The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-29
THE ROMANCE OF AN ISLAND.
How the Ross Family Settled ana
sim Governs the COcOs.
From the Saturday Review.

From the Saturday Review.
There has always been a minority OF
serious-minded politicians-of whom the
late Lord Derby was supposed to be the
type and exemplar-ready to maintain, de-
spite the sneers of an incredulous world,
that blue books are the most interesting
form of reading, however scant their
claim to be regarded as literature may
be. If every blue book were as interesting
as that officially headed Straits Settle
ments," and described as Papers reIat-
ing to the Cocos-Keeling and Christmas
Islands Ito be purchased from her maj
esty's printers for the modest sum of
shilling), it may safely be prophesed that
the blue book would run the novel hard in
the race for the Circulating Library
stakes. The story of the colonization of
the Cocos-K ceiling Island or group of coral
islands in the Indian ocean, is not, of
course, entirely new to students of the
literature of travel in Eastern seas; but
never before have We had such a graphic
picture of one of the most fascinating of
island communities as is contained in the
series of reports which the colonial Office
has now presented to parliament. The
Cocos were first attached TO the Straits
settlements administration by letters pat
en- granted to the governor in 1886, and
each year since that date-with single
exception-an official visit of inspection
has been paid to the islands from Singa-
pore. 1t is the reports of these visits and
one by z. W.. Birch, on a visit to the
Islands in 1885, which make up the bulk
or these papers; and as the duty of in
specting the islands was never twice en-
trusted to the same officer, we have. as it
were, in the different reports a small gal
lery of impressionist pictures by various
nahos OF the most remote of British pos
The history of the Cocos group goes back
TO the early days of the present century
when couple of adventures, Hare and
Ross by name, almost simulta neouslv eff
fected settlement on the hitherto unin-
habited islands 1t turned out that il
was Hare who had to go to the wall, and
since 1877, when the original Ross first
| settled on the group, a Ross has ruled
| the Cocos. The first two Roses. the
| grandfather and father of the present pro
| prietor, ruled the islands, as their High
| land ancestors had held their lands. bv no
| "sheepskin title" and il was not until 1856
that the British government, having form
| ally annexed the group, made grant to
george Clunies Ross of that which was
| already his own. There had been a formal
| annexation of the group in 1857 by a Brit
| ism man-of-War; but until eleven wears
| ago the Ross dynasty was practically un-
| fettered by any outside interference and il
| IS to the credit of the colonial office and
| British common sense that even now the
Ross family is left practically with a free
| hand TO govern the islands by the tradi-
| tional methods sanctioned by past exper-
| fence.
The Cocos Islands, some twenty in num-
| Der, are situated i'm the Indian ocean. to
| The southwest of the Dutch island of lava
far removed from the ordinary trade
routes. They form a roughly broken cir
Gle, with a shallow lagoon in the center
| protected by an outer barrier Of reefs
The popoulation at the present time num-
oers about six hundred, of whom the
| greater portion are native born Cocos PEG
! pie and the minority Malays from Bata
via. The Ross family are the only Euro
| peans inhabting the group, and though
! All the male members of the third genera
| ion were educated in Scotland, and ar
| described as well educated quick and in
| elligent, they have almost all CONTRACTED
native marriages and thrown in their To-
| win the people among whom they live
Their sons and daughters, with few excer-
| lions, neither speak nor understand Ene
hsh, and George Clunies Ross, the head
Of the family. and a man of remarkable
| force OF character, was at one time eirp-
| zen years without hearing English sp0k-
en-, and confessos to being a litue rusty in
its use
The system of government is sufficiently
| remarkable. There are no written laws,
and Mr. Ross has successfully resisted
the suggestion that the penal code of the
Straits settlements should be introduced
into the Islands. There Is no police force
and no crime. Mr.. Ross owns the whole
OF the land and is the sole employer Of la
Dor. The currency Is a parchment curren-
cy. convertible at a fixed ratio into
rupees or dollars when an islander makes
rare visit 90 Batavia or Singapore. or
| when a Bantamese coOlie leaves the is
land to return home. The natives. who are
Malays by race. profess Mahometanlsm,
but there n the utmost freedom in relig-
ious matters, and the influence IN the Ross
family, exercised through three-quarters
OF aFcentury free from disturbing ele-
ments, has effected many striking
changes in the habits and customs OF the
people. one after another the officials
from the mainland confess that they dnd
II difficult 10 Institute a comparison be-
tween the Cocos-born Malays and the
Malays with whom they have previously
been brought into contact The Cocos Is
landers live In neat houses comfortably
furnished on the European model. and
kept scrupulousy clean. They have adopt-
ed the institution OF a weekly washing
day, and sic az table to eat their food
with the aid OF knives and forks
But It Is not only in cxternals that Eu-
ropean influence Is clearly dscernibie.
''The marriage laws" Hugh clifford states
in the 1894 report. (which TO most Malavs
represent the Alpha and Omega OF Ma
hometan law, have been entirely suppressed
ed by the English marriage customs Poiy-
gamy Is unknown on the island. az any
rate amongs the Cocos-born Malays. and
public opinion on the subject la sufficiently
storing to induce any Bantamese who has
more than one wife to dispense with this
superfuity." The sole export OF the ISL
and Ia copra, which Is sent once "a year In
a vessel chartered for the purpose by Mr..
Ross to England for sale From England.
too. supplies FOR the islands are obtained.
although formerly everything was bought