216 OSTRICH-FARMING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



being very scarce in the Cape Colony, we brought round 

 a few Indian coolie families on a three years' engage- 

 ment. They answered exceedingly well, and if labour 

 became aorain scarce we should o^et others. Only those 

 that have been ten years in Natal can leave it. For the 

 first five years after their immigration there they are 

 bound to the master w^ho imported them ; for the next 

 five they are free to choose their own master, but cannot 

 leave Natal. After that they are free to leave, but 

 forfeit their right to a free passage back to India, which 

 they would otherwise be entitled to, and continue to be 

 entitled to as long as they remain in Natal, and re- 

 port themselves every six months to the authorities. 

 The terms on which I got them, and could again get 

 them^ were £2 a month wages, dating from the day they 

 left Natal, and a bonus of £9 at the end of the three 

 years for which they contracted, in lieu of the passage 

 to India they had forfeited. For rations they take meal 

 and rice with some fat, and a few pounds of meat once 

 a month, and a pound of split peas once a week. They 

 make exceedingly good herds for birds, and for looking 

 after little chicks ; they are useful also for gardening 

 w^ork, but for hard work are not equal to the Kaffir. 



The advisability of importing Coolies direct from 

 India, as they do in Natal, has often come before the 

 people in the Cape Colony. But it is not generally 



