THE COCO ISLANDS 55 



of the Andaman Islands, gives them a very remarkable 

 interest of their own. 



The names of the islets are — Table Island, which 

 is a mere plot of not much more than looo acres ; 

 Great Coco, which is quite a respectable island, more 

 than 7 miles long ; and Little Coco, which is about a 

 fifth the size of Great Coco. On a clearing on the 

 highest point of Table Island, at an elevation of 105 

 feet above high-water mark, stands an iron lighthouse, 

 90 feet high, whose powerful fixed light is visible at 

 a distance of 22 miles. In the days before the light- 

 house, the Cocos were a terror to mariners, on account 

 of the reefs by which they are surrounded and the 

 cruel currents which sweep round them, to whose 

 power the remains of several wrecks still bear witness. 



On this occasion we merely touched at Table 

 Island to verify the position of the lighthouse, as 

 several reports had been made that its latitude was 

 not correctly shown on the charts. The observations 

 taken by the officers of the Investigator, however, 

 proved that the charts were perfectly correct in this 

 respect. 



It being the season of the north-east monsoon, 

 we landed, but not altogether without difficulty, on 

 the southern beach, and on our way to the lighthouse 

 we passed the inevitable little grave-mounds of our 

 wandering race. Go where you will, from the remotest 

 coffee-plantations of southern India to the camping- 



