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NEW CALEDONIA (Fr. Nouvelle-Caledonie)
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NEW See also:CALEDONIA (Fr. Nouvelle-Caledonie) , an See also:island in the western Pacific Ocean, belonging to See also:France. (For See also:map, see PACIFIC OCEAN.) It is about 250 M. See also:long, and has an extreme breadth of 35 M. and an See also:area including adjacent islets of 6450 sq. m.; is situated at the See also:southern extremity of See also:Melanesia, between 20 5' and 22° 16' S., and between 164° and 1670 30' E., and, like all the See also:chief islands of that See also:chain and the chain itself, lies See also:north-See also:west and See also:south-See also:east. An almost unbroken barrier See also:reef skirts the west See also:shore at about 5 m. distance, enclosing a navigable channel; on the east, which is more abrupt and precipitous, it is much interrupted. To the north the reefs continue, marking the former See also:extension of the See also:land, for about 16o m., ending with the Huon Islands. The Isle of Pines, so called from its araucarias (its native name is Kunie), geologically a continuation of New Caledonia, lies 30 M. from its south-east extremity. It formerly abounded in See also:sandalwood, and consists of a central See also:plateau surrounded by a See also:belt of cultivation. At the two extremities of New Caledonia, parallel See also:longitudinal ranges of mountains enclose valleys; for the See also:rest the island consists essentially of confused masses and ranges of mountains, rising to an extreme See also:elevation of 5387 ft., the plains being chiefly the deltas of See also:rivers. The landscape is See also:rich and beautiful, varied with See also:grand See also:rock scenery, the See also:coast-See also:line being broken by numerous small bays, into which flow streams rarely navigable even for See also:short distances, but often skilfully utilized by the natives for See also:irrigation; and sometimes flowing in subterranean channels. The larger rivers in the wet See also:season See also:form impassable morasses, especially in the S.E., where the mountains rise in isolated masses from See also:flat plains. See also:Geology.1--Speaking generally, New Caledonia may be described as a See also:band of Palaeozoic and probably See also:Lower Palaeozoic rocks, associated doubtless with some Archean beds; this band runs from north-west to south-east, through the whole length of the island. The second See also:element in the See also:composition of the island consists of Mesozoic beds, which occur in a broken band along most of the south-western coast. Most of the island is occupied by the band of the old rocks, which include See also:mica, glaucophane and sericite-See also:schists and slates; there are small intrusions of See also:granite, and numerous dikes and masses of basic eruptive rocks. The slates are inter-bedded with limestones containing fossil brachiopods, which have led to their determination as See also:Silurian or Devonian; but L. Peletan classes all these limestones as Triassic. Triassic beds of the Pacific coastal type occur in a band along the south-western coast. They are covered by marine See also:Jurassic beds and they in turn by Cretaceous See also:coal-bearing, terrestrial deposits, resembling those of New See also:Zealand. According to E. Glasser, the basic igneous rocks which are associated with the See also:mineral deposits of New Caledonia were intrusive in See also:Cainozoic times, at the severing of the connexion between New Caledonia and New Zealand. New Caledonia is See also:part of the Australasian See also:Festoon, and in its See also:general characters resembles the geology of New Zealand. The See also:main mineral deposits are the See also:nickel ores, occurring as See also:veins of garnierite, associated with See also:peridotite dikes, in the See also:ancient rocks of the eastern slope of the island. ' The basis of knowledge of the geology of New Caledonia was laid by Gander, See also:Ann. See also:des Mines, See also:ser. 6, vol. xii. (1867). Later accounts are by E. Glasser, " See also:Les Richesses minerales de la Nouvelle Caledonie," Ann. des Mines, ser. to, vol. iv. mem. pp. 299-392, pl. xi., and vol. V. mem. pp. 29-54, 503-701, pl. ii. and xii. (1904); and by L. Peletan, Les Richesses minerales des colonies frantaises (See also:Paris, 1902),
See also:Climate, See also:Flora, See also:Fauna.—The hottest and wettest months are from See also:December to See also: Mammals are very few; they include the See also:rat and Pteropus and other bats. The commonest birds are pigeons (the large notou and other varieties), doves, parrots, kingfishers and ducks. The kagu (Rhinochetus jubatus), a See also:peculiar " wingless " See also:bird, is found here only. Turtle abound on the coast, and See also:fish, of which some kinds, as the tetrodons (globe-fish), are poisonous, especially at certain seasons. Land and marine molluscs are numerous, and include various edible kinds.
See also:Population.—At the See also:census of 1901 the population of New Caledonia numbered 51,415, consisting of 12,253 See also:free Europeans (colonists, soldiers, officials), 29,106 natives, 1o,o56 convicts. In 1898, however, the introduction of convicts into the island ceased. The centres of population are Noumea (Numea), the See also:capital, on a fine See also:harbour of the west coast near the southern extremity of the island, with 7000 inhabitants; Bourail, an agricultural See also:penitentiary (1800); La Foa, in the centre of the coffee plantations; Moindu, St See also: This is the prevailing type in the east and south of the island. There is nowhere a real defining line between the two (many New Caledonians having black skins and woolly hair with Polynesian superiority of See also:limb), but the Polynesian type is generally found among the chiefs and their kindred. Both sexes among the natives See also:pierce the lobes of the See also:ear for ornaments. See also:Tattooing is almost entirely confined to the See also:women. Both sexes go naked, or with the scantiest See also:loin-See also:cloth. Their huts are usually beehive-shaped, with a single apartment, See also:low narrow See also:door, and no See also:chimney. There are various degrees of hereditary chiefships, and a supreme chief recognized by all. As in some other Pacific islands, when a son is See also:born the chiefship passes to him, but the See also:father continues to govern as See also:regent. All See also:property descends to the eldest son by See also:birth or See also:adoption, though See also:custom demands that the younger members of the See also:family should have a See also:share. The See also:people have to See also:work on the chief's plantations and See also:fisheries, and also work in parties for each other, breaking up new land, &c. This often ends in feasting and in dances (pilu pilu), which include allegorical representations of events or ideas. The supreme chief's authority is limited by the See also:advice of a See also:council of elders, whom he is obliged to summon in certain emergencies. The See also:standard of morality is low; women are practically slaves, and See also:infanticide was formerly See also:common. The Kanakas are excellent agriculturists, being accounted See also:superior in this See also:matter to every other See also:race of the Pacific. About the See also:middle of the 19th See also:century the indigenous population was 60,000. Returns for 1904 showed that this had fallen to rather less than See also:half. The See also:languages of the different tribes are mutually unintelligible. They See also:express abstract ideas imperfectly. Thus there are several words for eating, each applied to a particular See also:article of See also:food. Their reckoning shows the same peculiarity. The See also:numbers go up to five, and for living See also:objects the word bird is added, for inanimate See also:yam, for large objects See also:ship.' There are other terms for bundles of sugar-canes, rows (planted) of yams, &c. ; and sometimes things are counted by threes. Ten is two See also:fives, 15 three fives, 20 is a " man " (ten fingers and ten toes), 10o is " five men," and so on. See also:Administration and See also:Industries.—The See also:colony is administered by a See also:governor, who exercises military See also:power through a marine See also:infantry See also:colonel, and See also:civil power with the assistance of a privy ' A similar usage exists in See also:Malay; see See also:paper by See also:Yule in Jour. A nthrop. Inst. ix. 290.council, a director of the interior, a judicial head, and a director of the penitentiary administration. There is also an elective general council. Noumea is the seat of a superior tribunal, a tribunal of first instance, and a tribunal of See also:commerce. The island and its dependencies are divided into five arrondissements. Noumea alone has (since 1879) a See also:municipality, other localities being administered by commissions. There are about 1600 sq. m. of cultivable lands in the alluvial valleys, where coffee, maize, tobacco, sugar-cane, the See also:vine, vegetables, potatoes, and some of the cereals are grown with success. Coffee was introduced about 187o, and has prospered well. Cheap agricultural labour is supplied by the convicts, by the liberated convicts, the Kanakas, and (to some extent) labourers from the New See also:Hebrides. The See also:soil is in three domains: that of the See also:state, for the working of which concessions may be granted; that of the penitentiary administration; and that of the native reserve. Many horses, See also:cattle and See also:sheep have been imported, and the See also:meat-preserving See also:industry is prosecuted. See also:Gold is found in the valley of the Diahot, as well as See also:lead and See also:copper at Balade: See also:Iron is found everywhere. The yearly output of nickel and chrome is considerable, and these minerals, with See also:cobalt, constitute the characteristic See also:wealth of the island. Coal has been worked near Noumea, and See also:kaolin is found in places. See also:Gypsum and See also:marble also deserve mention. The chief See also:industrial establishments are smelting furnaces for cobalt, meat-preserving See also:works at Ouaco, sugar-works and distilleries at Noumea and La Foa, tobacco, oil and See also:soap factories at Noumea. The commerce in 1888 amounted to £480,000, of which £200,000 represented the trade with France. In 19oo the See also:total had risen to £8zo,000, of which £480,000 was for imports and £340,000 for exports, the share of France in that See also:year having been 45% of imports and 47 % of exports. The island imports wines, See also:spirits, tissues, clothing and ironmongery; and exports ores, nickel, cobalt and chrome (which represent over three-quarters of the total exports in value), preserved meats and hides, coffee, See also:copra and other colonial produce. There are about 150 M. of See also:carriage roads, and in' the mountainous regions there are many footpaths. A railway See also:running north-westward from Noumea to Dumbea, &c., is designed to connect the capital with Bourail. The islands annexed to the colony of New Caledonia are the Isle of Pines, used as a See also:place of detention for habitual criminals; the See also:Loyalty Islands (q.v.), E. of New Caledonia; the Huon Islands, a practically barren See also:group; the See also:Wallis See also:Archipelago (q.v.); and Futuna and Alof a, S. of the Wallis group. See also:History.—New Caledonia was discovered by See also:Captain See also:Cook in 1774. He touched at the haven of Balade (the See also:original name of the island) near the north-western extremity, as did d'See also:Entrecasteaux in 1793, who closely explored the coast and surrounding seas. They subsequently became known to sealers and traders in sandalwood, who, however, established no friendly relations with the natives. In 1843 French missionaries arrived at the island, and it was claimed for France, but on See also:British representations the claim was renounced. In 1851 a landing party from a French See also:vessel lying at Balade was attacked by the natives, and massacred with the exception of a single member. France was now determined on the See also:annexation, and the See also:flag was raised at the same spot in 1853, but simultaneously the See also:commander of a British vessel was in negotiation with the native chief of the Isle of Pines, and the British flag was hoisted there. The chief, however, subsequently sided with the French, and the British claim was finally withdrawn. The capital, Noumea, was founded in 1854 (it was then called See also:Port de France); in 186o New Caledonia became a colony distinct from the French possessions in the Pacific at large; in 1864 the first penal See also:settlement was made on Nou Island, off Noumea. In 1878 there was a serious native insurrection, and another in 1881 was only put down after much bloodshed. See H. See also:Riviere, Souvenirs de la Nouvelle-Caledonie: l'insurrection canaque (Paris, 1881); Gallet, La Nouvelle-Caledonie (Noumea, 1884); Cordeil, Origines et progres de la Nouvelle-Caledonie (Noumea, 1885) ; C. See also:Lemire, La Colonisation ... en Nouvelle-Caledonie (Paris, 1878) ; Ibid. (Noumea, 1893) ; Voyage a pied en Nouvelle-Caledonie (Paris, 1884); M. A. Legrand, Au pays des Canaques (Paris, 1893) ; Moncelon, Le Bagne et la colonisation pe'nale a la Nouvelle-Caledonie (Paris, 1886) ; A. See also:Bernard, L'Archipel de la Nouvelle-Caledonie (Paris, 1895) ; Nouvelle-Caledonie, ses richesses, son avenir (Paris See also:Exhibition, 1900) ; G. See also:Griffith, In an unknown See also:Prison Land (See also:London, 1901); See also:Carol, La Nouvelle-Caledonie miniere et agricole (Paris, 1900) ; Vallet, La Colonisation francaise en Nouvelle-Calidonie (Paris, 1905). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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