[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

48 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

down and we had to anchor, as the current threatened
to take us back. We profited by the stop to pay a
visit to a Mr. R., who cultivated anarchistic principles,
also a plantation which seemed in perfect condition
and in direct opposition to his anti-capitalistic ideas.
Mr. R. was one of those French colonists who, sprung
from the poorest peasant stock, have no ambitions
beyond finding a new and kindlier home. Economi-
cal, thrifty, used to hard work in the fields, Mr. R.
had begun very modestly, but had prospered, and
was now, while still a young man, the owner of a
plantation that would make him rich in a few years.
This good, solid peasant stock, of which France
possesses so much, makes the best colonists, and as a
rule they succeed far better than those who come to
the tropics with the idea of making a fortune in a few
years without working for it. These fall into the
hands of the big Noumea companies, and have the
greatest trouble in getting out of debt. Not only do
these firms lend money at exorbitant interest, but
they stipulate that the planter will sell them all his
produce and buy whatever he needs from them, and
as they fix prices as they please, their returns are said
to reach 30 per cent.

Besides these two kinds of French settlers, there
is a third, which comes from the penitentiary in
Noumea or its neighbourhood. We shall meet
specimens of these in the following pages.

After having duly admired the plantation of Mr.
R.~—he proved himself a real peasant, knew every
plant by name, and was constantly stopping to pick