PRODUCTION AND COMMEECE. 199 



to them, and plant at their own risk under supervision. 

 Their payment depends on the yield. Beckoning from 

 the estimated out-turn of last year's crop, and that one 

 coolie will raise seven piculs of tobacco in the season, we 

 arrive at the figure 23,000 as representing the total 

 number of Chinese engaged at Deli in tobacco cultivation, 

 to which number 7000 extra hands must be added, 

 employed in pursuits incidental to the industry. 3000 

 additional Chinese coolies are reported to have been 

 engaged for the coming year. The strength of the Kling 

 community may be taken at about 3000. The Chinamen 

 go into their clearings and begin work during January 

 and February: those not actually in service on the 

 tobacco estates earning money as shopkeepers, pedlars, 

 or gardeners, many of the latter being old hands who, 

 under advances, have taken to planting patches of tobacco 

 on their own account, for which they find a ready sale in 

 Penang. The Klings are also to be met with as drivers 

 of carts and carriages. 



" An industrious coolie would, on an average, net in the 

 course of a year 100 to 150 Dutch florins, and on this sum 

 he pays to the Dutch Government 2 per cent, by way of 

 income tax. The coolie, however, arrives in the country 

 with a debt of from 100 fl. to 150 fl., and thus as a rule is 

 not clear and able to leave with a balance in hand till the 

 end of the second year. The coolie is engaged for a year, 

 but he generally re-engages, and takes his departure in 

 the beginning of the third year. 



" The Dutch Government regulations with regard to 

 the maintenance of a medical man by every estate and 



