234 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



the coming of daylight we saw that our big Alba- 

 tross launch, which had been anchored far inshore, 

 had worked loose and vanished, and a search of 

 twenty miles out to sea failed to reveal her. From 

 the fo'c'sle there came excited rumors of the 

 launch's engine having been heard during the 

 storm of the past night, and hard on the heels of 

 this myth were ready explanations of strange men 

 who had found treasure on shore and, until now, 

 had hidden from us until opportunity offered for 

 escaping with their loot. But the prosaic fact was 

 doubtless that she had sunk after chafing through 

 her anchor rope, and is now the home of countless 

 fish and octopus. In her is one of my diving hel- 

 mets, a pair of Zeiss glasses, a bathing suit and a 

 box of cartridges — all of which are now returning 

 gradually to their original elements far beneath 

 the restless waters of Cocos. 



Man has had so little to do with this speck of 

 an island that all the historical facts we can gather 

 are of interest. 



As early as 1600 the Dutch circumnavigator, 

 Oliver de Noort, tried to find Cocos and failed, and 

 in 1615 another Dutchman, George Van Spilberg, 

 wishing to get coconuts and water there, missed it 

 because he had its position as south of the Line. 



In 1684 Dampier had a similar experience 

 aboard the Batchelors' Delight, so we lack the 

 careful and accurate account which this conscien- 

 tious observer would no doubt have written. In- 

 stead he quotes hearsay: 



"The Island Cocos is so named by the Spaniards, 



