Drought, Bushfires Make It

Uncomfortable In New Caledonia

New Caledonia was still in the grip of a severe drought in late November, with bushfires adding to the problems.

SOME widely scattered rain had done little to ease the situation, and parts of the Dumbea River, which supplies Noumea with water, were dry for the first time in the memory of the old hands.

Because of stock losses, butchers were asking their customers to cut down in their meat orders, and the Assembly Territorial was discussing a proposition that would recom pense graziers to the extent of 8,000 francs (£ASO) a head for losses caused by the drought. An inventory is now being taken.

The bushfires were ravaging the whole of the island and some burned for weeks. A company of troops was used to control a big one which swept the Isle of Pines, 20 miles oft the southern tip of New Caledonia.

A native who was convicted of having deliberately lit a fire which burnt acres of land snd endangered houses near Noumea, was sentenced to eight days’ gaol and ordered to pay a £5O fine. Asked why he had lit the fire, he ex plained he had never lit a bushfire before, and he found pleasure in it.

One fire on the outskirts of Noumea endangered a block of houses. Firemen and troops brought it under control, but not before they were subjected to an unexpected fusilade of exploding ammunition that apparently had been left over from the war.