t the proposition was
impracticable under the circumstances.

From the showing of official accounts, this French colony of New
Caledonia must be one of the most absurd that exists. The military and
naval force far exceeds in number the whole civil population; and this,
too, when the natives are quiet and submissive, few in number, and fast
dying out through the inordinate use of the worst kind of tobacco,
pulmonary consumption and other concomitants of civilization not
necessary to enumerate. Contrast this with the rich and populous
province of Victoria, which has only three hundred and fifty soldiers;
with Brisbane, which has only sixteen to a population of one hundred
thousand; and finally Tasmania, which has only seven soldiers for two
hundred thousand colonists!

It was believed formerly that New Caledonia was rich in gold-mines, and
the principal object of the expedition of M. Garnier was to discover
these. After one or two short excursions in the neighborhood of Noumea
he set out on an eight months' journey through the entire eastern
portion of the island. The plan which he adopted was to double the
southern extremity of the island, sail up the eastern coast between the
reefs and the mainland, as is the custom, stopping at the principal
stations and making long excursions into the interior, accompanied by a
guard of seven men. This plan he carried out, though some parts of the
country to be explored were inhabited by tribes that had seldom or never
seen a European. His testimony as to the almost unexceptionable kindness
of the natives, cannibals though they are, must be gratifying to those
who accept the doctrine of the brotherhood of man. Of the natives near
Balarde he says: "The moment you land all offer to guide your steps, and
in every way they can to satisfy your needs. Do you wish to hunt? A
native is ever ready to show you the marsh where ducks most abound. Are
you hungry or thirsty? They fly to the cocoanut plantation with the
agility of monkeys. If a swamp or a brook stops your course, the
shoulders of the first comer are ever ready to carry you across. If it
rains, they run to bring banana-leaves or make you a shelter of bark.
When night comes they light your way with resinous torches, and finally,
when you leave them, you read in their faces signs of sincere regret."

Captain Cook, in his eulogies of these gentle savages, probably never
dreamed that they were anthropophagi, and if he had known the fac