Indian Ocean: Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is a small territory of Australia locatedin the Indian Ocean, 2600 kilometres (1600 mi) northwest of Perth in Western Australia and 500 kilometres (300 mi) south of Jakarta, Indonesia. Right: Wanderlust 3 lies at anchor in a cove at Christmas Island.

It maintains about 1,600 residents who live in a number of "settlement areas" on the northern tip of the island: Flying Fish Cove (also known asKampong), Settlement, Silver City, Poon Saan and Drumsite. It has a unique natural topography and is of immense interest to scientistsand naturalists due to the number of species of endemic flora and faunawhich have evolved in isolation[1] and undisturbed by human habitation.

While there has been mining activity on the island for many years, 65% of its 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi) are now National Park and there are large areas of pristine and ancient rainforest. For centuries, ChristmasIsland's isolation and rugged coasts provided natural barriers to settlement. British and Dutch navigators first included the island on their charts from the early seventeenth century, and Captain William Mynors of theBritish East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary, named the island when he arrived on Christmas Day, 25 December 1643. The island first appears on a map produced by Pieter Goos and published in 1666. Goos had labeled the island Moni.

The earliest recorded visit was in March 1688 by William Dampier of the British ship Cygnet, who found it uninhabited. An account of the visit can be found in Dampier's Voyages, which describes how, when trying to reach Cocos from New Holland, his ship was pulled off course in an easterly direction and after 28 days arrived at Christmas Island. Dampier landed at the Dales (on the West Coast) and two of his crewmen were the first recorded people to set foot on Christmas Island. The next visit was by Daniel Beekman, who described it in his 1718 book, A Voyage to and from the Island of Borneo, in the East Indies.

In 1771, the Indian vessel, the Pigot, attempted to find an anchorage but was unsuccessful; the crew reported seeing wild pigs and coconut palms. However, pigs are not known to have been introduced to the island at the time, so the Pigot may have found a different island.

Mike Harker

s/v Wanderlust 3

The next leg is to Cocos (Keeling) Atoll, about 600 miles.