268 ; H. B. GUPPY, M.B., 
extent on familiar ground, and many of the ioral plants 0; 
Keeling Atoll were in truth old acquaintances of mine. 
My remarks will refer almost entirely to the original plants 
of these islands, and I shall endeavour to describe the early 
condition of the flora before the final occupation of the grouy) 
by man between 60 and 70 years ago. At present the 
original plants are being rapidly exterminated by the culti-. 
vation of the cocoa-nut, so that in a few years’ time it would : 
be a very difficult matter to collect the materials for a pape: 
of this kind. According to Mr. Keatmg (Holman’s Travels, 
vol. iv), who left the atoll in November, 1829, after a resi- 
dence of 12 months, these islands were first occupied by 
Captain Le Cour, of the brig “ Mauritius,” in 1825. Wher: 
Captain Ross, the grandfather of the present proprietor, 
established his family there a year or two afterwards, hv 
found, according to Mr. Keating, some characters, apparently 
Arabic, cut on the trees. Not tmprobably these character 
marked the visit of some adventurous Bugis traders, whose 
prau had been blown there from the SeNE of the Indian 
Archipelago. In fact, Mr. Ross informs me that one of these 
crafts, with a starving crew on board, had been picked uy 
about 200 miles east of the Keeling Islands, The circum: 
stance that the early settlers in the first quarter of thi 
century found the islands of Keeling Atoll frequented by 
myriads of sea-birds that have been banished altogether 
since the final occupation by the Ross family, goes to show 
that there had been no previous permanent residents on the 
islands for a considerable period. In truth, after examming’ 
the earliest accounts and maps of these islands, I find 
nothing to show that man has ever inhabited them before 
the present century. There have been numerous visits, anc: 
several ships have probably been lost there; but Mr. Ross 
assured me, on several occasions, that there never had bee: 
discovered any trustworthy evidence of an earlier permaneni 
occupation of the islands; and it cannot be doubted tha’ 
the original inhabitants would have left some such evidenc: 
behind them. I therefore take the standpoint that the 
Keeling Islands have never been permanently occupied by 
man before the present century. 
This being: so, it is remarkable that when these isolated 
oceanic islands were first settled on, they possessed numbers 
of cocoa-nut palms. Van der Jagt* and oe testify to 
the great prevalence of these palms in 1829, and Darwin, in 
* Verhand, Batav. Genootschap der K., Deel xiii ; Batavia, 1832. 
