1825-1854 17 



Borneo, Celebes, Java, Baly, Sumbawa, Timor, New Guinea, tlie 

 Cape, India and China. The extraordinary mixture of races in 

 the settlers is accounted for, partly because Hare's women were 

 recruited from various Eastern nations, and partly from the 

 fact that the crews of the Borneo and Hippoiiienes doubtless 

 contained the usual mixture of Asiatic seamen. 



It would seem that the original intention of Koss Primus, 

 of making his islands a depot for Eastern produce, did not last 

 long, for in 1837 — ten years after the original settlement — he 

 had turned his attention to the natural products of the atoll, 

 and describes his business as an " oil factory," and his trade 

 and communications were mostly carried on with Mauritius. 

 From this first establishing of the oil factory the whole 

 industry of the islands has sprung, for it is the coco palm and 

 its many useful products that form the sole commercial 

 importance of the group to-day. 



In connection with the coco palm a point of interest arises, 

 for Dana has said " there is no known instance that any island 

 never inhabited has been found supplied with coconut trees." 

 It is often said that the coco palms in Cocos-Keeling were 

 planted by Ross Primus, and it is pointed out that he did not 

 come to the atoll to work copra or oil, and did not make 

 mention of this industry until several years of his settlement 

 were passed. But Darwin, when he visited the atoll early in 

 1836, describes it as being thickly covered with coco palms, 

 and says that they constituted the whole prosperity of the 

 place, the only export being oil from the nut, and the nuts 

 themselves, which are taken to Singapore and Mauritius. 

 Further than this, we have seen that when Captain Le Cour 

 arrived in 1825 — before Ross Primus had even come to the 

 islands — he carved his name on the palm trunks ; and in 

 1753 Van Keulen described the islands as being "wooded." 



It is quite a mistake to suppose that the coconut is not 

 easily planted by the agency of the waves, for unlike many 

 other seed waifs that are borne in vain to the shores of coral 

 islands, the coconut will germinate and flourish within reach 

 of the salt water. Everywhere around the lagoon shores the 



