[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
262 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC
British man—of—war had anchored here for a few days
a short time before ; and anyone who knows the blue-
jackets’ rage for collecting will understand that they
are quite capable of stripping a small island of its
treasures. A great deal of scientifically valuable
material is lost in this way, though fortunately
these collectors go in for size chiefly, leaving small
objects behind, so that I was able to procure several
valuable pieces.
After our return to Port Patterson the launch
took me to a plantation from which I ascended the
volcano of VENUA Lava. Its activity shows princi—
pally in sulphur springs, and there are large sulphur
deposits, which were worked fifteen years ago by a
French company. A large amount of capital had
been collected for the purpose, and for a few weeks '
or months the sulphur was carried down to the
shore by natives and exported. Then it was found
that the deposits were not inexhaustible, that the
employés were not over-conscientious, that the con-
sumption of alcohol was enormous, and finally the
whole affair was given up, after large quantities of
machinery had been brought out, which I saw rusting
away near the shore. In this way numerous enter-
prises have been started and abandoned of late years,
especially in Noumea. It is probably due to this
mining scheme that the natives here have practically
disappeared; I found one man who had once carried
sulphur from the mine, and he was Willing to guide
me up the volcano.
