On September 29, 1872, the frigate Danaé arrived in Nouméa, carrying the first group of Communards exiled to New Caledonia. These exiles were part of a larger movement of political prisoners following the failed Paris Commune uprising in 1871. The Danaé had departed from Brest on May 3, and over the next six years, 20 more convoys would follow, transporting more than 3,800 people to the French colony. Some were sent to the Isle of Pines, an island named by the explorer James Cook for its tall pine trees. A century later, France established a penal colony there, and the remnants of that era are now largely hidden beneath dense tropical vegetation. The law of March 23, 1872, designated New Caledonia as a place of exile for those involved in the Paris Commune. The exiles were distributed among three locations—Isle of Pines, Ducos Peninsula, and Isle Nou—depending on the severity of their sentences. The Isle of Pines was reserved for simple deportation, the Ducos Peninsula for those held in a fortified enclosure, and Isle Nou for those subjected to forced labor. The journey itself was a punishment, with exiles confined in large cages and only allowed out for about thirty minutes a day. On the Isle of Pines, the French administration established itself in the southwest as early as 1872, while the eastern part of the island was left to the Kunié, the indigenous people. The colony was divided into five "communes": Ouro, Koéville, Ouamen, Ouaméo, and the "Fifth," a camp for Kabyle convicts from Algeria after the 1871 insurrection. Although exiles were allowed to move within a 25 km radius, many lived in poverty. Some remnants of the past remain, such as the water tower of Ouro, built in 1874–1875, which still functions and was renovated in 2005. A 5 km canal, dug by the exiles, still runs along the hillside, though it no longer carries water from the original source. Most of the old prison structures have been overtaken by vegetation, and the "deportees' cemetery" near Ouro contains hundreds of anonymous graves, including a white pyramid-shaped stone restored in 1968. Louise Michel, one of the most notable exiles, was not sent to the Isle of Pines but to the Ducos Peninsula. There, she learned the local Kanak language and supported the Kanak during the 1878 revolt. The Ducos Peninsula held exiles in a more severe regime than the Isle of Pines, with strict controls and harsh conditions. In 1874, six exiles, including journalist Henri Rochefort, escaped, an event that gained attention far beyond the Pacific. Partial amnesty in 1879 allowed around 2,000 exiles to return to France, and full amnesty followed in 1880. Louise Michel returned to Paris in 1880, descending at the Saint-Lazare station. Historians remain divided on the exact numbers of exiles and the death toll, with estimates ranging from over 3,800 in New Caledonia to 3,000 just on the Isle of Pines. The site continued to serve as a penal colony until 1909. Today, the Isle of Pines, known as "the island closest to paradise," is home to about 2,037 people.