Art Thieme's posting of the song by Fred Moore had the words
"From Australia to the "Keeling Kokus(?)" isles"
and
EBarnacle1 wrote "The only niggle I have is that the islands are the Keeling-Cocos Islands."

I reckon Slocum ought to be much better known and welcome almost any song celebrating his achievement but, in Oz, those islands are universally known as the Cocos Keeling Islands.

Those who know the story will recall his passage of the Straits of Magellan and his encounter with the natives of Tierra del Fuego; he was convinced they meant to board the Spray and do him harm. He managed to convince them that his 'drop action' Martini Henry (very much a single shot rifle but quite accurate) was a repeating rifle and they were dissuaded. It appears that whole population of people, the most southern of any in the world, became extinct at some time in the subsequent half century.


Cheers, Rowan