IMMIGRATION. 347 



points, may be said to afford full protection and to give satis- 

 faction to the immigrants. I dare say that under the operation 

 of the present ordinance the immigrants are u healthy, well 

 clothed, and contented, and improving in habits of industry.''' 



The Coolie on his arrival is to undergo the ordeal of acclimati- 

 sation. Those who are weak, or belong to the inferior castes, 

 may suffer from the change ; but those who are of good consti- 

 tution, and disposed to toil, soon become inured, and work 

 readily. Anemia and ulcers are their prevalent ailments ; and 

 these complaints are generally the result of improper food and 

 filthy habits, seldom of protracted fevers. The mortality of 

 Coolie children is less than of Creoles. Few Coolies have adopted 

 the costume or mode of living of the country. They are, 

 however, generally clean, and their dresses made of good 

 materials — very different, in this respect, from their newly- 

 arrived countrymen. How different, again, the low obsequious- 

 ness of the recently -landed Hindoo from the manly deportment 

 of his compatriot after a few years'' residence in the' colony ! 

 Those who are ragged and filthy may be pronounced at once to 

 be worthless fellows. That they are not overworked is proved 

 by the fact that many re-engage for one year's further industrial 

 residence on receiving a bounty of ten dollars; that they are 

 contented is proved by their disposition to remain in the colony 

 after they have completed their term of industrial residence. 

 Many are shop-keepers, and a still larger number are licensed 

 to sell spirits and other drinks. Others go about in the rural 

 districts buying fruits and provisions, which they afterwards 

 retail in towns and villages. Not a few have become land- 

 owners by purchase or by grants from the crown. Let me 

 reiterate, therefore, that Coolie immigration, properly conducted, 

 may yet aid in saving such of the West India colonies as have 

 fertile lands ; nay, may be the foundation, in this Archipelago, 

 of industrious, peaceful, and happy communities. 



We had also received, some time in the year 1853, a few 

 hundred Chinese ; but unfortunately they were the refuse of sea- 

 ports, were unaccompanied by interpreters, and were in conse- 

 quence exposed to many hardships, from their inability to 

 understand or make themselves understood by their employers. 

 Hence, incapable of making known any objections they would 

 think reasonable, or any wish they might form, or of asking 



