FRENCH MELANESIA 351 



tary post. Most of the ores are shipped at Caillou, on the Diahot estuary. The 

 road from this port leads aci'oss the mountain down to the historic village of Balade, 

 the first sighted by Cook in 1774, and the first occupied by the French in 1853. 



Kanala, founded in 1859, may be regarded as the capital of the east coast ; it 

 lies near a deep inlet, completely sheltered by a hilly peninsula, and is both a 

 mining and agricultural centre. The nickel of Kanala, Houailou and Thio, 

 worked almost exclusively by Australian miners, who spread the English language 

 amongst the natives, is the richest and purest hitherto discovered in any part 

 of the world. 



A few short railways traverse the mining districts ; but the general communi- 

 cations are still in a backward state, notwithstanding the fact that the government 

 has at its disposal over ten thousand labourers. 



The inhabited islands depending on New Caledonia — Art and Pott in the north, 

 the Island of Pines at the southern extremity of the barrier reefs — have neither 

 large villages nor frequented ports. The last mentioned is a penal settlement, 

 where the three thousand Communists, formerly working in the forest clearings, 

 have now been replaced by Kanaka exiles, invalid or aged convicts, and others 

 condemned to perpetual banishment. 



In the Loyalty group the centre of administration is established at Chépénéhé, 

 in the island of Lifu, a port frequented by traders from Sydney. 



Some 300 miles west of New Caledonia, a large atoll, comprising the islets of 

 Chesterfield, Bampton and Avon, occupies the centre of the waters flowing between 

 New Caledonia and the Great Barrier Peef south of the Coral Sea. In 1878, 

 France took possession of this group, though it had been discovered by English 

 navigators in 1793, and afterwards surveyed by British exploring expeditions. 

 Great Britain and Australia have accordingly protested against this political 

 annexation. Chesterfield and the neighbouring islets, formerly much frequented 

 by whalers, have some guano deposits worked by a few traders. 



Administration. 



Till 1860, New Caledonia was regarded as a dependency of the French 

 Oceanic establishments, of which Tahiti was the centre. Now it is administered 

 by a Governor assisted by a Colonial Council, comprising the chief local officials, 

 two notables, and some municipal delegates. Noumea is the only commune 

 possessing a municipal council, the colonists in the rest of the island being 

 represented by an elective Colonial Council, and in France by a special delegate to 

 the C^olonial Ofiice. The judicial system is the same as in France, the native 

 chiefs acting as magistrates for crimes committed in the tribe. The police, also, 

 are recruited from the natives in Noumea and throug'hout the island. 



New Caledonia proper comprises the five circumscriptions of Noumea, Kanala, 

 Bourail, Oubkche and the North. The yearly budget varies from £80,000 to £120,000, 

 and since the occupation the colony has cost France altogether £8,000,000. 



