Pirate's Cove, Cocos Island, Wafer Bay

The Cocos Islands, also known as the Cocos-Keeling Isles, lie in the Indian Ocean and were discovered by the British seafarer William Keeling in 1609. The frequent haunt of pirates and buccaneers throughout the seventeenth and eigtheenth centuries as they preyed upon the rich East Indiamen en route home to Europe from China, the first permanent settlers did not arrive until 1823, when the adventurer Alexander Hare arrived to set up a harem and retinue of slaves brought from the Malay archipelago. Other settlers followed soon afterwards and in 1857 the islands were placed under British protection until they became part of the Australian territory in modern times.
We are grateful to Michael Naxton for his assistance in preparing this lot.