This has been traced to an allele of TYRP1 unique to these people, and is not the same gene that causes blond hair in Europe.
On November 1, 1842 at the Isle of Pines, New Caledonia, Ebrill and his crew fell victim of an attack by the Melanesians where his ship was looted and burned.
In the nineteenth century Robert Codrington, a British missionary, produced a series of monographs on 'the Melanesians' based on his long-time residence in the region.