40 Timehri. 



I have advocated the beneficial occupation of our surroundings as 

 the most important factor in the health campaign. The principle appears 

 sound for if we have flowers and growing provisions round our dwellings 

 we have the soil clean and sweet, whereas on the contrary puddles and bad 

 drainage mean noxious gases and mosquitoes. The larger the area in 

 cultivation and the more fully it is planted the more attention will neces- 

 sarily be given to drainage because of the value of the expected crops. 

 Where there is nothing of value no care is taken, and this is the position 

 in most of our villages. 



It is quite evident that we want good settlers as well as labourers and 

 it may be noted that some of the East Indians have clean cultivation. 

 There is however a serious want of proper drainage about the houses on 

 the plantations ; we can see that the people have often to pass through 

 slush to get to their homes. Of course there are difficulties on account 

 of our low levels, but it must be kept in view in putting up new dwellings. 



The East Indian of to-day still hankers after his own country and is 

 hardly willing to give up the idea of going back at some time. This, of 

 course, tends to reduce his value as a colonist. An Englishman may also 

 want to go " home " but he generally has some expectation of a return, 

 but the East Indian when he goes bids farewell to the colony. This 

 means that a man who has gained much experience and is acquainted 

 with local conditions, takes his knowledge from the colony to a place 

 where it is perhaps less valuable. It is evident that the man who has 

 overcome many difficulties and become rich enough to retire must always 

 be a loss to the colony ; we must try to retain such people by privileges 

 and exemptions. A floating population will never help us to develop the 

 colony and yet I am told that East Indians will not come unless the back 

 passage is assured. Very well, we must provide for their return should 

 they claim it and meanwhile make them as comfortable as possible so 

 that the claims may be reduced to a minimum. Unfortunately for the 

 system of the back passage, it is the best man who takes away his family 

 if he has saved enough to enable him to live in comfort when he gets to 

 India. The community must appreciate the fact that every strong 

 healthy man is of value and should be encouraged to remain. The 

 failures do not go back, which is a pity for they are burdens. 



It is an interesting fact that Guinna has been the field for labour 

 experiments from the time when it became known to Europeans. Every 

 race and many nations have been represented by failures or partial 

 successes, but there have been no grand successes. The result has been 

 a very slow progressive continuity in spite of some real downfalls. 

 We have to look back and see where the great drawbacks can be 

 found with a view to avoid tha mistakes of our ancestors. It ap- 

 pears as if yellow fever, binallpox, and measles are gone as epidemics, 

 but we still have malaria, filaria, hookworm and unfortunately a 

 disease unknown to the old settlers, tuberculosis. On the whole the 

 colony is less unhealthy than it once was, and it may safely be 



