1298 AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



cells were frequently resorted to. This course of conduct, by driving the men to des- 

 peration, is to a large degree answerable for the criminality of New Caledonia. 



The social condition of the colony, as might be expected in a penal settlement, is 

 somewhat chaotic. Where the population is largely made up of liberated dcportcs and 

 their masters, it is natural to suppose that very decided social institutions may be looked 

 for in vain. A Governor is appointed by the French Authorities at home, who is 

 assisted in the administration of the colony's affairs by the heads of the various depart- 

 ments of the local Government service. He presides over a Council, composed of the 

 Director of the Interior, the Commandant of the Forces, the Chief of the Convict 

 Department and the Chief Justice. Two private citizens, nominated by the Governor, 

 represent the civil interests ; and matters relating to finance are regulated by four 

 members of the Municipal Council of Noumea, with three other nominees of the 

 Governor selected from the other municipalities. Justice is administered by a "Tribunal 

 of the First Instance" and a "Court of Appeal," sitting at Noumea; while four Jngcs- 

 dc-paix preside over Courts at Noumea, Onegoa, Bourail and Chepenehe. The primary 

 schools previously conducted by the Marist Brothers and the Sisters of St. Joseph, who 

 have in the past done much good work in New Caledonia, have of late years been 

 laicized under the law. of the Republic to that effect. 



The aborigines of New Caledonia comprise between thirty and forty thousand 

 persons. They belong to the Papuan race, being generally of a dark-brown colour, with 

 woolly hair, and are known by the general name of Kanakas. Small groups of families 

 collect into villages separated several' miles from each other, forming settlements of 

 different tribes,, speaking different dialects, and having each its own land limits. The 

 dwellings are of bee-hive shape, thatched with grass, and usually about twelve feet high. 

 The chief's hut is distinguished by being thrice as high, and is placed in the centre of 

 the village, with an avenue of trees before it for tribal dances or meetings. Here the 

 older men "spend the livelong day in gossiping groups round the fire, the low monotone 

 of their voices blending drowsily with the humming sound one of their number is 

 certain to be producing from the long reed pipe which forms their sole musical instru- 

 ment. The younger men make nets or mend weapons, repair canoes, or shape the 

 stones they use with deadly effect in their slings. The women flit about preparing food, 

 or bear provisions around the village, as they are the universal carriers; or perhaps they 

 may be seen cooking at the fire, using for the purpose the peculiarly shaped conical 

 earthenware pots which they make themselves. The natives clo not know the use of the 

 bow and arrow, spears and slings being their only missiles. The spears are made of a 

 peculiar wood, hardened in fire ; while the slings are of cord, the stones being rounded 

 like an egg, but longer and more pointed. Clubs are of various shapes, from those 

 with round heads to those that are bent and pointed like a pick. There is also the 

 chief's greenstone tomahawk. Before the coming of the French these savages were 

 enthusiastic cannibals. Their chief occupation is the cultivation of the faro, a root that 

 requires a good supply of water. This is conveyed in aqueducts constructed of earth 

 and wood, sometimes ten or twelve miles in length, and over terraces covering miles of 

 country on the sides of the hills. These- cultivation areas make a fine sight as seen 

 from some neighbouring elevation, with acre after acre of these terraces, each with its 



