938 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[June i, 1883. 



their departure from the country, a large proportion 

 of what they flid not remit "home " during tire brief 

 tenure of their office. The whole Civil Service, as a 

 body, also remit a large proportion of the pay they 

 draw from the island's revenues to maintain and 

 educate their families at home. And when, at length, 

 their terms of service have been completed, their 

 pensions, swelled, it may be, by rewards for services 

 elsewhere, are drawn from the island's resources and 

 permanently alienated from its wealth. Even our 

 commerce contributes its profits to the mother-conntry 

 and leaves " the empty shells" in the place whence 

 the substantial brood has been driven. 



ADULTERATING INDIAN TEA WITH MATE! 



THE USE OF MATE IN S. AMERICA. 



The extraordinai'y proposal of the Indian Tea Gazette 

 to blend mat6 with Indian tea is thus noticed by 

 Mr. P. D. Millie's brother in South America : — 



" The North China Herald's idea .about the virtues 

 and defects bf mate are jumbled up with something 

 which can only have reference to the Bolivian eoca, aliout 

 which much crude nonsense has been written, and 

 wliich in its turn has been jumbled up with cacao 

 or cocoa or vaguely inferred to have some connec- 

 tion with coconuts, or to be some preparation there- 

 from derived ! 



" I frequently use Paraguay tea or mate, and can 

 assure any one wishing to know the truth that it 

 is not tea at all, and is for a certain reason utterly 

 unfit to be used to ' blend with Indian teas.' Mate 

 parts with its flavour and colourhig matter almost 

 instantaneously by pouring boiling water over the 

 leaves, and this may be repeated several times with- 

 out exhausting them. Tea, on the contrary, parts 

 slowly with its theine and colouring ; if mixed with 

 the leaves of the mate ilex, its flavour would be ut- 

 terly overpowered by that of the latter. 



" Matt^ does not produce any ' excitement of a 

 very unpleasant kind to Europeans.' On the con- 

 trary, I know Europeans who cannot take tea who 

 resort to mate, because it does not produce the ex- 

 citement to the neivous system causeil by tea, in- 

 cluding insonmia. Judging from its eft'ects on myself, 

 I consider it to be one of the most harmless of 

 warm infusions, and have always liked it. The South 

 Ajuerican peoples who use it certainly do not suffer 

 from its exciting properties, although many of those 

 who imbibe mate in great quantities object to a cup 

 of tea because it affects tiieir nerves. 



" Mat(5 is an excellent tubslitnle for tea : as a blend 

 it never can be used. We use it in South America 

 either by pouring boiling water over the pulverized 

 leaves and twigs, adding sugar to suit tlie palate, 

 and then sucking it through a silver tube, or by 

 infusing the entire leaf in a teapot or jug, and 

 pouring it out like tea. The latter way of prepar- 

 ation is not very conunon yet, but will, I think, 

 soon become more general. Undoubtedly it is a good 

 morning or evening beverage for nervous persons who 

 cannot take tea. 



"This is the plain truth about mate. It will 

 never supplant tea in Europe or elsewhere, and will 

 never be employed (at least successfully) to adulteiate 

 the latter. It is a beverage sui ijviieri.s, and, although 

 I enjoy a mati now and tlieu, 1 have no inclination 

 to abandon the use of tea. Rich and poor among 

 the natives of the Spanish American Republics use 

 it : but for all that tea and cofl'ee are yearly beinr. 

 consumed to a greater extent by all classes whilst 

 the consumption of mate remains about stationary. 



"Coiiuimbo, Chile. T. J. W. Mxllie." 



LABOUR IN FI.II. 



We have already noticed the effect of Sir Arthur 

 Gordon's regulations by which most of the natives of 

 Fiji are prevented from laliouring for European employ- 

 ers on estates. Then, it appears, that, while iu Queens- 

 land the exceptional mortality amongst the South .Sea 

 Islanders (kanakas) is attributed largely to a change of 

 diet, including too large a proportion of meat, a similar 

 excepttional mortality amongst the same class on Fiji 

 plantations is traced to a diet too exclusively vegetable. 

 The present editor of the Fiji Times admits that the 

 main food consists of wild lOots gathered in the forests 

 called "tivolis" -and sweet potatoes often unripe. 

 Yams ought to be cultivated and supplied more largely, 

 with meat or fisli. We cannot forget the terrible 

 mortality amongst Tamils in Ceylon in early times, 

 but tlie kanakas seem specially unable to bear regular 

 work and exposure ou the weather. The following is 

 an extract from a report by Dr. MacGregor : — " The 

 frightful mortality among the Polynesian laborers has 

 been variously ascribed by employers to acclimatization 

 and the overflow of the river some five or six months 

 ago. As the Polynesian can hardly be said to be 

 submitted to a change of climate by removal to Fiji, 

 where also he is understood to be fed on precisely 

 the same kind of food lie has always been accustomed 

 to, the cause or causes of mortality cannot be ascribed 

 to acclimatization. Nor can it be imputed to the 

 overflow of the river, seeing that the health of the 

 Indians has not been ati'ected by it. It is, however, 

 notorious that the mortality amongst recently intro- 

 duced Polynesians is very much greater than among 

 old residents. This is not in my opinion owing to 

 the climate, but is due to changed conditions of 

 living. Polynesian youths and boys that have hitherto 

 led a lazy and indolent life are brought from their 

 own country, set to do continuous and hard work, 

 fed on food of inferior quality and exposed to all 

 kinds of weather. There'; can be no doubt the class 

 of Polynesian now introduced is greatly inferior in 

 pliysique to that formerly brought to this Colony ; 

 they are therefore less aljle to bear the transition from 

 their pi'evious mode of life and they have a greater 

 liability to sickness when exposed to contagion — such 

 as tliat of dysentery — and less recuperative power ; 

 few of them can undergo without injury the fatigue 

 of a fair day 's work for an average healtliy man, and 

 they have less power of resistance to the chilling and 

 lowering effects of bad weather. The suggestions 

 made to the different managers in my letters have 

 reference specially to houses, food, water, sleeping ac- 

 commodation, the treatment of the sick, exposure, 

 and work." After dealing with the sanitary arrange- ' 

 ments of houses and coudemuing unripe sweet potatoes. 

 Dr. MacGregor proceeds : — ' ' I observed on two or 

 three estates that the Polynesians at the time of my 

 visit were eating rice, which they said they relished. 

 ,.\t * * * * a considerable number are now using 

 flour made into cakes of the kind prepared by the 

 Indians. The use of both these articles of diet should 

 be encouraged as the supply of yams and taro will 

 constantly and rapidly become more and more dis* 

 proportinate to the demand, on accoiuit, on the one 

 hand of the employment of the natives in the cultiv- 

 ation of sugarcane, and by reason on the other hand 

 of tlie ever -increasing number of laborers eniiiloycd 

 on the estates. I am strongly inclined to think tliat 

 the planters will find it cheaper to use rice and flour 

 than to plant yams and taro on their own estates. 

 The use of manioc or kassa\a deserves a trial as an 

 article of diet. It can be grown cheaper, and as a crop 

 is much less precarious than yams. It is Largely 

 used by planters in Seychelles, and is there a he.altliy 

 and nutritious diet. In all otlier tropical conutries 

 with which I am familiar it is considered necessary 

 that the coloured laborers should receive a certain 



