chance of a successful angle. The natives draw sugar from the palm tree, but no toddy is allowed to be made by them for their own use. Formerly it was permitted, and the natives got drunk. Mr Boss stopped it, and the result has been a return to sobriety and good health. THE WORKING OF AN EARTHLY PARADISE. The Bantamese coolies have to import their wives from Batavia. The native born Cocos women will nob marry with them. The Malay women are remarkably " nioe looking," dress well, and " carry themselves uprightly." Many of the natives eat with knife, fork and spoon, have mattresses and curtained bed?, are scrupulously clean, use a brush and comb, and some of their houses are decorated with pictures from the English illustrated papers. Each native is allowed to buy a house, getting nearly all the materials free. Cocoa-nut oil and firewood are also provided, with a plot of ground 100 by 20 yards, and within that ring fence all the cocoa-nut trees they grow are their own. Eaoh family, moreover, may take cocoanuts for their own free use at any time between noon on Saturday and sunset on Sunday from any of the islands. Poultry is plentiful, but skinny ; in some of the islands English fowls have been turned loose and become wild. There are no snakes on the island ; but once | in a great number of years somej thing more terrible comes along in . the shape of a cyclone. I (The End.)