Cumner & South Sea Folk, v5

Excerpt

When Blake Shorland stepped from the steamer Belle Sauvage upon the quay at Noumea, he proceeded, with the alertness of the trained newspaper correspondent, to take his bearings.  So this was New Caledonia, the home of outcast, criminal France, the recent refuge of Communist exiles, of Rochefort, Louise Michel, Felix Rastoul, and the rest!  Over there to the left was Ile Nou, the convict prison; on the hill was the Governor’s residence; below, the Government establishments with their red-tiled roofs; and hidden away in a luxuriance of tropical vegetation lay the houses of the citizens.  He stroked his black moustache thoughtfully for a moment, and put his hand to his pocket to see that his letters of introduction from the French Consul at Sydney to Governor Rapont and his journalistic credentials were there.  Then he remembered the advice of the captain of the Belle Sauvage as to the best hotel, and started towards it.  He had not been shown the way, but his instincts directed him.  He knew where it ought to be, according to the outlines of the place.