46 Timehri. 



is produced along with him. If he is willing then on a cercain day he 

 and others under the escort of a Peon, specially authorised by the Mag- 

 istrate of the District, are removed to Calcutta. They arrive at Howrah 

 Railway Station, and from thence are probably taken by water to the 

 Depot at Garden Reach. Here he probably finds 200 to 300 coolies 

 already collected. His initiation consists of a bath, the issue of clean 

 clothing and a blanket, and the first free square meal he has probably 

 had for a long time. The day following the Agency "s Doctor h'abu goes 

 over him again and, if considered " fit " he forms one of many brought 

 before the Protecter of Emigrants the next day to be asked whether he 

 is willing, &c. He is willing. From this time on up to the day he i6 

 finally embarked he has the opportunity twice weekly of changing his 

 mind and being sent home, for the Protector of Emigrants visits the 

 Depot for that purpose. On embarkation day for the last time he 

 parades before the Protector and has his final chance of stating his 

 unwillingness to emigrate. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that even if in the first instance a 

 recruit is deceived by a recruiter and, by some chance, manages to " pass " 

 the Registering Officer up countrj', he still has ample opportunity to 

 change his mind. And apart from the intervention of Indian Officials, 

 an " unwilling " coolie in the D^pot is a source of danger to the Emigra- 

 tion Agent, from the likelihood of bis making others unwilling, and for 

 that reason it is generally the latter who brings the case to notice and 

 has the recruit sent home. 



And in order that there might be no " rushing " of coolies out of the 

 country, it is provided in the Act that an Emigrant who has not been in 

 Depot at the port of embarkatioj 7 days may not be embarked. 



Emigrants not embarked are returned free of charge to their homes 

 and. in addition, compensation is given to such as have been rejected as 

 unfit, or who developed sickness in Depot, or where it is ascertained 

 there was irregularity in recruitment. 



As the Sub-Agent, or actual employers of the recruiters, are the 

 persons upon whom fell the expense of unwilling or irreguhvrily recruited 

 coolies, it was obviously in their own interests to make sure that the 

 recruits forwarded to the port of embarkation were under no misappre- 

 hension as to where they were going, or the terms of their contracts. 



Satisfied then that this shipment of Emigrants has set out of their 

 own free will for one or other of the colonies, let us turn to the substan- 

 tial — for substan tial they certainly were — inducements, held out to those 

 who had the ch arge of them on their journey. 



If the Surgeon Superintendent on the arrival of the coolies at their 

 destination certified that the captain, certain of his officers and men who 

 came into contract with the coolies, had laid themselves out to do every- 



