Monument to a French Soldier

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Monument To A French

SOLDIER lIEREWITH is a photograph, by Paul Mercier, of a monument which may be seen on a lonely hilltop in New Caledonia. The inscription on the lower panel reads: “To the memory of the brave Colonel Gally-Passebosc, a victim of the rebellion of 1878, who was struck down by a bullet on this spot on July 4. Honour to a valiant soldier who died in carrying out his duty!”

Colonel Gally-Passebosc was born in 1836, served in Cochin China and Senegal, was military attache with the English Army in the Abyssinian campaign, served in the Franco-Prussian war in 1871, and was appointed Commander-inchief in New Caledonia in 1878.

The Colonel, after having cleared the country round La Foa and La Fonwary of rebels, was returning to Bouloupari to meet the riders of M. Boutan’s detachment. On arriving at Red Hills, he found the telegraph wires cut. Friendly natives told him that the rebels of the,tribe of Naina occupied the surrounding heights.

The Colonel advanced to see for himself, and it was here that he received two bullets, one in the right thigh and one in his stomach. H© died next day in the arms of Dr. Delescouet.

The Colonel was buried at Teremba, but in 1880 Admiral Courbet (then Gov-