COOLY IMMIGRATION. 121 



hiring season is about the end of the year, December, and it is 

 carried out almost entirely in Belize, the chief town of the 

 colony, so that both employer and employed flock to Belize in 

 large numbers towards this time. The labourer wants money 

 to buy clothes, and a few articles necessary for him to take with 

 him to his new engagement in the bush, as well as a little spare 

 cash to enable him to enjoy his brief holiday in town. The 

 employer makes the agreement between himself and his servant 

 more binding on the latter, by getting him at once into debt 

 to his master ; this is done by giving the servant, on his hiring, 

 from two to six months' wages in advance ; much, if not all, of 

 which is spent in the various stores and grog shops of the town. 



" The Carib and the Creole do well for mahogany works, and 

 sometimes the Spaniard, but they, and certainly the Indian, with 

 the Cooly, are best suited for the lighter work in the field ; and 

 if there is to be more agriculture in this country, there must be 

 more labour, and if it can be procured at a cheaper rate than now 

 prevails, so much the better. . . ." 



There is no doubt that for a regular and satisfactory supply 

 of labour, the colony must ultimately depend upon arrangements 

 being made, with the Government of India, for the importation 

 of Coolies, on the same terms as they are now supplied to 

 Demerara, Trinidad, Grenada, and Jamaica. This would put an 

 end at once to the labour difficulty, and afford a reasonable 

 guarantee that there would be no loss to capitalists under any 

 circumstances, that might arise, with regard to the demands for 

 mahogany and logwood cutting. 



Coolies might be obtained from India at the rate of, say. 15 

 per head, of which the repayment would be spread over the five 

 years during which their engagement lasts. During this time 

 the wages would be fixed at the rate of Is. per day, all things 

 included. For light field work in the tropics, the Cooly is an 



