NEW CALEDONIA.

Southland Times, Issue 1128, 22 March 1869, Page 2

NEW CALEDONIA.

[From the ' New Zealand Herald. '"] By the arrival of the clipper schooner Aspasia, Captain Tonge, we have received copies of the Moniteurto the 24th Jan. The news from Noumea is of a very sfcnrfcliug character, and the country there s^ems to be in pretty much the same pickle, as far as the natives are concerned, as our own province. It appears that four Europeans and a loyal native were massacred in a boat at a coast settlement, and subsequently cooked and eaten. The French however, make no bones about these matters, aud are in the habit of going the best way to settle the difficulty, and in this instance fifteen natives wore at ouce seized and decapitated iu the presence of the entire popula. tion of Noumea. Since then further murders have been reported, and ten mere natives executed. The Government has ordered in all the outlaying settlers, and all the coasting vessels are collecting in Noumea. Just before the Aspasia sailed, one of the French men-of-war lelt the harbor, but her destination was unknown. The weather at Noumea, from the 17th to the 22nd of January, was extremely close and sultry, and the inhabitants were fully prepared for a hurricane*

The whole of the vessels in harbor were stripped and moored, the smaller craft * being sent round to the next bay. It is the opinion of the settlers, however, that the hurricane must have passed to the northward of the island, as nothing of it was felt at Noumea. There were two French men-of-war in port when the Aspasia sailed.