INSULAR A I 'S'l'RALASIA. 



297 



criminal class. Many of those who have been deported for even serious offences are 

 remarkable for their quiet and orderly temperament and capacity for hard work. This 

 is particularly noticeable in convicts from the country districts, and these form the best 

 material for the operation of the experiment of regeneration. Of this, the late 

 Governor, M. Pallu de la Barriere, was the enthusiastic apostle. A man of great individu- 

 ality of character, with 

 vast enterprise and much 

 philanthropy, he did 

 much the same kind of 

 work in New Caledonia 

 as Macquarie did in early 

 New South Wales. This 

 officer gave special atten- 

 tion to the opening up 

 of the country by means 

 of good roads, employing 

 tor the purpose the more 

 dangerous criminals who 

 had hitherto been kept 

 in idle confinement at the 

 He Nou. To the better 

 behaved men he gave 

 grants of land, to be held 

 during good behaviour. 

 His short term of au- 

 thority saw great pro- 

 gress and substantial re- 

 forms ; but since his un- 

 timely .recall due, it is 

 believed, to a charge of 

 too great leniency in his 

 treatment of the convicts 

 the colony has drifted 

 back almost to the stage 

 at which he found it. M. 

 de la Barriere offended 

 a certain class by dis- 

 countenancing the ill- 

 treatment of convict la- 

 bourers. The masters, in 

 many instances, carried 

 matters with a very high 

 hand, and the lash and 

 imprisonment in private 



KANAKA 



M:\V CAI.KIM >X1A. 



