Fed.- 2, 1903,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
515 
COOOS ISLANDS. 
Governor Sir P A Swettenham forwards to 
Mr Ghamberliiin a report by Mr. L H Clay- 
ton, District Officer, Ohristr»ias Island, wtio 
was deputed to pay the annual visit to the 
Cocos Islands. Sir Frank r-einarks ; — " The 
report shows that the islands continue to 
prosper under the paternal rule of Mr. George 
GUiuies-Koss and that the people are on the 
whole well-to-do and contented. There are 
no new developments which call for special 
remarks " Mr Clayton reports that the 
islands are still happy and contented, though 
they euffiered severely from a cyclone in 
March, when the natives ran to lagoons and 
stood up to their neoks in water, as the only 
place of safety. Existence at Cocos Islands 
is otherwise uneventful, but they now have 
a doctor, who is a great acquisition, for 
hitherto cases of illness have been cMagno-sed 
and treated by telegraph from Perth (Western 
Australia) The next great event will be the 
establishment of a Lloyd's signal station. 
The following is extracted from the re- 
port :— 
I have nothing to add to what has been stated 
in former reports as to the excellent condition of 
the Cocos and Bantainese villages. The Cocos- 
born people are tidier and more attractive than 
the Baniamese, and, in the same way, the village 
of the former presents a better appearance, but in 
neither case did I see anything to call for adverse 
comment. 
I visited Direction Island, a portion of which lias 
been leased to the Eastern Extension Telegraph 
Company, Tlieie are resident theie at present in 
temporary buildings Mr. Cameron and nine 
European assistants, with 14 Chinese servants and 
four Malay boatmen. In addition to these there 
are three Europeans and 39 Chinese engaged on 
the erection of permanent buildings for the staff. 
Ei:;ht or nine houses of various sizes will be re- 
quired, and I should imagine it will be over a year 
before the staff are finally settled down. The 
chief diffiuulby that they have encountered has, 
lunderscand, been the lack of water. No water 
is obtainable on Direction Island, and at first they 
were supplied from the other islands hy boat. A 
condenser has now been erected, and as the build- 
ings are completed wacer will be collected from 
the roofs. Tlie yearly rainfall is almost certainly 
over 80 inches. 
In order to avoid the necessity of chartering 
ships to take the copra away, Mr 6o*s has recently 
purchased a sailing vessel, the " Broughton," a 
barque of 571 tons rei^ister. The only shipment of 
copra made in the past year was one of 706 tons 
sent to Europe by this vessel in May last. The 
quality of the Cocos copra appears to be as high as 
ever, as the shipment fetched the excellent price 
of £18 5a per ton, the hij^hest figure reached for 
some years. There have been no other exports. 
About 190 tons of copra were in store ready for 
shipaient. and I was told that 15 tons were pro- 
duced in an average week's work. 
The natives complain about their clothes. I 
share MrCirter's opinion, in last year's rp|)ort, 
that the difficu ty of obtaining nice clothes is 
obviously not insuperable. A sailing race was also 
held for prizes <»i^ en by Comnmnder MaL-Hntehin, 
and the winners had tbeir choice of a piece of 
serge or a pair of substfiutial boots as prizes. The 
serge was chosen, as the men explained that boots 
were of no use except to dance in. 
The ship went to Nortli Keeling with Mr Koss 
on board. The island has only once been visiied 
(1893) by a man-of-war, and in that vear Mr Koss 
decided not to continue working; it. No one had 
in consequence set foot there for nine yearn. 
Under the circumstances I was surpri-ed to find 
that the undergrowth was not particularly thick, 
and that we bad little difficulty in getting about. 
The house formerly occupied by Mr Ross was 
standing, although of course out of repair. The 
stock of food left in case of shipwreck had not been 
touched, and the well was in good order. Only 
slight damage had been done by the cyclone, and 
Mr Ross decided after inspection to work the island 
again in October. Every tree and bush is covered 
with thenests of frigate-birds, boobys,gannets, terns, 
&c. The birds are quite tame and have no tear of 
man. The white tern, to my mind the prettiest of 
all, is most inquisitive, and rumbers of them kept 
fluttering round our heads. Mr Russ showed us one 
of the bird's egg in situ. It has been laid so as 
to rest between two ribs of a cocoa-nut leaf, and 
was so *placed that the swaying of the leaf in the 
wind did not shake it off. There was no nest of 
any kind. 
During my stay at the Cocos very few complaints 
were made to me, and those chiefly by the women. 
Poverty and the high prices ciiarged at Mr. 
Ross's store were the prmcipal grievances, but 
it did not seem to me there was much foundation 
for them. Mr. Ro.^s told me that he had already 
detected among his people sigtis of restlessness 
owing to presence of the employees of the Telegraph 
Company, I cannot say, however, that I observed 
any indication of it. 
The extraordinary influence exercised by Mr. 
Ross over the natives, and the wonderful success 
of his administration, made a great impression 
upon me, and I am confident that so long as 
the present proprietor retains his health there need 
be no fear that justice will not be faiily and 
evenly administered, or that welfare of the inha- 
bitants will not be properly attended to. So long, 
moreover, as the conditions of life are as favour- 
able as they are at present, I do not think that 
any complaint can be made if every legitimate 
inducement is held out o natives to remain there. 
— London and China Express, Dec. 5. 
CEYLON TEA IN VIENNA. 
We have received a copy of the illustrated 
"Wiener Bilder" of December 24th, which 
contains, beside Mr. Marinitsch's regular 
advertisement, nearly a page of illustrations 
devoted to " Tea Culture " with correspond- 
ing letter press and a portrait of Mr. Marin- 
tisch— all of which is well calculated to 
interest readers in our staple industry and 
the product recommended to their notice. 
The writer, who has gained his informa- 
tion while interviewing Mr. Marinitschin his 
warehouse in Vienna, gives a full and in- 
teresting account of tea cnltivfition, packing, 
and exports. As the duty i>n tea in Au>tro- 
Hungary is double that levied in Germany, 
it must still be too dear to become the 
people's drink, which, he says, it ought to be 
throughout the Continent. 
