The New International Encyclopædia/New Hebrides

NEW HEBRIDES, hĕb′rǐ-dēz. A group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Caledonia, extending from latitude 13° to 20° S., and from longitude 165° to 170° E. (Map: Australasia, J 4). Its total area is estimated at over 5000 square miles. The chief islands are Espiritu Santo, Mallicolo, Pentecost, Maewo, Sandwich, and High Islands. Some of the islands are composed of coral; others are of volcanic origin with several active volcanoes. The soil is fertile. Considerable quantities of sandalwood are exported. The chief agricultural products are the breadfruit, sago palm, banana, yam, pineapple, orange, etc. The climate is unhealthful. Even the natives are not immune from fever, and dysentery makes great ravages among them. The population is steadily decreasing; in 1901 it was estimated at 50,000. The people of this group of islands are Melanesians. They are chiefly dolichocephalic (cranial index, 70.4, but examples as high as 85 are found), very dark in complexion, below the medium in stature (64 inches), and have abundance of woolly hair. They are still in savagery, though under the teachings of Christian missionaries they have abandoned to a large extent head-hunting and cannibalism. Under discipline they become industrious and are a factor in the trade of the Pacific. The languages of New Hebrides belong to the sub-Papuan family everywhere except in Fotuna and Aniwa, and at Mel and Fel in Efat, which are Maori colonies from New Zealand still speaking Maori dialects. The best-known sub-Papuan languages are Epi, Pama, Amboym, Vunmarama, and Sesaki. On the southernmost island, Aneityum, the inhabitants are Christianized, can all read and write, and have over forty schools. The group forms a protectorate administered by a mixed commission of French and English officers.