CHAPTER XIV
Islands that are advancing rapidly—Native houses with modern improvements—A horrible method of getting rid of the old men, and other burial ceremonies.
There is a remarkable difference between the natives of the New Hebrides group and any of the inhabitants of the adjoining islands. In character, disposition, mode of living and religion, they are in many respects far ahead of their neighbours, and, strange to say, so are the islands. The soil is better and the climate is more to the liking of the European, and, owing to the proximity of the islands to Sydney, they are better served and more up-to-date. Port Vila in Sandwich Island, the chief centre, is only five days’ sail from that city.
Settlement in the New Hebrides has been going on for some time, and the white population has nearly doubled itself within the last few years. In 1901, the French residents and traders far out-numbered the English, but to-day another tale is {144} told, and British enterprise and power of colonisation have made a difference in this group; so much so that they are hardly recognisable, and they only need careful legislation to enable them to overcome the obstacles mentioned earlier in this book.
Where dense, uncleared bush grew a few years ago in tangled confusion, blocking out even the light by its thickness, acres of cultivated ground can now be seen, which bring to their owners results worthy of twice the toil that has been expended on them.
The Hebrides is a veritable paradise for the pioneer settler who loves the wild freedom of island life and is not afraid of work.
A good deal of the prosperity of these islands is undoubtedly owing to the strenuous efforts of the missionaries, the Australian Government, and that gigantic trading firm of Messrs. Burns Philp, who have established a monthly service of steamers, which call at all the important islands to deliver and take away produce. Throughout the South Seas they have trading stations, but in New Hebrides their success has met with better returns than elsewhere, owing to the greater number of settlers who have gone there and made their homes in these beautiful islands.