ON THE PRICE OF LABOUR AT THE ISLE OF FRANCE. 
377 
incurred. In reference to this subject our 
I, author observes, — 
“The price of labour mu?t be considered 
! as high. Slaves who vveie sold for less tiian 
I two luindred dollars a head, at the period we 
i came into possession of the Isl .nd, are now 
risen to thiee times, and even in paiticular 
cases, to lour times that amount, i his may 
be deemed to ari-e either fiom their scarcity, 
or the greater demand for them. 'J he latter 
1 consider as the true cause, and this at the 
present momeiit is owing to the pei mission 
granted a few years ago, to import into Eng- 
land the sugars of the Isle ot France. 'J’his 
I admission of the product of the Island, has 
I given a vehement stimulus to the cultivation, 
jj of this article, and has augmented the value 
of land very considerably. Owing to the 
extreme healthiness of the climate, slaves 
may be estimated at the value of iiom 20 to 
25 years purchase, fiom the time they reach 
a mature age for labour. If I am right in 
this supposition, the annual expense of a slave 
may be stated at about 25 or 30 dolla'S a 
year, exclusive of interest, besides the ex- 
pense of his food, which, as far as I can ascer- 
tain, may have cost from tliree to four dollars 
per mensem, therefore, 
Dollars. 
Annual expense of the purchase of a 
.slave, taking into consideration the 
outlay and interest, say, 125 
Actual expense for food and clothing, at 
3§ dollars per mensem, 42 
Dollars, 167 
Now the average monthly estimated value 
of a slave, may lie stated at fifteen dollars. 
'J'his is however higher than what I actually 
found for slaves hired out, as domestic servants 
could t e had from eight to ten dollars a liead ; 
but then 1 believe the care and expense of 
feeding tliein, fell upon the gentlemen who 
took them into theii service : if so, the above 
calculation may be considered as approxi- 
mating nearly to the proper estimate of the 
charge and expense of a single individual 
slave. Common labour being therefore so 
high, other necessaries and conveniences which 
depend on it, must likewise be augmented in 
price, to defray the average rate of labour 
employed, as, without such le imbursement, 
such labour would not coiitinue to lie sup- 
plied. But if the labour of slaves bear such 
high premium, the labour of free men must 
necessarily be much higher, and more valua- 
ble. Labour here appeals the principal 
source of wealth, and the man who can com- 
mand a portion of it ensures himself a certain 
degree of independence and comfort. 
The high price of labour, therefore, is one 
of the great causes which influence the high 
price of necessaiies and articles generally. 
But there is also another cause " hich tends to 
augment prices, and this is that the greatest 
partofthe food, and all clothing, of both the 
free inimbitants and the slaves, are imported 
from distant countries ; thus, for instance, the 
Isle of France depends on India for its sup- 
ply office, arjdon Madagascar for nearly all 
its animal food. There is undoubtedly a small 
portion ofManioc, [the Jatrofiha hianiliot.] 
Hogs too are bred and fowls rearerl, but not 
sufficient for the consumption of the inhabi- 
t.ants, and the supply of the shipping of Poit 
Louis. 
As profits must be sufficiently large toena- 
bie shop-keepers, &cc. to sul'sist, and as 
subsi.stence, from the above detail, appears 
to be procured with difficulty, and attended 
with expense, it does not appear that they 
aie larger, peihaps, than they ought to be to 
afford a remunerating price. 
It may li.kewise be remarked that the inter- 
e.st of money is high, and in common transac- 
tions cannot be quoted at less than ten per 
cent, per annum; consequently the high 
pi ices of necessaries at the Isle of France, 
may be satisfactorily ex[)lained, with releience 
to the high rate of the wages of lal our, of 
subsistence, and of the interest of money.” 
There are one or two establishments for 
casting and forming different parts of the 
machinery, used principally in the extraction 
of the juice of the sugar cane : the late intro- 
duction of steam engines applied to sugar 
mills, will tend to increase the employment 
of mechanics. Such is Mr. Stirling’s account 
of the Isle of France, full of interest, and 
highly creditable to him, as evincing a talent 
for observation of men and manners, and a 
desire to communicate their result in a pleas- 
ing, satisfactory, and perspicuous manner. 
Art. IV. — On the culture of Indigo in 
Bengal, communicated by G. Ballard, 
Esq. 
On the culture of Indigo in Tirhoot. 
On the culture of Indigo in Oiide. 
On the manufacture of Indigo, by H. 
PlDDINGTON, Esq. 
On the cultivation of Indigo, by N. 
Alexander, Esq. — Trans. Hort. 
Society, Calcutta, 1836. 
The cultivation and manufacture of indi„ 
go, as now practised in Bengal, have been 
owing entirely to the enterprize of British 
merchants. The cultivation covers 12,00,000 
acres, andgives subsistence to about 5,00,000 
families ; the annual outlay for which 
amounts to £ 16,00,000. Besides this ex- 
tent and value of its cultivation, it has tended 
largely to promote the salubrity of the coun- 
try, from the large tracts of land it occupies, 
which were lying within the influence of the 
