A bit of a scare was produced on Tuesday by
a telegram announcing that two French ships-of-war had left Noumea, in New Caledonia, for the New Hebrides, with sealed orders and soldiers on board. It was supposed at once that the French intended to annex the islands, a proceeding to which the Australians strongly object, as likely to lead to a further ex- portation of convicts to the Southern Pacific. The French Government is not likely, however, to commit a violent breach of the Convention of 1878, under which neither England nor France is at liberty to annex the islands. They themselves say that natives of the New Hebrides have massacred French residents, and that all they intend is to protect them ; but a gunboat and a schooner have been ordered to the islands to watch proceedings. The Australians may be over-sensitive, the New Hebrides being six hundred miles from Australia ; bat a treaty must be observed.
Previous page
