New Hebrides

New Hebrides, a group of islands in the South Pacific, lying to the W. of the Fijis and N. of New Caledonia. Of the twenty inhabited islands Espiritu Santo, Mallicolo, Vate, Erromango, Ambryme, and Aneityum are the largest. The New Hebrides were discovered by the Portuguese in 1606, and explored by Captain Cook in the following century. They are a bone of contention between England and France, but neither has as yet occupied them. The people are cannibals, but some attempts have been made by missionaries to civilise them. Tropical products flourish, and whales are taken on the coasts, but some of the fish are poisonous. The climate is temperate and healthy.