IX THE COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS. 29 



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(fifteen miles distanf) and on the south islands, destroyed nearly 

 all the iron-wood forests, the most valuable timber the colonists 

 possessed. This tree grows often with a most curious arching 

 habit, and as the name they have given it indicates, its timber 

 is very durable. I saw a trunk on one of the islets which after an 

 exposure of over forty years was in every part perfectly sound ; 

 nnd a beam whose natural curve fitted without artificial bend- 

 ing the double arch of the ribs of a schooner of 200 tons building 

 on the stocks of the island. The vejretation of the islands is 



now almost entirelv cocoa-nut trees. 



The history of this commonest member of its family might 

 occupy a long and interesting chapter, if space permitted. 

 Few, perhaps, know it better than Mr. Koss ; and while enjoy- 

 ing the grateful shade and the delicious beverage that its 

 fruits supply, I passed many a pleasant half hour in listeniug 

 to his accounts of its growth and habits. As a rule it is a 

 branchless palm, but on West Island he took me to see its rare 

 occurrence as a branching tree, which, instead of fruiting spikes, 



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invariably produced persistent branches crowned with a bunch 

 of leaves— adding to the beauty of the already graceful palm. 

 Most nuts, as is well known, contain, on opening them, only 

 one ovary cavity, but, as the three eye-spots indicate, all nuts 

 ought to iiave, were they not naturally suppressed, three of these. 

 Many of the Keeling palms produce not only their full com- 

 plement of three compartments, but, what is more surprising, 

 some have as many as eight and even fourteen, 

 produce palms with a common root, but with as many stems as 

 they have cells. Under favourable conditions the cocoa-nut 

 can produce its first fruit within four years from the fall of 

 the seed nut from its parent tree, while it can go on for an 

 unknown period throwing out every mouth a new fruit spike 

 bearing from seven to fourteen nuts, which require from eight 



to thirteen months to ripen. 



The palms in the centre oi the islets grow to a greater height 

 —some of them to 120 feet,— on account of the deeper soil and 

 more abundant supply of fresh water, than those along the 

 shores, but the oil-producing capacity of their fruit is not,- 

 However, greater. More oil is obtained from nuts which have 

 formed during the early part, and ripened during_ the later 

 Months of the year. Mr. Eoss assured me that during every 



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