44 CORAL AND ATOLLS 



ordered or more contented community than that of Cocos- 

 Keelmg, and everything about the settlement shows clearly 

 the imprint of his master hand. Every scheme is his, and 

 every detail of its execution is the object of his thought, and 

 the outlet for his energies ; and to this day George Ross 

 remains a man as quick to think, and as ready to act upon the 

 thought, as in the day upon which he felled the murderer and 

 won the hearts of his people. 



In 1889 Inin his wife died, to the sorrow of the whole 

 population, and it was not until 6 years after that he married 

 Ayesha, his present wife. 



In 1901 the quiet seclusion of his island home was some- 

 what broken by the advent of the cable, and its necessary staff 

 of workers, to Pulu Tikus ; but the presence of visitors from 

 the outside world has not in any way upset the peaceful 

 routine of coral island life. Cable routes run to Pulu Tikus 

 from Perth in Australia, from Mauritius and Africa, and from 

 Batavia in Java ; and so the news of all the world is known in 

 this quiet spot. Yet so remote is Cocos and its settlement 

 that even the busy messages of politics and commerce merely 

 pass across its coral shores, and leave it still with all its wonted 

 aloofness from the world and its strivings. 



George Ross is still the one man in Cocos, and Cocos and 

 its men still possess the same detachment from the world that 

 has been their characteristic for the last 80 years, and it is to 

 be hoped that for long this state of things may remain. 

 Coined money is still unknown, for the parchment notes of 

 George Ross are the sole medium of exchange ; crime hardly 

 exists, and without police or military, perfect order prevails. 

 To chronicle a tithe of the doings of George Ross is impossible, 

 for the life of the man has been a succession of stirring scenes, 

 in every one of which he has been the central figure, and in 

 every one of which he has played a man's part. A strong 

 man and a good one, he has the rare privilege of seeing his 

 work perfected, and of recognising in every corner of his home 

 the order and prosperity he has brought about by his life's 

 work, and the peace that he may long be spared to enjoy. 



