FRANCE'S NEW HEBRIDEANPIONEER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2651, 4 January 1905, Page 69

FRANCE'S NEW HEBRIDEANPIONEER.

The unexpected death of Mr John Higginson has robbed France of a picturesque and vivid personality, which was, however, singularly little known or understood in this country. But throughout Australasia and the Western Pacific no name was, perhaps, batter known than that of John Higginson. Of Irish parentage, and born a British subject, Mr Higginson when a young man visited the New' Hebrides, and conceived the idea, of adding them to France's colonial empire. He became a French citizen by> .naturalisation, and for some 40 years pursued with unabated zeal, and something of the traditional ardour of a convert, the task to which he had xfovoted his life. Establishing his headquarters in New Caledonia, he paid frequent visits to the New Hebridean archipelago, was the founder of the French company established for the exploitation of the . group, which obtained concessions for immense areas of land, from the native chiefs, and fitted' out several expeditions to" explore the islands. Espiritu Santo, 1 the lalrgest island of the group, was scarcely (known so far as the interior was concerned until jfche last year or two. -Mr Higgineon -first visited the island in 1884-. The. centre of Espiritu Santo is occupied by a chain of hills, with an immense tableland, inhabited by savage tribes, who were regarded with the most abject terror Jby . the coast natives. No European had ascended the plateau since, Dom Quiros in the seventeenth century,' and the coast natives absolutely refused to trust themselves among their dreaded enemies. Three years ago Mr Higginson. sent a smail -expedition, consisting of three Frenchmen and four natives, to spy out the land, and arranged with a number of French settlers in the neighbouring islands to accompany the explorers. - These plans fell through, so far as the settlers were concerned; , but, the little band of explorers did not. allow themselves to be discouraged. They landed on the south coast -of the island, in the Canal dv Segond, where there is excellent For ,two days- they ' marched through a forest belfc of magnificent trees, through - whose branches the sun witK" difficulty penetrated. The ground was covered with masses of decaying vegetation, which filled the moist • air. with unpleasant odours. After toiling for two days along a difficult -path,- they left the forest belt, and' found themselves on 'the edge, of an immense green plaint stretching as far as the eye could reach, and watered by numerous streams. The natives in this part of the island were not actively hostile, but showed evident signs of fear of the •white men. Further north, " where the plateau ascended to a range of hills, -which reach a height of some 5000 ft, the natives adopted a, much -more menacing attitude, ajad to, avoid trouble it was deemed desirable to return to the ooast by another" route. The explorers, forme.d a very high opinion of the fertility of the soil and of the capability of development of the island, which they believed to be very sparsely inhabited, estimating the total population at not more than ten or twelve thousand. The climate of the interior was healthy, and larg< tracts appeared to be suitable both for agriculture and for cattle-raising. The principal river, .that to which Dom Quiros gave the name of the Jordan, flowed through a vast marshy plain before reaching the sea. This marshy -plain was reported to be admirably^suited to the cultivation of rice. Two members of the expedition remained" in the island, but nothing was done to establish anything in the -nature of a permanent settlement in the interior until last year, when- Mr Higginson equipped a second in New Caledonia, with instructions to make_ treaties with the native chiefs and to acquire as large an -area of land as' possible-. In August of last year Mr Higginson had the satisfaction of learning that his instructions had been carried out, and that land' to 'the extent of about 100,000 acres had been acquired. But he was not destined to see the fulfilment of his ambition — the recognition of the New nebridean group as being within the Prench sphere of influence. — Field, November 5.