ABSTRACT
The discovery of sandalwood in the New Hebrides, New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands gave rise to the first regular contacts between the islanders of the region and Europeans. On Islands which experienced a sudden rush of sandalwood trading, the transformation of a 'new' into an 'old' contact region was swift. Islanders to smoke in order that the Chinese might burn sandalwood in order that Australians might drink tea, proving that human frailty knows no race. The extent to which alcohol was traded for sandalwood presents a problem. Small consignments of liquor were sent to the islands up to about 1853, but after that time increasing quantities. But economic values are strictly relative to social norms, and the bargain was equally good from the islanders' point of view. Whereas the islanders did not understand European religion or social institutions and in any case had no desire to change their own beliefs, they understood European trade goods immediately.
