The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-09-05
THE ISLE OF PINES.
How the Natives Dodge Insects-CocOa-
nuts and TrePang Fishing-HOt Soil,
rChamber's JourDaI


the southern seas and elsewhere by the
imperial government of France some
years ago, and among whose number M.
GARNER holds a place of special dis
tinction, were the first European visitors
to the isles which form little southern
archipelago beyond the large island of
New Caledonia The latter, French
territory, promises to hold an important
place in the future history of colonies,
in consequence of its present use as a
penal settlement. Its small neighbors
have many points of interest, both as
regards their physiognomy, theirnatural
products, and their inhabitants. Bu-
alabio, one of the most beautiful, is en-
tirely forsaken by the natives, who have
been utterly routed by mosquitoes.
When the commission informed their
black guides that their services would
be required for an exploration of the
fertile BualabiO and its vast cocoa-nut
forests, they were very -discontented /;
and the exploring party ceased to blame
them, when, within six yards of the
shore, their plrogue was enveloped in a
swarm of sanguinary little creatures,
which never gave them an instant's
peace during their stay. The party was
accompanied by several gold-washers,
who were charged with investigating
the sands of the rivers and, as they
had necessity to stand still while using
their selves, the flies had ample oppor-
tUnity to torture them, and nearly drove
them mad, though a Kanak stood be-
side each washer, waving a thickly-
leaved branch, in the vain hope of scat
tering the enemy. The unhappy naked
natives jumped about incessantly, and
never failed to fling themselves head
foremost into every pond or stream they
came to. In spite of this dreadful
plague, two Frenchmen have established
themselves in the simplest and most
primitive fashion at Bualabio, where
they are making cocoa-nut oil.
NJ. GARNER tells us that the annual
product of one cOcOa-nut tree, all ex-
penses deducted, is half a crown. On
thousand in full bearing, and the pro-
duct might be doubled by an improve
ment in the method of making the oil.
One other source of commerce exists in
BualabiO. 1t is the huge molluse which
the Chinese call trepang, and which
alb, unds ON the reefs. The fishing for
this curious creature is in the hands of
few individuals, but it might be ex-
tended into lucrative trade. The tre-
pQ1lg varies in length between few in
ches and yard, and is like fat, ugly
worm, two or three inches thick, with
hardly any interior arrangements. Its
capture is an easy matter at Bualabio,
Ill fine weather, and the best quality is
sold at Noumeo, on the mainland, for
ESQ per ton. But in Chira the price is
more than double, for in the China seas
the trepGng fishing is a matter of skill,
patience and courage. In the months
of October and November, the Malays
equip thousands of junks for the gather
ing of this hideous zoophyte on the
treacherous coasts, where they have to
dive or to drag at great depths in order
to get at their prey. At Bualabio the
fishermen walk about at low water
among the reefs, and has merely to
gather up the trepang with his hands
and put them into his basket. One
man can easily collect "a worth in a
day. even quoting the article at its price
at Noumea.
The solitude and stiffness of the is
land of BualabiO are very impressive,
and contrast painfully with it's richness
and beauty, which there are none to
admire but two Frenchmen and innu-
merable flies. A mountainous island
called Ouen, at distance of two days
per pirogue, offers utterly different
features, and is thickly inhabited. 1t
has little beauty; it is not fertile; yet
it is perhaps one of the most curious
places on the face of the earth, and it
may one day, in the far future, be the
scene of a great industry, and the source
of gigantic wealth; for the inferior of
the island, whose boundaries are great
bare peaked precipices, Is almost ex-
clusively composed of iron ores of
speroidal form, and all sizes which are
massed together, now in even plains ex-
tending over many thousand square
miles, again in great heaps which have
given way under the action of the rains,
and spread out, leaving a gigantic cone
of iron standing alone.
Such is the Mamie, on the northeast
of the island. Few plants can subsist
on this metallic soil and, after the sun
has been shining for several hours, it is
impossible to rest on the ground, while
even the thickest sOles do not avail to
protect the feet from the blistering
heat. The streams are few, and their
scanty waters so hot that the explorers,
having halted to bathe, and looking for
ward to that refreshment with eager
ness, found themselves, to their infinite
disappointment, plunging, as they be-
heved, into hot springs. But it is only
that the bed of the river boils the water,
unprotected by vegetation from the
burning rays of the sun. In this
hn oI, b L.,
seen to greater advantage than else
where, and may be more justly esti-
mated. In consequence of the poverty
of the soil, the Ouen islanders are OBJ
hged to resort to the mainland for their
plantations. The immense madreporic
shoals of the south give them fish,
shell-fish, and turtle; the sand islets
supply them with the eggs of sea-birds
and of the turtle, and it was by accom-
panying them in their expeditions to
eprovision-stores that M. Garnier
learned to appreciate the intelligence,
the adroitness, and the skill of those
island folk. When they are seen stroll
ing about the streets of their wretched
towns, entirely naked, the only express
sion in their faces that of cold indiffer-
ence, they inspire disdain; but when
one follows them on board their piro-
CUES, in which many a European would
not dare to set his foot, and sees their
gallant strife with the sea, which RACES
and foams over the boat and its crew,
one is lost in admiration of their intre-
pidity, their self-possession, and their
promptitude.
At Ouen the immense bivalves called
"benitiers" are found in great abun-
dance, but it is difficult to procure
perfect specimen. because the larger
valve is always deeply imbedded in the
corals, with which, in the long run. it
becomes incorporated. The inhabitants
of this huge shell usually keeps the
upper valve open, feeding on everything
that the waters bear to him; but occa-
siOnally, either at the approach of dan
ger, or that he may seize his prey, he
clashes the two valves so violently one
against the other that the noise may be
heard from afar, and is like that of a