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negro bondsman. Agents armed with consular commissions from Peru appeared in Chinese ports, where they collected and sent away shiploads of coolies. Each one was See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound to serve the Peruvian planter to whom he might be assigned for seven or eight years, at fixed See also:

WAGES (the plural of " wage," from Late Lat. wadium, a pledge, O. Fr. wagier, gagier)

wages, generally about 17s. a See also:

month, See also:

food, clothes and lodging being provided. From 1847 to 1854 coolie See also:

EMIGRATION (from Lat. emigrare; e, ex, out of, and migrare, to depart)

emigration went on briskly without attracting much See also:

NOTICE

notice, but it gradually came to See also:

LIGHT

light that circumstances of See also:

GREAT

great See also:

CRUELTY (through the O. Fr. crualte, mod. cruaute, from the Lat. crudelitas)

cruelty attended the See also:

trade. The transport See also:

SHIPS

ships were badly equipped and overcrowded, and many coolies died before the end of the voyage. On arrival in Cuba or Peru the survivors were sold by See also:

AUCTION

auction in the open See also:

MARKET (Lat. mercatus, trade or place of trade)

market to the highest bidders, who held them virtually as slaves for seven years instead of for See also:

LIFE

life. Particularly terrible was the See also:

lot of those who, contrary to their agreements, had been sent to labour in the foul See also:

GUANO (a Spanish word from the Peruvian huanu, dung)

guano pits of the Chincha islands, where they were forced to toil in gangs, each under the See also:

charge of an overseer armed with a cowhide lash.

In 186o it was calculated that of the four thousand coolies who had been fraudulently consigned to the guano pits of Peru not one had survived, The greater number of them had committed See also:

SUICIDE (from Lat. sui, of oneself, and cidium, from cued ere, to kill)

suicide. In 185.E the British See also:

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

governor of Hong-See also:

KONG

Kong issued a See also:

PROCLAMATION (Lat. proclamare, to make public by announcement)

proclamation forbidding British subjects or vessels to engage in the transport of coolies to the Chinchas. Technically this was ultra vires on his See also:

PART

part, but his policy was confirmed by the Chinese Passengers' See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

Act 1855, which put an end to the more abominable nhase of the traffic. After that no British See also:

SHIP

ship was allowed to „ail on more than a See also:

WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week's voyage with more than twenty coolies on See also:

BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

board, unless her See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master had complied with certain very stringent regulations. The consequence of this was that the business of See also:

SHIPPING

shipping coolies for Peru was transferred to the Portuguese See also:

settlement of See also:

MACAO (A-Ma-ngao, " Harbour of the goddess A-Ma "; Port. Macau)

Macao. There the Peruvian and Cuban " labour-agents " established depots, which they unblushingly called "barracoons," the very term used in the West See also:

AFRICAN

African slave trade. In these places coolies were " received,” or in See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain words, imprisoned and kept under See also:

close guard until a sufficient number were collected for export. Some of these were decoyed by fraudulent promises of profitable employment. Others were kidnapped by piratical junks hired to scour the neighbouring coasts. Many were bought from leaders of turbulent native factions, only too glad to sell the prisoners they captured whilst waging their internecine See also:

WARS

wars. The procurador or registrar-See also:

general of Macao went through the See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of certifying the contracts; but his inspection was practically useless. After the See also:

war of 1856—1857 this masked slave trade pushed its agencies into Whampoa and See also:

Canton.

In See also:

APRIL

April 1859, however, the whole mercantilecommunity of the latter See also:

PORT

port See also:

rose up in indignation against it, and transmitted such strong representations to the British See also:

EMBASSY

embassy in China, that steps were taken to mitigate the evil. New regulations were from time to time passed by the Portuguese authorities for the purpose of minimizing the horrors of the Macao trade. They seem, however, to have been systematically evaded, and to have been practicallyinoperative. At Canton and Hong-Kong the coolie trade was put under various regulations, which in the latter port worked well only when the profits of " See also:

head-See also:

MONEY

money " were ruined. In See also:

March 1866 the representatives of the governments of See also:

France, See also:

England and China See also:

drew up a See also:

convention for the regulation of the Canton trade, which had an unfortunate effect. It See also:

LEFT

left head-money, the source of most of the abuses, comparatively untouched. It enacted that every coolie must at the end of a five years' engagement have his return passage-money paid to him. The West See also:

INDIAN

Indian colonies at once objected to this. They wanted permanent not temporary settlers. They could not afford to See also:

BURDEN, or BURTHEN

burden the coolie's expensive See also:

contract with return passage-money, so they declined to accept emigrants on these terms. Thus a legalized coolie trade between the West Indies and China was extinguished. Thereafter the coolie supply for British colonies was See also:

DRAWN

drawn exclusively from India, until 1904, when an exception was made in the See also:

case of the See also:

TRANSVAAL

Transvaal.

Under a convention drawn up in that See also:

YEAR

year between the See also:

UNITED

United See also:

KINGDOM

Kingdom and China over fifty thousand indentured Chinese labourers were engaged on three years' contracts to work in the Witwatersrand See also:

gold mines (see TRANSVAAL). To the See also:

MALAY

Malay states and other parts of eastern See also:

ASIA

Asia there is an extensive yearly See also:

MIGRATION

migration of Chinese coolies. This migration, however, is not under contract. From See also:

AMOY

Amoy alone some seventy-five thousand coolies yearly migrate to See also:

SINGAPORE (Malay, Singapiira, i.e. " The City of the Lion")

Singapore and the Straits Settlements, whence they are drafted for labour purposes in every direction. It is scarcely possible to say when the Indian coolie trade began. Before the end of the 18th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century Tamil labourers from See also:

SOUTHERN

southern India were wont to emigrate to the Straits Settlements, I and they also flocked to See also:

TENASSERIM

Tenasserim from the other coolie coolies. See also:

side of the See also:

Bay of See also:

Bengal after the See also:

CONQUEST

conquest had produced a demand for labour. The first regularly recorded See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt at organizing coolie emigration from India took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place 111 1834, when See also:

FORTY

forty coolies were exported to See also:

MAURITIUS

Mauritius; but it was not until 1836 that the Indian See also:

government decided to put the trade under See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official regulations. In 1837 an emigration See also:

law was passed for all the territories of the See also:

East India See also:

COMPANY

Company, providing that a permit must be obtained from government for every shipment of coolies, that all contracts should terminate in five years, that a return passage should be guaranteed, that the terms of his contract should be carefully explained to each coolie, and that the emigrant ship should only carry one coolie for every ton and a See also:

HALF

half of burden. Then as now the Indian government watched the See also:

DEPORTATION

deportation of labour from their dominions with jealous and anxious care, and when in 1838 it was found that upwards of twenty-five thousand natives had, up to that year, gone from all parts of India to Mauritius, the government became somewhat alarmed at the dimensions which the traffic was assuming. See also:

Brougham and the See also:

ANTI, or CAMPA

anti-slavery party denounced the trade as a revival of slavery, and the Bengal government suspended it in See also:

order to investigate its alleged abuses. The nature of these may be guessed when it is said that the inquiry condemned the fraudulent methods of recruiting then in See also:

VOGUE, EUGENE MELCHIOR, COMTE DE (1848- )

vogue, and the brutal treatment which coolies often received from ship captains and masters.

In 1842 steps were taken formally to reopen the coolie trade with Mauritius, and in 1844 emigration to the West Indies was sanctioned by the Indian government. In 1847 See also:

CEYLON

Ceylon was separated from India, and her labour supply was cut off; but this See also:

accident was soon remedied, the Ceylon government adopting protective regulations for the coolies. Emigration of coolies under contract to labour outside India is now regulated by the Emigration Act of 1883 and the rules issued under its provisions, the only exceptions being in respect of emigrants to Ceylon and the Straits Settlements and adjoining states, or those engaged by the British government for employment in east and central See also:

Africa. By See also:

section 8 of this act natives of India are permitted to emigrate under See also:

MODERN

Modern labour contracts only to such countries as have regale- satisfied the government of India that sufficient See also:

pro- Lions. See also:

VISION (from Lat. videre, to see), or SIGHT

vision is made for the See also:

PROTECTION

protection of the emigrants. A country which is duly empowered under the act to receive emigrants may appoint an See also:

AGENT (from Lat. agere, to act)

agent, residing in India, who is responsible for the due observance of the provisions of the law. These agents are under the general supervision of the See also:

PROTECTOR

protector of emigrants. As emigrants have to be recruited at great distances from the port of embarkation, recruiters are appointed by the agents and licensed by the protector. The conduct of these subordinates is minutely regulated. Every precaution is taken to let the emigrant know the exact terms on which he is hired, and to ensure See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good treatment in the See also:

INTERVAL

interval between See also:

REGISTRATION

registration and embarkation. Coolies are shipped for the most part from See also:

CALCUTTA

Calcutta and See also:

MADRAS

Madras, but of See also:

RECENT

recent years large See also:

numbers bound for See also:

MOMBASA

Mombasa and the See also:

SEYCHELLES

Seychelles left from Bombay and See also:

KARACHI, or KURRACHEE

Karachi. Both the coolies themselves and the See also:

DEPOT (from the Fr. depot, Lat. depositum, laid down; the French accent marks are usually dispensed with in English)

depot are medically inspected.

Only those physically See also:

fit are allowed to embark. The vessels for their See also:

CONVEYANCE

conveyance are licensed and inspected by the See also:

LOCAL

local government. The terms on which emigrants are recruited are settled beforehand by convention with the colonies concerned, and are embodied in ordinances passed by the local legislatures. They vary in detail, but their See also:

main provisions relate to the rights and obligations of the emigrants, including the See also:

grant of a return passage on the expiry of a specified See also:

period, usually ten years. The British colonies to which coolies were exported in the See also:

DECADE (from Gr. Oka, ten)

decade 1891—1901 were British Guiana, See also:

TRINIDAD

Trinidad, St See also:

LUCIA (or LucY), ST

Lucia, See also:

JAMAICA

Jamaica, Mauritius, the Seychelles Islands, See also:

Fiji, East Africa and See also:

NATAL

Natal; the only non-British country was Dutch Guiana. Emigration to the See also:

French colonies, including See also:

REUNION

Reunion has been forbidden by the government of India since 1886, but there still remain in those colonies some of the former emigrants, and the questions of their treatment and repatriation have frequently formed the subject of representations to the French authorities. The number of Indian coolies See also:

RESIDENT

resident in the various British colonies in 1900 was 625,000, of which the largest numbers were 265,000 in Mauritius and 125,000 in British Guiana. There were still 13,800 in Reunion. The regulations governing coolie labour in British Guiana may be taken as typical for the British colonies generally. They are contained in the Labour See also:

Ordinance of 1873, which was amended by the ordinances of 1875, 1876, 1886 and 1887. Under these ordinances an immigration agent-general is appointed, to whom medical See also:

OFFICERS

officers and recruiting agents are responsible, and the emigrants are allotted by him to the See also:

SEPARATE

separate estates. They regulate the See also:

HOURS, CANONICAL

hours of work, the See also:

RATE

rate of wages, and the general treatment of the coolies, the nature of See also:

house and See also:

HOSPITAL (Lat. haspitalis, the adjective of hospes, host or guest)

hospital See also:

ACCOMMODATION (Lat. accommodare, to make fit, from ad, to, cum, with, and modus, measure)

accommodation, the terms of re-enlistment and the conditions of See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage amongst the coolies themselves.

The coolies returning from the British colonies to India in 1901 possessed See also:

AVERAGE

average savings of £19. During the construction of the See also:

UGANDA

Uganda railway large numbers of coolies were recruited in the See also:

PUNJAB

Punjab and exported from British Karachi to Mombasa. During the decade 1891—1901 East and the number of these emigrants was 33,000; but on the See also:

south completion of the See also:

LINE

line the emigration practically Africa. stopped, while in 1901—1902 there were over 6000 emigrants who returned to India. Some, however, settled in East Africa. Coolies are also exported for government employment in Nyasaland. In Natal the Indian See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population had by 1904 reached over roo,000 and slightly outnumbered the whites. Many of the coolies had become permanent residents in the colony (see NATAL). According to the See also:

CENSUS (from Lat. censere, to estimate or assess; connected by some with centum, i.e. a count by hundreds)

census of Igor there were 775,844 foreigners in See also:

ASSAM

Assam, of whom no fewer than 645,000 or 83 % were brought into the See also:

province as See also:

GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

garden coolies. The recruiting of these coolies is regulated by Act VI. of Igor, which provides that a labour agreement may be entered into for four years, and includesa penal clause, under which a coolie deserting or refusing to work may be punished with imprisonment. The coolies can also give an agreement under Act XIII. of 1859, by which they Assam, are only liable to See also:

CIVIL

civil See also:

ACTION

action for See also:

BREACH (Mid. Eng. breche, derived from the common Teutonic root brec, which appears in " break," Ger. brechen, &c.)

breach of contract. Ceylon The latter are called non-act coolies. This See also:

SYSTEM

system of and immigration has made See also:

TEA (Chinese cha, Amoy dialect t€)

tea-planting the most important See also:

BURMA

Burma. See also:

INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry in Assam, and has greatly increased the prosperity of the province.

Migration to Ceylon and Burma takes place chiefly from the Madras ports, and is of a seasonal and temporary See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character. The tea estates and See also:

pearl See also:

FISHERIES

fisheries of Ceylon, and the See also:

TOWN

town work and harvesting in Burma attract large numbers of Tamil labourers. The respective numbers embarking in 1901 were 117,000 for Ceylon, 84,000 for Burma and 27,000 for the Straits Settlements. In Ceylon there is no system of recruitment like that for the Assam tea-gardens. The coolies come in gangs, each under its own headman, with whom the planter deals exclusively, leaving him to make his own arrangements with the individual coolies. The coolies are mostly carried in small sailing vessels from the ports of See also:

Madura and See also:

TANJORE

Tanjore, and the number who permanently See also:

settle in Ceylon is not very great. See E. See also:

Jenkins, The Coolie; his Rights and Wrongs (1871); J. L. A. See also:

Hope, In Quest of Coolies (1872); and C. B.

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