Rensselaer Union, Volume 3, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 June 1871 — New Caledonia. [ARTICLE]

New Caledonia.

Tnis remote locality, to which, it is said, a number of the leading Communists and their families are to be exiled, is an island lying in the South Pacific Ocean, in latitude 20—22 deg. 30 min. south, longitude 164—167 deg. east—72o miles east-north-east of the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is believed to be of volcanic origin; is traversed from northwest to southeast by a range of mountains which, at some points, rise to the height of 8,000 feet above the level ot the sea, and the coasts are enveloped in a net-work of sand bars and coral reefs. Port Balade, on the northeast, and Port St. Vincent, on the southwest, are the only available harbors. Along the shores the soil is thickly wooded, but the mountainous regions are barren, except in the valleys, which are exceedingly fertile, producing cocoanut, banana, mango and bread-fruit. The vine grows wild, and the sugar cane is easily cultivated. The population is estimated at about 60,000, embracing several different tribes, all of whom, however, resemble more or less the Papuan race. Some of them are cannibals, and none have yet reached a state of even semi-civi-lization. The celebrated English voyager, Capt. Cook, was the original discoverer of New Caledonia, having landed upon the island in 1774. In 1854 the French took possession of it, and it has since been held under the same government as Qtahelte and the Marquesas. Missionaries have been laboring here for several yearn past, and it is said that a few of the savages have been converted—but as a general thing the natives evince no particular fondness for white manor their religion.— Mittowi BepubUcan.