The Inhahifauti. 19 



It will be necessary in the fnture to exercise considerable care 

 both in the clearing of the forest and in the introduction of animals, 

 such as pigs and goats, likely to lead to its destruction, for if 

 the disafforesting of the island were carried out to any very great 

 extent the rainfall would be at once reduced, and there would be 

 danger lest the torreiitial doM'npours of the wet season should lead 

 to the gradual removal of much of the soil left unprotected by 

 vegetation. 



Inhabitants and Present Condition of the Island. 



At the time of the visit of H.M.S. "Eg^ria" (Ca])tain Ahlrich), 

 in 1887, the island was found to be entirely uninhabited, and 

 there was no indication that it had ever been occupied. A few 

 ships, probably whalers, seemed to have touched at Flying Fish 

 Cove, for some of the large trees had letters cut on them [3], 

 and !Mr. Andrew Clunies Ross told me that there was a report 

 current in Batavia that some thirty years ago five men of 

 a Dutch vessel were cast away on the south-east coast, where 

 they remained for several months. One of the party is said to 

 have died, and the others were at last rescued by a Dutch ship. 

 Captain Maclear also mentions f"3] that one of his officers heard 

 a similar report. 



Towards the end of 1887 the rocks collected during the visit 

 of H. M.S. "Egeria" were submitted to Dr. (now Sir John) 

 Murray for examination, and he detected among the specimens 

 from the higher parts of the island some which consisted of nearly 

 pure phosphate of lime ; it is to this discovery that the island owes 

 its fiirther development. 



Early in 1888 Dr. Murray sent Dr. H. B. Guppy to explore the 

 island and work out its structure. He went to Batavia, and thence 

 paid a visit to the Cocos-Kecling Islands, of which he has given 

 a valuable account ; ^ but as far as Christmas Island was concerned 

 the expedition miscarried, and he returned to England in February, 

 1889, without having reached it. 



In the meanwhile Sir John Murray had given such information 

 to the Government as led to the annexation of the island in June, 

 1888, as already mentioned above (p. 2), and in November of the 

 same year a settlement was established at Flying Fish Cove by 

 Mr. G. Clunies Boss, of Cocos-Keeling Island, and since that date 

 this gentleman's brother, Mr. Andrew Clunies Boss, with his 

 family and a few Cocos-Island Malays, have resided there almost 

 continuously. By them houses were built, wells were dug, and 

 small clearings for ])lanting coffee, coconut-palms, bananas, and 

 other plants were made in the neighbourhood of Fh'ing Fish Cove. 



Scottish Geographical ilagazine, vol. v (1889), pp. 281, 457, 569. 



