The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-01-19
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LIFE AT LA NoUvELLE.

Easy Time French ConVlctS Have Tn
 New Caledonia-In a Natural Para
 ldise. ..
 "Qu'attendevous la-bas? Vous serez
 mieuX ici" This is what one of the convicts of New Caledonia wrote. not
 many years ago, In letter to an old companion in Paris; and it conveys a fairly accurate general notion of the conditions under which French de- portes live In that far-away island.
 There was time. but it did not last long, when discipline was very rigid, and when the life was not altogether comparable to that of Already, This extremity of punishment came as a
 natural reaction from the laxness of the earlier settlement. The Commu- nists who spent the years 1S72-79 on the Isle of Pines--so named by Captain Cook in September, 1774, because of the
 number of peculiar elevations which
 had the appearance of tall pines"- were simply deported without any compulsory labor whatever. They
 were merely confined in the fortified
 enclosure. They were provided with food and shelter and clothing; coarse and scanty enough. but sufficient under each head to maintain life; and if they
 chose to work they could earn enough
 money to purchase luxuries. But few
 of them did choose to work. They re-
 ceived patch of land on which to
 build a house and cultivate a garden;
 but few chose to build the house, and
 none chose to cultivate the garden,
 The majority did absolutely nothing.
 solicitous government provided them
 with the means of subsistence, and
 friends at home sent money wherewith to buy the luxures for which the soul
 longed Very soon after the Commu-
 nists arrived and took up theirquarters in the five communes which lined the
 main road, the settlement was dotted
 with stores and drinking places Strangely enough, with all the idleness
 these deportes were peaceful When they were pardoned, the Isle of Pines
 was left in much the same condition as Norfolk Island when 1t was abandoned
 forty years ago by the English govern
 ment as penal settlement But there was this difference. The change did
 Norfolk Island good; for 1t afforded an
 opportunity for honest people to take
 up residence there. Quite the reverse
 happened with the Isle of Pines, which
 now harbors some of the worst charac-
 ters of deportes simples.
 The main colony on the peninsula Is divided into two camps, known as Numbo and Uatimburu. The former gives shelter to the superior class, while at the latter there is admittedly plus de metier ct moins d'art.' To reach Numbo you cross the shark-in-
 fested Bale sans fond" into which the cattle from Australia are brought On the one side Is the abattoir of Noumea | Over against it Is Numbo, lying beauti- fully situated on the hili-encircIed bay On the surrounding slopes are a few patches of potatoes and Indian corn; but the greater portion of the land is
 bare, many of the trees which once
 covered the sides having been cleared
 as an inducement (which has not been embraced) to the convicts to step straight into agriculture, as it were. They might do very well at it provided they would only exert themselves. For they are the absolute proprietors of the land they choose to cultivate; the gov ernment making it over to them in giv- en (and very sufficient) quantities without asking q single sou in return. There is market ready at hand In Noumea to take everything brought to it in the way of breadstuffs. But they prefer to lurch for the most part Az riculture is dead against their grain.
 Those who do work go in for articles de Paris" cabinet making, etc. Colo mel Charrlere was the first governor to foster taste for this kind of thing He saw that there was natural talent running to seed; he even discovered several real artists in the colony; and
 he advanced money, established work shops, and made himself kind of un- paid agent between producers and con- sinners. He saw that the whole of q
 mans profit went to the man himself
 that Is, he saw that the workman had
 enough to live on, and the surplus was placed en depot, and handed over to 1 the man on the governors visa, as ne- cessity demanded. A piece of table land separates the camp of Numbo from that of Uatimburu, which is the fairer and more fertile of the two places. The natural division is the only one between the two. It com
 mands both camps so perfectly that the overseers are able to distinguish each individual convict below. There is station at this point, and in case of
 mutiny cannon to cover both sides could be brought In 8 few minutes from M'bi. Near by is the Isle of
 Pines, of which we have already made
 mention. The extreme point of the pe-
 ninsula, Point Kumuru, is forbidden
 ground, and sentries are stationed here
 to prevent escapes. The thick woods
 which cover the promontory make an
 excellent hiding place. That many
 convicts do contrive to get out of the country in the course of a year is com
 mon knowledge to sailors trading in
 those seas, and to the dwellers on the
 mainland of Australia, to which they drift. Many of them have friends on the New Caledonian islands, especially among the free population of Noumea.
 These friends procure boat, and, un- der cover of the night make for the is-
 land of F'reycinet, which is about four
 hundred metres from Point Kumuru. A fair swimmer can easily cross the channel between the two, especially with the aid of the small rocks which