Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

NEW HEBRIDES

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 501 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

NEW See also:

HEBRIDES , a See also:chain of islands in the western Pacific Ocean, between 166° and 171° E., and 13° and 21° S., included in See also:Melanesia, and under the See also:joint See also:influence of See also:Great See also:Britain and See also:France. (For See also:map, see PACIFIC OCEAN.) From New See also:Caledonia to the S.W. they are separated by a deep channel; but a comparatively shallow See also:sea indicates their See also:physical connexion with the See also:Santa Cruz See also:group (q.v.) to the N. The chain lies S.E. and N.W., but the See also:main islands are arranged somewhat in the See also:form of the See also:letter Y. The See also:south-easternmost See also:island is Aneiteum; N.W. from this the main islands are See also:Tanna or Aipere, Eromanga, Efate,' the Shepherd Islands and Api or Epi. At this point the arms of the Y See also:divide, the western comprising the large islands of Malekula or Mallicollo and Espiritu Santo,2 the eastern consisting of Ambrym, Arag and Maiwo or See also:Aurora, with Aoba or Leper Island between the two arms. Espiritu Santo, the largest island, has an See also:area of 875 sq. m. Irregularly disposed to the N. of the Y are the lesser islands composing the See also:Banks group—Gaua, Vanua See also:Lava, Mota, Valua, &c., and the Torres Islands. With their rugged outline and See also:rich vegetation, the islands as seen from the sea are very beautiful. Excepting the small Torres group, which are See also:low-lying and perched on reefs, but without lagoons, all the islands are of volcanic, not See also:coral, formation, the larger ones lying on both sides of the See also:line of volcanic activity. The coasts are almost See also:free from reefs and the shores rise abruptly from deep See also:water. Old coral is sometimes found elevated to a considerable height. The islands are formed chiefly of See also:basalt and See also:recent eruptive material; earthquakes and submarine eruptions are not infrequent; and some of the islands themselves have active craters.

All have considerable elevations, the loftiest being the isolated See also:

cone of Lopevi, near the junction of the arms of the Y; its height is 4714 ft. The volcanic See also:soil is very rich. Numerous clear streams water the islands, but some debouch upon See also:flat ground towards the sea, and form unhealthy marshes there. See also:Copper, See also:iron and See also:nickel are the most important minerals known in the group, and See also:sulphur is of some commercial importance. The See also:climate is generally hot and See also:damp, but there is a See also:season (See also:November to See also:April) which is specially distinguished, as such, and is somewhat unhealthy. The trees—See also:Casuarina, See also:candle See also:nut (See also:Aleurites triloba), kauri See also:pine (or Tanna), various See also:species of Ficus, Myrtaceae and many others—are magnificent; the coco-nut is not confined to the See also:coast, but grows high up the valleys on the See also:hill-sides. See also:Sandal-See also:wood is also found. Besides the breadfruit, See also:sago-See also:palm, See also:banana, See also:sugar, See also:yam, taro, See also:arrowroot and several See also:forest fruits, the See also:orange, pine-See also:apple and other imported species flourish; and See also:European vegetables are exported to See also:Sydney. See also:Land mammals are scarce; they include bats, rats and pigs which have run See also:wild. There are some lizards and turtles; birds include pigeons, parrots, ducks and swallows; locusts, grasshoppers, butterflies and hornets are numerous, and the sea abounds in See also:fish, which, however, are generally inferior as See also:food, and in some cases poisonous. The native See also:population is estimated at 50,000; in 1904 the See also:British population was 212, the See also:French 401. The island of Efate contains the seat of the joint See also:government, Vila cr See also:Port Vila (formerly Franceville), and the See also:majority of the French population.

There are several British and French trading companies, and a considerable area is cleared and worked by settlers. The See also:

chief exports are See also:copra, See also:coffee, See also:maize, bananas, See also:timber, &c. ' Efate, Vate, See also:Fate, Efat or See also:Sandwich island. 2 Abbreviated to Santo; native Marina. The natives of the New Hebrides are Melanesians of mixed See also:blood, and vary much in different islands. On Efate and some others Polynesian See also:immigration has produced a taller, fairer and less See also:savage See also:people. In some parts, as on Aoba, isolated Polynesian communities exist. But the See also:general type is Melanesian: See also:black skin, woolly See also:hair, low, receding forehead, broad See also:face, flat See also:nose and thick lips. The natives decorate themselves with nose-rings and See also:ear-rings and bracelets of shells. The men are constantly fighting; their weapons are bows and poisoned arrows, often beautifully designed, clubs of elaborate patterns and spears. Their houses are either See also:round huts, or rectangular with pitched See also:roofs resting on three parallel rows of posts. The villages are scrupulously clean and neat, ornamented with flowering shrubs, crotons and dracaenas, and are often fortified with See also:stone walls.

In See also:

character the New Hebrideans are ferocious and treacherous, though most of their unhospitality and savagery is to be traced to the misconduct and See also:cruelty of traders and labour agents. The See also:women occupy a de-graded position, and in some islands widows are buried alive with the bodies of their husbands. There is a great belief in sorceries and omens; but See also:prayer and offerings (usually of See also:shell See also:money) are addressed mainly to the See also:spirits of the (recently) dead, and there is another class of spirits, called Vui, who are appealed to when incorporate in certain stones or animals; of one of two such the divinity is recognized generally. By the villages a space shadowed by a great See also:banyan See also:tree is often set apart for dances and public meetings. A certain sanctity attaches also sometimes to the Casuarina and the Cycas. An important institution is the See also:club-See also:house, in which there are various grades, whereon a See also:man's See also:rank and influence mainly depend, his grade being recognized even if he goes to another island where his See also:language is unintelligible. In like manner a See also:division into two great exogamous See also:groups prevails, at all events throughout the See also:northern islands. It would therefore seem that the See also:present diversity of See also:languages in the group must be of relatively recent origin. These languages or dialects are numerous, and mutually unintelligible, but alike as to grammatical construction, and belonging to the Melanesian class. See also:History.—The Portuguese Pedro See also:Fernandez de Quiros, sighting Espiritu Santo in 1606, thought he had discovered the great See also:southern See also:continent then believed to exist, and named it See also:Australia del Espiritu Santo. See also:Louis de See also:Bougainville visited the islands in 1768, and See also:Captain See also:Cook, who gave them the name they See also:bear, in •1774. The subsequent visits of several explorers, the exploitation of the sandal-wood and other products by traders and the arrival of missionaries helped to open up the islands and to give them a certain commercial importance by the See also:middle of the tgth See also:century.

See also:

Trade was mainly with New Caledonia, and France was thus indicated as the dominant See also:power in the New Hebrides; even British planters pressed France to annex the islands in 1876, but in the following See also:year some of the missionaries urged the same course on See also:England. In 1878 the islands were declared neutral by Great Britain and France. The presence of British and French settlers under See also:independent authority led to unsatisfactory See also:administration, especially in regard to the See also:settlement of See also:civil actions and See also:jurisdiction over the native population. As to the See also:establishment of commercial supremacy, French interests clashed with Australian, and in 1882 M. See also:John See also:Higginson of New Caledonia (d. 1904) consolidated the former by See also:founding the trading society which afterwards became the Societe franQaise See also:des Nouvelles-Hebrides. In 1886 one of the most serious of many native outbreaks occurred, necessitating a French demonstration of force from New Caledonia. An Anglo-French See also:convention of the 16th of November 1887 provided for the surveillance of the islands (See also:protection of See also:life and See also:property) by a mixed See also:commission of See also:naval See also:officers. The Anglo-French agreement of 1904 had a clause providing for an arrangement as to proper jurisdiction over the natives and for the See also:appointment of a commission to See also:settle disputes between British and French landed proprietors. In this and the following year there was much unrest among the natives, and a joint punitive expedition was necessary. Strong feeling was aroused meanwhile in Australia owing to the disabilities suffered by British settlers in the islands. British See also:annexation, cr at least a division of the group into British and French See also:spheres, was urged.

But on the loth of See also:

October 1906 a convention was signed in See also:London, confirming a See also:protocol of the preceding 27th of See also:February, and providing that " the group of the New Hebrides, including the Banks and Torres Islands," should form " a region of joint influence," in which British and French subjects should have equal rights in all respects, andeach power should retain jurisdiction over its own subjects or citizens. The claim of other See also:powers to See also:share the joint influence was excluded by the See also:provision that their subjects See also:resident on the islands must be under either British or French jurisdiction. A British and a French high See also:commissioner were appointed, each assisted by a resident commissioner; provision was made for two See also:police forces of equal strength, and the joint naval commission of 1887 was retained for the purpose of keeping See also:order. The high commissioners were given authority over the native chiefs. A joint See also:court was established, consisting of two See also:judges, appointed respectively by Great Britain and France, and a third, to be See also:president, and not a British subject or French See also:citizen, appointed by the See also:king of See also:Spain. Its jurisdiction covers civil cases (including commercial suits and those respecting landed property), native offences or crimes against non-natives, and all offences against the provisions of the convention. The See also:sale of arms and intoxicants to natives is forbidden; and the convention regulates the recruitment of native labour. See also:Pro-See also:vision was made for community of interests in regard to public See also:works, See also:finance and the See also:official use of the See also:English and French languages. The creation of municipalities on the application of groups of not less than See also:thirty non-native residents was provided for, municipal votes being given to both sexes. The convention provided against the establishment of a penal settlement and the erection of fortifications. This convention was bitterly criticized in Australia on the ground that many of the provisions which nominally established equality between British and French would operate in practice to the See also:advantage of the French; and there was no little dissatisfaction on the ground that the Australian government was neither represented at the preliminary See also:conference, nor fully consulted during the negotiations. See See also:Parliamentary Papers, France, No.

I (1888 and 1906) ; and " See also:

Correspondence See also:relating to the Convention ..." (Cd. 3288), (1907).

End of Article: NEW HEBRIDES

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
NEW HAVEN 		[next]
NEW IBERIA

Site © 2006 - Net Industries