316 COCOA 



CHAP. 



recruiting of natives for this purpose is performed by 

 agents under the direct supervision of the Government 

 and has been made the subject of elaborate regula- 

 tions. Whatever abuses there may be in the methods 

 of these recruiting agents, there does not seem to 

 be much doubt that on the whole the natives are 

 well treated once they have reached the plantations. 

 They are well fed, and are generally housed in a long 



By permission of Mr. Monteiro de Mendonga. 



FIG. 105. Labourers' dwellings and tank for washing cattle on the plantation 

 " Boa Entrada," San Thome. 



building (Fig. 105), divided into a row of rooms, each 

 of which is occupied either by a family or by two single 

 labourers. Every plantation of any size also has its 

 own hospital (Fig. 106), but in spite of all precautions 

 the mortality among the imported natives is high. 



De Almada Negreiras estimates that the cost for 

 every " servial" amounts to 1'50 franc a day (Is. 3d.) ; 

 wherein are included the contract costs, the wages, 

 food, clothing and the loss_ by _the_ large mortality 

 among the newly arrived. 



