1829.] 
On the Measure of Labour in India. 
239 
Coulomb remarks at the conclusion of his essay, that at Martinique, with the 
same labourers, the work done was not equal to one-lmlf, from the heat of the cli- 
mate ; he does not however give any data of the labour of negroes or others habi- 
tuated to the heat. In this country the labour of natives must, I should think, 
far exceed what could be supported by Europeans, although, from size and the na- 
ture of their food, they may be inferior in physical strength. 
But this is the point we are about to examine ; and first let us commence with 
the example presented by your correspondent Cl- 
It must be remembered, that baling is only adapted to the raising of water 3 or 
3J feet high : every additional height weakens the power of the arms, causes spil- 
lage, diminishes the number of strokes, and in short cuts off from the established 
maximum of work. Let us, therefore, limit the calculation to the first step of his ex- 
ample, viz. two men lifting 10 seers of water, 3 feet high, 25 times per minute, for 
a continuance of 8 hours. 
These data yield a produce of 900 maunds, raised 10 feet high per diem, or 450 
maunds for each man ; which is equal to two-thirds of the water raised by a Parisian 
labourer ; an' amount of which no Bengallee need be ashamed ! and sufficient to 
prove the advantage of their simple and cheap mode of raising water where there 
is ample space at command. 
Q must no doubt have been misled by the data of Professor Robison s pump; for 
if they are correctly stated, the feeble old man raised 3000 maunds a day, and far 
exceeded all that the strongest Frenchmen have evereffected. To this experiment, a re- 
mark I have before made will apply ; in fact no inference can be drawn from such 
Havine lately myself been employed in clearing water under circumstances which 
required constant exertion, I took the trouble of estimating the work done by the 
several engines employed, which consisted of one square wooden pump, 8* inch bore, 
hastily constructed, two circular wooden pumps of 7 inch bore, seven mots or water 
hags drawn by men ;-and enurinna, or earthen pots filled and carried away by 
women and children at so much a pot ; besides several duns, or baling baskets 
Sitting for hours on the spot with a watch in my hand, I could form a correct es- 
timate of the work of the pumps from the length and number of strokes , and I fur- 
ther cheeked it bv measuring the water raised in a given tune : the same was done 
for the mots : anil the d&ris were estimated by the pace they kept in clearing away 
the water from the reservoir at the pump heads. . 
1. The square pump raising 11 J feet, required two day sets of eight men each, 
and two night sets of the same number. The water raised per minute was ^ 
by weight m 1500 
by measure of — ~ _____ 
say 1600 
Which is equal to 13000 maunds, raised 10 feet in a day of 12 hours, by 16 men, 
Pe 3. m The mots were furnished with 8 men, each relieved every 12 hours. Wha 
beight of 14 feet they made but two deliveries of l 5 . 0 . 1 ‘^aw ^“ifaUnqte, but 
keep pace with the square pump, raising the water .44 : wet h . 
to 4000 maunds, rinsed 10 feet per diem, or 500 maunds ^ ^ 
A result nearly equal to that of your corrcsponden , ^ jL f keeping the 
values are too high, for the men were bj to «ec^ssay or weeping 
water down, as well as by my presence, to make their wag ed b _ 
That the labour at the pumps was more 1 la rge portion of labour is 
the preference given to the jmorwut hy tlie aliourers e i 
thrown away iifthe latter by done in^orfion. 
