FRENCH MELANESIA. 341 



brooks appear to be fed by thermal springs. Owing to the absence of hills to 

 intercept the rain-water, none of the Loyalty group have any permanent streams, 

 while the moisture collected in the limestone cavities is so charged with impurities 

 that the natives mostly prefer cocoanut milk. 



Climate - Flora — Fauna. 



Lying entirely within the torrid zone, New Caledonia has a mean temperature 

 of over 7U° F. But despite the moderating influence of the surrounding waters, 

 the difference is considerable between that of summer and winter. The Austral 

 summer is the season of rains, of variable winds and storms, which at times assume 

 the character of real hurricanes. But they are seldom felt in the northern part 

 of the island, where the trade winds with their regular atmospheric phenomena 

 prevail during the summer months. Although the average rainfall is about 40 

 inches, some districts, especially in the north, occasionally suffer from long 

 droughts. 



One of the most remarkable facts is the surprising salubrity of New Caledonia. 

 While so many other lands under the same equatorial zone are justly dreaded, 

 especially by European settlers, white labourers can here till the soil with 

 impunity, at times even in marshy districts. This privileged climate can be 

 explained neither by the influence of the trades or the sea breezes, nor by the 

 porous nature of the coralline coastlands, for the other oceanic regions within the 

 tropics enjoy the same advantages. The fringing reefs, however, are all " living," 

 not "dead," corals, as in the New Hebrides. But according to the natives and 

 colonists, the true cause of the excellent climate is the niauH {melaleuca leuca- 

 dendron), a beneficent plant, which flourishes alike on the arid slopes and in the 

 swampy tracts, and which would appear to be for New Caledonia what the 

 eucalyptus is for Australia. This member of the myrtle family, which in appear- 

 ance resembles the birch, supplies to perfumery the volatile oil of the cayaput, 

 like the other variety of melaleuca found in Buru, one of the Moluccas. 



While presenting great diversity according to the varied nature of the soil, 

 the New Caledonian flora is on the whole extremely rich, regard being had to the 

 small extent of the island. Brongniart enumerates 1,300 species, of which 1,100 are 

 dicotyledons, a fact which lends support to the theory that New Caledonia is but 

 a surviving fragment of a much larger region now submerged. In the volcanic 

 districts, the conifer, myrtle, and casuarina families are represented by several 

 special forms ; but in the same districts there is an almost total absence of herbaceous 

 vegetation, so that stock-breeding is here absolutely impossible. Even gardens 

 cannot be laid out on this thankless soil. 



The sedimentary formations, which prevail in the northern districts, have a 

 different flora in which both forest and grassy t^^pes are represented in great 

 variety ; but here the indigenous vegetation has already been modified by confla- 

 grations and clearings, and partly replaced by intruding plants, which are every- 

 where encroaching on the older forms. Amongst them is the andropogon allionii, 



