COCOS— THE ISLE OF PIRATES 239 



negroes and three of our men desert here and ab- 

 scond in the woods. The names of our men are 

 Higgins, Caulker and Shingle. The anchorage 

 here being rocky we have sadly gaul'd both our 

 cables. After continuing here a month, we weigh 

 and set sail, from whence I take my departure, 

 January 20th." 



It would be interesting to know the fate of the 

 stout Anglo-Saxon, aptly-named trio, Higgins, 

 Caulker and Shingle. 



In 1740 Anson sighted the island but did not 

 attempt to land, altho his ships needed water. A 

 scepticism which was unfortunate, in this case at 

 least, kept them from benefitting by the lavish 

 supply of precious water, and is voiced by Richard 

 Walter in his record of Ajison's voyage: "Indeed 

 there was a small island called Cocos, which was 

 less out of our way than Quibo, where some of the 

 Buccaneers have pretended they found water; but 

 none of our prisoners knew anything of it and it 

 was thought too hazardous to risque the safety of 

 the squadron and expose ourselves to the hazard of 

 not meeting with water when we came there on the 

 mere authority of these legendary writers of whose 

 misrepresentations and falsities we had almost daily 

 experience." 



In the summer of 1793 Colnett was here on the 

 Rattler, on a voyage which had for its purpose the 

 extension of the spermaceti whale fisheries, and the 

 investigation of anchorages which would be useful 

 to the whaling fleets. He had come from his first 

 visit to the Galapagos, where he christened Hood 



